Ryder Michael Griffitts

Ok, so it has been almost two weeks now, and we feel it is about time to put up pictures of the

new little guy! Ryder was born July 25 at 12:55 in the afternoon. He weighed in at a skinny 6 lbs 7 ounces and 18.5 inches. We weren't expecting him to be a big baby, but we were kind of expecting him to be bigger than Aiden who was 7 lbs 5 ounces.

And when he decided to come he came in a hurry! I started to have uncomfortable contractions Sunday night starting at 11 or 12, but I was able to still sleep through them until about 3:30 in the morning. So, I woke Brad up at about 4 or so and told him that we should go to the hospital. Our wonderful friends Jim and Tina came over and watched Aiden while we were gone so that both Brad and my mom could come to the hospital. All weekend I had been really crampy and having lots of braxton hicks so I thought that I was for sure dilated to a 4 or so since they had just checked me the Thursday before and I was at a 2-3. Anyways, they checked me and I was still only at a 2-3. So, they waited an hour or two and checked me again and I still hadn't progressed, which was crazy because some of the contractions were really strong. So, I stayed another hour or two and then my midwife came and checked me and I had progressed to a 3-4, but she told me she thought I was just still in early labor and that I should probably just go home where I was more comfortable and come back when I could not talk or walk through contractions. I was pretty skeptical of going home just because I felt like if I just walked around some that things would get going pretty fast, but my mom and Brad were pretty uncomfortable and tired at the hospital. So I decided that we should just go home and try to get some sleep and take showers. But by the time we were almost home I was already feeling pretty painful contractions again and I almost wanted to tell Brad just to go back to the hospital, but I decided to stick it out a little longer. When we got home I took a shower and tried to nap, but I could barely stand during the contractions I was having after my shower and I could not sleep because I was so uncomfortable. When I stood up after trying to rest they were so painful I knew we had better hurry and get back to the hospital. So, I woke my mom up and told her that we need to leave right now! Brad had to take Aiden to his sister's house so me and my mom headed to the hospital and Brad was going to meet us there after he dropped Aiden off. Well, the car ride to the hospital was TERRIBLE. I was having REALLY painful, strong contractions and once we got to the hospital and my mom was wheelchairing me to labor and delivery I started thinking that maybe I waited too long to come back to the hospital. My plan was to try to have an epidural this time around, but like I said I was starting to realize that things were going way to fast, but I was still desperately clinging to the idea that I would be able to get one. So, as soon as we got into the labor and delivery room I was feeling even worse and when the labor nurse was able to check me I was at an 8! I could not believe it! Well, I kinda could believe it because I was in so much pain, but I was still kinda shocked. My mom called Brad right away and told him he had better hurry because I was about to have the baby. And just about 3 or 4 bad contractions after arriving I felt like I wanted to push. The nurse called my midwife and told her she had better hurry if she wanted to deliver my baby and the nurse checked me again right before the midwife arrived and sure enough I was at a 10. As soon as my midwife came in she told me I could start pushing if I wanted and I was SO happy to hear her say that. She asked if I wanted to wait for Brad or go ahead and I said no I was not going to wait. But right after she asked that Brad came in and I started pushing. I pushed through 3 contractions and Ryder was out! I still cannot believe how fast everything was! The nurse told me afterwards that it was only 20 minutes from when I got to the hospital to when Ryder was born. I could not believe it! I was happy everything went so fast since I ended up not being able to get an epidural, but it was crazy to think what could have happened or gone wrong if I had waited any longer to get to the hospital. I feel so blessed and happy that everything went well and that Brad was able to make it on time. I was just kind of expecting things to go similarly to how things went when I was in labor with Aiden, but I was way off.

We are so happy to have little Ryder in our home. He is such a good baby! He does not fuss at all except for when he gets his diaper changed. When he is awake he will just lie there and look around and is just so content. And he only wakes up once or twice at night to eat and he goes right back to sleep. When he was in my belly he was always very calm and laid back. If we tried to push on him or interact with him in my belly he would just kinda move away and not really try to push back (which was opposite of Aiden who would kick and move around a ton). So, we were thinking he was maybe going to be a really mellow baby and we were right! He is so sweet and mellow and happy. He has definitely made the transition to having two kids much easier than I thought it was going to be. Although, the true test will start tomorrow when Brad starts school again and I am totally alone with just the two of them :) I might change my mind haha.

Happily at home

In his car seat for the first time coming home.

Aiden already being an awesome big brother.

What a handsome stud!

Proud Daddy :)

One of the only times he cried after he was born.

Happy mom and grandma :)