Cayden Merle Linton

Well the wait is finally over. We have our wonderful baby boy. Cayden Merle Linton was born on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:31 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. He looks a lot like his daddy. We are so happy to have him here.

Our doctor had told us to check into the hospital on Thursday at 11:00 pm. We were excited that Katie would be induced the next morning and we could have our baby. Thursday night Katie and I had gone to a Maya 2008 (the software that I use at school for animation - 2008 is the newest version) release party, but while there we got a phone call from the hospital saying that we wouldn't be able to check in that night because they didn't have any beds for us. So we were told to call later or else just go in the next morning. A little while later we got another phone call from the hospital saying that we would have a room afterall but it wouldn't be ready until about 11 or 12 pm. So Katie and I went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory after the release party and had a nice meal together. Then we headed for the hospital.

We made it to the hospital just before midnight. They checked us in and got Katie all hooked up to the monitors, etc. We had a wonderful nurse named Alissa that took great care of Katie and I that first night.

This is where I got to sleep. Comfy huh?

Doesn't Katie look great? This is her that 1st

night at the hospital.

We didn't get much sleep that night. In fact we didn't make it to bed until after 2:00 am. So it was quite the long night. Friday morning came way to quickly. We were woken up at 7:00 by our new nurse Barb to start the whole labor process off. They started Katie on Pitocin which started her contractions. It wasn't until about 11:30 that our doctor, Michael Johnson, actually came and broke her water. Once that happened it wasn't long before the epidural came in handy. Once that was in place we were set. Then it was just a waiting game.

At about 6:00pm or so our delivery nurse, Autumn, prepped everyone and got everything for delivery. Our doctor showed up and it was show time. There just happened to be another lady delivering her 4th child at the same time Katie was delivering. So about halfway through our delivery our doctor announced that he had to go deliver this other baby and that he would be back. So we were just supposed to hang out and wait for him to get back. Katie was feeling cold and our nurse gave her blankets to help her feel warmer. She put one on her stomach and she wrapped one around her head.

Katie resting while our doctor went to deliver another baby. Doesn't she look like Mary?

Once our doctor returned it wasn't long until our little one made his entrance into this life. He was so sweet and precious from the first moment we saw him. He kind of gave us a scare because he had a hard time taking breath for a minute or so. But the nurses were terrific and in no time they handed us our precious baby boy for the first time.

He has been such a good baby. We stayed for another day and half and were finally able to bring him home today, Sunday, December 9, 2007 at about 4:00 pm.

He was so little his clothes didn't even fit him right.

It has been a long couple of days, but we are so happy to have Cayden with us now. He is so special and we love him very much. We hope all of you are doing well and can't wait until you can all meet him. We love you very much!

Lots of love,

Jared, Katie, and Cayden