Welcome Lincoln Jay

We welcomed our son, Lincoln Jay into the world on December 12, 2011. It's so hard for me to put my emotions into words. It was by far the best day of my life and the most amazing experience. Even though the day happened about 3 weeks earlier than expected, I couldn't have dreamed of a better birth experience.

My labor was fast and intense. Travis and I had been preparing for a natural childbirth by going to Bradley Birthing classes. These classes were amazing in preparing us for the day and I would recommend them to anyone! An extremely short version of my birth story is that we checked into the hospital about 1:30pm because my midwife found me to be dilated to 8 cm at an appointment earlier that day. She was stumped as to how my body was so far into labor without me really knowing or being uncomfortable. I was experiencing NO pain at this point. They thought it was risky for me to go home because we weren't exactly prepared for a home birth or a birth in the Walmart parking lot! Kim, my midwife broke my water close to 2:00pm and things went really quickly from there. Everything happened so fast and my contractions were really close with no rest in between. I remember saying that I didn't know what to do. Kim reassured me that my body was already doing it.

Lincoln was born at 5:29pm. I was practically in shock when Kim told me to reach down and grab my baby. I brought Lincoln to my chest in utter amazement. I could not believe he was here! I honestly couldn't believe a baby had come from my body. Yes, it should be a given that it would happen after being pregnant for 9 months.

Travis was absolutely amazing during the experience. When we talked about going to the hospital after my appointment he was pretty much in panic mode. Once we got to the hospital he really stepped up into the role of "coach" and I know I couldn't have done it without him. During the really hard and intense parts, I could only look to him. He was amazing and poured on the praise and encouragement.

I think Lincoln looks like Travis. He has his nose and ears. His ears are really the spitting image of his daddy's. We were amazed our little guy had any hair! We were both bald babies and completely assumed our offspring would be the same way.

Our first family photo! It was important to me that my mom was there for the birth. I find so much comfort in her presence and knew she would love to see the birth of her grand-baby. Plus, she was our birth photographer! It's not hard to guess where I first learned the craft of photography. I am so thankful for these images. I can't look at them without getting weepy.

It's hard to even grasp this gift which we've been given. Lincoln is our little miracle boy. This is such an incredible Christmas season for our family. We've been living in seclusion this week, just enjoying our son. Praise God! He is SO good!