Here you can get a better idea of the clubbing of the left leg. They will do casting and bracing over time to correct these things as much as they can.

First Contact - What Joy!

Hurry up and Wait

More waiting. I'm sitting here right now in the NICU next to my handsome sleeping boy. He's had a rough morning. First the neonatologists, then the plastic surgeons, then the nurses -- all "messing with him." And he hasn't even had surgery yet! We're waiting for anesthesiology to get here. They said last night that they'd probably be prepping him around 6:45, but it's now 8. O, well. Paton seems comfortable right now. I see his little chest moving gently with every breath. His little legs are tucked up under him and he looks pretty cozy. I may post a few more pictures here in a bit, if I can figure it out. Then I'll give an update after surgery. We had problems with the wireless network here (they gave us the wrong access code), and then our internet filter was keeping us off the system. But I think we're all set now.

Paton's Here!

5:59 P.M. 6 lbs. 10 ozs. Hooay! We are so happy to finally meet our little fella. Jen is feeling ... well ... beat. And hoping she can eat before too, too long! : ) Paton will be having surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30 to close the hole in his spine. So ... an early morning. There is some pretty bad "clubbing" of his left leg, but we really don't know any effects yet. The opening in his back is quite large, so plastic surgeons will be on hand tomorrow as well if they are needed. God's been good. We look forward to some sleep.

Thanks for Praying

Well, it's less than 24 hours. We've had several calls tonight from folks saying that they're praying. What a comfort that is to our minds. God is good, and we can't wait to meet our little fella.

A Good Reminder

Hannah & Charis gave us a good reminder: "God never moves without purpose or plan." Amen.

The Unexpected

Well, with two out of our three kids, we've learned to expect the unexpected. Both Hannah and David ended up having to be in the neonatal intensive care unit for about 2 weeks when they were born. Back in 2004, while David was in the hospital, and Jen was still a patient, our daughter Hannah was involved in a car accident with some friends and was taken to a different hospital. At that moment, 75% of my family were hospital patients! Talk about unexpected! Well, we found out this morning that Paton's surgery has been rescheduled. We'll be going in later on Tuesday afternoon. More waiting -- ugh!