Our New Arrival

Well, last night, God said it was time.

I began having extremely strong contractions at about 9:30, almost out of nowhere, and went from 1 to 4 centimeters in about an hour.

I was prepped very quickly for surgery- Rhys was not enjoying my contractions, so they wanted to get him out as soon as possible. This meant I had to have a spinal block- kind of scary. The spinal made my blood pressure drop a lot, causing me to begin vomiting, and I was having such bad chills they had to strap me down because I couldn't be still. It was all very dramatic.

In the OR we had about 15 people. Crazy! Not only did I have a team of doctors, nurses, and anesthesiologists,  but Rhys had an entire team from the NICU waiting for him.

The first words we heard from the doctor were "What a beautiful baby!" Then, I heard the most beautiful sound I think I've ever heard- my baby's cry. I was so happy his lungs were developed enough for him to cry, I began to cry myself. The docs called out his height and weight for me, since I couldn't see: 3 pounds, 3 ounces and 16 inches.  The entire process was very quick and surreal.

Before they took Rhys to the NICU, they brought him by quickly for me to see him. I was lovestruck. He is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.

So far, Rhys is doing pretty well in the NICU. He hit a bit of a rough patch last night, so he had to be intubated, and was given nitric oxide. By this afternoon they had reduced his oxygen supplement by about 70%. They have had to work pretty hard to help him keep up his breathing. Please be praying that his lungs will begin to work just as they should.

Here are just a few pics taken with Thomas's cellphone. Poor baby was trying to sleep, and we kept bothering him. I'll try to post some more pics, or maybe even a video tomorrow.