It's a Noah!

Sorry to all of my fans for the lack of postings...we've been busy having a baby!

Noah Bennett Hardin came into the world a couple weeks early!

On Sunday, June 4, Mom, Dad & I went furniture shopping, and afterwards I came home & took a nap...I hadn't felt "right" all day, and just thought I was tired. At around 7:30, though, I felt/heard a small "pop" and noticed that I'd wet myself. Hey, no one said pregnancy was glamorous!!! So, I went into the bathroom & changed. I sort of thought that it may be my water breaking, but in all the books you read, most women say that they aren't aware of their water breaking, so I thought I wouldn't be any different. Well, after wetting through 2 pairs of jeans I figured it out, and the doctor's office called me back (yes, I did go ahead & call them, just in case) and said that maybe we should go on to the hospital. We rushed around the apartment, trying to figure out what to pack...because no, we hadn't packed a bag. We figured that if we needed something, someone could run back to the apartment & pick it up; it's not like the apartment was so far away from the hospital. And stupid me, I didn't eat anything before we left...which is recommended, since once you're in the lovely backless gowns, it's no soup for you.

The hospital confirmed that yes, my water broke, and we got settled into our room. This was around 8:00 p.m. on Sunday night. At 3:30 a.m. on Monday morning, I had my epidural, and life was good.... I started pushing around 10 a.m. Monday, and after 2 hours of hard pushing, they realized that this baby would need some assistance...so out come the forceps, and at 12:25 p.m. we had our Noah Bennett Hardin, weighing in at 7 lbs., 4 oz. (a bit bigger than the last ultrasound weight estimate--the Wed. previous, mind you--of 6 lbs., 1 oz!), and 20 inches long!

When the doc was pulling Noah out, all I could hear Patrick saying was, "Good Lord" and "Oh My God" and then, "It's a NOAH!" Not, "It's a boy" but "It's a Noah."

And the time that it took for him to cry seemed like an eternity...but soon after they'd scrubbed the goo off, he opened up & cried and it was the most beautiful sound I think I've ever heard.

The delivery was a bit rough, but recovery has been great--we're all happy & healthy, and trying to settle into a routine. Right now he's a bit confused as to day & night (either that, or he's taken after his daddy with liking to stay up really, really late!), but I guess if I'd been where he was for the past 9 months, then had to come out into a bright, cold world with all these big headed people staring at me, I'd be a bit confused, too!

We also closed on our house the Friday after Noah was born...who says we don't like a challenge? But it is nice being in a house again; I would have wheeled myself in the hospital bed to the closing if I'd had to!

About the only crappy thing that's really happened in the past couple of weeks (except for the fact that someone stole my plants from our apartment...who steals plants??? I am upset that they got a pot that Patrick had given to me for our Anniversary last year, though. Karma will get them.) is that Smokey died. He died on Saturday--we spent a little time together that afternoon, and I just petted him and told him to tell Roo Kitty hello, and a short time later he was gone. He was 14, and had a good, long, happy kitty life.

Here are some pics of our little Noah.... We just think he's the most amazing baby ever. And we're sure he's a genius.