A year ago today I was trying absolutely everything I could to go into labor all because I could not wait to meet our beautiful boy. I cannot believe that we have already shared 364 days with Ryker. He has brought us so much joy and happiness. I thought I would share Ryker's birth story since I am reminiscing.
It all started on Tuesday the 28th of October, 2009, I loss my mucus plug which is a little scary for a first time mother not knowing what is going on. Anyways I called the doctor and he told me to just go about my day as usual and he would see me on my original appointment which was the next day (my due date). Early Wednesday morning I had some contractions that were only about seven to nine minutes apart and lasted for only two hours and then went away. Chris and I were so nervous and anxious that we both stayed home from work that day just in case. Dr. Stowers examined me that day at my appointment and confirmed I did lose my mucus plug and that I was dilated to 1 cm. and was thinning. Well as you can see I was not progressing as fast as I wanted to so I was a little disappointed leaving the appointment. Chris and I decided to go for a walk when I got home and then we went again with my sister Dora later on that night, still nothing was happening so we just went to bed as normal that night. About an hour after I fell asleep the contractions started coming on and woke me up, they were strong might I add. The night before when I was having them they were a piece of cake but not this go around. We started to write down the minutes between the contractions for the next seven hours. Yes I said seven hours they were consistently seven minutes apart. We called the on call doctor and the hospital several of times which they just kept telling me to stay home until they are three to five minutes apart or if my water breaks. I thought if I could have came through the phone and strangled the next person who told me that I would. By around four in the morning I called my sister and she told us to come over so we did. Chris, Dora and I decided that we would call my doctor at seven in the morning when he got back on call to see if we could just come in and have him start me because I was not going through another night like that with no sleep and in so much pain. Well of course about 6:30 a.m. on the 30th, a half an hour before we were going to call my doctor the contractions just stopped again. I was hysterical I did not understand what was going on and I was completely exhausted so again we just went home and slept for a while. I was still having contractions the whole day but they were so inconsistent. Dora, Chris and I just walked that afternoon again to see if we could jump start the contractions again. Oh man did we walk and walk then I decided to use Dora's big exercise ball and bounce on it thinking that would help a bit and it sure did. Just picture big ol’ pregnant me jumping on a ball, it was a pretty sight! We finally got the contractions down to 3 to 6 minutes apart for about 3 hours straight and just as were all loading up to leave for the hospital they stopped again. Thank goodness Chris has a cousin Crystal who is a labor and delivery nurse so we called her for some advice. I won’t go into details about the advice but if you ever need to know how to jump start labor that works let me know. Chris and I took her advice and within an hour I was in full blown labor with contractions consistently three minutes apart so off we went to the hospital. It seemed like the longest ride ever but we arrived around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday the 30th. As soon as we hit the emergency room door I told everyone I wanted/needed the epidural right then and there but of course the nurse said she had to monitor me for an hour to see if I was in active labor. This is not what I had seen on "The Baby Story" or "Bringing Home Baby". Women seem to be painless just waiting to push their bundle of joy out. As you can imagine I was in rare form and letting my family know I was not having anymore kids! Finally the blessed nurse came in and told us I was in full blown labor with contractions three minutes apart and dilated to three centimeters (Duh, I told the lady I was ready!). She ordered the epidural and tried to insert my IV which took about 15 minutes because she could not get it into my vein. Hell this was really not what I imagined! Chris, Dora, Aleta & Shay were impatiently waiting for her to find the vein because I was getting so nauseous. Next step was the GREAT and I mean GREAT epidural. I was so ready to have a little break from the contractions that I did not care if it hurt. As I leaned over my belly towards Chris it took the anthesteologist two tries to put the thing in making my sister and mother-in-law sick. I could hear my bones in my back as the needle was going through and it made me nauseous so I was dry heaving. Poor Chris was a trooper as I was heaving right in his face. After it was all said and done I did not care because I was pain free finally. All of us got some rest until around three or four the morning of Halloween when the nurses came in to break my water because I was not progressing enough on my own. Within a half an hour of breaking my water three to four people came rushing in to wake us all up because Ryker’s heart beat had went down quite a bit. They flipped me on both sides until they figured out which one was the best (my right). After his heart beat was consistent they decided to pump fluid back inside me (like amniotic fluid) to get him off the cord. I was so scared and crying thinking it was hurting my little guy so I was begging the nurses to just take him by c-section and get him out. I knew at that time that there would be no way I could lay on my back and push this little guy out because his heart rate would go way down if I laid any other way then on my right side. After a couple more hours of listening to the fetal heart rate monitor they stuck to his head a nurse came in to flip me on