Hunter Patrick Hayes

Week One

Oh what a week it was.  It all started with a trip to Emily's doctor on Monday, March 19, 2007.  This appointment was scheduled the week before because Emily was due on Thursday, March 15, and they wanted to see if there was a reason to induce her.   When we arrived at the doctor they did an ultrasound to see how big the baby was and to ensure there was enough fluid.  What they discovered was that Hunter was approximately 8 pounds 14 ounces according to their measurements, which can be off by as much as 10 - 15 percent, as we were to find out.  The doctor informed Emily that it would be in her best interest to have a C-Section but either way she would be best to start the process sooner rather than later because of the size.  Emily wanted to give natural birth a try, so we headed to the hospital to start the induction. 

We arrived at the hospital mid afternoon and she was induced by dinner time.  The night was pretty uneventful until around midnight when the nurse said that she finally had reached 1 centimeter.  By 6:00 a.m. the next morning she was no further along, so the doctor came to visit again.  He explained that we could be there all week and need a C-Section anyway and that he strongly recommended that she go ahead with the C-Section now.  After some discussion we both agreed that it was the best choice, so we told them to put us on the list for that day.   Knowing that Emily would probably be in some photos she decided that it would be a great time to get her hair and makeup in order.

The nurse returned in about 10 minutes saying, "We are ready for you in 15 minutes if you want to go. " We were expecting a little more time, but it was nice that Emily didn't have to think (worry) about it for the entire afternoon.  We got our stuff together and we headed down so Emily could prepare for surgery.   We got downstairs and they prepared the Epidural for the surgery.  I myself couldn't understand why she needed it, but who am I to argue!  It took the medication about 30 minutes to get to work and it was funny watching her lose the functioning of her legs.  I asked the nurse if I needed to "Scrub up", which I thought was pretty funny, but she was not nearly as amused as I was.  After Emily could feel nothing from her stomach down it was time to head in.

I will save you the details of how this guy came out but it was absolutely amazing.  The surgery lasted about 15 minutes (could have been longer but I wasn't paying attention to my watch).  Lucky for Emily they put this blue sheet across her chest so she couldn't see what actually was happening to her.   The doctor gave me the nod when they were removing the baby so I could pop my head over the great wall to see him for the first time.  Those of you who have kids can confirm, this was one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed in my entire life.

The nurses took him like a well oiled machine and cleaned him, weighed him and got his footprints.  The time of birth was 11:33 am on Tuesday, March 20, 2007.  It looked like they had done this before.  He was such a cute kid.  The doctor said this was the largest baby that he had ever delivered at 10 pounds 2 ounces.  He was 21 3/4" inches long, and he was beautiful.  After a few cries Momma finally got a chance to see him in person.  She was as amazed as I was.  Mom handled the day like a champ!

Hunter Patrick was taken to the NICU because I think they take all C-Section babies just to make sure everything is OK.  Mom had to hang out in the recovery room for about 1.5 hours while her medication wore off and to make sure she was stable.  Grandma and Grandpa Griffin were waiting outside for the news.  They could not have been more excited for their daughter and new grandson.  After visiting with Emily to ensure she was ok we all headed up to the NICU to see Hunter.  They both were doing great.

We ended up staying at the hospital until midday on Friday.  During on time we got lots of beautiful flowers from our loved ones.  We had visitors that came to see the new little guy.  I think Emily's and my  favorite part of our stay, besides Hunter of course, was the room service food delivery.  You got to order all of this surprisingly good food off the menu pretty much whenever you wanted it.  Emily's food was included and I got a full meal for 5 bucks.  Pretty sweet.  I think Emily wanted to stay longer but our time was up.  She did find the time on one of our last days to shower and get dressed and made up so that I could take a photo of the two of them together.  Before this there were strict instructions not to send out any photographs including her without her permission.  You are seeing one of the first photographs exclusively here at Hayesvision.com.   The experience at the hospital was great, but we were excited to get Hunter home and start our new life in our comfortable surroundings.  They wheeled Emily down to the car where we had the car seat ready to go and we headed home.  Hunter's first car ride was pretty uneventful.  He slept.

Besides the extremely limited amount of time to sleep, the first week at home with Hunter was awesome.  He did just what all babies do, sleep, eat, get rid of the eats and then cry.  Boy, can this kid cry.   Emily and I pretty much sat there and stared at him for hours on end waiting for the next funny or cute face that he would make.  He just looked at us and thought to himself "nothing to see here people, move away you are in my bubble!"  We loved every minute of this guy. 

The first time that we ventured out of the house on a walk we spotted Grandpa Griffin at the lake.    Hunter noticed that Grandpa was not having much luck fishing so he asked if he could cast a couple.  On the second cast Hunter got this huge hit on his line.  He fought the fish for a while and finally landed him on shore, right from his stroller.   Grandpa of course was a little embarassed getting shown up by a one week old so Hunter agreed to let Grandpa get a picture with the fish too.  Ya gotta love this kid.  Hunter told Grandpa that he was using the wrong lure which is why he wasn't having any luck.  Grandpa thanked Hunter for the advice and we continued on our walking adventure.

Below I have posted a few more pictures for you to enjoy.  Please come back next week for more fun photos and stories from the life and times of Hunter Patrick Hayes.

View Week One Photos