Darrel Joseph

arrived on the afternoon of september 3rd weighing 8lbs. 1 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.
he came at the perfect time, my doctor had just gotten in town the night before.
i really wanted her to be there (she's my across the street neighbor).
it was one day before his actual due date.

nani was in the waiting room this time before i gave birth since it was during the day.
we typically have called her to come right after the baby is born -
i've had natural childbirth with all - we didn't think she could handle seeing me in pain:)

i was worried about going into labor (and making it to the hospital),
since i've had a couple extremely fast ones -
and while people think that's great, it is very intense and overwhelming.
i am so happy to say it was a nice gradual and quick at the end labor and delivery -
i had asked lots of mom's at school to pray for me, the prayers were definitely answered :)

and what a precious gift to receive at the end of all that hard work.
of course we were instantly in love with this wonderful new addition to our family.
we named him after his great-grandfather who had 12 children -
and who we are lucky enough to see every sunday for dinner thanks to my in-laws.

since he came so fast during the actual delivery, he got some fluid in his lungs.
so, he was our first baby to have to go into the nursery.
i was in there all the time!  here he is with daddy in the nursery...

my water broke at 6:30 in the morning, so the kids knew it was going to be a special day.
here i am on the way to the hospital - au natural -

and while i don't have many photos of myself throughout the pregnancy,

here i am four days before Darrel was born, and then two days before he was born.

it is fun to have these to look back on.

here is the precious little guy on our way home from the hospital.

john asked me throughout my entire pregnancy if he could be the first to hold the baby.
he was so excited, all the kids were...

 

nani made us a wonderful meal the evening we came home from the hospital.

i had to take a picture of the salad, it looked so pretty - it was delicious.

darrel had some jaundice in the hospital and in the days following.
we had to take him to the doctor everyday for three days to get his levels checked.
i was so worried about the possibility that he would have to go back to the hospital -
but after lots of prayers from family and friends he was in the clear :)

he has been a sweet baby from the start and we are absolutely enamored by him.
the kids are all so good with him and have been so incredibly helpful -
we all love having a baby in the house, it has been such a wonderful blessing!