Introducing ... Nathan Cael Rector!!

The king is here. Long live the king!

Baby boy Nathan Cael Rector joined us around 7 am Monday morning.

After weeks of thinking that it was never going to happen, in the end the labour was just as sloowww ... took 15 hours of contractions just to get to "active" labour. Guess these past weeks of false labour didn't quite result in the fast and "easy" delivery that was hoped for.

Then once the big show started, turned out to be quite the ordeal ... He was in a posterior presentation (face up) and was bigger than expected (10 lbs!) which meant a very long, excruciating labour and extremely difficult delivery.

It was actually kind of a crazy situation, too: most of the labour was spent in a birthing tub in the kitchen, with candles burning in the dark (we had no power for most of it!!) and when he was finally born, it was on the living room floor with Mela eating oatmeal in her high chair in the kitchen.

Crazy!

And now we have a gorgeous newborn baby boy! He's so big and chunky, though, he hardly looks or feels like a newborn! Nathan is doing great though and so is the Momma - I seem to be destined for terribly labours and great recoveries.

Here are some pics of our super healthy, beautiful little man:

12 hours old:
The little, big man:

Father and son:
Momma and child:
24 hours old and a visit to the park:Mela meets her brother!!! (and yes, that is the placenta on my living room floor)
Mela can't figure out why that sling Dad's wearing keeps squeaking:
Although excited about the birth of her brother, Mela puts on her rubber boots and gets back to work, stacking boxes: