Meet Baby Ryan

My son is here. Finally. And he is absolutely perfect. 

Trying to get rid of some jaundice

  

With Grandpa

I am loving being a mother. Sometimes I just look at him and can't help but cry because I'm so happy to be his mom. I feel so blessed, and I love him beyond words. He is my little prince.

Here's the rundown.

All day Sunday I was having really bad back pain. I couldn't get comfortable. Nothing seemed to work.

Around 6:00, Jess and I headed to my parents house for dinner. As soon as I sat down at the table, things started to get worse. I had to keep standing up and walking around. Finally my mom said, "Are you sure you aren't having contractions and not just back pain?" I thought about it and realized that the pains had changed a bit. So I whipped out my handy-dandy cell phone timer and began to check for a pattern. In the meantime, Jess left to grab our hospital bags at home...just in case. But this time it was 7:00. It didn't take me long to realize that I was in fact having contractions first every three and half minutes, then every three, then two and a half, each lasting a minute long. They were getting more intense as time went on. Finally, I called Jess and demanded, "Where are you? We need to get to the hospital!" Luckily, he was walking up to the front door just then. We got into the car and the pain continued to increase. Jess let me squeeze his hand with each one.

We got to the hospital around 7:45, checked in, and they took me back to see how far I was dilated. I was already to a 7. They took me to labor and delivery and began to prepare me for my epidural. By the time they got that started, it was almost 9 (if I remember right), and I was dilated to an 8. This is when things got much better. Jess was cracking all kinds of weird jokes and my mom, dad, and I were all laughing. I felt great. My dad and Jess got pure enjoyment out of watching the screen that showed my contractions and seeing which ones were the worst. It became a competition. I didn't mind because I couldn't feel them. I only knew I was having one because my whole body would shake a ton. 

Jess acting as catcher for the baby

Jess watching my contractions

Around 11:30 I started pushing. Jess was amazing. He kept encouraging me to keep going. He breathed in with me. He held my hand when things got tough. He kissed my forehead. He definitely made things a lot better. 

An hour later at 12:27 AM on September 6, Ryan Jess was born. He was 7 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long. I watched the whole thing in a mirror and was so glad that I did. Seeing his little head for 45 minutes of my hour long pushing extravaganza was the only thing that kept me pushing.

Immediately after he was born, they placed him in my arms and I was instantly in love with my sweet boy. Everything about him was, and still is, perfect. He is such a good baby.

I am thoroughly enjoying taking care of my child. It is hard. The work is never ending. I'm super busy. But I love every minute of it. It's so worth it. 

I'm definitely glad to have him out of my tummy and into my arms!

I love you Ryan!