mission: joyful life

Ryan's birth story:

My mom came into town February 24th, 4 days before my due date, so she could help and be with the girls when the baby was born. We had lots of fun shopping at Target and completing the final touches on his room. She made a super cute valance for his window. The theme I chose for his room is "planes, trains, and automobiles" and the colors are blue, orange, green, and brown.

Several days went by and I passed 40 weeks -- still only dilated to 3 centimeters and 75% effaced. My doctor put me on the waiting list to be induced Thursday March 6th if I hadn't gone into labor naturally by then, but Scottsdale Shea is such a busy hospital that there was no guarantee I'd get in on any given day. I was more and more anxious and discouraged each day. The girls had been born late so I knew I'd pass my February 28th due date, but I started to go crazy once I hit March 7th. It was a Friday. I woke up and told Alan I needed to get out. He took the day off and we drove to Ikea in Tempe. For a long time, I had really wanted a head board for our bed plus I hoped walking around that huge place would get labor started. We bought a mirror for our room but couldn't agree on a head board, and my labor wasn't starting. We decided to go to American Furniture Wearhouse in Gilbert to look for a head board. Eureka!-- We found one-- and some cool art work for our computer area! Nothing like shop therapy to help you de-stress. But still no contractions.

Alan was really excited about our new purchases and he was inspired to paint our master bedroom and rearrange the whole thing! He was doing some nesting of his own! And it looked awesome. He spent the majority of the next day working on our room-- it was a good distraction for both of us. Then FINALLY, at 5pm on Saturday, the hospital called and said they were ready for me to come in and be induced. I panicked at first because I was scared. The moment was finally here! And I didn't really want to be induced but I was desperate. I took a quick shower and we packed up some last minute things. (Ironically, I had done my hair and makeup every other day that week except that day because I was just so DONE. Of course, that was the day they called.) We gathered with the girls and my mom in the family room and Alan gave me a blessing. He blessed me that all would go well and the Lord would be with me throughout the labor process and afterwards. He said Ryan would be healthy and all would go smoothly. He said I was being given a great blessing and to enjoy this and have gratitude in my heart.

We loaded our van with all the things we needed and we headed to Scottsdale Shea which was about a 20 minute drive. I texted and called our families on the way, and some friends from the ward. We got checked into Labor and Delivery. It felt so good to have the insurance we needed this time. It made me feel very secure and I was grateful. They took us to our room and I put on a hospital gown. The nurse was a blonde, very friendly and talkative. She was at the end of her shift but she got me started on the IV and Pitocin and she answered our questions and put us at ease. Our next nurse was from Romania. She was much quieter but I felt she was intuitive to my needs. The doctor had called early on in the evening and said I should have my water broken but this nurse knew I wasn't far enough dilated yet and she could tell I didn't think I was either, even without me saying it. And she asked, "Are you ok with this?" I shrugged and she could see my uneasiness. She made sure I didn't have my water broken then. I was thankful for that because I just didn't feel ready for some reason. They ended up breaking it after I had the epidural and I was further dilated, which I felt much better about.

My mom and the girls came by around 7 or 8pm to see us and so I could show the girls that everything was ok at the hospital. My contractions were barely getting started so it was feeling really good. The girls sat at the computer screen and pretended to be nurses and doctors. They asked questions about my IV, they rolled around on the chairs, and they watched Disney Channel for a bit. Soon I started to get anxious so they went home. Alan and I watched our favorite show "Chuck" and I labored for a couple hours, curious to see how long I could go before getting the epidural. Finally, Alan could tell I needed relief so we told the nurse we were ready. Within a few minutes, the anesthesiologist was there. He was a nice, Asian man and I felt at ease with him there. The epiural did hurt, like I remember with the girls, but it was well worth it. They made sure Alan was sitting down and looking the other way.

I immediately started to feel my legs go numb. Then they broke my water. Soon I noticed there was maybe an apple sized section of my abdomen at the top right that was not numb, and part of my back on the right, as well. With every contraction, that spot on my abdomen felt like my muscles were ripping apart, or being stabbed by 100 little knives. I think with my water broken, and the Pitocin going, the contractions got HARD really quickly. After several contractions like that, the tears came and Alan got the nurse. They came right in and increased my epidural and the problem was solved. I was so thankful for modern medicine and that I'm not a pioneer!

I texted updates to my mom and sisters all night and we watched "Chuck" for a few more hours while my body did the work and I relaxed, not feeling a thing. His heart rate dropped several times and they kept turning me from one side to another hoping that would help and they gave me an oxygen mask. Finally, they decreased the Pitocin because they said it made the contractions so hard that the baby couldn't tolerate them very well. Around 1:30am our nurse said I was almost to 10 centimeters and she'd be back around 2am to start pushing. I started to get really nervous and cold and I began shaking. I'm not really sure why-- it wasn't cold in the room and I had blankets. I think I was just really, really nervous. Alan held my face and kissed my forehead several times and told me it was going to be ok and that he was proud of me and he loved me. I was so grateful to have him by my side.

When our nurse came back, she said it was time to push. I pushed through several contractions and she then went to get the doctor. She was not the doctor I had seen in office visits because that doctor was not on call. But she was a really nice, calm lady and we liked her. I think her name was Dr. Penopeli, or something like that. She asked if I was ready to have a baby and she had me hold me knees and push through each contraction. The nurses helped hold my legs because they were so numb that at one point earlier in the night, my leg just fell of the bed and Alan had to go put it back up for me. The nurse said people's legs usually aren't that numb!

When I started pushing, Alan had to sit down because he was nervous he'd get light headed. But he sat right by my side talking to me and making sure I knew he was there for me. I pushed for about 15 minutes and suddenly, baby Ryan was there. At 2:34am I saw his head. Alan looked over and saw it, too. The doctor pulled him the rest of the way out and I couldn't believe how BIG he was! It took me a few seconds to process that that was MY baby. That I had actually had a baby THAT big. He was very purple, too, and the doctor said it was because it was such a tight squeeze for him being so big. One of the nurses said, " I bet he's 9 pounds!" I was thinking, "No way. There's no way I had a baby THAT big in there!" Sure enough, he was 8 lbs 14 oz, 21 1/2 inches long. Almost 9 lbs!

When he came out, the doctor handed him to me almost immediately and I started to tear up. "Hi, baby," I said to him. "I love you, baby." He was so cute and I just held him on my chest for a while, feeling so grateful.

We had decided years ago if we ever had a boy, he would be named Ryan. This is after Alan's best friend Ryan Hodges who is a fantastic guy, and also because it's the only boy name we agreed on. We chose Clark as the middle name, since that's Alan's middle name.

The girls were proud sisters that day!!!

And here's a proud Grandma! This is grandchild #7.

Uncle Mike, Auntie G, and Nico happened to be in town helping my cousin Rachel and her husband bring their baby into the world so they were able to come see us, too! It was such wonderful timing! If he had been even a few hours later, they would have missed it!