from belly to baby

The last of the belly pictures at 33 weeks. I could have sworn we took at least one more picture before he came, but apparently not. Regardless, I'm so glad we took these pictures throughout the pregnancy. Already I've mostly forgotten what it feels like to be pregnant which makes me a bit sad, but I'd much rather be holding baby Jake than trying my best not to waddle when I walk. ;)

ten days

Only ten days old and I'm already feeling all nostalgic and weepy about how fast he's growing! While I'm ready for him to sleep through the night, I love the newborn stage and how cuddly and tiny he is. I have a feeling he'll be tiny for a while though. Jake's wearing newborn onesies but at just six and a half pounds he's fairly swimming in them, so we'll probably get some prolonged use out of all his newborn clothes. 

how it all went down

Jake Ryan arrived last Monday afternoon-- 5/13/13-- surprising us all at 3 1/2 weeks early. he’s perfectly healthy--except for the wrinkly skin just waiting to be filled with baby fat, you’d never know he was early. his early arrival is actually a perfect answer to prayer. a week before he was born, i was diagnosed with cholestasis, a pregnancy condition that meant my body wasn’t getting rid of bile like it should and as a result, bile built up in my system. it wasn’t harmful to me, but sooner or later that bile would start to affect the baby. most of the time, babies are induced right at 37 weeks because the risk of stillbirth increases significantly once they’re full term. so following the diagnosis, the doctor arranged appointments with high risk OB’s down at UT and appointments almost every day to monitor the baby. every day of that week was spent waiting on test results and wondering if we’d be induced. induction depended mostly on how developed the baby’s lungs were and how well medicine was controlling the cholestasis.

that thursday night, deric and i went to a local park to eat a picnic dinner and relax. i mentioned to him that my stomach had felt oddly tight all day and it felt like the baby was sitting way, way low. friday morning at our scheduled appointment, the doctor said i was having contractions. (and now let’s fast forward through the rough parts...) from friday morning to Sunday at midnight, contractions came every 5 minutes without fail. the intensity varied from mildly irritating to all-out, can’t-breathe painful. we went to the hospital six times over the weekend only to be sent home--sometimes with pain medication, sometimes without--because there was no progression. because I was only 36 weeks, they wouldn’t do anything to induce him. finally, finally on Sunday morning around 1am, we were admitted. the blessed epidural followed soon after and by noon on Monday, I was ready to push. Jake arrived at 2:31 pm and since then, things have been a happy blur of staring at a sleeping baby and feeding said baby. its been a quick 9 days since he was born and i'm already feeling like a weepy mom who doesn't want her baby to grow up!

#2 was Dad's addition to the board. ;)

Welcome to the world, baby Jake.

Jake Ryan was born Monday, May 13 at 2:30pm. Three and a half weeks early but he's perfectly healthy! We're so glad we got the chance to meet him a little sooner than planned.