Tiny T-Ricks

We are thrilled to announce that Tobias Joshua Ricks arrived this morning at 5:21. I am even more thrilled to say that he only weighed 7lbs 14oz, much much smaller than our last two babies. He is a tall guy at 21 3/4" long.

We had been anxiously anticipating his arrival for more than a week because not only was I a big blue whale, I was a big blue EMOTIONAL whale. Serious mood swings times 150 tons equals chaos at home. Anyway, I was pretty convinced that little T-Ricks was coming on Wednesday. My mom even drove up from Fairborn and then everything came to a screeching halt. No more contractions, false labor. My mom stayed for Thursday and Friday but nothing was happening on the baby front and my OB appointment on Friday seemed to indicate we still had time before this little guy was going to arrive. So, at around 7 pm my mom drove back home to Fairborn. At around 8 pm, I started having contractions again. Curse you Murphy's law.

Because my mom had just left, and because of Wednesday's disappointing experience, I convinced myself that this was just another bout of false labor. I kept talking myself out of packing my bag or calling the hospital until around 3 am when I realized, amidst the fog of labor pain, that these contractions were just as bad as anything I had had with Benjamin and that likely I was having this baby really soon.

We enlisted our poor friend, Ben, to come sleep at our house and take care of the boys when they woke up. By the time we got our bags packed, Ben settled in and drove to the hospital it was about 4:50 am. Tobias was born 30 minutes later, an all natural labor and delivery. He had the cord wrapped twice around his neck, but a few seconds later he let out his first little dinosaur roar, a perfectly healthy little boy.

We are so grateful for his arrival and are truly thankful for the heroic efforts of those who have taken care of our four other little dinos while are at the hospital with this one. Thank you, Ben, for letting us drag you out of your house at 3:30 am and for wrangling little boys when they got out bed at 6 something this morning. Without you, Marc would have had to deliver a baby at home. Thank you to the McMullans for coming over last minute to feed and play with our boys, not to mention clean our house? You guys rock. Thank you to my mom for driving the four hours back to our house after only one night's sleep in your own bed. You are amazing.

Grandma and the four big brothers came to visit little Toby this afternoon. They all adored him. We are pleased that Benjamin likes him so much. We'll see if anything changes when we bring him home.

Marc wanted a picture of all of the Ricks boys together. We tried, it didn't go so well. Marc wants me to post it anyway and I guess he has a point. Life with so many little boys is just like this sometimes.

Welcome to the world, little Tobias. We are so glad you came.