Introducing baby Charlie

Born at 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long, Charlie was finally ready to come 3 days before his due date. I was admitted to the hospital at 12:30 am on July 1 and he came at 4:23 pm that afternoon. The little cutie patootie came less than 24 hours after our deductible reset for the year, but thats ok.... we still love him!

Delivery was long and exciting. When I was checked at admittance, I was 80% effaced and dilated to a 2 and within the hour was dilated to a 3. I was feeling really good and wondering why people think child birth is so hard. 10 hours later when I was still only dilated to a 4 and experiencing excruciating back pain, I realized what all the hype was about. I requested an epidural and within 15 minutes was dead asleep. After a peaceful 2 hour snooze, I woke up because my right leg and midsection had slowly became un-numbed. I pushed my button, it didn't work. The anesthesiologist added a new medication to the catheter, it didn't work. Finally, he pulled it all out and reset the whole thing. From that point on, delivery was so enjoyable. I felt rejuvenated from my power nap and just enough "pressure" to be involved in what was going on, without feeling any pain. Charlie came within 40 minutes of pushing. He was healthy, with no complications, so they were able to bring him right to me. On his way over, he peed on the nurse... he was much happier after that. I remember him being so calm and just staring up at me. It was such a surreal moment as it hit me for the first time that he was mine. He was beautiful and perfect. We love him!

These pictures are from a photo shoot that my lovely sisters/in-laws gave me as a gift. Its crazy how much he has already changed since this first week.

 She kept trying to capture his cute little smile. This was the closest she got.

These are some of my other favorites:

Thanks to everyone for your love and support. We are so blessed with amazing family and friends!