The Birth of our Baby Boy!!

So here goes the story... it may be long and somewhat graphic so be advised!!
Sunday May 14th- My dad came over to watch the kids which was such a huge relief! I was always worrying about going into labor in the middle of the night and not having someone here to watch the kids. I tried to get some sleep around 10:30pm before we left. It was a warm night so it was kind of hard to get to sleep. We got up around 11:20pm and got ready to go to the hospital. Still my nerves hadn't kicked in. I was really relaxed and calm... totally weird. I figured as soon as we got to the hospital I would get nervous... we arrived at the hospital just before midnight, signed in and headed to labor and delivery. Still not nervous. We were shown to our delivery room suite and the nurse introduced herself (although I can't remember her name now) She was really nice and had a calm sense to her. She got us settled and we had some more paperwork to sign. She then checked me to see if I had dilated anymore...still at 1cm. So the nurse gave me a cytotec which is used to soften the cervix before induction. The nurse said to try and get as much rest now before active labor starts and that she would be in every hour to check my vitals. I was hooked up to a fetal heart monitor and this other monitor that tracks contractions. It was strange to see I was having small contractions yet I felt nothing... and still not nervous! Both Ray and I slept in between my vitals check ups and after 4 hours (which is usually how long it takes the cytotec to do its thing) I was checked again... cervix was softer but still only at 1-2cm. That was somewhat a disappointment. Around 5am I started to feel some discomfort and I was given morphine to help with the pain a little before 6am... but the morphine didn't help at all and the pain kept getting stronger. I was now in tears and just trying to get through each contraction one at a time. Around 7am I was 4cm dilated and in major pain so I was offered an epidural which I accepted without a second thought! It took awhile to get the epidural in and going but once it kicked in I was completely fine. I couldn't feel anything from the waste down. Now we are coming up on 8am, the epidural was in full effect and I was told I was 10cm dilated and was ready to push. It all happened so quick! I still had no feeling so they kept telling me to try and feel the contractions and when I felt them, I needed to start pushing. Well I couldn't feel a darn thing! They kept telling me a contraction was coming and to start pushing so I did... I pushed with all my might! But after an hour and half of pushing and barely getting anywhere, Ryan's heartbeat started to drop so my doctor said that she wanted to use the vacuum to help suction him out while I pushed. Now by this time I was getting little feeling back but not enough to know when to push. Next thing I know, the doctor tells me to push the hardest I could push and all of a sudden there was this gooey little thing moving around. It was 9:37am. They suctioned out his mouth and nose and then we heard him cry for the very first time! It was music to our ears! They laid him on my tummy and Ray cut the umbical cord. Then they took him and weighed him in at 6lbs 15.7 oz which translates to an even 7lbs. They measured him at 19 inches. Finally they wrapped him up and I was able to hold him for the very first time. He is so beautiful! It still amazes that this little guy grew inside me! It was definitely one of the happiest days of my life! I'm so glad to be a woman and be able to experience pregnancy and childbirth! It wasn't always the greatest feelings but the end result and the experience as a whole is untouchable! Here is a few pictures of Ryan Kristofer Espinoza... I will post more later to tell you about the hospital stay and such but it took a few days for me to be able to just get this post done!