Welcome to the Family!

Ithan Santiago Rinkenberger Bahr came into the world Tuesday, March 13th at 10:45 p.m. He weighed 3 kilos 400 gramos (about 7.5 lbs.), was 22 in. long, and made all the labor worth the wait! :)

I catalogued some of the time leading up to his birth... which ended up being longer than we thought, but we're thankful that God worked things out the way He did!
Joan gave Joel "Lamaze in 10 minutes" as she called it... :)
He was (we were) very grateful and so here he is timing my contractions. They started me on the inducement medication (oxitocin) at 9:00 a.m. so we had a lot of contractions to write down throughout the day...!

Grandma Mildred, you would have been so proud! I taught him how to play Skip-Bo; not that it's that difficult, but it's the art with which you play it! ;)

The hospital rooms (aside from being the lovely shade of peach you might have noticed above) were pretty sparse, but they did sport a long bench with a seat on it and a sign on the wall that said, "Thank you for not consuming food/drink." If you know my husband at all, you know that he's definitely a "munchies" type of person... so think of 26 hours in a hospital room with no food... not happening.

So... here was his stash in his bookbag (above) and he charmed the nurse into letting him bring in his Dr. Pepper's in a cooler... ;)

The aforementioned sign!

So... after 14 hours of labor or so, Peanut was born! We were so, so thankful that it all worked together in the end and we praise God for the miracle He allowed us to be part of and see!

Ithan's first photo... with a rather tuckered-out mother!

With his papi -- who was also rather tuckered-out!

This is Dr. Urbietta; the pediatrician and anesthesiologist at our hospital who assisted with the birth.

This is Dr. Madrid (left), our prenatal care doctor and physician and Fresia (right) our nurse while we were in the hospital... both supremely appreciated for their compassion and wisdom!

We finally left the hospital Wednesday morning around 11:00 a.m. and headed home! It was so fun to be able to get back and share Peanut with his brothers and sister! :)

Candi was the first to hold the baby... surprise, surprise! ;)

Diego was second -- and told me that he thinks it's "really fun" to hold the baby! He wanted to this afternoon as well and I think would have held him all afternoon if he could have... :)

Aron held him third and decided that he wanted to read him books... in English! I actually took a video which hopefully I will be able to upload later on. It was, suffice it to say, supremely adorable... :) And then this afternoon, he asked if he could hold him while he read his lectura for school -- how could I say no?!?

The oldest brother! Marcos read to him as well in English and did a fantastic job! I'm so grateful that these kids already love their little brother! And you know what's crazy? When Ithan turns 5, Marcos will be almost 16 -- that's nuts, isn't it?

A few more photos just for viewing pleasure!

This is maybe my favorite picture so far -- even though is eyes aren't open in it! He just looks so content... :)

Right after feeding... who doesn't like to curl up all replete??? ;)

Then again... it's not always an easy-going world! ;)

Thanks for all your prayers for everything -- we felt them! We're looking forward to having each of you meet him someday!