Hello Ryder

I've mentioned him in almost all the posts I've written recently. So let me introduce you to our newest family member.

This is Ryder:


I've learned some things this time around that I didn't learn with Claire. As far as a birth experience, Claire was induced, Ryder was not. Having your water break at home...is a huge mess. When you're 38.5 weeks pregnant and your water breaks as you lay down to go to bed, your will probably think something like, "How in the world do I get to the bathroom and then out of the house without making an even bigger mess?" Then you will have to call your husband on your cell phone (which is hopefully within reach of your bed), because leaving a trail of amniotic fluid everywhere would be gross. Towels, lots of towels, are the answer to most of your problems.

I couldn't actually remember my doctor's instructions about what to do if my water broke. To be honest, I thought I would go way over my due date and end up being induced again. So I called Justin (he was in the basement) and pretty much said, "I need you now, my water just broke". Then as he contemplated how to clean up the mess, I called my mom because she was the one taking me to the hospital. She'd been over earlier that evening, apparently she should've just stayed. Then I got a shower and my mom showed up and we went to the ER (because it was about 11:30pm at that point).

My water broke at 11:00pm...we got checked in around 11:45pm...Ryder was born at 1:53am. Let me tell you how glad I am that we didn't wait any longer to go in. I just barely got an epidural and by the time I did get an epidural, I could barely hold still for it since I was having so many contractions. Which was a bit surprising because I hadn't had a single contraction until at least 15 minutes after my water broke.

So, Ryder was born at 1:53am. He was 8lbs and almost 2 oz. I think he is the most adorable little baby boy in the whole world (but I could be a bit biased). He has reddish hair and dark blue/gray eyes (although they still could change to brown like Claire & Anaya's).

Expect to see lots of this little boy. Especially for the next 6 weeks (well, 4.5 weeks at this point) while I'm home on maternity leave.