Introducing....

Elijah Robert Smith has entered the world!  On Tuesday November 17 at 11:52 pm (after 16 hours of labor) our little man was born at 7 lbs 8 oz and 20 1/4 inches.  The experience was beyond words.  Seeing him and holding him for the first time was absolutely life changing.  He is so beautiful and Mommy and Daddy are absolutely in love with him!

Although it was a long day, it was the most amazing day we've ever experienced.  My water broke at 7:30 that morning and after saying goodbye to the puppies we headed off to the hospital. 

Once they confirmed that my water had broken the nurses hooked me up to a Pitosin pump in order to get my contractions started.  Let me tell you, it worked :-)

                                                                  That was a big one!

After several hours of working through them, I got a visit from Dr. Fuji (who was quite a character himself) and he hooked me up to the Epidural pump.  Thank you Dr. Fuji!  For all those ladies out there who haven't gone through labor yet and are questioning whether to get the epidural or not, let me just say - get the epidural!  It made me able to relax and enjoy the experience.

Soon to be Grandpa and Grandma also kept us company during the day.

We thought that the little man was going to hold out until his due date (11/18), but he arrived at 11:52 - 8 minutes early I suppose - which mean that he does not take after his mother in that respect. :-)

He is the most beautiful thing we have ever set our eyes on.

Unfortunately things do not always go as planned and our little man had to spend several days in the NICU.  We were so blessed to be in such a wonderful hospital with such amazing nurses who took such good care of our baby boy.

                                                                 Eli in his NICU crib.


Luckily everything turned out well and we were able to bring Eli home to meet his brother and sister and finally start our lives as a family!