my left side. I begged her not to because I knew he liked my right side (Duh I did have to feel him for nine months in my ribs on that side) but she explained to me that it would interfere with my epidural if they did not flip me. So again all the panic happened after they turned me and they had to flip me back to my right side. Soon after that a woman doctor came in and explained to me that Dr. Stowers (my doctor) is on his way in and there might be a possibility they have to take Ryker cesarean. I understood and was okay with that. As she was explaining all this to me his heart rate dropped way low and a whole team of people came in to rush me into the OR for an emergency c-section. I have never been so scared in my whole life. I had two nurses needing on my belly trying to get him off the cord and the others were working frantically to get all the wires off me so I could be rushed into the operating room. One doctor was screaming, “Call Stowers 911” and then in the next breath they were telling me to calm down and relax because that is what is best for the baby. Good hell how could I calm down when everyone around me is panicking! A very nice nurse got Chris and told him to get dressed into some scrubs but the woman doctor told him, “NO the only reason the spouse is allowed to come in is to support the mother but we are not going to have time to put meds through her IV’s we are going to knock her out completely”. As you can imagine I was more terrified and scared being wheeled down the hallway without Chris. When we got into the OR the woman doctor grabbed my face and said I promise your baby is going to be fine. They gave me something to somewhat sedate me because I remember being really tired and calm thinking to myself that I am going to wake up and they are going to tell me I lost my baby. I did some major praying at that moment. Next thing I know I woke up to a sheet in front of me hearing a loud cry and then Chris telling me here is our son and that he is perfectly fine. I guess they rushed Chris into the OR once they relized Ryker’s heart beat was stable and that he was just lying on the cord. He was being pulled out as Chris came in so he didn’t get to see the whole procedure or be there with me in the beginning but he did get to share in the first moments of Ryker’s life which was wonderful. Chris and Ryker stayed next to me for quite a while before they all went to the nursery. The medication they gave me really made me feel funny and I could not focus on Chris or Ryker so I do not feel like I really got to see him until I was back in my room to recover. Ryker’s scores after delivery was an 8 which is very good the only reason he was not a 10 is because his hands and feet did not pink up fast enough. The doctor’s explained that there was no damage done to our little guy and they got him out fast enough. He is a perfect healthy boy with no heart problems. Thank goodness! Ryker weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 18 inches long. We are truly blessed to have our little man here with us. My family says that because he was born on Halloween he gave us quite a SPOOK but a better TREAT!
It all started on Tuesday the 28th of October, 2009, I loss my mucus plug which is a little scary for a first time mother not knowing what is going on. Anyways I called the doctor and he told me to just go about my day as usual and he would see me on my original appointment which was the next day (my due date). Early Wednesday morning I had some contractions that were only about seven to nine minutes apart and lasted for only two hours and then went away. Chris and I were so nervous and anxious that we both stayed home from work that day just in case. Dr. Stowers examined me that day at my appointment and confirmed I did lose my mucus plug and that I was dilated to 1 cm. and was thinning. Well as you can see I was not progressing as fast as I wanted to so I was a little disappointed leaving the appointment. Chris and I decided to go for a walk when I got home and then we went again with my sister Dora later on that night, still nothing was happening so we just went to bed as normal that night. About an hour after I fell asleep the contractions started coming on and woke me up, they were strong might I add. The night before when I was having them they were a piece of cake but not this go around. We started to write down the minutes between the contractions for the next seven hours. Yes I said seven hours they were consistently seven minutes apart. We called the on call doctor and the hospital several of times which they just kept telling me to stay home until they are three to five minutes apart or if my water breaks. I thought if I could have came through the phone and strangled the next person who told me that I would. By around four in the morning I called my sister and she told us to come over so we did. Chris, Dora and I decided that we would call my doctor at seven in the morning when he got back on call to see if we could just come in and have him start me because I was not going through another night like that with no sleep and in so much pain. Well of course about 6:30 a.m. on the 30th, a half an hour before we were going to call my doctor the contractions just stopped again. I was hysterical I did not understand what was going on and I was completely exhausted so again we just went home and slept for a while. I was still having contractions the whole day but they were so inconsistent. Dora, Chris and I just walked that afternoon again to see if we could jump start the contractions again. Oh man did we walk and walk then I decided to use Dora's big exercise ball and bounce on it thinking that would help a bit and it sure did. Just picture big ol’ pregnant me jumping on a ball, it was a pretty sight! We finally got the contractions down to 3 to 6 minutes apart for about 3 hours straight and just as were all loading up to leave for the hospital they stopped again. Thank goodness Chris has a cousin Crystal who is a labor and