Meet Our Baby Boy!!

*Precursor: this may be long so if you would like to skip down to the pictures, I will not be offended :)

Our little Max has finally arrived!! We are so excited and overjoyed to have him here with us, especially after what's been going on the last few days since he's been born. Well, here is our birth story:

Saturday evening around 12:30am my water broke! Oh the influx of emotions! (Mostly excitement at this point). We arrive at the hospital around 1:30am only for the nurse to tell me that there was no sign that my water had broken (she was very skeptical, no matter how much I reassured her that it indeed happened). Contractions began slowly at 2:30am and by 3:30am they were suddenly right on top of each other. I finally received an epidural by 4:30am and Bryan and I got to sleep for a few hours. Around 5:30am my water broke AGAIN! By 7:00am I was fully dilated, but since the baby and I were doing so well, they let me "labor down" to let the contractions do most of the work. By 7:40ish I started pushing and Maximus was born at 8:06am, was 8lbs 10oz and was 20in in length. What an easy and relatively short labor and delivery! 7.5 hours from start to finish and I only pushed for about 20-30 minutes :)

What happened AFTER the birth:

Bryan got to watch the nurse clean him off and test him, all the while little Max held Bryan's finger so tight and refused to let go. However, not 5-10 minutes after the birth, Max was whisked away to the special nursery because he wasn't receiving enough oxygen. We later receive the news that Max was really pale, really swollen, had fluid in his lungs, was under an oxygen tent, and was receiving an IV and antibiotics. Our poor, poor little boy! They reassured us that they believed everything would be ok, but that they wanted to rule out infection and were taking every precaution to ensure his wellness. For the first 24 hours all Bryan and I could do was visit him in the nursery and talk to and touch him only slightly so as to not overstimulate him. It wasn't too long (though it seemed like an eternity!) before they weaned him off the oxygen and I could start breastfeeding. After a full day and night of that, they removed the IV and stopped the antibiotics. By the afternoon of the second day was able to stay in our room with us while they monitored his weight and vitals every once and a bit. As long as everything went perfectly, he would be able to go home in the morning, "but no promises" added the pediatrician.

Coming home:

LUCKILY, everything DID go perfectly and on the third day, he was released from the hospital and could come home with his very proud and very happy mommy and daddy :D

The oxygen tent he was stuck in for about 7.5 hours. The nurses always made him so comfortable though, I think he didn't mind it at all.

Daddy holding little Max for the first time. He was so nervous, but loved it.

The doctor let us have a brief visit in the room for some quality family time. I had been discharged, but the hospital has a neat boarding program where they let the mothers use the room like a hotel room and they gave me free meals. Bryan could continue to stay with me, but had to pay for his own food.The hospital photographer left Max in a super cute position after the little session and so I made sure to take advantage and get a free shot for myself since the packages are SO expensive!

Ready to head home! I knew newborns were small, but I didn't know just how tiny he would look in his car seat.

For your viewing pleasure :)First family photo!!! Needless to say, we're happy to be home.