Introducing Paxson Revel

I have the tune of the song "Here comes the son" in my head.  I know the Beatles were talking about the large fiery object that keeps us warm, but Revel's kind of a large fiery object that will keep Team Wilco warm, anyway.  Well, words don't really describe it, but maybe a whole bunch of pictures will.  Paxson Revel was born last night at 7:58 PM, weighing in at 7 pounds 2 ounces.  He's 20 inches long, with a head 12.5 inches around and a chest 13 inches around.  As I type, he is almost one day old.  Here he is, right out of the gate:

The basic story is this.  On account of being a week late, and recognizing that we'd eventually need to make our way back to the great white north, we decided to induce labor.  The oxytocin got things going, but it took most of the day to dilate to 4 cm.  We caught up on some reading, and did some scenic hospital walking to pass the day.

That's Genevieve walking with her outstanding Nurse Midwife, Nancy Everett.  When we told her Baby's name was Revel, she said with no hesitation, "Like Revelstoke?"  That's right, she knows some things.  (She lived up in BC for a while.)  Anyway, at about 5 or 6 PM, things started getting serious.  Due to her amazing pain tolerance, one of the nurses described Genevieve as "bionic woman".  A few pushes, and we could see little PR's hairy head poking out.  And then, boom, there he was, all wrapped up in the old umbilical cord.  Nancy and the nurses untangled him as he came out. Up he went into Genevieve's arms and calmed right down.  I had the honor of cutting the umbilical cord, although I didn't follow my boss's suggestion and do it with a buck knife.  At any rate, see below for lots of Paxson Revel photos.  And of course, they are all on our flickr page.

 

And once he grows just a little bit, we'll be able to dress him appropriately:

Thank you, Kate!

We'd also like to dedicate the song mentioned at the beginning of this blog to all those who voted yesterday.  It really was starting to feel like a long cold lonely winter.  Politically, I mean.  Hooray for change!  Maybe our new representatives will vote to make torture illegal again!  That would be awesome.