Aaron Tyler Bell

The little tyke is here. Born weighing 8 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches long, this little guy began life on Sunday, July 15, 2007 at 3:56pm Pacific Time.Being this big, it's no wonder Angela had a 45" tummy right before delivering.Angela had a very good pregnancy with no complications. She didn't deliver until 4 days after her due date (July 11). We were scheduled to deliver the baby at Summerlin hospital near our home, but there is a baby boom in Las Vegas right now, so there was no room there. Instead we went to Valley Hospital about 25 minutes from our home. Saturday morning we went into the hospital for a contraction test (which is a test that tests how your body and baby handles contractions that most doctors don't do) at 9am. She was at a 2 when we went in for the test and progressed to a 3 after 2 hours of testing. The Hospital decided to admit us, but our doctor told them to have us go home. He was being inaugurated as President of the Clark County Medical District from 6-9pm that night. So he scheduled us to come back in that night at 10pm. At 10pm she was still a 3. They put her on Cervidil which looks like a little tiny tea bag that they put under the cervix for 12 hours to soften it. We slept at the hospital until 7am when they checked her again. She was dilated to a 4 but not yet in active labor. At 8am they induced labor by breaking her water. Angela hadn't had any painful contractions up to that point. Immediately contractions began 2-3 minutes apart and the pain-fest began. Luckily her contractions were regular enough that they gave her an epidural at 9am. It only took about 10 minutes before all the pain went away. She had dilated to a 5 already. With the epidural Angela was feeling good enough that she took a nap and watched some TV. She had to wear an oxygen mask at times because Aaron's heart rate would drop during some of the heavier contractions. They checked her again at 1:30pm and she was dilated to a 7, and by 2pm she was up to a 10. The nurses turned off the epidural so that she would be able to push more effectively. At 2:30 she began pushing.
It took 1 and a half hours of pushing until Aaron was born at 3:56pm. He was so cute. He had a big cone head from the lengthy pushing session. They weighed him, measured him, cleaned him up and then handed him to me (Eric). Angela wasn't able to hold him just yet because the doctor saw that the placenta wasn't going to come out on its own due to the umbilical cord detaching from it. He had to remove the placenta manually which is not a fun thing to do. Often times if the placenta isn't located near the opening then they have to do a C-section for the placenta. Angela said delivering the placenta hurt much worse than the labor.
After about 20-30 minutes the doctor was done with Angela and she got to hold Aaron. We both cried. It was pretty cool all the emotions felt during those first few minutes of Aaron's life. We held him for a while until they took him to the nursery to check him out. So far there is absolutely nothing wrong with him. They checked him to see if his blood sugar was normal since he was a large baby, but he is normal. He isn't fat at all, just big and tall. He has a little peach fuzz on his head. All the nurses were amazed with how long his toes and feet are. He definitely got that from Angela. He has Angela's nose. I haven't been able to find anything that he inherited from me yet. Time will show more.
He has been sleeping a lot these first few days. He has taken to nursing like a pro. We took him home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Angela's mom arrived in town to help Angela recover this week. She has been a big help so far. Angela can hear him crying even when he isn't, so that is tricky. Our first night at home was pretty easy and we both got a pretty good night's sleep thanks to Angela's mom. It has been a great experience so far having Aaron and we are happy as 2 parents can be.