Isaac's arrival

Last Sunday was the most exciting day of my life. I woke up Sunday morning with some unusual symptoms, so I called my Mom to see if they could be signs of labor. She thought that they were, and as the morning progressed, Brandon and I became sure of it.

We made our first trip to the hospital when I knew I was definitely having labor contractions and they were getting rather close together. When we arrived at the hospital, one of the most wonderful nurses, Mary, checked us into Triage to monitor my progress. Sure enough, the contractions were coming hard every two and a half minutes, but I wasn't dialated enough for them to admit me. So... home we went... hard contractions and all.

I'd had the flu on Thursday and Friday the week before, so I was still monitoring my fever in case I should let the doctor know that I was still sick. At one point once we returned home, I began to feel feverish, so I checked and and found that my fever had shot up over 100. I called my doctor and he told me I should definitely come back in. When we arrived, they put us straight into a labor and delivery room due to my "flu symptoms", and the doctor reluctantly agreed to admit us, even though I was still not meeting the 3 cm dialation requirement. PRAISE THE LORD!! He told the nurse that he expected I would be at 5cm by 5 the next morning.

Once we were admitted, they started IV fluids, antibiotics, and pain meds to help take the edge off of the contractions until they could give me my epidural. There was also a shift change for the nurses almost immediately after we were admitted, which meant that, unfortunately, Mary was going home. Luckily, she snagged us a FABULOUS nurse by the name of Susan. (those of you who don't know, my Mom's name is Mary Susan.... coincidence??) After a couple of hours, the anethesiologist came into our room to talk with us. The first words out of her mouth were "I'm so sorry to be the bearer of bad news.". My first thought was, "Great.. they're sending us home... again!". Instead, the news was about my bloodwork. It showed a very low platelet count, which could cause major complications with the epidural the we'd planned to receive. So... there would be no epidural - only IV meds to help with the pain. The good news was that I was already on the same relaxing meds that I would be receiving throughout my labor, so I took the news much more calmly than one would expect. A couple of hours later, Susan came in to tell us that it was time to start pushing. She said "You still have 30 minutes to have this baby today... let's get to work!". She, along with my amazing husband, were the most wonderful coaches I could have asked for during delivery. Brandon was always there to give me more ice-chips and Susan knew exactly what to say to get that baby out of me. :) Their wonderful words of enouragement kept me going strong. Thanks to them, I pushed for less than an hour!

Labor was just that. LABOR. Hard work. Pain. Sweat. Tears. Ah, the tears. Tears of joy as they showed me our son for the first time. All memories of the pain, sweat and labor of child-birth were suddenly replaced with the overwhelming joy of that beautiful little person that the Lord had blessed us with. Love had never been so overwhelming. Joy took on a whole new meaning.

Isaac Aiden Ritter was born to us on Monday, September 21 at 12:29am, weighing 8 lbs., 4 oz. and measuring 21 inches in length. He is our little miracle - practically perfect in every way. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our precious little man.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for... PICTURES!! :)

Isaac's first picture

Look at those beautiful eyes...

Isaac and Mommy

One day old - snoozing with Daddy at the Hospital

Meeting Grandmamma for the first time

Meeting Grandpa for the first time.

Meeting Aunt Julie for the first time.

We're going home!

All dressed up for the ride home!

Chillin' on the couch

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful...

Isaac is super alert - watching Daddy's every move.

Happy camper right after dinner!

Isaac's first bath at home.

All clean!

Mommy and Me

Listening intently to Grandmamma

Thanks so much to everyone for the meals, sweet phone calls and emails of congratulations. An extra special thanks to my Mom - Grandmamma - for coming to stay with us during the first week of Isaac's life. Her help has been tremendous - she's cooked, cleaned, run errands, stocked our fridge and given up sleep for us. Thanks, Mom, for the precious gift of your presence. I don't know what we would have done without you!