8lbs 15oz

Please excuse that these are all out of order. I'm too tired to fix it...Above is us, back at home, GraceAnne getting to hold her brother for the first time.

Violet has been running around the house yelling, "A BABY!" all day. She says he's "soft." I'd have to agree. :)

We already had to take the newborn pad out of that seat...he's too big!

Last picture of me pregnant with Corbin.

We are so pleased to announce that today we welcomed our son into the world! His name is Corbin Grant and he is 8lbs 15oz and 19" long. The biggest, (and shortest), of them all!

In the above picture is our doula, who was also our HypnoBirth instructor. She was an angel and really helped the experience go smoothly.

Birth story in a nutshell...last night I started having real contractions so I figured it'd be a long night. We went to Target and Bethlehem Revisited, (pictures to come when I'm not so tired!) and came home. I called the doula to put her on alert, (she lives an hour away) and took a bath. Ended up listening to my Hypnobirthing cd and got a little rest. I woke up around 1am and was fairly sure I wasn't going back to sleep. I breathed through as much as I could on my own and woke Allan about 2:30. I called the doula around 3:30. She got there around 5am. Our sitter, (THANK YOU, ANDREA!!! You're a lifesaver!!) came around 4:30. We stuck it out at the house until 6am and I said we NEEDED to go to the hospital. Primarily I just wanted to be sure his heart rate was good and all was well.

On a funny note, I was definitely at the end of dilating when we transported me downstairs and
so there was a lot of stopping to moan through a contraction, where I was bearing down. Violet had woken up by this point and Andrea said that after I left Violet was walking down the stairs moaning like I did. That gave us all a good laugh!

We got to the hospital and when I walked in I yelled for someone. I was shouting orders at everyone, (as nicely as I could), and there were jokes made about me forever being in control. They asked how far apart the contractions were and I said, "I'm telling you, this baby is coming NOW!" The guy must not have believed me, because he looked at the doula and she said, "yeah...the baby is coming now." So we got in our room and it turned out our 2 nurses were the ones who have been working with me on my birth plan and getting everything in order for me, so they were PERFECT! They knew exactly what I wanted and never once tried to stray or even second-guess me. We were "complete with a bulging bag of waters." After a couple more contractions my water broke spontaneously and after 4 pushes he was here!

All is perfect with him, he's been asleep most of the day and is nursing well. He's not quite the pig his sisters were yet, but we'll get there. I was released after 5 hours and got to come home to my babies. I cannot WAIT until Friday when Rhiya is here. Then we'll be complete again!

The girls got presents from their brother. Violet got a boy baby doll which she's been carrying around all day and trying to get me to trade for the real baby. GraceAnne got a newborn pony set.

Here's Vi checking her brother out.

I really have to thank some people here, so bear with me. Thanks goes to God, first! I prayed for this child for 6 years and here he is! We got 2 perfect girls in the meantime, too, and I'm continually amazed at how well He provides for us and gives us even better than we'd have for ourselves!

Allan is next, because he is and always has been the PERFECT birth partner. He's gentle and calm and loving and he makes the best daddy. I couldn't have done any of it last night without him.

Then there's Andrea, who came in the middle of the night and gave up her Sunday with her family to take care of my girls. I am so Blessed to have such wonderful friends!

And of course, our doula! Hypnobirthing really helped me get through this without fear. I told Allan when we started if I could manage to make it through without fear, (I knew the pain would still be there, mostly, though that was much easier to deal with, as well!), I would be happy and my prayers would be answered. God sent us an angel in Cheryl. We all bonded so well during that class and I am so thrilled she attended our birth.

And then all my family and friends who have been so excited to share our news today. Thank you ALL! I love you and miss you all tremendously and I hope you all get to see our son in person, soon. I miss you, Mommy!

We'll be posting more in the coming days. Love to you from all us Doyles! lol