Our little man is 18 days new.
We've been home as a family of FIVE for 15 days now, Grandma-less for 8 and almost 1 full day solo since Eric went back to work today.
We are all surviving and head over heels in love with our newest addition, Noah Ryan.
It's crazy to think that Eric and I have THREE kids! THREE! Our girls and now our sweet boy and although chaotic at times, life doesn't get much better than this.
We welcomed Noah into this world via planned c-section on May 12th at 8:11am. (Addie was breech, so I've been a c-section momma since she was born.) His arrival went very smoothly, according to "my plan", and that's just how I like it. My parents and sister arrived into town the night before and were a HUGE help on Noah's birthday. We celebrated Noah's upcoming arrival by going out to dinner and then home and early to bed since we had a big day ahead of us. Eric and I had to be at the hospital bright and early at 5:30am for routine surgery prep. We hung out in the triage room as nurses came in and out to ask questions, I signed a ton of papers, and the team did everything they needed to do to get ready for the surgery. I was surprisingly very calm at this point, I guess since it was my 3rd time around I kinda knew what to expect. My mom got to the hospital about an hour later, while my dad and sister stayed behind until the girls woke up. A little after 7am my doctor, Dr. Pirkle, came in followed by the anesthesiologist and my new nurses - I knew as soon as they came in we were getting ready for GO time. I was still very calm at this point and very excited to finally meet our sweet boy. I gave my mom a hug and she went on her way to our room to wait while Eric and I walked to the operating room. Eric waited outside for a few minutes while I got my spinal and they finished prepping me for surgery. Once he came in and stood by my head I knew it was a matter of minutes before we got to meet Noah!
At 8:11am I heard that wonderful baby cry and the emotions just took over me, I couldn't believe he was finally here! I couldn't see over the curtain but Eric quickly snapped a photo and showed it to me! He was so chubby, I just wanted to squeeze him! He had the most beautiful full head of dark hair, just like the 2 previous Harvells did on their birthdays. We quickly took bets on his size, I knew he was my biggest so I was certain he was over 9 pounds. And I was right, he measured 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long. He was absolute perfection. Noah was very lucky to have one of the very best nurses I know caring for him when he was only seconds new. One of my best friend's sisters, Heather, is a labor and delivery nurse and specially requested to be in the room with us. It was so comforting to have a familiar face around to give us a play by play the entire time. After Heather and the rest of the nurses gathered Noah's stats and scores, Eric got to cut his cord. Within a few minutes, Noah was brought over to me and I got to meet my son for the very first time. It was a moment that I will never forget, a moment that makes me wish I could freeze time. I wanted to take in every single detail of this moment -from his chubby little cheeks to his little button nose and his tiny little hands and feet. He was the perfect mix of the girls, yet his own little man all at the same time. He was my son and the most handsome little boy that I had ever laid my eyes on. I was on cloud 9 for quite a few minutes, but then the nausea hit me just as it had with Addie and Bella. I asked them to take Noah because between the nausea and the shakes, I wasn't sure it was safe for him to be on my chest anymore. Eric went with Noah off to the side so they could clean him up a little more and I just waited out this feeling that came over me for what seemed like hours. I just wanted to be done with the surgery and have my hands free so I could hold my sweet boy again. The doctors finished stitching me up and then we were off to the recovery room where Grandma was waiting with open arms to meet her newest grandson.
The rest of the day was pure joy. My dad and sister brought the girls to the hospital around 10:30 to meet their baby brother. I had our wonderful photographer, Erin, come to the hospital to snap some pictures of their first meeting and I am so glad I did. The photos that she took captured one of my all time favorite moments of all time and I still tear up as I look through those pictures to this day. After Erin left, we gave the girls their big sister gifts from baby Noah. Addie got a new baby boy baby doll and Bella got some Little People cars (that went with her new car track that they got the next day.) The celebration continued that evening with a birthday party for Noah. Grandma and Addie baked him a cake, we sang Happy Birthday, and the girls helped Noah open up his very first gifts.
May 12th will forever be one of my favorite days (Don't worry girls, February 10th and August 18th are up there too...along with May 26th - our anniversary!) It's the day we went from a family of FOUR to a family of FIVE and everything was absolutely perfect. Noah Ryan, I feel like the luckiest momma in the world to be able to call you my son, you are a dream come true. Happy Birthday sweet boy :)
At 8:11am I heard that wonderful baby cry and the emotions just took over me, I couldn't believe he was finally here! I couldn't see over the curtain but Eric quickly snapped a photo and showed it to me! He was so chubby, I just wanted to squeeze him! He had the most beautiful full head of dark hair, just like the 2 previous Harvells did on their birthdays. We quickly took bets on his size, I knew he was my biggest so I was certain he was over 9 pounds. And I was right, he measured 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long. He was absolute perfection. Noah was very lucky to have one of the very best nurses I know caring for him when he was only seconds new. One of my best friend's sisters, Heather, is a labor and delivery nurse and specially requested to be in the room with us. It was so comforting to have a familiar face around to give us a play by play the entire time. After Heather and the rest of the nurses gathered Noah's stats and scores, Eric got to cut his cord. Within a few minutes, Noah was brought over to me and I got to meet my son for the very first time. It was a moment that I will never forget, a moment that makes me wish I could freeze time. I wanted to take in every single detail of this moment -from his chubby little cheeks to his little button nose and his tiny little hands and feet. He was the perfect mix of the girls, yet his own little man all at the same time. He was my son and the most handsome little boy that I had ever laid my eyes on. I was on cloud 9 for quite a few minutes, but then the nausea hit me just as it had with Addie and Bella. I asked them to take Noah because between the nausea and the shakes, I wasn't sure it was safe for him to be on my chest anymore. Eric went with Noah off to the side so they could clean him up a little more and I just waited out this feeling that came over me for what seemed like hours. I just wanted to be done with the surgery and have my hands free so I could hold my sweet boy again. The doctors finished stitching me up and then we were off to the recovery room where Grandma was waiting with open arms to meet her newest grandson.
The rest of the day was pure joy. My dad and sister brought the girls to the hospital around 10:30 to meet their baby brother. I had our wonderful photographer, Erin, come to the hospital to snap some pictures of their first meeting and I am so glad I did. The photos that she took captured one of my all time favorite moments of all time and I still tear up as I look through those pictures to this day. After Erin left, we gave the girls their big sister gifts from baby Noah. Addie got a new baby boy baby doll and Bella got some Little People cars (that went with her new car track that they got the next day.) The celebration continued that evening with a birthday party for Noah. Grandma and Addie baked him a cake, we sang Happy Birthday, and the girls helped Noah open up his very first gifts.
May 12th will forever be one of my favorite days (Don't worry girls, February 10th and August 18th are up there too...along with May 26th - our anniversary!) It's the day we went from a family of FOUR to a family of FIVE and everything was absolutely perfect. Noah Ryan, I feel like the luckiest momma in the world to be able to call you my son, you are a dream come true. Happy Birthday sweet boy :)
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