Ryleigh's Birthday

When we arrived at the hospital Rod dropped me off at the doors, assuming they would be open. Unfortunately there was so much construction, I had to walk to some other doors into the Emergency Room. When Rod arrived, they wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery. We were put in Room 13, which I wasn't super thrilled about.  They put me on some mild pain medicine, as well as something else in an attempt  to stop the labor. My friend Liz, and my twin sister Tami came up in support of Rod and I in whatever the result would be. It felt really good to have them there. When our doctor arrived, he let me know that I would be staying in the hospital from then until I delivered the baby. I was honestly relieved. It was nice knowing I was going to be watched 24 hours a day. I felt better, the labor was going to stop, things were going to be okay. Then all of a sudden I started experincing really bad pain again. Our doctor was afraid to check me, because he said he could induce labor even further. I remember Liz kept saying, "Don't you think you should check her?" (To see how dilated I was) a few times. When the pain kept getting worse and worse, he said, "Okay I am going to check her." When he checked me, he said, "You are having the baby tonight." I lost it. I knew that wasn't a good thing. I said, "It's too early, I don't want to have her tonight." I remember saying over and over, "I just feel like I am going to wake up from this nightmare." A few hours ago I was calmly watching Idol, now all of sudden I am having a baby. It just didn't make sense. Our High Risk doctor came up to take a look, and he did a sono. He could see that my water had already broke. A Neonatologist came up to tell me every little detail about preemies, the risks they are under, and a whole bunch of things I drowned out. She was so unfriendly, and honestly I didn't want to hear about it. I just wanted my baby to make it at this point. I was trying to come to the realization that I was about to deliver, and with no epidural on top of that.  I just nodded my head as she was talking, but my mind went to another place. I know it's standard for a Neonatologist to talk to the parents before delivering a preemie, but I wish that could be changed. It's too much to hear at one time.  Tami said something like, "Right now they just need some hope that things might be okay."

   So in just a few short minutes I was pushing with lots of doctors watching. I was scared, I didn't know what to expect. Our doctor said, "The more you push, the better you will feel." So, after pushing and screaming louder than I should have, Ryleigh was born. There was no sounds of a baby crying, all I could hear was the doctor trying to get her to breathe. It's so hard to put it in words.  I cannot express how scary the silence was. Ryleigh was born at 1:55 am weighing 1 pound 10 oz  12. 8 inches.  Rod went with the Neonatologist down to the NICU, after they got her breathing. (So, it's just my  doctor and I) He showed me the  blood clot that was causing all the problems. It was so big, bigger than I even expected. The crazy thing is, it had already shrunk some. My doctor and I started talking, "And I remember saying, "I really never thought I would have her this early." There is more to follow, but in the mean time I wanted to celebrate her birthday with some pictures!
                                                           Feb. 20 (Ryleigh during Phototherapy)

March 6 (Memorable Dollar Bill Pic)

                                                                   March 18 (First pacifier)

March 22 (One of Ryleigh's first outifits)

April 2 (Ryleigh on C-PAP)

April 11 (Ryleigh at my birth weight)

April 15, 2010 (First crib)

April 17 (3 Months Old, Race Day)

April 24 (First bottle)

May 28