The Big Day!!!

We were not able to get a time slot for the 23rd, so we had to wait till the 26th to meet our little man!

We had a nice last weekend as a family of 3, nothing too exciting, just hung out together.

Nana and Papa came up Sunday night with the intention of staying with Ramey while we had the c/s... well I decided I wanted them at the hospital. We were lucky enough to have great friends willing to watch her that morning, so Nana and Papa dropped her off at their house then headed to the hospital to wait...

One last baby belly shot

Time to get ready...

And at 9:01 am on July 26, 2010 Ethan Thomas made his entrance into the world. (Apgar scores of 8 & 9, which when I hear thought was his weight...) He weighed 8lbs even and was 19 1/2 inches long, a bit smaller than Ramey, but looks exactly like she did, minus all the crazy hair.
It took a while to get things "closed up" as I had some scare tissue from when Ramey was born and the OB did stitches, rather than staples. (It's this last part of the c/s that I do not like... they did give something extra to help as well as something for the wave of nausea I felt, overall the drug guys took great care of me)

I did have a case of the Papa's... my heart rate kept dropping below 50, which the machine did not like so it kept setting off alarms, never got as low as Papa's but enough that the nurse kept a close eye on me. Guess I naturally have a low heart rate and blood pressure. I must have been doing well enough as she let me have ice chips before heading up to my postpartum room.

A room with a view doesn't do justice for my room. I remember doing the tour of the hospital before Ramey's arrival and thought how great it would be to have such a view... then Ramey wasn't even born at Prentice... well we ended up getting our view after all!!!

As I was being wheeled into the room I caught a glimpse of the lake between buildings and thought, nice we can see the lake! Little did I know that next to that building was a park which gave us an almost panoramic view! Well worth the wait.

The view from my bed... I could get used to this!

After Ramey's nap time (or what was supposed to be nap time) Nana brought her to meet her little brother! She was more interested in the buses (& boats) down below but eventually fell in love with him!!!
Before 24 hrs had passed... I was sitting up, eating and even walking!!! (I was determined to loose all cords/tubes attached to me as quickly as possible) I kept my feet elevated as much as possible and drank a lot of water to keep the swelling under control... it worked! The OB was impressed with my minimal/non-existent swelling!

Ron and Nana brought Ramey to visit each day, so I got my daily hugs and kisses from her! They took turns taking her to the park or for a long walk in hopes of a nap (only worked once) She loves her little brother and wants to give him kisses all day long. (have video of meeting, will have to upload later)

The hospital has a new hearing screening machine which a large portion of babies fail... Ethan was one of them... took 3 tries, but he finally passed!!

Ethan did have to come home with some bili lights for jaundice... more to come on that...

Blue Cross and my OB said I could stay till Fri, but choose to go home Thur afternoon... still undecided if that was a good idea or not... Was great to be able to sit on the couch and sleep in my own bed.

Overall, good experience and we couldn't be happier or more in love!!