one week (complete with pictures)

last week at this time, i was just coming out of the operating room with our brand new little one snug in my arms! despite the lack of sleep and other ups and downs of parenthood, i am so thankful that we aren't at the hospital any more. i am feeling better and better each day and slowly by slowly, my stitched up tummy is healing. compared to the pain i was in a few days ago, i think i could run a marathon today (that is if i liked running, which i don't)!

getting ready to head into the o.r. after pushing for an hour...ryan actually was the delivering doctor, or, well, dressed like him at least! :)

during my first moments with our little one. i was so drugged out that i didn't even know what to think. i was terrified that i was going to drop him because i didn't feel like i had any control over my arms. thankfully, they wrapped him in with me so that never would have happened! those nurses are so smart!

presenting Noah Ryan Smith: 9lbs 13 oz, 22.25 inches long! today is officially noah's one week birthday! and our night last night turned out to be one big party! ruthie had prom last night and planned to have an after-prom party at the house, complete with a space bounce and unimaginable food! since we knew they'd be late in getting here, hopie and mollie had a pre-prom party complete with the same fun! since we are up all hours of the night anyway, we decided to crash the parties, which turned out to be a great idea. we had lots of yummy (albeit unhealthy) party food at the first party! then our sweet grammie (aka my mom) said she would take care of noah while we got some much needed sleep. sleep is such a luxury these days that we dared not pass her up and quickly headed upstairs to get a wee bit of shut eye, with her promise to call us or come up at the slightest hint of distress in noah. ;) we laid down and not two minutes later, ryan was out like a log! i, however, had the hardest time falling asleep. i think my lack of sleep has caught up with me and i am now so far past the point of exhaustion that i can't sleep-oh the irony! all the same, i got a good three hours of resting my eyes and ryan got almost as much of sleep, both of which we were VERY thankful for!! my mom texted us right around 1 to let us know that the second party was beginning and breakfast was ready. we came down to the biggest feast i've seen-pigs in a blanket, sausage balls, breakfast casserole, fruit and yogurt, strawberries and chocolate, biscuits, and more! we ate until our hearts were content and then took sweet noah up to enjoy some food of his own. the rest of the night was up and down...for some reason noah doesn't love sleeping in his cradle. two people told me yesterday that it is probably because we hold him too much during the day, which i suppose could be the case. we don't like to put him down, and when our arms tire completely out, there are always plenty of other willing people who are begging to hold him... we don't want him to feel unloved! :) all the same, we are going to try over the next few days to put him down when he sleeps, to see if that doesn't help a little.
a few more pictures...