RIANN'S HERE!!! This is how it happened...

Well... it's been our first full week and I'm still speechless on what to really say. It's been amazing, scary and all over, overwhelming. It's amazing how much can change in one week and how emotional one person can be. I'll try to get everything up to date here because some of you have been asking how everything went. She's also laying next to me sleeping and I've been thinking about journaling lately and how I need to get some of my thoughts down so I decided what better time than now.

Overall her delivery was pretty good. I don't think I have anything to complain about. I also don't have anything to compare it to so that's another reason I can't complain. March 9th is when everything had started. I woke up about 5am with pains and couldn't sleep but figured they were just cramps because that's all I had been having up until that point. 7am rolled around and they seemed to have gone away so I crashed and slept until it was time to go to church. We unfortunately thought that our clocks would adjust themselves and so when we woke up and started getting ready we soon realized that we had missed the first part of church. Our nursery leader knew that we were getting close to having the baby so she planned on getting us a sub for class that day so we decided to take advantage of the extra time and get some rest... knowing it was going to be one of the last truly lazy days we'd get in a long time. We don't have our TV hooked up so we snuggled into bed and watched some movies. It was really fun. I really appreciate the fact that we got one last day to be together before all of the chaos began. About 2pm I started having pains again but because the time in between didn't bother me so much we kind of ignored them. Towards the end of the hour we noticed that I was flinching quite regularly and decided it was time to start taking notes. We grabbed a notebook and started writing down the times when I felt the most pain. We noticed at that point that my contractions were about 7 or so minutes a part with some breaks lasting as long as 20 minutes. Because we had been told to not come down to the hospital until I was experiencing contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart we wanted to wait until they became more regular. I also didn't think they were "real" contractions because I always imagined them being more painful. We were on the phone with mine and Paul's mom quite a bit and my mom laughs at me because I kept saying I was fine but would tell her I had to take a break anytime a contraction would hit. Finally about 9pm we called up to the hospital to see if what I was experiencing was anything to be excited about. They told us it sounded good but because we still were below 5 minutes and I didn't have to stop and breath though each contraction I could probably wait a little longer. We hung out for about a half hour and I think I might have taken a bath... although I don't remember if I did or not... and called my mom one more time to check in. My mom was going to fly out as soon as she could after we were officially checked into the hospital so we were trying to update her as much as possible. She started timing my contractions over the phone and noticed that they were about 4-5 minutes apart. At that point she demanded that we leave and I told her we were seriously considering it. When she realized she wasn't getting anywhere with me she asked to talk to Paul and asked him to get me up to the hospital. He said he would and about 5 minutes after we hung up I had another contraction and finally thought to myself, "this is silly, they were close enough to 5 minutes so we might as well just go". I told Paul that I thought I was ready and we grabbed all of our stuff and packed it into the car. In the middle of all of this my contractions stopped just long enough that I was starting to feel better, so I started backing out again and didn't want to leave anymore. I told Paul that we needed to just leaved everything in the car and hang out for another hour but before I could get back into the house another contraction hit and we were in the car. The whole time down to the hospital I started to freak out because I felt so great between each contraction and just knew that they were going to send us home with false labor. I kept telling Paul that this couldn't be it because I never felt like another one was coming once the last one ended. I'm not quite sure where I got my logic from but it some how made sense in my mind.

About 15 minutes later... around 10:30pm... we were up at the hospital and starting to check in. During the whole process, I was again freaking out because as I'm standing there checking in I feel fine. I felt like I was wasting everyone's time being there, including my own, and it made me feel uncomfortable. I even felt like the girls behind the receptionist counter was thinking I was crazy for coming in when I did because I didn't look or seem to be feeling any type of pain. Right as we finished giving them our information I had another contraction and they kind of looked at each other like "oh this could be real" and they offered me a seat. A few minutes later a nurse came from labor and delivery and brought me up in a wheel chair. Paul had to wait behind to finish some of the insurance paperwork and it made me really nervous to be alone. The nurse who came to get me was so sweet and kept me calm by asking how I was doing and if everything was going okay but all I could think about was how Paul and I had been separated and he'd never find out where I was being taken... I know, I'm pathetic.

We got up to the exam room and the nurse had me get changed. By the time I was done Paul had found my room and finally was back by my side. After going through a few questions they checked me and we found out that I was in fact in real labor and was dilated to 5 cm and 90% effaced. Not sure exactly what to think I made sure to clarify and asked if they were admitting us. The nurse kindly laughed and said they were because I'm sure she knew how worried I was about being sent home.

After they got me all checked in we moved to the delivery room and it was just time to wait. I remember not knowing what to do with myself because it didn't seem like the right time to turn on the TV and sleeping was a little hit and miss because they were checking on me every 15 minutes so it just felt out of place to be hanging out doing nothing but waiting. I kept stressing that I would get too far along and not be able to get an epidural so after arguing with myself for far too long I went a head and requested one. At about 4am the anesthesiologist comes in and I feel terrible because you can tell I've woken him up. I was also still on the fence about it being the right time to get the epidural and the nurse let him know I was unsure so he says to me, well it's been ordered so it's ready but I'm not opening it until your sure. I think it over one more time and say lets just go a head and get it done. I think part of the reason I was so hesitant to get it done was because I wasn't feeling the type of pain I had imagined I'd be feeling at that point. I knew I was having contractions, I could feel those and I could see them on the monitor but it was just a tightening in my stomach, I didn't feel like I was in actual labor so I didn't know where to go from there. I think this is where birthing classes probably would have helped... a lot.

