Today, I would be 41 weeks pregnant, but Baby D decided to come before we could get to that point, thankfully! She's a beautiful baby girl-just like her daddy thought. :)
Sweet baby Ryann was born on Friday, May 11 at 5:33 pm. Here, I'll recap for you how that day went for us.
Thursday afternoon I had my final doctor appointment. I had made no progress and my doctor did not believe the baby would be coming until I was induced on Monday. The plan was to go in Sunday night and get some medication to prepare my body for labor, as it was no where near ready yet. I would then sleep at the hospital and they would induce me early Monday morning. I was kind of excited to have an actual plan for when Baby D was coming, since I had been stressed about not knowing when s/he would show up. At the end of the appointment, my doctor was pushing around on my stomach with a puzzled look on her face. She then looked at Mike and me and asked what we weighed at birth. When we told her, she goes "I think this baby is going to be a bit larger than that". She was thinking in the 8 pound range...
We went to bed Thursday night and I woke up around 2, thinking I just needed to use the restroom and then would return to sleep. However, I started feeling crampy and contracted. I had had this before, so I didn't think too much of it. I was too uncomfortable to fall back asleep, so I decided to get up and get a drink, cruise facebook, etc. The contractions just got worse and worse. By 3:00, I knew something was different and was starting to be in some serious pain. I managed to keep Mike asleep until 4:00. Then I woke him up and he started his nifty "contraction counter app" on his tablet. My contractions were measuring 2.5-3 minutes apart, lasting for 30-45 seconds. By 5:00, they were lasting for 45-60 seconds. I was laying on the floor of the bedroom dreading each one as it came on. I thought that when I went into labor, the contractions would come on gradually, but these were so close together so quickly! Mike called the doctor at a little after 5:00 and she told me to come in. It took a while for me to get there... I kept having to go the bathroom... And then every 2-3 minutes when a contraction would come on, I was worthless. Poor Chloe (my dog) was worried and wouldn't leave my side. Anyway, despite the fact that the hospital is only 6 minutes from our house, we didn't arrive there until about 6:00.
We checked into the hospital, got our room, and I got checked. I was dilated to 4. I remember asking if this was real labor or if they were going to send me home. She assured me that this was the real deal, and I was quite thankful. If they were sending me home, I was going to be needing some sort of narcotic to take care of the pain!
By the time we got to the hospital, I knew I wanted an epidural! I had always said "we'll just see how it goes" in regard to pain medication, but I was a hot mess. I had to have a certain amount of fluids and some antibiotics in my system before they would give me the epidural, and that seemed to take FOREVER. I don't remember our nurse from 6-7 (they have shift changes at 7) but Mike says she was really good and was rubbing my back and stuff. I just remember a lot of pain and I have very fond memories of the man who administered my epidural. LIFE SAVER. I got that at 7:41 (I remember them jotting down the exact time). The very next contraction felt a bajillion times better and before I knew it, I couldn't feel any contractions at all! The computer screen next to me kept showing that I was contracting and I could feel my stomach with my hand and feel the contraction, but all of the pain was instantly gone. It was BEAUTIFUL. I don't know how or why people would choose to go through that without one! Anyway, the day progressed pretty well. By 1:00, I was fully dilated and starting to think about the "pushing" stage. They did a practice push and decided the baby wasn't in position to push yet. So, I had to wait. I waited until 3:00, then they told me I could start pushing. It seemed really pointless, like I wasn't accomplishing anything, but they kept assuring me I was. My epidural ran out and the nurse was pretty sure that the baby would be born before it wore off, so she didn't replenish it. Unfortunately, that was not the case! I started feeling things again and it was not pleasant. That's when I started throwing up. Which was disgusting cuz I couldn't turn on my side or anything so I was blowing chunks all over myself. They then replenished my epidural, and I started feeling really good again! I was even joking around! The doctor came and I knew the baby was finally going to be born soon. It turned out, Ryann was not coming out straight, which was why it was taking so much time to get her out. She came out on her side. It was a huge relief when she finally was born. 14.5 hours of "labor". Most of it doesn't really seem like labor, as I was napping, watching movies, not in pain at all! When Ryann came out, the doctor goes "wow this is a REALLY big baby!". Mike had to cut the umbilical cord quickly because they didn't want her to breathe, as she had pooped already. They didn't want her to inhale any of that junk. When the placed Ryann on the scale and saw that she weighed in at 9 pounds, 9.1 ounces, the whole room was in shock. As was I! She measured 21.5 inches long. The doctor congratulated me on not only delivering a huge baby, but one that was not in ideal position either. I was just in awe of how different I felt and in awe of the huge baby they were cleaning up!
Overall, it was a very good experience! 14.5 hours sounds like a long time, but the day went by very quickly! We had several visitors at the hospital. Baby Ryann is very much loved by lots and lots of people already! The outfit we bought for her to come home in would not fit over her head. Her newborn sized clothes do not fit unfortunately. The 0-3 month outfits will be out in a few weeks I think. Luckily, people brought gifts of larger clothes when they found out she was big and a girl, so we had other options by the time we left Sunday.
We have loved the first four days with this precious baby. Because of her size, feeding her has proved to be quite a task. She ate much more than I could provide at the beginning, making her quite fussy. This is getting much more under control now though! Ryann lost 8 ounces at the hospital, weighing in at 9 lbs, 1 oz when we left. Everyone told me this was normal though. Today, she had her first doctor appointment and she weighed in at 9 lbs, 3 oz, so we are headed in the right direction. She also pooped at home for the first time last night! It was IMPRESSIVE!
