Ryder Hall graced us with his presence Tues, Sept 14th at 7:42pm weighing a whopping 8lbs 12oz and 21.5" long. (Guess Dr. L was right about him being fully cooked...)
The hospital called us early Tues morning (5:15 or something like that) and asked us to be in by 7. Perfect! Hubs has been so antsy waiting for the call to go in. I set the alarm for 6 and attempt to get a little more shut eye before the big event. Didn't really work, was a little too excited... :)
We get up, shower, eat and head to check in. Our wonderful friend, and labor nurse, Shannon, was in our birthing suite getting everything ready. We got me all hooked up to the monitors and found out that i was having regular contractions every 3-5 minutes. They just weren't bothersome, felt like a little pressure right where Ryder's butt was so I just figured it was him, not a contraction.
Dr. Lorenzo came by a little after 8, checked me and had Shannon start a low-dose pitocin protocol. Even with pitocin, I still wasn't uncomfortable during the contractions. Dr. L came back by around 1 to check me again (3-4 cm), and he decided to break my water. After my water broke (very interesting feeling - peeing the bed uncontrollably) I was able to feel the contractions more. Down in my pelvis, near my hips. I would also, occasionally, have fluid gush out with contractions (more uncontrollable bed wetting sensations).
It got uncomfortable about 4-4:30 so we called for an epidural (thanks CRNA Bill!). After that, it was back to smooth sailing - Oma, Hubs, and I were all reading. About 6pm Shannon came in to check my progress - Oma just got back from dinner with Bitsy and Bear, and Hubs was eating the Mongolian beef she brought back for him. I enjoyed one of everything on the clear fluids diet menu - blue powerade, chicken broth, 7-up, and red jello. I just wanted to make sure I had a little something to give me energy to push with. 1cm of dilation per hour is normal so we were thinking push time would be 8-9pm.
When Shannon checked me at 6, to her surprise and all of ours, it was go time! She went to call the doc and get all the baby whatnots ready for Ryder's arrival and Lant had a quick moment of panic. Got a little pale and clammy, asked if we could bump up the AC for him. :) Couple a swigs of powerade later, he was back in the game and holding my leg (Oma got the other one). Shannon set up a mirror for me so I was able to see Ryder's great debut. It was great motivation to physically see him progressing closer to the outside with every contraction.
I was able to feel the urge to push but not any pain, thanks to my perfect epidural. Good thing I was in the company of friends because I farted at least once during each contraction. Then I would laugh (I'm only so mature). Dr. L said "It's just air." But he had on his full splatter suit and face mask. I asked him if it were to prevent pink eye and he knew that I was referencing Knocked Up! After less than an hour of pushing, amazing considering his head was still at a -2 station, Ryder was born! It was great all the way up until Ryder's head crowned at the very end of a contraction. That didn't feel good. I tried to wait for the next contraction, but hurt too bad so I gave it my all and popped him out. If I would have waited, I wouldn't have torn (second degree). Oh well. We have our perfect baby and some stitches downtown are completely worth it. Ryder's first poop splattered Dr. L (good thing he had on the full suit!) and I held him on my chest and fed him for the first time while Dr. L stitched me up.
Bitsy, Bear, and Wumps were also there for the pushing, but behind the curtain since I had the mirror set up and there wasn't anywhere they could be without a full visual. After I was all stitched up, they got to come in and meet the first grandbaby on both sides of the family.
We're lookin' pretty good considering what we both just went through.
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