After finally deciding to go a head and get my epidural put in we got it set up and done. Once it was in I couldn't get over the fact that my legs felt so funny. They felt cold every time I touched them and I had to keep looking at them because they just felt like big water balloons and I had to keep checking to see if they were swollen. I also wanted to see at one point how much muscle control I had so I tried lifting my leg up on the bed and almost ended up kicking one on the nurses in the face. Thankfully she was distracted with what she was doing that I don't think she noticed how close I had actually come to kicking her but I had also lost my leg off the side of the bed at the same time and Paul had to help me get it back into place. It felt weird to be so hopeless and to not be able to do anything with my legs. After getting checked a few more times by nurses and getting what little sleep we could Dr. Allred, one of the doctors within my office came to check me out and see how I was doing. We talked for a little bit and I was progressing, slowly... but still progressing, he decided to give me a little more time. Unfortunately though this meant that I would be rolled over into the next shift and he would not be the doctor delivering me. I had been hoping we would have her before shift change because I really wanted him to be the doctor on call for my delivery but it just wasn't going to work.

After getting a little more rest we met my new nurses and I was checked one more time. They said that I was progressing pretty well and we could probably give pushing a try. They walked through how to properly push and we gave it a go. I pushed for about an hour but nothing was changing. We tried rolling me onto each of my side to see if the different positions helped at all but nothing seemed to work. After a while the pressure they were helping me put on my legs started to feel really uncomfortable. In order to make pushing a little more comfortable I started grabbing my heels trying to get more pressure in my push. The nurse said she had never seen someone do it that way before but if was comfortable she'd let me go a head and keep it up to see where it got us. We tried pushing for another hour and still didn't seem to be making any progress. They hooked me up to the oxygen to make sure I wasn't getting too tired and with a few breaks here and there we kept at it. After about another 45 minutes Dr. Barton, who was the new doctor on call from my office, came in and watched me push. The nurse said that she really liked how I was doing and he watched me and I remember him immediately saying, "I don't". After adjusting my pushing method again and trying a few more times he decided it was time for the forceps and vacuum. I was instantly put on edge because I've been told that there are higher risks of complications when those are used and I didn't want to hurt the baby at all. I had asked a few questions and they assured me that everything would be okay and they started working on getting the baby out. Apparently they soon found out that she was posterior and that was what was making pushing so hard. Thankfully using the forceps and vacuum pulled her down just far enough that they were able to get her right out without much force and no complications.

Finally at 9:08am on March 10th, her due date, she was here and she weighed in at 8lbs 6oz. Paul and I looked at each other when they told us her weight because at our last or second to last appointment Dr. Crouch, the third doctor at my doctors office had checked me at my appointment and "guessed" what her weight would be and he was spot on. He had been delivering babies for 30+ years so he certainly had the experience.

Once she was here Paul couldn't get enough of her. Anytime I laid her down he was right next to her and snatching her up in his arms. It was so fun to watch him. I remember looking up at him when they first got her out and seeing tears in his eyes and thinking "oh my goodness, she's here!!" She was definitely his the minute he laid eyes on her. 

After we got to snuggle and work on feeding they gave her a bath and moved us into our recovery room. At that point they gave us time to just be together and figure things out. I can't remember at what point my mom had gotten there but it was later that evening. I really didn't want to be at the hospital by myself so we asked our friends if they would be willing to pick my mom up at the airport and they were happy to run out and get her. They brought her right to the hospital, stuck around for a short visit and then left us to get some rest. I didn't want my mom to have to go back to our house alone after traveling all day so we asked the nurses if we could find some way to set up a bed for her in our room. They weren't too busy at the hospital so they said it would be fine and snuck in a chair from a different room. Its kind of funny to think that my mom, Paul, the baby and I all slept in my hospital room that night. The next day was spent relaxing and trying to figure out how to be a new mom. It was so great to have my mom there to help me and teach me the ropes. It was also great to have Paul there to cuddle with Riann when I wanted rest. We stayed one more day, mostly because it was covered on insurance, and then the next morning we got Riann dressed up in her "going home" outfit, which was WAY too big for her and went on our way.

It's been great to be home and to be together as a family. It's been hard for me to stay down and trying to heal and get used to life not always being busy all the time. Labor was much harder on me that I expected and my recovery has been even worse. I tried to do too much in the first couple of days being home thinking I felt better than I did and eventually had to put myself on bed rest. I went about a full week without getting up much and really just staying locked up in my room but it was good for my body and I noticed a big difference when I finally gave myself time to heal.

We have loved every minute of having Riann with us and trying to figure out this whole parent thing. She's a great baby and now that we don't have our days and nights quite as mixed up and we're getting into a rhythm and a pretty good schedule it feels like we're working things out. We're so glad she's here and she's absolutely perfect!!! I love my little girl and my sweet family and I can't wait for the adventures we're going to have as life goes by. Here's to an amazing beginning of our very new life!!

Trying to relax after getting my epidural. Not sure what's in store from here on out, all I know is life as I know it is changing forever!!

Mommy and baby trying to get some rest. Riann's doing a much better job than I am.

First bath. She wasn't too thrilled.

All cleaned and bundled up. I wish they stayed this peaceful.

My sweet little girl resting. She is so cute!!

About ready to go home in her extra large outfit. The pacifier is just as big on her as her clothes!!

One fantastic Daddy who's SOOO in love with his little girl!!