Can't Sleep...Just thinking About 16 weeks ago....

16 weeks ago, I was very excited, nervous, frantic, worried, in pain and just wanting Butch by my side because we were about to have the ride of our lives.....

It all started on April 23. I had my OB appointment scheduled for that afternoon and had on a beautiful maternity dress (that I had only gotten to wear once!!) and had plans to go eat lunch with Mom and her friends from work after my appointment...but my day didn't turn out as planned. Mom accompanied me to my appointment with Dr. Kennedy that afternoon...it always calmed my nerves to have someone with me to talk to! So we got into the examination room and the nurse checked my blood pressure and it was 146/92 - uh oh! Dr. Kennedy had been telling me to watch my BP cause when it gets high it puts me and Rylan at risk and if it got over 140/90 to call her office immediately. So when the nurse told me what my BP was I knew Dr. Kennedy was going to do something...I just didn't know what. She had already put me on "house arrest" mostly. I was only allowed to go out and about for a very limited amount of time. When I went to Wal-mart I got to ride in the automatic wheel chair!! :) Ok..back to the story. Umm...Dr. Kennedy came into the exam room, checked dilation & effacement - and I had not progressed at all...so that disappointed me big time. She then sat down and told me that my blood pressure has not been perfect the whole time I've been pregnant and that what she would like to do is get me admitted to Labor & Delivery right then and let them check some blood work and induce me that night or the following day. That was a lot of news at once and she saw my jaw drop practically. She then said that if I didn't want to be induced that was my call, but that if we waited, we would only be waiting for Rylan or me to get sick. I told her I was not at all fighting her on that..I was ready to have him! I was 38 weeks, so that wasn't too early. So after we left there I immediately called Butch and told him that I was being admitted and told him we were gonna have a baby either that night or the next day...and guess what - he didn't believe me. Honestly, I had to get my mom to tell him before he would believe me. It was really bad because out of all possible days, he had picked that Thursday night to work over and do a special job that was going to take him all night. He asked if I wanted him to come up there then and I told him no; Dr. Kennedy was running test and she was going to come talk to me at 5 pm and tell me whether they were gonna induce that night or the next day.So Mom and I went down to L&D and got admitted in my pretty pink and white maternity dress that I was so proud of...and got a lot of compliments on in L&D by the way. Of course they made me replace that beautiful dress with your typical hospital gown, hooked me up to all kind of monitors for the baby's heartbeat and one that showed contractions and the strength of them. I then got an IV, well let me rephrase, I had a wonderful nurse, but she blew the vein on her first try, the second try it stayed in my left hand for a while until the needle got out of the vein and swelled my hand up, and then the third times a charm. :) And I guess from the stress of the day, my body started having contractions - OFTEN, but they were not unbearable, YET. They took some blood to run the test that was going to determine whether she would induce me that evening or Friday. In the meantime I was starving because we were going to eat lunch after my appointment and obviously didn't get to. Nurse Jessica told me that we had to wait and see if the test showed up normal before I could eat. They did - and my mom's friends, Pam and Tammy, brought me my favorite - chicken salad sandwich from Zoe's in Homewood! I enjoyed that meal more than anything! So by this time my mom and I are making a list of what all I need for the following days at the hospital. I had my hospital bag packed, partly, and we were staying at their house for the remainder of my pregnancy so she didn't have to go too far since all the stuff was at her house. She left me at the hospital for a while by myself to go get my luggage plus Butch's luggage since he was going to be coming straight from work. I don't know how he got any work done because he kept calling and checking on me!! Haha. So I was quite anxious and couldn't rest comfortably for a while. I was wanting my hubby with me so bad. This was the day we had been dreaming of. So at 5 pm, Dr. Kennedy came in and they did a procedure called a cervical ripening balloon. I won't go into explaining exactly how they did that, but what it does is help your cervix to dilate and soften. I have never felt such pressure and pain in my life! After they did this I started having major contractions and I told Mom that I may end up having a baby that evening, but I didn't. They gave me Nubaine (sp?) for the pain and it made me really woozy. I attempted taking a shower after my mom got back and I barely could stand up and almost fell in the shower! My mom had to shave my legs...how embarassing. My dad, Chase, Aunt Melinda and Grandma came and visited for a while and were really excited about what was to come. By