Nathaniel Graham Stevens Has Arrived!

Matt and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of our son Nathaniel Graham Stevens! He arrived on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:46 am. He weighed in at a perfect 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20.5 inches long. His hair is currently light brown (it seems to be changing already) and his eyes are blue. We just arrived home from the hospital with our little bundle of joy!

Nathaniel's birth story:

On Monday, three days after baby's due date, Lesley's water broke at home while she was taking out the dog around 1pm. By 4pm we arrived at the hospital and by 6pm the nurses had started an IV with pitocin to stimulate contractions. Around 9:15pm the contractions became painful and with some excellent coaching from Matt, we stuck out the contractions until 10:45 pm and got our planned epidural at 4cm dilated. The epidural worked beautifully for several hours and Lesley was able to rest until around 1am when the contractions became painful again. We continued laboring and were 8 to 9 cm dilated by 4:15 am.

Then at 5am, after a position change, doctors and nurses swarmed into our room because the monitors had indicated a dangerous drop in baby's heart rate. The doctors shifted Lesley's position a couple of times and his heart rate came back up to normal. Most likely the position Lesley was in, combined with Nate's position inside her, had somehow pinched off the umbilical cord momentarily. The doctors were still concerned, so they decided to move Lesley to the Operating Room and deliver in there, just in case a c-section became necessary.

By 6am, Lesley started pushing and the doctors realized that while baby was head down, which was good, he was also face up, which is bad. They spent the first hour of pushing trying to turn him face down so that he could fit out the birth canal. He was incredibly stubborn and finally turned around 7am, and Lesley continued pushing for another 45 minutes until Nathaniel begrudgingly arrived in the world, to everyone's (but mostly Lesley's) relief. He is healthy and happy and has learned to breastfeed really quickly!

We (of course) think he is the cutest baby in the whole world and are totally in love with him. We just brought him home and are in awe that God has trusted us with raising this tiny little helpless person into an adult. Right now he is happily snoozing in his crib after a two-parent diaper change. Our lives will never be the same!

Thanks for all of your support and prayers!

Love, Lesley, Matt, Nate and Emma the chihuahua
(Emma is staying with Matt's parents for a few days while we adjust)

He's so tiny!In his new crib at home.

Some skin-to-skin time with Daddy.Nate dressed to the nines.

Meeting Grandma Stevens - very alert!
Our little baby burrito

We don't know what color this hair is...

First Bath - not a big fan!

Under the Heaters After the First Bath