Introducing Ryan Andrew!

Last Wednesday, I had written a post and was planning on publishing it that night. The post basically complained about still being pregnant. Then I went into labor. 

Still, there were a few things from that post I wanted to highlight. First, Emily made her brother a bear. We went to Build-A-Bear and Emily picked out a new teddy to give to her brother when he made his arrival. 

She filled it with stuffing...

...and gave it a bath. 

Additionally, last week I had what ended up being my final prenatal doctor's appointment. At my appointment Wednesday, things were progressing as you'd expect. My doctor said it could be any day now, but there's really no way to tell. What she meant to say was, "it's going to be tonight."

My final "bump" picture. 

Last Wednesday morning I woke up to pretty bad low back pain and a pretty tough contraction. It subsided so I didn't think much of it. At around 4pm I started having more contractions. They were somewhat irregular, but painful. I hung out with Emily for about an hour, just trying to ignore them. That didn't work. When Paul finished up work around 5:15, I tried taking a bath, but the contractions continued. Finally around 6:15, contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart, I called my on-call doctor to say I think I'm in labor. She was supposed to call back within about 15 minutes. We left for the hospital before hearing back. I tried calling again on the way, but didn't hear back. I later found out she was in back-to-back emergency c-sections. 

Emily watching some Mickey while Mommy's in labor. 

Anyway, I'm glad we left when we did, by the time we got to the hospital my contractions were about 3 minutes apart. By the time my IV was placed and I had signed all necessary paperwork, they were 2 minutes apart. And painful. This was about 7:30pm. Around 9pm the nurse gave me Nubain for the pain. Which basically makes you feel high. I could still feel the contractions, but they were much more manageable. At 10:30pm, my doctor came in and broke my water; I was about halfway at this point. At 11pm I got the epidural and at 11:50pm the nurse said I was ready to go! We waited for the doctor to come in around 12:05am. Two contractions later and he was here at 12:15am. 

He was screaming, as all just-born babies do, and I said hi to him. He looked up at me and I swear he recognized me (my voice). 

He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. A bit smaller than his sister, who weighed 8 pounds and was 20.5 inches long. 

Emily came by the hospital later that day to meet her baby brother. 

Little brother and big sister meeting. 

She is already taking quite a liking to him and embracing her new role as "big sister."

Reading Pete the Cat to him. 

Nia came by and met her new birthday buddy!

RA also got to meet his Pop-pops. 

My little burrito baby, all wrapped up.

I'm already pretty obsessed with this little man. 

We decided to get an earlier discharge so we could get home to big sister Emily. Technically if he had been born 16 minutes earlier, we would've been discharged on Friday. Because he was born Thursday morning, we were supposed to be there until Saturday. 

Got his monogram on, ready to go. 

And we're outta here!

Officially a family of four!

We have RA's first pediatrician's appointment tomorrow, as well as newborn photos being taken. I'll try to update later, maybe this weekend. For now I'll just be cuddling my babies and adjusting to life as a mom of two. Until the next update, a few more pictures...

These two. 

Almost done!

It's been about 2 weeks since I last posted. We've had some beautiful weather (and some not-so-beautiful weather), which allowed us to get outside and play. We also made a trip to the zoo for Mother's Day, along with, apparently, everyone else in the city of Pittsburgh.

Emily twirling around in the yard.

Paul's parents came into town and we went out for a nice family dinner. Emily got to wear her new pretty dress (her cousin Riley has a matching dress - there will be pictures of them together this summer).

Wearing her pretty dress with Anna hair (two braids).

Emily loves to paint, so we got out her new painting supplies and went to town. Our living room was covered in new masterpieces. We also played a fun game where Emily painted a picture for her brother... on my belly...

She actually enjoyed this, and asked to do it again later.

For Mother's Day we opted to have a family brunch at home. Emily helped me make homemade french toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. We had quite the feast, and got to eat it all in our pajamas. My kind of Mother's Day!

Whisking up the french toast batter.

Lately, Em has been really into taking care of her baby dolls. Sometimes she's her babies' mommy, other times she's the big sister. Either way, she loves to rock them and pat them night-night. I just finished getting Ryan Andrew's stuff all washed and ready for him, so it was obviously the perfect time for Emily to commandeer the bassinet and his receiving blankets.

I think someone is going to make an excellent big sister.

As I mentioned, I've recently washed all of RA's blankets and clothes and started to get everything put together and ready for him. The bassinet is all set up in our room and the car seat has been recently washed and ready to go in the car. I think we are mostly ready. Mostly. Like, if he were to come today, we wouldn't be out of luck. I even threw some things in a hospital bag after having a dream I went into labor and had to call my aunts (in Richmond?) to pack my bag.

The last big step I wanted to get done before his arrival, was prepping some freezer meals. I bought a frozen pizza and a frozen lasagna, and then whipped up a couple of meals to throw in the crock pot. Getting all that ready took maybe 30 minutes?

Beef fajitas, shredded lime pork, and chicken Philly cheesesteaks, all ready for once baby arrives.

I'm now 38 weeks along, I have under 2 weeks until my due date. I'm still calling for him to come on his due date (5.31), but, we will see. I'm up about 45 pounds at this point. I think that's about what I gained total with Emily, so, very similar.

At 37 weeks, RA had definitely dropped!

I'm going to the doctor every week, which is super fun. Everything looks good, though, which is always reassuring. We've begun discussing how long I'll go, just to get an idea of our plans. I don't think we'll let him cook too long after my due date, just because 1) I think this guy is already gonna be pretty huge and 2) we have a move to prepare and get ready for. But, I'm hoping he comes on his own!

At 38 weeks - with a new haircut! 

Here's a comparison picture, looking at (from left to right) 35, 37, and 38 weeks. There's a definite lightening happening from 35-37 weeks, and I think he may have even dropped some more at 38 weeks.

35, 37, and 38 weeks

That's it for now! Maybe one more entry before Ryan Andrew's debut, depending on when he decides to grace us with his presence!

Maternity Photos

I'm a little over 36 weeks at this point. I had my doctor's appointment yesterday. Ryan Andrew looks good. His heart rate is still around 150, which goes against the old wives' tale for baby boys. He seems to be in position and ready to go, although it could still be a while before he makes his debut. I'm basically having Braxton-Hicks contractions most of the day, coupled with cramping and low-back pain. So I'm cool if he wants to come a little early. 

We had our maternity/family pictures taken a little over a week ago when I was about 35 weeks along. We used Lovas Photography (http://www.lovasphotos.com). Rachel was wonderful and she'll also be taking our newborn photos when Ryan Andrew gets here! 

Here are some of our favorites!

So that's it for now! I go back to the doctor next week to check on RA and see if we've made any progress. His clothes have been washed, just need to get his bassinet and Moses basket ready for his arrival. I plan on starting to make some freezer meals this weekend and then maybe I'll pack our hospital bags next week. Maybe...