about 9 pm my wonderful husband showed up and I could not have been happier. I was drugged up, but I still knew to appreciate the fact that he was there and holding me in his arms. My family left with the promise to return by 6 am for D-Day. Butch and I rested pretty good, with the exception of the cervical ripening balloon that was a PAIN that increased my contractions. But 6 am came quick and the Pitocin was started, the cervical ripening balloon was taken out, the "bag of waters" was snagged and on your mark, get set, go! Except....over the course of 2 1/2 hours, lots of visitors and as much pain as I could handle I asked for the epidural. That didn't turn out so bad and I felt really great afterwards. Then I started shaking uncontrollably and it wasn't because I was cold, because I WASNT. It was completely involuntary shaking that I had no control over. The nurses put warm blankets on me, but it didn't help. The only time it would stop would be if I closed my eyes. So I did that as much as possible. I was embarassed to talk to the nurses or visitors cause I couldn't help it. But after another 3 hours passed I had not dilated any more past 5 cm. I was getting anxious to meet my little one, but we were not progressing! Dr. Kennedy came in and told me that I could try for another hour to see if I would progress or go ahead and have a C-section. I asked "well if I were you, what would you do?" She laughed and said that I had gotten up to 5 cm, but I was actually reversing back to 4 cm so she didn't see me progressing any more and plus if I waited another hour she wouldn't be able to do my c-section and it would be another doctor. Well when I heard that, my mind was made up - C-section it was! I was very upset and scared and everything happened so fast after we made that decision. My parents barely made it back in there to see me before we left for the OR cause they had went to get some lunch, and I told them what we were having to do and I was crying, Butch was crying....and we were all crying I think! So they got Butch put in his scrubs and face mask and hairnet cover, and slippers for his shoes and they gave me a boost on my epidural to numb me even more for the surgery. They didn't let Butch come into the OR with me at first. They rolled me in and there were 4 nurses that lifted me (I'm completely dead weight at this point) and put me on the operating table and I almost fell off! The nurse at my head had to tell them that I was leaning to the right so they pulled me back up in the center. Haha. They got the curtain put up in front of my face, the anesthesiologist was at my head walking me thru all they were doing and I kept asking her where Butch was...and she finally told them to bring him in right before they started. The moment Butch got to my head and immediately asked him if he had prayed because I was scared to death. I was a nervous wreck and he was too. He just kept encouraging me and telling me everything was going to be fine. The anesthesiologist walked me thru everything the doctors were doing and then she mentioned that she saw the baby and they were about to get him out and told Butch he could start taking pictures....and then I heard the most precious sound in the whole world...the cry of my baby boy. Dr. Kennedy pushed the curtain down and held him up for me to see and I looked at him and thought, his nose is as wide as his head! Isn't that horrible?? Haha. Oh well..can't take back first thoughts! They told Butch he could go to where Rylan was and I of course was stuck to the table and only able to watch what they were doing to Rylan on a TV screen that was up on the wall - that a nurse had to block my view of by watching it herself! Why couldn't she just go over to where he was and see it there instead of blocking my view of the first minutes of my child's life! That irritated me so bad. But I got over it real quick when the nurse brought him to me wrapped up tightly and blinking his little eyes and seeing his mommy for the first time. They told me what he weighed (6 lbs., 7 oz.)and how long he was (20 1/2 in) and I was so proud. That was the sweetest moment of our lives. Butch and I were both crying and then I felt like I was about to pass out and vomit so I told the nurse and they got him from me and sure enough, I vomited. I was so sick...it was horrible. Butch went with Rylan and the nurse to the nursery where he could show him off to the family thru the nursery window. I imagine there were a lot of happy faces! Mom told me that Butch was crying, awww..I wish I could have seen that moment. They took me back to the recovery room where I still wasn't feeling well, but I watched them bathe Rylan and then he came to me and I looked at his sweet little face and was so captivated and I hugged and kissed on him and hugged and kissed Butch. :) We had our little family finally...God's greatest gift to us. The next few days consisted of lots of visitors and trying times with learning to breastfeed and soreness from the surgery, but we came thru it with flying colors I think. We could never be more proud of our little one. We are so thankful for the blessing God has given us and how God took care of us on April 24, 2009, 16 weeks ago......