Our stay at the hospital -

Our stay at Mary Immaculate Hospital was a bit longer than we had originally planned since Sequoia arrived via a Cesarean procedure after poor Colleen got to enjoy 26 hours of labor. (Those were good times for everyone...) We won't bore you with all of the details here, but it was an adventure in endurance that removed any doubts that I might have had regarding how strong Colleen is both mentally and physically. Give her a call if you want to know more than that....
Anyway, at the end of the day we had our precious little Sequoia and you would be hard pressed to find two happier people than we are. The extended stay at the hospital allowed us to get some unexpected bonding time as a family since I got to spend the week in the hospital room with my wife and daughter. Even though that meant 4 nights of sleeping in various chairs, I would not trade the experience for the world. Here are some of the thousands of pictures I took between swaddling, changing diapers, running for drinks, holding my little girl and visiting with friends and family. As always, clicking on the pictures will usually bring up the larger, higher resolution version.





Here is Colleen and Sequoia after Colleen was allowed to get a shower and change in to real people clothes. That was a special treat for her. It's easy to see how happy the girls are together.







Here is a shot of the family. We all look a bit the worse for wear after a week in the hospital, but there's a whole lot of love hiding behind those tired eyes.









This is my sweetie. The newest love of my life. I have a feeling that those beautiful eyes will control the rest of my life...










So here are a few shots of my little Tom-boy dressed in pink. I'll admit that she looks pretty cute in pink - heck it even has soft little bunnies on it and I still think it is cute. I guess it's OK as long as she still loves the outdoors and is willing to be a camping, sailing and dive buddy for her mommy and I.







See the cute bunnies? This was her "going home" outfit and I think it was quite appropriate for a little spring baby.







I'm not certain who came up with the idea of making the mittens for this outfit be little bunny rabbit puppets, but for anyone who cares ... it's a silly and useless idea that is only good for the 10 seconds it takes to get a picture of them. However, that said, they were darn cute for those 10 seconds.



We had a handful of visitors and phone calls while we were there, and we really appreciate the patience everyone showed while we juggled visitors and phone calls between doctors, nurses, nursing, sleeping etc....It was nice to see and hear from you all.
Here is a picture of Becky Wilk holding Sequoia. Becky and Jeremiah were not only at the hospital almost everyday to visit, but they also took care of our dogs during the first few days we were at the hospital. They are the definition of good people!!


As everyone probably knows, Colleen and I are both the youngest of 6 kids and have correspondingly large extended families, most of whom live several states away. The only family members who were in a position to come for a visit while we were in the hospital were Colleen's parents John and Betty Murphy. Betty actually made it up from North Carolina in time for Sequoia's birth (thanks to the afore mentioned 26 hour labor) and will be staying with us for several weeks to help Colleen adjust to being a new mother.

Here is our friend Rebecca, better known as Ava's mom, holding Sequoia. Rebecca delivered Ava at the same hospital 2 months ago and had a remarkably similar delivery scenario. Ava arrived after 19 hours of labor turned into a cesarean birth. Yet another bond that Sequoia shares with her new best friend.







Our extended and widespread community of family and friends stretches pretty much all over the world and many people found ways to overcome the challenges of both time zones and our bizarre hospital schedule. I don't know how many phone calls went -" hey (insert name here), it's great to hear from you. Colleen and Sequoia are doing great but are in the middle of (insert distraction here) could you call back in(an overly optimistic estimate of the duration of the distraction). "
This is a picture of Colleen and Sequoia talking with her great and dear friend Karissa. The "Fall Free Zone" is a magnet that they put on our door frame after Colleen managed to wipe out and fall to the floor the first time the nurses tried to get her to stand up after surgery. I'm not sure why, but we got a real kick out of the sign - probably because Colleen has a knack for being a bit of a klutz. (which is surprising since she also is extremely coordinated and graceful...just another one of those contradictions designed to keep me guessing)




Most of my stay at the hospital was spent just staring at my amazingly beautiful little girl.

What else can I say....





Sequoia has a magnetic personality (according to me, her dad, and not up for discussion). Her eyes are very alert and she is hardwired to smile. I know that she has limited control over what she is doing now and her expressions and movements come from somewhere well beyond cognitive thought, but it is undeniable that she is a happy and peaceful soul. I'm not saying she can't let out a wail when it's appropriate, but in general, the world through her eyes is a good and happy place.


Well, here is our little girl headed home from the hospital. She probably logged more highway miles before birth than anyone else I know. She got to ride with mommy during mommy's commute to the Aquarium in Virginia Beach - well over an hour and a half each way. It was no surprise to us that Sequoia was as happy as can be during her first ride out of the womb. We are enjoying our first few hours at home with our new little girl and are glad to see that she has already laid down for two uncontested, two hour naps in her crib. That is a great sign and hopefully means she will not fight the idea of having her own room. I will post more updates with pictures as time permits.

Thanks again to everyone for the tremendous amounts of love and support we have received through this process. Our Sequoia is lucky to have all of you in her life.