The Zimmer Family: Welcome, Owen Reid.

Little Love,

You were nice and comfy in my belly on your due date of June 17th. We went to our appointment with Dr. Wai and there were no signs you'd be making your debut anytime soon. I really did not want to be induced...so, we did what any normal, excited, expectant parents would do - prenatal acupuncture!!

It was quite the experience...the needles were painless, but the pressure point stimulation that Dr. Pam used HURT. It definitely did get you moving in my belly, though! Her hope was to get labor started within the next 24-48 hours.

Diana and I balanced out the evening with a 'baby boy blue' manicure and pedicure in your honor. We were hoping to meet you soon!

2 days later...

Daddy and I were taking our nightly walk when I started feeling SHARP pains. Fast, sharp, painful pains. I had to stop walking each time. They were definitely like no pains or cramps I'd ever felt before. Wowzers. We finished our walk early, but the pains kept coming. You were on the way! We figured I would labor for a while - possibly even through the night - at home. This was not your plan. Within an hour, my contractions were VERY close together. I quickly took a bath, packed my bag, and headed to Baylor around 11pm.

The car ride was rough, but we finally made it! The contractions were coming too hard and too quickly for me to walk all the way inside, so a nurse had to come get me with a wheelchair.

Our home for the next few days...

Sweet nurses got us all set up...

Ouch...Ouch...Ouch...already dilated 4-5cm when we arrived.

And then...a nice doctor came and took all of the pain away - bless him.

Daddy and I spent the rest of those early morning hours ("laboring") cuddled under heated blankets watching Friends re-reruns on Nick at Nite. We were supposed to be resting...but we were too excited to meet you!

My water broke when we reached 7cm, and soon we were at a....

TEN!!!

Dr. Wai arrived and said, "Let's have a baby!" I only had to push a few times before you arrived. Thanks to you (and modern medicine) for making it SO easy on mommy. You must have been ready to get out of there!

Welcome, OWEN REID ZIMMER.

{10:15am, June 20th, 7lbs 12 oz, 20.25 inches}

You were calm and ready to cuddle!

Daddy helped give you your first warm bath.

Clean boy! Daddy ditched the hat with pink on it. He was not a fan.

Leaving the delivery room...Our first family photo!

Our little family in our new recovery room.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just staring at you.

At first, you were very sleepy...

...but soon those eyes popped WIDE open and have barely closed since!

Hello, world. I'm Owen.

You were a VERY active newborn. You didn't sleep a whole lot. You hated being swaddled and busted out of them frequently. You were great at nursing (answered prayer!) and very pleasant unless you were a hungry boy.

Over the next few days, some people came to meet you!

Nonni, Poppi, and Great Gran.

Pastor Rick, Pastor Adam, Taber, and Diana.

Uncle Brandon, Aunt Shanelle, and Cousin Hannah.

Aunt Carrie and Uncle Jon.

More friends wanted to come and see you, too, but we started to realize we'd been up for almost 2 days straight! We needed to take a break and get some sleep before we headed home.

Our Baylor team was so wonderful (another answered prayer!). We had 5 different nurses during the course of our 3-day stay. I wanted each one of them to be my best friend. They helped us learn to take care of you. And they helped take care of your mommy. Oddly enough, another favorite part of our experience was the FOOD! Yes, hospital FOOD! It was so nice to choose a hot, yummy, healthy meal 3 times a day while we rested. We figured daddy would have to keep us fed during our stay, but he didn't have to leave one time for take-out.

Such a blessing.