The Big Arrival

The bean has arrived! We welcomed Ryan Durrance Blalock at 8:03a on Friday April 20th. Here are the baby stats:

Date/time: 4/20/12 8:03am CST
Weight: 8 lbs 1.8 oz
Length: 19.5 inches
Head circumference: 14 inches
Chest circumference: 13.5 inches

Ryan's arrival is a long story! As expected, I was induced due to the high blood pressure. It wasn't ideal since I wasn't progressed as far as they like to see for an induction to be successful, but the doc didn't want to risk the BP. So we went to the hospital at 1am on Thursday April 19th to start the process. They got me hooked up to Pitocin to get labor started, but it took a very long time for things to progress. There were a couple times where the doctor said if things didn't get better in X amount of time then we would have to do a C-section which I definitely did not want. But thankfully, whenever we got that threat I managed to progress enough that they let me keep going. It was a very, very long 30 hours before Ryan was finally born. He did great though, and only got distressed at the very end so while I was pushing the doc had to do some magic to get him out quickly. As soon as he was out he let out a big cry! They put him up on my belly right away and Mark was able to cut the umbilical cord. And then we got to see our little man for the first time!

We were at the hospital until yesterday afternoon. He came down with a bit of jaundice so they kept us a few hours longer than normal so they could check him and monitor his feeding/diapers. We had to retest at the hospital this morning and see the pediatrician and he's doing better so we're in the clear as long as he keeps eating well. After 4 days in the hospital we were VERY excited to come home.

Here's what we know about Ryan so far:

1) He has very long toes and feet
2) He hates being cold
3) He loves being swaddled
4) We aren't sure what color his eyes are at the moment; they are either very dark blue or brown
5) He inherited my difficult veins, so he has lots of band aids from the nurses trying to get blood for the various newborn tests

But of course what everyone wants are pictures!

Ryan's Arrival

We'll have lots more to share over the coming weeks/months I'm sure.

We're doing well now at home. We're still figuring thing out of course, but everyday we figure out a new trick or get better at something. He's not sleeping great at night, he likes to sleep during the day a lot. So we're both pretty tired. But loving every minute!