Happy 4th Birthday Ryan !!!

Today is Ryan's 4th Birthday, 4 years ago I became a Mommy and Zach a Daddy. Here is how it all happened.

39 weeks and NOTHING!

At my 39 week appointment I showed no signs of going into labor on my own so I was scheduled for an induction (sounds familiar?). The doctors were concerned that I would have a difficult labor because for the last two months of my pregnancy I had preeclampsia (pregnancy induced hypertension) and edema (severe swelling) to the point no shoes would fit me, I could barely wear sandals.

The last month of pregnancy (weeks 37-40) I was SO MISERABLE all I wanted to do was cry, I could not walk, I could not sit, I could not sleep, I couldn't get comfortable in any position at all. I remember most of my family members who called me to ask how I was had to hear me cry and complain on the phone LOL. So when the Dr said he was going to schedule me for an induction on the exact day I was going to be 40 weeks I almost started crying.. I was ready !

Induction Day!

The Dr said to call L&D at the NAS Jax Hospital around 7am to let them know I was coming. I was up at 5.30am, got a shower blow dried my hair and could hardly wait to 7am, I called at 6.30am to tell them I would be there at 7, LOL. Zach and I stopped at a McDonalds to get something to eat and off to the hospital we went.

They admitted me and took me to a delivery room, immediately hooked me and the baby up to the heart monitor and after about an hr the Dr came to break my water. I was put on Pitocin to speed up labor and also was given Magnesium, to keep my high blood pressure down. Then we started the waiting game. It was around 10am on February 14th, I actually thought I was going to have a Valentine's Day baby but Ryan had a slightly different plan.

The magnesium made me VERY sleepy, I remember the whole situation like a dream, I remember waking up and complaining about contraction pain but then I would fall asleep right back... I spent all day/night in the same trance, then to top it off it also made me nauseous, I remember waking up to puke a couple of times and going back to sleep again. Labor was not going as fast as I wish it would have, throughout the night at some point the contractions got too painful and I asked to get an epidural, after I got it I did not feel any more contractions, all I had to do was wait and hope to high heavens that Pitocin would work.

My sister Christina arrived that night and came to stay with me at the Hospital, my in-laws also got there around 3am and were also witnesses to my misery. That's how I spent the first night.

The next morning and after being in labor for over 24 hrs the Drs decided that the whole situation was becoming to stressful for the baby. I was no where near fully dialated and the baby was showing signs of stress, poor thing. He was engaged well into the pelvis but not moving forward, they suspected it was because the umbilical cord could be wrapped around his neck.

At around 9am I was told that more likely they would have to do a c-section, I was fine with it, at that point I just wanted that baby out before something bad could happen to him, while they were preparing me to take me to the Op room I saw my Dr. whispering somethign to another one, he came to me and said he was going to give me one last chance to have a vaginal birth, he said "I think you could do it".

Ryan is here! 

The Dr told me to start pushing to see if that would get me fully dialated, Zach as the great coach he is started counting with me 1-10. At that point I totally became aware of what was going on, I remember clearly who all was in the room, my sister was there holding the video camera (I specifically asked her to make it a G rated movie and to record from the head of the bed, not in between my legs LOL), Zach was on my left side, holding my hand/leg, on the right side was my mother in-law, Evelyn, hoding my other leg, I pushed a couple of times and within 3 minutes the Dr said I was fully dialated and the baby's head was crowning... wow, how did that happen so fast?? In two seconds the room got full of doctors and nurses and next thing I hear is Zach saying "I see him, I see his head" as he started crying... my mother in law saying "He's got a head full of back hair"... one more push and he was out... it was 11.19am... after 28 hrs of labor, my baby was finally here.... with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck... the Dr immediately unwrapped the cord and shook the baby a little trying to give him some room to breath I assumed, I remember asking "Why is he not crying??", the Dr. said "The little guy is just tired...", I looked down and saw this baby with a head FULL of pitch black hair and shaking his arms and legs... but silent... I was about to start panicking when I heard that cry, the best sound in the world I insist...

They cleaned him up and we were told he was perfectly healthy, however, the magnesium had an adverse effect on him, his heart rate went down as soon as he was born and had to be taken immediately to the incubator, we barely had time to hold him and give him a kiss. He was 7lbs 09oz and 20 inches long.

As soon as he got to the nursery he was put on an IV, oxygen and antibiotics, also they had to take some blood samples. He spent the first night away from me, although as soon as I was done in the L&D room I asked to be taken to the nursery where Zach and I spent some time with him, just holding his little hand, he was so calm... the next day he was doing much better, the IV helped wash out the magnesium from his system. My in laws, Zach and I were in the nursery the very next morning, all of a sudden Evelyn remembered that Zach's Dad had not held the baby yet, so he did, as soon as Ryan heard Grandpaw's voice he opened his eyes for the first time since he was born... that moment was amazing, it's funny how  they've always had a special relationship and Ryan adores him. 

When they made sure everything was fine with Ryan, his heart rate back to normal and no infections he was allowed to sleep in my room and finally let us go home a couple of days later.