On Tuesday, July 26th, shortly before midnight...Brian and I left Rylie in the care of my mom, step-dad, and mother-in-law and headed to the hospital. Within an hour, I was being hooked up to the machines and they started me on pitocin. As to be expected, we really didn't get a lot of sleep that night. Come 5am, we were joined by my dad, step-mom and my brother. We loved that everyone wanted to be here for us and were very thankful for their support!
Things started out pretty slowly. Nothing seemed to be "happening" and I was pain-free...until about 8am. By this time, everyone (including Rylie) had made it to the hospital and my contractions had become pretty intense. My doctor came in around 9am to break my water and found me dilated to a 4. He told me that I could go ahead and get the epidural if I wanted to...and I was shocked. With Rylie, I was begging for one. But apparently, I was able to control my pain a bit more this time around because I didn't even feel "ready" for the epidural yet. But in fear of waiting too long, I went ahead and had them call in the anesthesiologist. He wasn't able to get to me for another hour...so I did end up asking the nurse for some pain medicine...which helped me relax tremendously! And then after I received my epidural, I was able to rest. However, my nurses were checking on me very regularly and sometimes, they would make me rotate sides and put the oxygen mask on me. They said that the baby wasn't reacting well to my labor.
A few hours passed and my nurses were joined by my doctor around 1:45pm. I could tell by the look on my doctor's face and the way he was shaking his head that he didn't necessarily like what was going on. He told Brian and I that our baby really wasn't doing very well and that her heart-rate kept dropping at the most inopportune time. He said that he normally would already have a c-section underway but wanted to check me again to see how close I was to pushing. The news of a possible c-section scared both Brian and I...but thankfully, by this point, I was fully dilated and I was able to start pushing.
With Rylie, the pushing stage was horrible. I was in terrible pain, didn't know what I was doing, and had to push for over an hour. But this time around...things were different (thank the good Lord)! I had wonderful nurses. And my parents said they even heard me giggle a bit from outside the door. My doctor must have said something extremely funny because really...who giggles during child birth?! :) But truthfully, this birthing experience was rather...do I dare say, enjoyable?! I know that sounds crazy. And don't get me wrong. It was still a bit scary at times...a bit painful at times...and a bit exhausting at times. But there is something about childbirth that is just so incredible...and after it's said and done...it's really not that bad (especially for the reward)! :) I'm actually a bit saddened by the fact that I may not ever experience another one!
But...
Parker Lynn was born on July 27th at 2:22pm. She weighed 8lbs. 1oz and was 21 inches long. She was born a strong and healthy girl and even though my labor was hard on her, she had no complications! She did have what they call the "new baby hives"...but our pediatrician said that it wasn't anything to worry about and that it would go away in a few weeks. She has thin, dark hair...blue eyes...olive-colored skin...my nose...and Brian's eyes. She has been such a wonderful addition to our family and we thank God, every day, for her!
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