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Around 8:00 on Friday night, while we were having dinner at home, Laura’s water broke.  We were sort of surprised; this was the first sign we had that
she was going into labor.  While we gathered our stuff and headed to the hospital, she started getting more painful contractions. They got stronger over the next couple of hours, while we got checked in, evaluated, and finally moved into a birthing suite.

Laura got an epidural at around 11:00 pm, which made a world of difference.  Sometime around 1:00 am, things got to the point where she could start actively pushing.  She was amazing.  At 1:33 Saturday morning, our baby was born.  He weighed 7 lbs 3 oz, and was 19.5 inches long.

I will never forget how it felt to see him for the first time.  Nor will I ever be able to describe it adequately.  I was just overcome with joy and excitement.

It took us a couple of days to settle finally on his name, but we’re calling him Riley.  There are a few photos here. I’ll add more there soon. It’s hard to catch him when he’s not sleeping or eating, but now that we’re home we’ll hopefully have better luck with the photo ops.

Everyone’s doing fine.  Laura’s pretty tired, but feeling better each day.  Riley’s eating well, and is in good shape all around.  I’m very proud of them both — much more than I feel like I deserve to be, given that I was basically a spectator for the whole thing. :)  But I’m doing what I can to keep him settled between feedings so that Laura can sleep then.

We’re both very grateful to have Laura’s mom staying with us for a while.  Without her help we would probably have left our wits’ ends far behind by now.  Instead, we get to focus on the baby and eat very well. :)

17 thoughts on “Riley arrives”

  3. Congrats, Big Baddy!

    Isn’t it amazing? I remember holding my nephew at 2 weeks, and being so amazed that he was so small and that he had fit into my sister-in-law! Birth is so weird. If you hadn’t ever seen it, you’d swear someone made it up.

    Thanks for posting. I am always a little nervous when people say they are expecting, then you don’t hear about the birth; glad all went well and Riley has the ten fingers and toes and stuff okay.

    • Re: Congrats, Big Baddy!

      Thanks! It was indeed weird, even knowing what was going to happen in advance and having it all go like a textbook. I wonder how long you have to actually work in a maternity ward before it starts seeming normal.

  7. !!!

    I had NO comp access while I was out of town and I’m only just getting caught up on LJ now hence the horrible lateness of this comment…anyway…CONGRATULATIONS I’M SO HAPPY FOR Y’ALL ETC ETC ETC…great pictures…you both look so happy and he is darling…I love his stripey hat!

    • Re: !!!

      Thanks Quinn! We are very happy. The little hat is actually from the hospital. He hasn’t had it on much since we’ve been home, but it is pretty cute. I’m sure soon enough it’ll be hard to fathom that he was ever this small.

  9. A) Congrats on the new addition!

    B) “Oh wow. I am so honored, and frankly amazed.”
    …Actually, Agent Echo was the only one I insisted on from the very beginning until the end. Really direct and visual. “Agent Echo does not exist…” Badass.
    I’ve already drawn the character four times on doodle pads at work… and I haven’t even seen a screenshot! You’re right: all the entries were friggin’ outstanding. But Agent Echo was my favorite. :-)