Presenting - Nathan Olden Smith . . .

. . . as of April 24, 2008 the Smith family is hence forth known as the Fantastic Four! At 3:13 AM Pam awoke to contractions and started noticing a pattern - 3:13, 3:17, 3:21 . . . at this point she wakes me and says simply - 'I think it's time.' So we count out a few more (3:29, 3:32, 3:39, 3:42 - yes, I actually started writing them down). So a phone call to the doctor and counting a few more contractions (3:49, 3:52, 3:56 and 3:58) and off we go to Howard County General Hospital. We are checked in at 4:30 AM and from there its a lot of waiting. Just hanging at about 6 cm for what seems like forever. After 10 AM the drugs are applied to help the process, 10:50 the doctor breaks her water, 11:30 she is fully dilated and ready to push . . . .

. . . . barely even 15 minutes of pushing and out the little bugger comes. Everything goes swimmingly, mom and baby both doing great (mom was a trooper just like last time - pushes and breathes like a champ). Before we get on to the pictures, here are the standard vitals:

Time of birth: 11:45 AM

Weight: 7 lbs and 11.6 ounces

Length/Height: 21 & 1/4 inches

Hair: Red

Eyes: Blue

And now, on to the pictures!!!

Here is Pam and Nathan minutes after he makes his grand entrance. Also a bit of a close-up of the handsome devil and the obligatory smiling family (minus Erin - she was at the neighbor's house [Thanks Sarah!] during the main event).

Here is a nice full-body shot of Nate chilling on the scale.

Then after everyone has a chance to get themselves cleaned up and composed it is time for the big sister/little brother sitdown. This event was quite successful, Erin was excited to see her little 'brudder' and hold him. Very anxious and eager to help out with everything going on (I see a lot of meltdowns on the way over this particular point regarding distribution of labor in the house).

Here are a few final shots for now, more happy family, daddy and the little dude and beaming mom (doesn't she look great just 6 hours later???).



One last image - after a tough day of meeting the competition Erin decides to relax reviewing the weekly ad insert to scour deals for diapers and baby rattles: