Ryan’s Birth Story

On Monday, August 16, I went to my doctor for my final (although I didn’t know it!) appointment.  I was 38 weeks and 5 days on that day and was getting extremely miserable with the pregnancy.  The week before my doctor and I had discussed being induced because of Stephen’s crazy football schedule but we didn’t set a date yet. On the 16th, he checked my cervix and I was 2-3 cm dilated, but Ryan’s head was still fairly high.  He told me that I needed to be at the hospital at 5pm the next evening (Stephen’s birthday!) to begin induction.  He then told me that he would use a gel on my cervix to start the induction and that it might set my labor off quickly or he might have to start Pitocin the next morning if nothing was happening.  We discussed my desire to have an epidural and talked about a few other random things and then Stephen and I left…for 9 months we knew we were going to have another baby, but at that moment it really hit us! 

The night before our induction, we went to Ft. Smith with Stephen’s brother and his wife to eat and just enjoy a last night without a newborn in tow.  Paige stayed with my parents and allowed us to go out alone.  We had a great time eating and laughing-I laughed so hard, in fact, I thought there might not be a need for induction the next night! 

On the morning of the 17th (Stephen’s bday and induction day), I felt like I had tons to do.  Ryan’s bag for the hospital had been packed for several weeks, but I hadn’t packed a thing for me or for Paige since she was staying at my parents house while we were in the hospital.  I packed way more than I needed for myself and for Paige, but I like for us both to have choices!  After I packed, Paige and I headed out to pick up a birthday cake for Stephen and we took it to school for he and the other teachers to enjoy.  Then we all went out to eat for lunch…it was my last meal (even though I ate lightly). Stephen had to go back to work for the afternoon, but he actually missed football practice (Gasp!) to come home and be with Paige and I before we left for the hospital.  I was extremely emotional and very nervous all afternoon.  We left for the hospital around 4:50 since we live about 5 minutes away…I remember backing out of our driveway and thinking “The next time I am home I’ll have a son.”  WOW.

Since we were set to check-in to the hospital at 5pm, the regular registration desk was closed so we had to check in at the ER…took forever!  There were a few people ahead of us so it was every bit of 5:30 before we even began the paperwork process.  I didn’t pre-register and I have no idea why!  Once we had the go ahead to make our way back to Labor & Delivery, my mom had arrived to take Paige from us.  She walked back to the L&D desk with us and I had to say goodbye to my baby girl too quickly.  The nurse that was at the desk was a bit abrupt and telling Paige bye didn’t go the way that I wanted it to go.  I got emotional once again.  I was able to gather myself and get all settled in the L&D room, which happened to be right next door the the room I delivered Paige in.  We went through all the history, etc with the check-in nurse and by this time it was already about 7pm.  I got my IV started and the Lab came to draw blood…and they started my 1st bag of antibiotics since I was positive for GBS.  Our niece, Hannah, arrived as well as Stephen’s parents. 

Around 7:30pm, my doctor came in to administer the cervical gel.  Literally within 5 minutes, I was having intense pain and contractions (I was having contractions when I got to the hospital but I didn’t feel them…we could just see them on the monitor).  I was shocked at how quickly the gel started changing my cervix.  Within an hour, I had progressed to 4 cm. My parents and sister brought Paige back to the hospital so I could see her…I was so thankful, even though I was in quite a bit of pain.

  By 9:30pm, the nurse told me that I could go ahead and get my epidural.  I was really concerned about moving while the doctor was putting the epidural in, so my family convinced me to take 1/2 a dose of Stadol…even though I knew better.  When I had Paige, I had Stadol and it made me so out of my head.  This time I didn’t really get mean like I did with Paige, but it made me feel very light-headed.  The anesthesiologist came in and I made it through getting the epidural without any problems.  Stephen and Hannah watched the entire thing and I found out later that they were in awe of the huge needle that was inserted into my spine!  Thankfully, they’re both smart enough and didn’t let on about how big it was to me!  After the epidural took effect, I was amazed at how well it worked.  I literally couldn’t feel a thing.  I could still move my legs, which was a good thing, but I couldn’t really feel them.  When the nurses would check me after the epidural, I knew they were checking me but I couldn’t feel it…it was a life saver.  From this point, I progressed about 1 cm per hour.  Hannah was constantly by my bed watching all the monitors-my heart rate and blood pressure as well as Ryan’s heart rate.  About 2 hours after I got the epidural, I had a major scare.  I was lying on my back with my 2 sister-in-laws, Hannah, and Stephen around my bed talking to me.  All of a sudden, I feel very nauseated and like I’m going to pass out.  Next thing I know, I hear them all yelling my name and I wake up.  Apparently, I did pass out and my eyes rolled back in my head and they all thought I was having a seizure.  Alarms started going off in my room…the whole 9 yards.  The nurses weren’t overly concerned though and thought that a nerve got pinched and so they put a wedge under my right side and I felt much better. 

For the next few hours, I continued to progress and Stephen slept for about 2 hours.  Hannah stayed up with me.  She’s an angel.

At about 3:00am, I had made it to 9 cm and the nurses decided they should call my Doctor and have him start heading to the hospital.  We also made necessary phone calls/texts to family members that wanted to be there. 

Once Dr. N got to the hospital, he broke my water and thought that it would still take several hours before I delivered Ryan because he was still pretty high up.  He said he was going to go rest in another room but to call him if anything changed.  As soon as he left the room, the nurses insisted that I wouldn’t take several hours to deliver.  I had their undivided attention that  night in L&D and it was awesome!  I didn’t think I could have better nurses than I did when Paige was born, but these 2 ladies were exceptional.  By 5 am, I was about 9 1/2 cm dilated and the nurses felt like if I pushed some I could get rid of the part of the cervix that was remaining.  By this time, my sister Leslie was in the delivery room with us as well.  Her intention was to not watch the whole thing, but I gave her permission once it started happening.  Hannah and Leslie helped to hold my legs back and Stephen stood behind me and held my head while I pushed.  Pushing with Ryan was extremely different than with Paige because I literally couldn’t feel anything.   I had no idea when I was having a contraction so the nurses would watch the monitor and tell me when to push.  I just had to hope that I was pushing the correct way!  Apparently I was because the nurses almost didn’t get Dr. N in the room in time to deliver Ryan (He had fallen asleep and is hard to wake up, so they said!).  They did a great job of not letting me know just how close they were to delivering Ryan without Dr. N…Stephen and Hannah filled me in on that fact much later!  At 5:23 am, Ryan Clark entered the world and was perfect.

Stephen let Hannah cut his cord…it was really special.  We’ve always been very close to Hannah, but I think this intensified our relationship.  Stephen felt like if she stayed with me all night watching all the monitors, etc and being such a calming presence to me that she deserved to cut Ryan’s cord. 

  

Hannah was so excited to hold Ryan for the first time.  She even held him before Stephen did!  As you can see in the background of this picture, he was rather busy texting everyone in his Contacts list to tell them that Ryan had finally arrived!

When Stephen did hold him, though it was pretty sweet.  He wasn’t proud at all!  I know he was ecstatic when Paige was born, but this was so different because it was the first boy in his family since he was born 30 years ago!

It wasn’t long before all of the family made it into the room and Paige got to meet her brother for the very first time.  She wanted to hold him immediately.

 

Our first picture as a family of four…and our first complete family picture!  Ryan weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 22 inches long.  What can I say?  I have very long babies.  They come by it honestly.  From the time I walked into the hospital to the time I delivered Ryan was 12 hours and 23 minutes.  Technically though by the time I had the cervical gel and contractions really got going, it was a total of 10 hours and 23 minutes…much better than the 18 hours that I was in labor with Paige.  I honestly couldn’t have been more pleased with my delivery this time.  It went exactly how we anticipated it would (sans the passing out part!).  Dr. N. was awesome and we were so happy we chose him to deliver Ryan.  We feel incredibly blessed to have 2 healthy and thriving children!