Welcome Clay!

He's here!!! After having consistent but slow contractions from Thursday night to Sunday morning, my water finally broke around 6:30 am on Sunday and we headed to the hospital. Once we got there, the nurses informed me that it was against hospital policy to allow VBACs after two c-sections. That plus the fact that my contractions weren't getting any closer together had us doubtful that I was going to be able to avoid another c-section. But thankfully we had a lot of people praying for us :) and God was gracious to give us the best nurse ever and a doctor who was willing to let me try to VBAC. Because it was the weekend, I had an on-call doctor, but thankfully she was open to letting me labor. Once my contractions picked up and I started dilating well, she said that she was willing to go against hospital policy and let me VBAC (which means Vaginal Birth After Cesarean for those of you who don't know birth lingo :)). Our nurse was a fantastic coach and she cheered me through the hard parts. I did end up getting an epidural, so my labor wasn't totally "natural", but let me tell you! After having two c-sections, I had no idea how uncomfortable pushing out a baby is! Let's just say I'm not looking forward to doing that again anytime soon! Clay came out "sunny side up" which means it was harder to push him out and his head was more cone-shaped than usual :) but other than that, it was a smooth delivery! He was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. He has LOTS of dark hair and actually looks a good bit like Matthew did.

We're home now and recovering well! I'm really enjoying this recovery as opposed to recovering from a c-section. It really is wayyyy easier! Thank you so much for all your prayers. They were definitely answered!

Before the pain hit :)

Feeling those contractions! 

And here he is! 

Clay Marshall Nickell 

Big sister love :)

Our little family

So proud to be a daddy again! 

More pics to come soon!