Here is what Ryann looks like now. Newborns change so much in the matter of just a few days! Her head was very bruised and cone shaped from spending so much time stuck in me! It is looking SO much better now!
Thursday afternoon I had my final doctor appointment. I had made no progress and my doctor did not believe the baby would be coming until I was induced on Monday. The plan was to go in Sunday night and get some medication to prepare my body for labor, as it was no where near ready yet. I would then sleep at the hospital and they would induce me early Monday morning. I was kind of excited to have an actual plan for when Baby D was coming, since I had been stressed about not knowing when s/he would show up. At the end of the appointment, my doctor was pushing around on my stomach with a puzzled look on her face. She then looked at Mike and me and asked what we weighed at birth. When we told her, she goes "I think this baby is going to be a bit larger than that". She was thinking in the 8 pound range...
We went to bed Thursday night and I woke up around 2, thinking I just needed to use the restroom and then would return to sleep. However, I started feeling crampy and contracted. I had had this before, so I didn't think too much of it. I was too uncomfortable to fall back asleep, so I decided to get up and get a drink, cruise facebook, etc. The contractions just got worse and worse. By 3:00, I knew something was different and was starting to be in some serious pain. I managed to keep Mike asleep until 4:00. Then I woke him up and he started his nifty "contraction counter app" on his tablet. My contractions were measuring 2.5-3 minutes apart, lasting for 30-45 seconds. By 5:00, they were lasting for 45-60 seconds. I was laying on the floor of the bedroom dreading each one as it came on. I thought that when I went into labor, the contractions would come on gradually, but these were so close together so quickly! Mike called the doctor at a little after 5:00 and she told me to come in. It took a while for me to get there... I kept having to go the bathroom... And then every 2-3 minutes when a contraction would come on, I was worthless. Poor Chloe (my dog) was worried and wouldn't leave my side. Anyway, despite the fact that the hospital is only 6 minutes from our house, we didn't arrive there until about 6:00.
We checked into the hospital, got our room, and I got checked. I was dilated to 4. I remember asking if this was real labor or if they were going to send me home. She assured me that this was the real deal, and I was quite thankful. If they were sending me home, I was going to be needing some sort of narcotic to take care of the pain!
By the time we got to the hospital, I knew I wanted an epidural! I had always said "we'll just see how it goes" in regard to pain medication, but I was a hot mess. I had to have a certain amount of fluids and some antibiotics in my system before they would give me the epidural, and that seemed to take FOREVER. I don't remember our nurse from 6-7 (they have shift changes at 7) but Mike says she was really good and was rubbing my back and stuff. I just remember a lot of pain and I have very fond memories of the man who administered my epidural. LIFE SAVER. I got that at 7:41 (I remember them jotting down the exact time). The very next contraction felt a bajillion times better and before I knew it, I couldn't feel any contractions at all! The computer screen next to me kept showing that I was contracting and I could feel my stomach with my hand and feel the contraction, but all of the pain was instantly gone. It was BEAUTIFUL. I don't know how or why people would choose to go through that without one! Anyway, the day progressed pretty well. By 1:00, I was fully dilated and starting to think about the "pushing" stage. They did a practice push and decided the baby wasn't in position to push yet. So, I had to wait. I waited until 3:00, then they told me I could start pushing. It seemed really pointless, like I wasn't accomplishing anything, but they kept assuring me I was. My epidural ran out and the nurse was pretty sure that the baby would be born before it wore off, so she didn't replenish it. Unfortunately, that was not the case! I started feeling things again and it was not pleasant. That's when I started throwing up. Which was disgusting cuz I couldn't turn on my side or anything so I was blowing chunks all over myself. They then replenished my epidural, and I started feeling really good again! I was even joking around! The doctor came and I knew the baby was finally going to be born soon. It turned out, Ryann was not coming out straight, which was why it was taking so much time to get her out. She came out on her side. It was a huge relief when she finally was born. 14.5 hours of "labor". Most of it doesn't really seem like labor, as I was napping, watching movies, not in pain at all! When Ryann came out, the doctor goes "wow this is a REALLY big baby!". Mike had to cut the umbilical cord quickly because they didn't want her to breathe, as she had pooped already. They didn't want her to inhale any of that junk. When the placed Ryann on the scale and saw that she weighed in at 9 pounds, 9.1 ounces, the whole room was in shock. As was I! She measured 21.5 inches long. The doctor congratulated me on not only delivering a huge baby, but one that was not in ideal position either. I was just in awe of how different I felt and in awe of the huge baby they were cleaning up!
Overall, it was a very good experience! 14.5 hours sounds like a long time, but the day went by very quickly! We had several visitors at the hospital. Baby Ryann is very much loved by lots and lots of people already! The outfit we bought for her to come home in would not fit over her head. Her newborn sized clothes do not fit unfortunately. The 0-3 month outfits will be out in a few weeks I think. Luckily, people brought gifts of larger clothes when they found out she was big and a girl, so we had other options by the time we left Sunday.
We have loved the first four days with this precious baby. Because of her size, feeding her has proved to be quite a task. She ate much more than I could provide at the beginning, making her quite fussy. This is getting much more under control now though! Ryann lost 8 ounces at the hospital, weighing in at 9 lbs, 1 oz when we left. Everyone told me this was normal though. Today, she had her first doctor appointment and she weighed in at 9 lbs, 3 oz, so we are headed in the right direction. She also pooped at home for the first time last night! It was IMPRESSIVE!
Here is what Ryann looks like now. Newborns change so much in the matter of just a few days! Her head was very bruised and cone shaped from spending so much time stuck in me! It is looking SO much better now!