on Tuesday May 19th at 3:54 pm we celebrated the birth of
our beautiful son, Westin!


until his birth we had no idea if baby was a boy or girl.

on monday at around 7pm carly started having contractions during dinner. after dinner we relaxed by watching a movie. we really felt like it was real labor and not the false labor contractions she had been having the couple days previous. after the movie carly decided to go to bed and try to get some sleep. i couldnt because i was too excited! i stayed up to try and get some chores done but kept checking in on her. in the beginning she was able to get some sleep but my midnight the contractions were getting stronger. we started timing them and they were staying about 7 minutes apart really regularly but after a couple hours they suddenly jumped to 5 minutes. they stayed like that for a while and we knew it was time to head to the hospital! We called our parents to let them know and headed out the door a little after 3am. My mom and our brother in law Andy met us at the hospital. My mom took care of our daughter Anastasia and Andy, a photographer, was there to take photos. Carlys mom had a long drive to get here so it would be a few hours before she arrived. Once we got checked into the hospital Carly was doing her best to get some rest. Everyone kept insisting that i go to sleep as well but there was no way that was going to happen! i pulled up what happened to be the most uncomfortable chair in the world next to Carlys bed and held her hand. This would be my spot for many hours.

Carly had big plans on how to handle labor and we had practiced many different methods of working through contractions but really all she wanted to do was lay down. several hours went by with a flutter of activity. with all of the nurses and doctors coming in and out. by about 2:30 in the afternoon she had progressed to where it was time to start pushing.

over the past year i completed 4 marathons and an ironman. carly always is a great cheerleader but says that it sounds too hard and she could never do that. what she did on tuesday though was a far superior physical accomplishment than anything i have ever done. she was a total stud. a rockstar! after laying in bed at the hospital for nearly 11 hours suffering through constant pain of contractions and exams she really buckled down and started to push. she started pushing with great determination that i found awe inspiring. however there was cause for concern during labor and especially pushing. babys heart rate was dropping really low during contractions. this meant that he probably had the cord wrapped around his body and it was being constricted. at the point where we could sort of see babys head his heart rate dropped the lowest yet. i could see a look of concern on the doctors face and she said that this was it. if the head didnt come out on the next push she was going to intervene. she had spoken earlier of a possible emergency c-section. she told carly to push as hard as she could and then dig deeper to push even beyond that. we were all telling her to push. and she pushed like crazy! ive never seen anyone so determined! then out popped the babys head! she did it! as soon as his head popped out we could see the cord was wrapped around his neck. the doctor and nurses moved so fast and in unison without even talking getting it untangled. luckily they were able to get it off of him so that he was safe. then one final push and he burst into the world with a mighty scream that was more beautiful than the finest opera singer! he was immediately placed on moms tummy and i peeked to see if it was a boy or girl and got to announce its a boy! and a few seconds later he proved it by peeing all over everyone!

it was such an amazing experience. and carly was so inspirational how she handled giving birth for the first time.(for those who dont know anastasia is carlys adopted daughter) being as tough as carly was on tuesday is something i can only dream of.

after mom and baby got cleaned up and started getting settled down i got to go out to the waiting room and bring anastasia back to meet her new baby brother. i was met by the small army of friends and family that had gathered and immediately i was swarmed while being hugged and kissed and asked the big question, if it was a boy or girl. but everyone would have to wait because it wasnt time to tell them yet. first anastasia had to meet him and find out. so she took my hand and she was overflowing with so much excitement that she laughed as we raced down the hall to meet the baby!

she is an amazing big sister! she holds him and gives him kisses and has even changed his diaper!


we spent some family time for the first time with just the four of us.


after a while it was time to bring in everyone to meet the baby. so anastasia got to go to the waiting room and tell everyone to come back the room where we got to introuce our son westin to our loved ones. there were tears of joy all around as everyone took turns holding him and introducing themselves to him! he was so alert and staring as if he was listening intently as grandparents, uncles, aunts and friends said hello.

then it was time to do some things like get his foot prints.



then he got a shot.



after a while our visitors left and mom and i spent some quality time together with westin. then i read him a goodnight story.

it was "guess how much i love you." i read it to him many times before he was born. soon mom fell asleep and i sat nearby holding baby and attempted the impossible task of telling him how much i love him.

it was an AMAZING day! i laughed and i cried constantly. i was awake for over 40 hours before i finally got to sleep about 9 hours after he was born. however i only got to sleep for a couple hours before he was awake again but i didnt care. im sure i will eventually get tired of him keeping us up all night but i know that i will cherish every moment.

i also want to thank all of our family and friends who have been so incredibly helpful. they worked together to make sure our dog was fed and walked, they brought us foods and gifts, and gave so much support.

we are going home soon and im excited about that.

it was so nice to finally meet you westin! i will always love you so much more than i could ever possibly say.

even though this is the short version, it took me two days to write this! there is no free time when a baby is born!