Welcome, Eamon Joseph!

Yes, our baby is finally here! Eamon Joseph Flynn arrived right on time, at 4:04 p.m. on Sunday, August 17, 2008. After a couple of nights in the hospital, we returned home yesterday afternoon and the little guy is settling in well to his new home. Here are some more details on EJF and the "Labor Day".

THE NAME: After months of deliberation, Mark and I settled on Eamon (pronuced Ay-min; think "Damon" without the D), which fit our desire of being both unique and Irish/Gaelic in origin. To come up with our rather lengthy list of possibilities, we scoured name lists from Ireland, read Irish newspapers, perused Irish football and rugby rosters, and spent many hours brainstorming. I'd originally fallen in love with the name way back in high school after reading about Irish running great Eamon Coughlin and had stored it in my memory bank as a potential boy's name. We were still debating when I went into labor; watching the Olympics and seeing Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan in the finals on Saturday night was the sign we needed to finally seal the deal.

The name, which means "protector" and is also the Gaelic version of Edmund, is doubly significant in that the "E" is in honor of Earl Metz, Mark's maternal grandfather. The middle name, is, of course, is for Grandpop (Joseph O'Connell) as well as for Mark, whose middle name is also Joseph.

THE STATS: Eamon entered the world weighing a whopping 9 pounds, .07 ounces. At 20.5 inches long, he's no string bean. Rather, the word "sturdy" was tossed about quite a bit in the hospital. Looks like he's bound for the defensive line, but I can still hope for a distance running star...

THE LOOKS: Still basking in that newborn glow, we're not quite sure who Eamon resembles, although I'm seeing more of Mark than me or anyone in my family. He's sporting a downy head of darkish hair, light eyebrows, a nice, square jawline, two big grayish eyes (which perhaps will go lighter), and the makings of dimples in each of his chubby cheeks. The one feature he does have of mine thus far are extra-long fingers and toes and oval fingernails.

OTHER PERTINENT INFO: Because of his rather rough entry into the world, which included 15 hours of hard labor (he was flipped over and facing up as opposed to face-down, making for a more difficult delivery) and one hour of pushing, Eamon suffered a broken humeris bone (that's the one between the elbow and the shoulder). It's a clean break that's currently being held in place by a rather spiffy set-up (er, a basic ace bandage wrap). The orthopedist didn't want to cast it, and said that the injury should start to heal in a week. Aside from the fact that I'm sure he'd love to be using his right arm as much as he is the left, Eamon doesn't seem to bothered by it. All of the cute outfits will have to wait--it's kimono tops for now until the injury heals. He can, however, rock whatever pants, socks, and hats he wants, so do expect to see some pictures of at least a half-dressed baby boy!

Lots of pictures to come (thanks to Keren for the one posted here)! And I'm sure I'll eventually write up a much more detailed version of the labor and delivery. For those of you who are so inclined to hear about it, check our Baby Blog for an update soon.