Heeeeere's Noah!!!

Noah Sebastian arrived at 8:28 p.m. June 21 after a long, hard day. He is big and beautiful and perfect! He was 9 lbs, 6 oz and 22.5 inches. He's quite a bruiser! We went in at 7 a.m. to be induced, but I was having some mild contractions already, so we asked if we could try just breaking my water and see if that would be enough to get things going and it was. Things progressed slowly but steadily. I made it to 5 cm before I asked for the epidural. Boy, am I thankful for epidurals! It didn't take on my right side, so a few hours later, we asked for a redose and that helped a lot. I was never completely numb, but it took most of the pain and I was still able to move and tell what was happening. I started pushing around 6 p.m. but he was lying face up, which is way difficult to deliver. I spent some time on my hands and knees which got him turned about halfway. He was sideways, which was still really hard. Our doctor ended up using a vacuum on him. It was a bit of a fight there at the end to get him out - the doctor was tugging, the nurse was shoving on my stomach, I was pushing - but we did it! He was healthy and fine, in spite of some meconium (poop) in the fluid that had folks concerned at first. He's doing really well. I'm wiped out, but getting better. He's been nursing a little - we're both trying to get the hang of it. Danny was an incredible labor partner. I am blessed with wonderful support. I don't know if I could have done it without him. And he's great with Noah. They're big buddies. We aren't sure who he looks like - maybe y'all can decide from the pictures. Thank you all very much for all the prayers, phone calls, and good thoughts. We appreciate them and we can't wait for you to meet our beautiful son!