Brad and Michelle Haymond

We had our first child on Friday!

During normal labor, the midwife decided the baby was distressed and called in a doctor for a second opinion. He thought it would be better for the baby to do a C Section. Much to Michelle’s (and Brad’s) dismay, she was in the operating room about 5 minutes later. Hayley Michelle Haymond was born at 6:56 pm Friday and was 5 lbs 15 oz and 20 inches long.

Hayley is awesome. All the nurses in the nursery at the hospital love her because she never cries or fusses unless she is hungry. Our completely objective opinion is that she is pretty cute, too.

Michelle had some complications during the operation (which Brad was lucky enough to witness - without any drugs) which necessitated, among other things, 3 units of blood and a night’s stay in the intensive care unit. She finally got to see our daughter for the first time (while coherent) Saturday afternoon.

We will come home from the hospital today. (this saga is why you might not see either of us for a day or two) Since Michelle just started really walking again yesterday for the first time, the saga will continue.

Here are some photos of the beautiful baby (give them a minute to load). Click on the pic when it is in the center for a larger version. More to come!

On Saturday (Aug 23, 2008) we had the annual picnic with the Myers family to celebrate Michelle’s birthday and her parents’ anniversary the day before. It was fun, and Michelle was able to come because she hasn’t had our baby yet! Here are some pics:

For those of you following the saga of our adventures in parenthood, not much has happened in the last few days. We are pretty sure what Michelle was feeling are contractions. She has one that is fairly decent once every hour or two. They aren’t really getting any more frequent. Apparently we are in the “holding” phase of the 40th week of pregnancy! Hopefully something will happen soon. (but not tomorrow, that is Michelle’s b-day!)

Here is a peek at the nursery for those of you who haven’t stopped by. (Looks better in real life. These pics don’t do it justice!)

I was finally able to get Michelle to ride one of those motorized cart thingies at the store! (instead of walking around the store)

Video 1
Video 2

Here are some more pictures from the shower our ward members threw for Michelle. Thanks to everyone that has made this time as good as possible. (easier for Brad than Michelle!) Thanks!
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Thank you to everyone who came to or threw baby showers for Michelle! We are very blessed to have so many friends and family who care about us so much. Thank you very much for your gifts, well wishes, and friendship!

Here are some pictures from the showers. (may take a few moments to load)

Michelle might be starting to have contractions, but we don’t know since she has never had them before! If you know what real contractions feel like, let us know!

Michelle has been reluctant to be photographed with her tummy, but I finally got her!

For those that don’t want the actual file, here is a (lower quality) YouTube version:

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