Brenden, Jon and I are back from the hospital. Matter of fact we left a day early because I didn't see any reason for us to stay.

For a quick recap, before Brenden wakes up: I couldn't sleep at all Sunday night. When 4am rolled around, Jon and Andrea woke up. We gathered some last minute items and we arrived at the hospital at 5. By six I had my L&D room; was dressed in a gown and was hooked up to an IV. By 6:30 I was in the O.R; by 6:45 I had received the spinal block and the docs were all business by then. I was layed out on this operating table, my arms out and loosely tied down. They draped a drape between my head and my belly, and at that point both Jon and Andrea were allowed in to watch.

Jon gave me progress reports of what the doc was doing; all I felt was pull-pull-tug-tug-yank-yank and I kept thinking "when is he going to cut?" Jon then said "It's almost over" and I'm still feeling pull-pull-tug-tug-yank-yank and then a big PUSH and I heard a baby cry. A few seconds later, someone brought the kid around to the other side of the curtain, and I saw this little baby - he was wet, but he wasn't bloody or covered in vernix at all. He had his eyes open, and they were wild and staring and I realized then that he had the same exact look on his face that I had on mine: "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!!?"

They whisk him away so Jon tells me what the doc is doing while stitching me up - including pulling my uterus out to examine it. Jon's taking this well but I'm a little tensed up so they give me something to relax. They brought the kid back in after a while and I spend some time looking at him and Jon gets to hold him. Me, I'm sinking into a Demerol haze and can't remember much after that but I'm simply astonished that something so perfect could come out of me. I'll write more later; but just so you know: Brenden Edward Maynard was born June 6th, 2005 at 6:53 A.M. 8 pounds, 2 ounces, 21 inches.