The Birth of Ryan

Lets see if I can get this all written out before the little guy wakes.

Today is the 1 week marker of Ryan's Birth.

Where to start?

Last Saturday night, the 16th of April we went over to Mike and Janet's to hang out for a bit and enjoy some apple pie. Mom went with us. Alexandra I think helped to start my labor by climbing on me like a monkey and having me pick her up, so a BIG thank you to her (I was late and looking at the 20th being our induction date).

We get home, say good night to mom and Neil and sit down to enjoy some homemade burritos. I get the urge to pee and as I sat down on the loo I had a massive cramp and next I know my water broke. (at 11:10pm Sat night) There was no big POP or anything just a steady stream. 

I freak out. I yell "Neil ohmygod ohmygod my water broke!!!" 

Neil comes in very calm and tells me this is what we have been waiting for. I smile and get excited.

After taking a shower and telling the family we head off to the hospital. Oh a side note. I called Robin (brother in law) to tell him. I say "We have to cancel plans for Sunday because my water broke." Robin "OH WHAT DO I DO?!?" I tell him to go home and go to bed and we will call him when it's over. It was very sweet. Funny thing was he was over earlier that day asking if I felt today was the day and I told him no!

Also another side note. When your water breaks it doesn't stop. It just goes and goes and goes. And when you think its over you get another gush. It feels really odd and pretty gross. 

Anyways, we get to the hospital get admitted and there were no rooms. So they put us in a temp room.

Had a bed that doesn't work (wont go up) and a huge heater in it for biological samples so the room was HOT. Labor pains started around midnight. Thankfully we got into a real room after not long after that.

They checked to see how far I was and I was at 3cm around 1am. Wow this was going fast. After I get into the room we try to get comfy and ready for the big show.

I got my real nurse, Allison, and she told me I can have the epidural at any point now. I tell her I will wait a little longer, 10 min later I said screw that and get it now. I was about 4cm almost 5cm and I think it was around 2am.

I can not explain how contractions feel. Its very painful and they come to close together. Its almost vomit inducing. I really thought I was going to be sick. But I took deep breaths and focused on getting oxygen to the baby during the contractions.

After the doc came and gave me my epidural all was right with the world. Trying not to move in pain with a needle in your back while you have a contraction is really hard. I went through two of them while the doc was doing his thing. Almost three but he was pretty fast.

About 5 min later I felt much better. I was shocked I could still move my legs around. I couldn't get up or pick my leg up all the way off the bed but I could still feel them and shift them around. 

We watched on the monitor the heart rate for the baby and the contraction thing. It was cool to see the contractions come but not really feel them.

We had a little scare because there was a point when I had a contraction the heart rate would drop to the 80's. Which is bad. They gave me some oxygen and it got better. Allison did mention a c-section which scared Neil and I but after monitoring it they figure it was just that the cord was getting squished when a contraction would come and cut the flow of oxygen to the baby. Ryan was fine, he wasn't in real danger.

We tried to get some sleep which is hard to do. Poor Neil really tried but the chairs in the labor room are not that comfy. He was starting to look pretty worn out around 7am.

So around 7:30am they told me I was 9cm. They started to lay out all the stuff they would need. I didn't notice but Neil told me they had a sort of crash cart for him just to be on the safe side because of the dropping heart rate.

At 8:30am I started to get the urge to push and told the nurses. They called the doc in, we had two doctors and two nurses.

At 8:45am legs went up and the action started. Neil held my left leg up and my neck for me and I pushed with all my might. I was ready to meet this kid and see what he was like. 

Side note, after each pushing session the nurses would lift me up and clean the paper under me and put a new one. It was awesome how clean they kept such a messy thing.

All the nurses and doctors were very encouraging as was Neil. I remember at one point Neil looked a little green and I asked if he was okay. He smiled and said he was. I said "lets do this." and pushed and pushed. The nurses and doctors kept reassuring me Ryan was okay. One of the nurses told me he has dark hair and Neil said he could see him coming out I started to cry I was so happy. I pushed with everything I had in me and he came out. He came out screaming at 8:58am.

I cried, Neil teared up a little bit too. I never thought I would hear such an amazing sound. They put him on me and I was trying to hold him but it was hard at my angle. He had BIG open eyes and he looked right at me. He was perfect.

The nurse took him away and put him to my left in a warmer and Neil went over to be with him. Poor guy was screaming his head off. They looked him over, cleaned him off better. Gave him a Vitamin K shot and put the goo in his eyes. I looked down at what the doc's were doing and I saw my placenta (ew) and it was intact and whole (thank goodness). I asked the doc how bad I tore and he said barely a 2 (which is not bad at all).

I looked back over to Neil and Ryan. I asked for Neils camera and I tried to get some pictures while the doc sewed me up. Gave me something to focus on cause when I looked back down there and saw the doc pulling a bloody string I almost barfed. Got a good shot of Neil with Ryan though.

After I was stitched up and thanked the doctors they put Ryan back on me and I breastfeed him for a bit. OR tried too at least. I think we did okay since neither of us had done it before. :)

After that Neil took him and was able to hold him for a bit.

We got moved to a semi private room. All the private rooms were taken but it was okay cause after a few hours our roommate was moved to a private and we had the room to ourselves. Just sucked for Neil cause yet again he was sleeping in a chair.

Family came to visit us in our tiny area for a little bit around 1pm. I took a shower after that. Then a few friends came by around 5pm.

We had some issues feeding Ryan. He has a slight tongue tie so he can't get his tongue under the nipple so I have had a lot of pain and some blisters. But lotion and use of a shield at times are helping. Also helps my milk came in, the first few nights we were using an eye dropper and formula on top of my colostrum. He was just so hungry all the time. It's gotten much better.

We celebrate odd milestones. When his poo went from black to green/black. Then when he has mustard yellow poo with seeds in it I was so happy I almost cried. It meant he was eating and everything was working the way it should. Then his gross cord came off which was good. All signs of a healthy baby.

There are times he makes me think of Abbey and the loss of her and every time he does something normal or marks a healthy milestone I am so happy and grateful I can not put it into words.

To lose a child and then to be blessed with a healthy one is just such a remarkable feeling.

There have been times I feel over whelmed (lack of sleep really gets to you) and I have a little cry but overall things are going great. I think soon we can get in a good routine and with a little luck he can sleep more at night soon also. Poor Neil goes back to work Monday so I hope he is a good monkey tonight.

Last night Ryan feed on me for almost 3 hours and just wouldn't stop eating. I gave him a bottle (about 20ml) and he was out like a light for over 3 hours. 

I don't know what I do without Neil. He has been such a huge support for me. A few times while I was feeding Ryan Neil would feed me. It is beyond sweet and I cherish seeing Neil with Ryan. He is just an amazing father and it blows me away.

Neil has been getting some good photos of Ryan. OR trying to. Ryan doesn't make it easy on Daddy. 
You can see the photos at http://www.neilbank.com/gallery/ryan-charles-bank/

I am really looking forward to getting into a steady routine with the little guy. I think it will be good for all three of us to have some normality back in our life. Just like watching Neil play Portal 2 yesterday while Ryan napped in his swing and I napped on the futon made me feel like life was getting to normal.


We made it through our first week. Now to make it through the next one and the one after that and the one after that...
:)