Our Angel Baby

We're back at home now, and settling in. We are blessed to have grandparents here to ride herd on the kiddos so we can sleep and/or rest.

For those of you who want a few more details about what happened, here you go. Lindsey woke up around 4:30am wanting to be re-situated on the bed. The nurse checked her and found that she was a "6", so we figured it was go-time. We made a few phone calls to people who were to be present for Caden's grand entrance while the nurse shifted Lindsey. Just a few minutes later, she checked Lindsey again and saw that she was a "10" and ready to go. Obviously, this was incredibly fast, and we were all caught off guard. The nurses hurriedly began to prep her for delivery, and the doctor -- who lived about an hour away, so she had stayed on the floor overnight -- was called in. The wonderful perinatologist who would evaluate Caden was paged.

When the doctor came in, she took one look at Lindsey and knew she was ready to go RIGHT NOW. Lindsey asked if we could wait to let people get to the hospital, but the doctor said waiting wasn't an option. About a minute later, almost before we were even ready and without Lindsey even pushing, Caden joined us. He never drew a single breath.

He weighed 3 pounds 2 ounces, and was 15 inches long. He looked totally peaceful, with a face that resembles his brother and sister's and a fair amount of reddish-blonde hair. Despite all that we had been told about how he might appear due to the lack of fluid present, he was beautiful. Our precious little angel. Above is a picture of Caden in a basket that the hospital allowed us to use while we were there.

Thank you all for your loving prayers and support. We would not have been able to get through this without all of you! To see all those comments and visits on the blog is to know that we are loved by many, many people, and that is priceless to us. We will take the next few days to gather ourselves together and attempt to re-establish a new 'normal' pattern of life. In lieu of flowers or memorials, we are considering a few options for donations, and will post more information when we make a decision.

Thank you all for bearing this burden with us, and for lifting us up daily. We can feel that when our strength is gone, yours holds us up, and your prayers sustain us.