Happy Birthday, Declan!

He's here!

I went in at 6 am for my induction. By 7:30, the contractions were strong and 2 minutes apart. By noon, I was dilated 6 cm and begging for i.v. pain meds! Unfortunately, they made me sick. So around 1:30, I got an epidural - it was heaven!! I took a nap. When I woke up at 3, I had gone from 6 cm to 9 cm!

So then I suffered through an hour of strong contractions, and reached a full 10 cm. I started pushing at 4 pm. The nurse said, "With first babies, you usually have to push for anywhere from an hour to three hours. So don't expect him before 5 o'clock."

Turns out, I'm a good pusher. Aaron was at my head, counting to ten with each push and being a perfect coach. My mom held up one leg while the nurse held up the other. By 4:30, his head was crowning, I was told to stop pushing, and the doctor was called in. One last push, and his head was out. The hugest sense of relief washed over me as the doctor delivered the rest of his body, then placed him on my chest.

He was wet and a little slimy, his skin was a weird lavender-blue color, and he had a cone-head, but I was immediately in love. I said, "Hi Baby!" He opened one eye and looked at me. I stroked his warm little arms and legs. He didn't cry, just kind of gurgled protests as the nurse rubbed his vigorously.

They took him to the warming table, where he was weighed, measured, and dried off. (Stats: 8 lbs, 13 oz, 20 inches long, head circumference of 15 inches!) They put on a diaper, wrapped him in a blanket, put on his hat, and handed him to Aaron, who practically hasn't put him down since then. Once I was all stitched up, I nursed him for 45 minutes - he was such a hungry boy! He nursed perfectly.

Now we're all settled in our room, Declan is fast asleep, and Aaron and I are just staring at him.

I'll have a lot more pictures soon, but for now, these are the ones Katherine took on her iPhone -