Introducing Ryan!

I needed to make this blog official, though most of you already know...

Ryan Marshall was born on Thursday, December 15 at 10:47 am.  He was 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long!

My labor and delivery was expected to be a smooth one and started out that way.  I went in on Sunday having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, but I never progressed so they sent me home.  The rest of the week was uneventful and I was scheduled to be induced starting Wednesday night.  By 2 am, I had my epidural and was resting.  The girls were with Pops & Lolly.  I texted my mom at 7:30 to head on up because I was at an 8.  Unfortunately, that's where things got interesting.  I started pushing at 9ish.  Ryan's heart rate was dropping every time I pushed.  It would recover quickly, so they let me keep going.  They thought his cord was wrapped around his neck, so they kept watching him very closely.  They finally decided to use a suction cup on his head (aka vacuum) to get him out.  Normally this is only done for 5 minutes.  Silly boy wasn't budging and his heart rate continued to drop.  After 8 minutes, the doctor said I had one push to get him out or we would be going for an emergency c-section.   Thankfully, he finally came out!  He was a pound bigger than the girls!  I was shocked he was so big.  Because of the scares he gave us, there were about 10 extra people in the room when he was born - the anesthesiologist, NICU nurses and I don't even know who else.  He quickly was cleaned up and checked out and was 100% OK.  Thank you God!

The first thing I noticed about him was his dimple on his right cheek...so cute!  His poor head was pretty beat up from the suction, but he was beautiful to me! 

That's a bruise on his poor head.  Luckily, it's almost gone now. 

Meeting his sisters for the first time.  Landrie didn't want to hold him until late Friday.  Karsyn couldn't keep her hands off from the very beginning.

Meeting Pops & Lolly

Meeting Grandpa & Gigi

Going home on Saturday 12-17-11.