It's a Boy!

Because you asked, I wanted to let you know that I had a baby boy on Tuesday, March 23, 8 lbs, 6 oz, and 20 inches long. He's amazing. I still look at him and can't believe he's mine.

The birth wasn't without complications. Pregnancy-induced hypertension led my doctor to induce me a few days early. Labor wasn't progressing. Then in an unrelated turn of events, I had some fairly significant bleeding, baby's heart rate dropped by half, and within 10 minutes of all this happening, I had a baby by c-section.

We ended up staying in the hospital for a week to get my blood pressure under control. I'm currently on medication for it. The long hospital stay probably interfered with my milk production, which led to some frustration and for a brief moment sent me back to that awful place where my body had let me down. The pediatrician was a little worried about his weight loss, but the lactation consultant on her staff helped us out a lot, and at yesterday's appointment he'd gained 4 ounces.

I have no words to express how I am feeling. I look at him and am just in awe that he's mine, that he came out of me, that we are a family of three now (four if you count the dog). I never in the darkest days thought we would finally make it here. I won't say that all the heartache was worth it, because I think I would be as appreciative without it.

But I will say that I wouldn't have had the strength to persevere until we got here without the support of all of you.

Thank you.