He's Here!

Korver Emmett Anderson

Our family is now 5 strong! Little Korver arrived the morning of January 15th. He was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 21 inches long. I was set to be induced on January 21st, a week before my actual due date because of the medication I was on, but our little dude decided he wanted to choose his own birthday.

I started having off and on contractions the day before but I didn't think I was in true labor... I think Kory even thought I was just being dramatic. I went to bed about midnight and woke up about an hour later feeling as if I had peed my pants. I thought, oh man, have I really lost this much control? My water officially ruptured at 1 am and with Kory as a witness, he agreed that it was time to head to the hospital. Having never had my water break before, I was a bit panicked and didn't quite know what to expect. I called my mom immediately and had to break the news to her...her birthday was the day before and we were just going to miss the day. I delivered our little guy at 10:23 am, after a long night of no sleep, being told I could not have an epidural, then being told I could have the epidural, getting the epidural and then not having it work. What a crazy 9 hours!

I can absolutely say that after this birth experience, I have the utmost respect for every woman, who gives birth naturally. I feel I am strong woman, and after this I realized just how strong I am, but the pain that I felt I do not EVER want to feel again. However, I am so grateful for the experience. Actually feeling the full contractions and pusing through them was something I will never forget. Being fully aware and feeling the pain makes you truly realize all we as women go through to get this little beings here. I though, am all for a pain free experience...

We were lucky enough to have my sister-in-law, Kristy, with us in the room capturing the birth through her photography. What a gift it is to have these photos to share with our children and our family. Unfortunately, both of our mom's barely missed the birth because things just progressed so fast. I am so thankful though, that Kristy was able to be there to share the emotional and spiritual moment with us. We could all feel the spirit of Kory's father with us there in the room and the delivery as a whole was so emotional and intimate. I was not blessed with sister's of my own, but I am extremely thankful that I have such amazing sister-in-laws, who are there for every moment in our little family and for whom I love as my own.

I am so thankful for this sweet little boy who has joined our family. I am definitely overwhelmed but I love this little boy with all my heart. I already can't imagine our family without him. I did tell Kory that I wasn't sure our family was complete yet when we were still in the hosputal, but after these last 6 weeks, I think my feelings may have changed. I guess we shall see...

Below are the photos that Kristy captured. These are some of my very favorite. There is also a slide show of some of the other images. I realize that these are intimate, but she did such an amazing job at capturing the day and I feel it's a truly beautiful momento that I will forever cherish...so I am sharing her work.