delivery nurse so we called her for some advice. I won’t go into details about the advice but if you ever need to know how to jump start labor that works let me know. Chris and I took her advice and within an hour I was in full blown labor with contractions consistently three minutes apart so off we went to the hospital. It seemed like the longest ride ever but we arrived around 10:00 p.m. on Thursday the 30th. As soon as we hit the emergency room door I told everyone I wanted/needed the epidural right then and there but of course the nurse said she had to monitor me for an hour to see if I was in active labor. This is not what I had seen on "The Baby Story" or "Bringing Home Baby". Women seem to be painless just waiting to push their bundle of joy out. As you can imagine I was in rare form and letting my family know I was not having anymore kids! Finally the blessed nurse came in and told us I was in full blown labor with contractions three minutes apart and dilated to three centimeters (Duh, I told the lady I was ready!). She ordered the epidural and tried to insert my IV which took about 15 minutes because she could not get it into my vein. Hell this was really not what I imagined! Chris, Dora, Aleta & Shay were impatiently waiting for her to find the vein because I was getting so nauseous. Next step was the GREAT and I mean GREAT epidural. I was so ready to have a little break from the contractions that I did not care if it hurt. As I leaned over my belly towards Chris it took the anthesteologist two tries to put the thing in making my sister and mother-in-law sick. I could hear my bones in my back as the needle was going through and it made me nauseous so I was dry heaving. Poor Chris was a trooper as I was heaving right in his face. After it was all said and done I did not care because I was pain free finally. All of us got some rest until around three or four the morning of Halloween when the nurses came in to break my water because I was not progressing enough on my own. Within a half an hour of breaking my water three to four people came rushing in to wake us all up because Ryker’s heart beat had went down quite a bit. They flipped me on both sides until they figured out which one was the best (my right). After his heart beat was consistent they decided to pump fluid back inside me (like amniotic fluid) to get him off the cord. I was so scared and crying thinking it was hurting my little guy so I was begging the nurses to just take him by c-section and get him out. I knew at that time that there would be no way I could lay on my back and push this little guy out because his heart rate would go way down if I laid any other way then on my right side. After a couple more hours of listening to the fetal heart rate monitor they stuck to his head a nurse came in to flip me on my left side. I begged her not to because I knew he liked my right side (Duh I did have to feel him for nine months in my ribs on that side) but she explained to me that it would interfere with my epidural if they did not flip me. So again all the panic happened after they turned me and they had to flip me back to my right side. Soon after that a woman doctor came in and explained to me that Dr. Stowers (my doctor) is on his way in and there might be a possibility they have to take Ryker cesarean. I understood and was okay with that. As she was explaining all this to me his heart rate dropped way low and a whole team of people came in to rush me into the OR for an emergency c-section. I have never been so scared in my whole life. I had two nurses needing on my belly trying to get him off the cord and the others were working frantically to get all the wires off me so I could be rushed into the operating room. One doctor was screaming, “Call Stowers 911” and then in the next breath they were telling me to calm down and relax because that is what is best for the baby. Good hell how could I calm down when everyone around me is panicking! A very nice nurse got Chris and told him to get dressed into some scrubs but the woman doctor told him, “NO the only reason the spouse is allowed to come in is to support the mother but we are not going to have time to put meds through her IV’s we are going to knock her out completely”. As you can imagine I was more terrified and scared being wheeled down the hallway without Chris. When we got into the OR the woman doctor grabbed my face and said I promise your baby is going to be fine. They gave me something to somewhat sedate me because I remember being really tired and calm thinking to myself that I am going to wake up and they are going to tell me I lost my baby. I did some major praying at that moment. Next thing I know I woke up to a sheet in front of me hearing a loud cry and then Chris telling me here is our son and that he is perfectly fine. I guess they rushed Chris into the OR once they relized Ryker’s heart beat was stable and that he was just lying on the cord. He was being pulled out as Chris came in so he didn’t get to see the whole procedure or be there with me in the beginning but he did get to share in the first moments of Ryker’s life which was wonderful. Chris and Ryker stayed next to me for quite a while before they all went to the nursery. The medication they gave me really made me feel funny and I could not focus on Chris or Ryker so I do not feel like I really got to see him until I was back in my room to recover. Ryker’s scores after delivery was an 8 which is very good the only reason he was not a 10 is because his hands and feet did not pink up fast enough. The doctor’s explained that there was no damage done to our little guy and they got him out fast enough. He is a perfect healthy boy with no heart problems. Thank goodness! Ryker weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 18 inches long. We are truly blessed to have our little man here with us. My family says that because he was born on Halloween he gave us quite a SPOOK but a better TREAT!
Loved hearing the story from you! Such a miracle.
ReplyDelete