Welcome, Nathan Paul!

Early on Saturday, November 15, Kim started having some contractions that made her wonder, "Could THIS be the day that we meet our newest son?!?" We texted Jon & Chelsea, asking them to be on stand-by to watch our boys. But, though the contractions continued the entire day, the contractions didn't get closer together or fall at regular intervals ... so we just waited at home. Since Kim was induced with Ian and Ryan, Kim kept wondering if she would know if or when it was time to go to the hospital. Finally, late Saturday afternoon, we called Jon and Chelsea to ask them if they would mind coming over to play some games with us after the boys went to bed and then plan to spend the night in case we'd have to go to the hospital quickly. Thankfully, they agreed ... By the time they arrived around 7:30 p.m., Kim's contractions were much more intense and regular. In fact, just moments after Jon & Chelsea walked in the door, we headed out for the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital around 8:00. After getting checked by the triage nurse and finding out Kim was already dilated to 6 cm, Kim was in a delivery room between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m.

The labor progressed smoothly, and Kim got an epidural around 11:00 p.m. The anesthesiologist did a "60% epidural," which meant that Kim was actually able to move her legs around while not feeling any pain ... perfect! Interestingly, Kim's contractions got much more intense but never got much closer together than 5 minutes apart. After just four or five big pushes, Nathan Paul arrived at 1:48 a.m. on Sunday, November 16. He gave a strong, healthy cry right away.

Seeing our sweet boy for the first time brought tears to our eyes and joy to our hearts! We thanked our amazing Creator-God for blessing us so abundantly through this new little one and for granting Kim a smooth, easy delivery!

Matt was able to cut Nathan's umbilical cord. (Thankfully, our friendly, sweet nurse was a million times better at her nursing job than at photography.) :)

What a handsome boy!

Here was our fabulous "delivery crew." Dr. Berryhill (2nd from left) delivered Nathan. Though he's not our regular OB, we thought he was just fantastic, as was our dear nurse, Jennyfer (far right).

We were surprised that Nathan weighed in at 8 lb., 14 oz. after our ultrasound tech and OB guessed he'd be just 8 lb.

Nurse Stacey was Nathan's nurse. She measured him (he was 21 inches long)

and monitored his temperature for a while.

Daddy Matt lovingly looked on. :)

Soon afterward, it was time for all of Nathan's pretty brown hair to be washed

and for him to receive his first sponge bath. He wasn't a huge fan.

Here's our handsome boy, all clean! :)

What a blessing for these proud parents to cuddle our new, mellow, adorable baby!

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of sweet baby Nathan!