Ryan's Arrival

Boy does "Time Fly".  It is hard to believe this little huddle of joy came into our family about 8 months ago.  We sure do love little Ryan (as you can tell by all the pictures).  We were lucky to not have any jealousy issues with the siblings.  Tucker and Ethan were super excited to have a new baby brother in the house.

Don't you love how he is "checking him out"?!

Super excited to meet baby brother Ryan!!

Nana was awesome and came the week of my due date (the other two boys came 1.5 weeks early).  It was so nice having her at our home to take care of the older boys.  It made my labor/delivery and hospital stay so much easier because I knew my boys were taken care of.  

A BIG thanks to Nana for all she did.

Ethan's turn to inspect the baby.

It seems silly to update on the birth of Ryan when he is so old, but it is important and needs to be done.  It would seem wrong to just skip it.  After 1.5 weeks of having contractions 6-12 hours a day, my husband was going crazy not knowing when our baby was coming.  I was exhausted by the end of most days, but I was happy and comfortable to wait until baby Ryan decided to come out.  With a few days before my due date I was dilated to 5cm and it was making my husband nervous that he would miss the delivery because once I hit 7cm the baby is out in about 30 minutes.  So we called my amazing Doctor and she agreed to break my water.  Nothing really happened the first 4 hours after breaking my water, but once the 4th hour came it all went fast.  I was only in labor for 3.5 hours and I did NOT have to be put on "the pit".  I was able to keep my goal of going completely NATURAL...that's right.  I did it without any pain killers what so ever.  I am pretty proud of myself for keeping that goal.  This birthing experience was by far my favorite.  I didn't have to be put on "the pit" and the whole time it was quiet and peaceful.  The only people who entered my room was one nurse and my doctor.  They let me hold Ryan immediately and for a long time (probably about 10 minutes).  It was so wonderful.