Four Boys One Queen: Welcome Baby Ryan!

We didn't make it to 40 weeks! Ryan Robert entered the world on April 24th, 2014. We are so blessed and although tired our family of 6 is doing pretty well. This is his birth story but before I start let me just say that in the last week I was nervous and not a fan of being induced. I was being selfish, he is my last baby and I wanted to keep him to myself for as long as possible however he had a 2 vessel cord which complicated things. My doctor stressed that waiting much after my due date made the risk of still birth go up. At the same time my brother and his wife were being induced the Monday after my due date. After going back and forth we chose to induce on Thursday April 24th.

I had two days to get the older boys organized and taken care of before we added #4. This ended up being a blessing since having a baby wasn't near as nerve wracking as managing to get child care and making sure everyone was being picked up and taken care of. Did I mention the older boys had a half day?

On that note, here is Ryans birth story!

On Wednesday April 23rd around 6pm I started having contractions. It was a tough choice whether or not we should go to the hospital seeing as we had a scheduled induction for Thursday morning. We got the kids in bed and I just waited. They started to get closer together and stronger so I got a close friend on standby and told my husband that we may have to go in sooner than expected. At about 9:45 pm we decided we should leave and by we I mean me because hubby wanted to wait so we didn't get charged an extra night. We waited on a close friend to come and stay with the boys and I made sure everything was in order for the boys to be taken care of the following day. The 2 older boys had school so it wasn't too difficult but of course I still worried.

We made it to the hospital and got set up in triage to wait and see if we should be admitted or not. After an hour I had dilated more than I was when I came in and since we were being induced in the morning they kept us. Unfortunately this meant they wanted me to just rest and see what happened overnight. So I tried to sleep but Ryan seemed to know something was going on and flipped all over the place and refused to settle down. Then his heart rate dropped over and over so the nurses were back and forth in the room. I slept for a total of 2 hours but as husband's do he slept the whole night although he was in a very uncomfortable reclining chair. Thursday morning my doctor came in at 8 am and broke my water then we waited. My contractions which I had all night but they had also slowed down and had gone from 2 min apart to 15 min apart started to pick up but were very sporadic. At 11 they started a very slow drip of pitocin and every 30 min they upped it from 2cc's to 8cc's. We stopped at 8 because they were coming very fast and very strong at this point.

I should mention I was also waiting for my mom to get there... The whole morning Darien slept on and off or read his sports blogs. I love him but delivery rooms are not his thing. When I had to stop talking and focus I would hear "Having a contraction? Are you in pain?" Please imagine what what I was wanting to say but couldn't as I tried to breathe... So I definitely wanted my mom who knew before anyone else that I was feeling sick from the epidural although I was trying hard to hide it. Anyways, I kept hoping she would make it back from Virginia in time. She had been with my sister in law who was also waiting for her baby boy, not in labor but was over due and could have gone into labor at anytime. At 12:30 I was 6cm and my nurse was going to lunch and asked if I wanted the epidural yet... I was holding out though because I knew as soon as I got it things would move fast. However I caved 15 min later I caved. I've said thus before but when you are on pitocin and stuck in a bed there isnt much else you can do to elevate pain. So, I got the epidural at 1:30 and right after my mom walked in.

This had been the longest morning so far because it was the very first time I had been in labor and no one from my family was there. Seriously! While I was in labor with Conner I had my 2 brothers, my mom, dad, step mom and dad, my grandma, my best friend, another good friend, and my inlaws! Most were in the waiting room but still there. Even with Noah and having an emergency c section I still had 2 of my brothers, mom, dad, and best friend. They all tried to keep me calm before going back for the section. Same with Evan so being in labor and delivery with just Darien was strange.

C S for c section, get it?? We are nerds (Noahs birth)

OK back to the birth story!

At 3:30 the nurse came in and checked me, we were at 9 and a small lip!! Apparently I was 10 on one side and 9 and a 1/2 on the other. As my nurse says this the doctor comes in and says he has a first time mom ready to push too and asks "How fast do you think you can get this baby out?" We all laughed since it took all of 3 to 5 pushes with the other 2 births.

Then it sinks in as they get everything ready and of course you are fully exposed which is still odd no matter how many times you do it. Laying there... still a weird feeling thinking about it...

If I haven't said this before you lose all modesty when you get pregnant!

At 3:50 Ryan was here! Lots of hair, cord around his poor little neck 3 times and so chunky! ! The nurse thought he was an 8 lb baby but he topped out at 7lbs 13ozs and 20 1/4 inches long! He looked so much like Noah and Evan. He still favors them but as soon as I saw him I thought he looked like a chunkier version of Noah who was 2lbs lighter than Ryan.

It was a very long day but so worth every bit of the worrying I had done before. The older boys were fine and had a blast with grandma and papa the next few days while we were in the hospital. 2 days later we came home and my mom and dad left for Virginia! Cousin Charlie would be here soon!!!

Enjoy these special photo's and I hope to get caught up and update you soon!