Noah Ryan has arrived!

Noah arrived Sunday afternoon at 1:16pm! He's absolutely perfect and the most adorable little boy! He weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 and a half inches long. We were both in great condition and we were able to go home after 24 hours in the hospital. It was nice to come home and be able to get more rest. It was just too busy in the hospital. Now for the part I'm sure you're all waiting for.

I woke up at 4am Sunday morning with the most intense pain I had ever felt in my life! I had no idea what was going on. It took me until about 4:30 to realize it wasn't constant pain but coming and going. I started timing and realized the pain was coming about every five minutes. That's about the time I started thinking, maybe these are contractions...I had never felt them before so I wasn't positive but I went with it anyway. By 5am the contractions were already at 2 to 3 minutes apart but I had to wait for them to hit my hour mark and I didn't start timing until 4:30 so I still had a while. I decided to try showering to help relieve the pain. It helped somewhat but not as much as I had hoped.

At 6am we were finally on our way to the hospital, I was still not 100% sure it was really labor but I was giving it a shot anyway. Once I got into the exam room the nurse checked me and said I was 3.5cm and she'd move me to a room. I was so relieved it really was labor and they didn't just send me home. I was in my room by 6:45 and the nurse anesthetist was in almost immediately to start the epidural. At 7:30 I was pain free and relaxing in my bed. I had also progressed to 4cm. They started the antibiotics (I was GBS+) and I began my waiting time. At 8:45 my water broke on it's own and we found out Noah had passed meconium in the womb and would need to be suctioned after birth. 11am found me dilated to 9cm and 100% effaced. The Dr finally came in about 12:30 so I could start pushing and Noah was born at 1:16pm. Overall a very quick and easy labor and delivery. After suctioning Noah was given to me and has had a clear bill of health. While I am somewhat sore from everything I feel great overall.

We are about to give Noah his first bath at home so pictures will have to wait.

Dad is absolutely loving having his little boy to hold and is definitely making up for me carrying him for the last 9 months. :-) We are so happy to have him here and all of us healthy!