Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Rylee's Arrival Part 2

So, when my midwife told me that I was being admitted I made all the phone calls. Luckily, my friend Carolyn & her mom were going to help with Reese until my family arrived at the hospital. A HUGE thanks to the Whitfields!! Reese was able to go and play at the playschool while Robbie was able to be with me.

My Labor and Delivery nurse, Maria, introduced herself and walked me over to my labor room. When I was settled in my room my contractions were every 2-4 minutes and starting to hurt. I started to grimace and was not able to continue talking through the pain. I decided to wait until Robbie arrived until I got my epidural. I didn't want it to speed things up and Robbie miss the delivery. Thank goodness he arrived by 8:30ish and my epidural process started a little after 9am. Unfortunately, my epidural slowed things down, but after working all night I needed some rest!! Once my epidural was in place, I was super comfortable and was able to take a nap...lasting about 1hr 30mins max. I know an hour and half isn't that long after working all night, but I felt like I had slept for hours...EPIDURALS are wonderful!! My family started to trickle in a little after 11am. Reese arrived along with my Mom and Stepdad. I had packed a little present for Reese to play with while we waited. She opened some "nerds" smell good nail polish and Baby in my pocket toys. Thankfully my friend, Kendra, had given her a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book that was a big hit with Reese and her cousins! The family that arrived for the big event included my mom, stepdad, niece Graclyn, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew Blake, and niece Claire. I was able to visit with family, watch TV, update friends and family via texts, and eat popsicles all while trying to remember this special moment.


The family of 3 almost 4!!!



Ganga, Grammy, & BIG sister Reese



Aunt Mandy



Grandma




My midwife checked me again around 1ish. I was 7cm and station +1. I wasn't too impressed, but my midwife reassured me that it was great progress because Rylee had descended more in the birth canal. I started feeling a lot of pressure around 3 o'clock. Before I wasn't feeling anything. My left leg even felt dead. However, around this time I had more feeling in my left leg and started to really feel some pain. I called for the Anesthesiologist to come in my room. When she did her little ice check, I could feel everything...I wasn't blocked at all! I was in LOTS of pain to the point of tears. I was squeezing Robbie's hands and the side rails. For those women that have babies without epidurals...Bless Your Hearts!! I had two choices 1) pull the epidural and replace it for pain relief or 2) push the baby out without an epidural. I actually contemplated pushing Rylee out...I could feel that she was so low. My midwife checked me and I was 10cm, station +2. I was ready to start pushing. However, I buried my head in the pillow with tears coming down my face and accepted the Pain Relief option!!! The whole process of getting the second epidural was so uncomfortable. It was so difficult to sit up on the side of the bed in labor having strong, painful contractions and knowing that Rylee was ready to make her entrance into this world. Thankfully, the anesthesiologists worked diligently to give me pain relief. The second one was in, medicine was infused, and then I hear there is blood in the line. They have to pull the second one and try for a third!! I was able to get some relief, but the third one was inserted by the Attending in seconds. He gave me an extra dose of fentanyl and I started to feel relief. In minutes I was becoming comfortable and was pain free...Thank God! After the epidural event, I was completely relaxed and ready to push this baby out!!! My nurse said "I will let you rest for about 20 minutes and then we will start pushing". So, it was 5pm and I was ready. Well, at this time my midwife was tied up, so we had to wait for her. I believe around 5:20ish Jenny arrived in the room and the pushing began!! As soon as I started pushing, the sun started shining for the first time on that cloudy Tuesday. My nurse had suggested that I try pushing on my side. She said that for years women pushed on their sides and had a less chance of tearing. I rolled over on my left side first and pushed then I rolled over to my right side. The pushing did not hurt at all thanks to my great epidural!! Again, Robbie was a great coach at counting during my breathing and pushing. My nurse grabbed my hand and said feel this...It was Rylee's head she was coming out!! I was so overwhelmed with emotion...I think after one more push the nurse and midwife told me to reach down and I helped bring Rylee to my chest. The moment of laying eyes on my daughter for the first time was amazing. I remember tears streaming down my cheeks, looking at Robbie with so much love, and cries of joy from my Mom, Mother-in-law, and Sister-in-law. I remember hearing Rylee's sweet, sweet cry for the first time and the touch of her skin...she was so soft and delicate. She was beautiful and perfect. She was our sunshine!! In that moment my heart grew even bigger. I was holding my baby girl, kissing her, and wishing her a Happy Birthday!!

Rylee Ellis



Poppy, Reese, Ganga, Rylee, & Daddy



Cousins Graclyn, Claire, & Blake


After Rylee and I were cleaned up, Robbie went to get the BIG sister. I could hear Reese out in the hallway saying, "Rylee's out, She is out!!" You could hear the excitement in Reese's sweet voice. She walked in and saw Rylee for the first time and said "Awwww." Then she revealed that she liked her!! Reese was so very proud. She was able to hold her on the bed with me. I asked if she wanted to sing her a song. Reese started singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and then Happy Birthday. It was all such a precious moment of sisters meeting for the first time. A memory I will always have and thankfully we have it captured on video!!



Proud BIG Sister adoring her baby Sister!!!




The NEW family of Four!!!!




So, here we go! Our life has forever been changed and we are madly in love with our newest little princess! I can’t wait to see the memories that we all get to share as a family of FOUR!

Welcome to the world, Rylee Ellis. We are so blessed to have you in our arms and in our lives for always!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Please blog again. I miss hearing about Reece and Rylee!

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