IT'S A GIRL! (A Dad Post)

Well friends, it's official...

The Littlest Hunter has arrived!

Kennedy Rose Hunter was born July 5th, 2010 at 3:25pm. She weighed in at 6 pounds 9 ounces and measured 19 inches long. Long, dark, curly hair and big blue eyes.

While Amanda takes a well-deserved rest, Daddy Greg is taking over. I'm sure she'll return soon to gush and relay all the beautiful details as only she can, but for now you're going to have to make due with a secondhand account of yesterday's events.

We'll begin at the beginning. The words, "Greg, I think my water broke." will wake you up faster than any alarm ever could. I heard them a little before 8 am yesterday. Turns out she thought correctly. We called our doctor who told us to proceed to the hospital. We were in a room with Amanda in bed by 8:30 am, thanks to some solid pre-planning, Amanda's incredibly calm nerves and the V6 engine in our new Accord.

The first examination by the nurse revealed that not only had Amanda's water definitely broken, but she was already dilated 4 centimeters! This after not being dilated at all at her last doctor appointment. That kind of quick progress was a sign of things to come.

The following 7 hours can best be described as... well it can't really be described. It was incredibly fast, completely surreal and absolutely amazing. There was never a dull moment. Every time the nurse checked, Amanda had made substantial progress. It seemed like once we had finished all our paperwork, answered all the questions and contacted all the people we needed to contact, it was time to push.

Amanda suffered through four or five contractions after we first arrived before the wonderfully amazing miracle that is the epidural came into play. She was comfortable after that, save for a couple times when the epidural needed to be kicked up a notch. Which the hospital staff did with thankful quickness.

It was just Amanda, myself and the nurse in the room for the majority of the process. Our doctor emerged when we were a couple pushes away, and just before the final push about eight super-stealthy ninja doctors suddenly appeared.

This is the part where I have to mention how incredibly strong, brave and awe-inspiring my wife is. I don't think I could possibly have more respect for someone than I have for her right now. Simply amazing.

To wrap things up, Kennedy arrived after one last push, was quickly cleaned up and was at last in her mother's arms. It was truly a life-changing moment.

To top things off, both Amanda and my parents were able to make it in town in time to be in the waiting room. I think they were put through more waiting than their nerves preferred, but in the end it was worth it for them all to see their new granddaughter on the day she was born.

Okay-okay. One last thing before I finally wrap this up. For those thinking about waiting to find out the sex of their child until birth, the moment when you step out into the waiting room, look into your parents eyes and tell them, "It's a Boy/Girl!" is one of the most emotionally overwhelming things you'll ever do. I highly recommend it.

Alright. That's it for me. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, texts, emails and calls. We've been overwhelmed ourselves with the outpouring of love and support.

With Love,

Greg, Amanda and Kennedy Rose