Esmé Anne Needham

On January 20th, 2008 at 3:33am Esmé Anne Needham was born. She tipped the scales at 6 pounds and 3 ounces, and is 19 and a half inches. New mom and baby are doing well.

The baby was due on February 15th originally. We had birthing class all day on Saturday at Emerson Hospital in Concord (just in time). Gretchen had a few irregular contractions in the afternoon during the class. And we guessed that she probably would be having a January baby instead of a February baby.

We got home around 5pm and Gretchen settled in for a nap, I went out to walk Beulah dane. When we returned Gretchen was resting in the bedroom, and only 1 minute later she told me her water had just broke. Fortunately Gretchen had packed ahead of time, and we loaded into the car and headed back to Emerson which is about 30 minutes from our home. The contractions were much more intense since the water had broken and were about 3 minutes apart. We made it to the hospital without any really big scares other than the 10 or so contractions she dealt with during the ride. So it was right back into the labor room we had visited just a few hours ago. Ironically the nurse who taught our class was still there and was surprised to see us again so soon.

I'll spare the details, but will say that watching my wife deal with contractions for six hours, and push for 3 plus hours was so impressive and inspirational. And to first lay eyes on our little baby girl was incredibly emotional for me. I am so proud of them. It was without a doubt the highlight of my life thus far. I'll post more later, thanks for reading.