A lot of you have been wondering where I’ve been the last few weeks. I haven’t been online much and while the work and photography has continued (especially family portraits over the holidays) my blog has been neglected. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I now have a whole bunch of stuff to blog about.

But first things first.

My third son, Paul Phillip Vigil, was born last week…

This image was taken just a few seconds after the cord was cut. Our amazing doctor, Dr. Fredrick, had pulled him out and was handing him to our midwife, Diane Tandy, the second most amazing woman in the world.

Not only was Paul our third son, he was also C-section #3 for my wife. The first was an emergency section, when Abraham decided that he wanted to go breach. Then Joseph put her into the hospital for two and half weeks before he decided to make an entrance at 32 weeks (that’s about 2 months preemie). Paul made it to 36 weeks which was a real blessing, but that meant a lot of bed rest for Maria over the last couple months. The last time we did this it was difficult, sure, but this time we have 2 boys in school with school drop-off and pickup, packing lunches every day, breakfast and showers, and holiday programs to go to, and, and, and… and the respect I already had for Maria was really hammered home and I’m so so so thankful for the amazing wife she is and has been for her 3, now 4, boys.

Paul is doing great but he’s still in NICU working on breathing a little better and we hope he’s home in a few days. Your prayers in this regard are greatly appreciated! I’m so proud of Joseph when we kneel down to pray at night and he prays that “my brother, baby Paul, gets better very soon and comes home” or when Abraham tells me he’s sad because he misses baby Paul.

I’ve been in the O.R. for each one. At the same time as I’m there holding hands with Maria, I’m snapping away. When I try to put the camera away, she tells me to keep taking pictures. Before long the staff are into it and both Diane and Dr. Fredrick are prepping me and telling me what they are doing and making sure I don’t miss an important shot. I’ll spare you blood and gore ’cause this is a blood-free blog and Maria probably doesn’t want her insides all over the internet.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and help!

Ben Vigil, blessed to be Paul’s father