A Birth Story- Ruby Lauren.

It was a day I don't ever want to forget.  It was perfect in every way.  I love labor and delivery- and my experience with delivering Ruby was no exception.  I wish I could go back and relive the whole experience.  Chad did a great job of capturing so much of that morning.  There are many more pictures that need to be kept just for us.  I have looked through them so many times, and cherish the memories of her birth day.  I will try to capture all of the details so one day she can hear her story- it is all her own.

With the pre-term scare that we had at 29 weeks and all of the contractions that I had been having since around that time, we had many false alarms.  It was getting exhausting.  We would time the contractions out, and it always seemed to happen at night- so we were loosing lots of sleep.  I was starting to get impatient...both of the other 2 were already born at this point, and I was anxious to see who and what our little one was! 

Dr. Holmes had stripped me at my 37 week appointment, and that had worked for the other 2, so I just assumed it would work this time also.  Not the case.  I was scheduled to go in on Tuesday, June 25th at 1:00 for my 38 week appointment.  Ruby decided that wouldn't happen.

I got up for probably the 5th time that night to use the bathroom at 4:30 a.m.  Just as I crawled back into bed I had a strong contraction.  Writing it off as another bout of false labor I tried to get some sleep.  Every 5 minutes or so, though, I was woken with another contraction.  I really didn't think this was it, and I really just wanted a couple more hours of sleep.  I tossed and turned for the next 1/2 hour or so until Chad got up for work.  The contractions continued, but they were still between 5-6 minutes apart.  Chad made himself breakfast and got dressed in his work clothes.  I paced the kitchen floor the whole time.  He kept asking if this was it....I didn't know.  It finally got to the point where I couldn't walk through them.  He called up to the nurses at Labor and Delivery, and he talked to Nurse Tracy- the same one who delivered Eliott!  I loved her!!  She told him that if I couldn't talk through my contractions, and this was #3, that I should probably be at the hospital!

Chad changed out of his work clothes, made a quick phone call to Grandma, loaded any last-minute things into the van, and we gave the kids kisses while they slept.  I still wasn't totally convinced this was it, and Chad told me a handful of times to 'Hurry-up' and get in the van.  I had a contraction on the way out the door that stopped me in the entry-way, I got into the van, and then I thought they quit!  It seemed like forever until I had my next one, and my next...but in reality they were still probably 5-6 minutes apart, and they were STRONG. 

We got to the hospital and I did what I could to soak up every memory of our time there. My past 2 experiences had been great, and I knew this one would be the same.  The lady who admitted us noticed how strong my contractions were when I couldn't talk through them and answer her questions, so she called quickly for a nurse to come down and get me.

We were admitted at 6:00 a.m.  They immediately put me in a delivery room bed and started an IV.  My contractions continued to get stronger, so as soon as the anesthesiologist was at the hospital they ushered him right in to see me.  He came right in in his street clothes- thinking I wouldn't care, and he was right!  I opted not to have the epidural, and went for the intrathecal like I had had with the first 2.  It worked well for me, I didn't have any lasting symptoms or issues from it, and I just opted to do what I know works well for me.  The anesthesiologist, and the nurses all questioned my decision, and wanted to make sure that's what I wanted.  I didn't change my mind, so that's what he gave me.  I got the intrathecal at about 7:50 a.m. 

I couldn't wait for a little one to fill up this warming bed!

My delivery room.

I was feeling good, and ready, and anxious.  I was actually a little bored and wanted to get on with it!  I spent my time chatting with Chad, the nurses, and sending texts to close family.  We didn't want everyone to know we were here yet, so we didn't share with many people.

The nurses were phenominal again, like always.  It was only me and one other Mom in Labor and Delivery, so we got the best care we could hope for!  Nurse Tracy ended her shift at 7:00 a.m., and though I was sad to see her go, I really enjoyed Nurse Cindy.  At first she told me that they hadn't had any luck getting ahold of Dr. Holmes.  I was crushed!  I LOVE my Dr., and couldn't imagine going through this experience without him.  He is the one who helped us when we struggled to get pregnant with Eliott, he saw me throughout all 3 of my pregnancies, and he delivered both Eli and Adi. 

They assured me that Dr. Susan was already there, and I would have a Dr., but that didn't ease my mind.  I wanted MY doctor!   About 8:30 a.m. we heard him talking out in the hallway- I was so relieved!  The nurse said something about him being up in his plane when they tried getting ahold of him earlier.....not sure if that's a story that he was telling or the truth.  He has a fun sense of humor like that!

He walked in at 8:40 a.m. and broke my water, cracked a couple jokes, and left us be for a while.  My body slowly progressed, and at 10:47 a.m. I was dialated to a 9, and we started pushing.  He wondered if he should wear the blue rims on his glasses or the pink rims.  I thought it was a boy, so I told him to just keep the blue rims on.  He did.

Dr. Holmes and Nurse Cindy.  Love my birthing team!

 In between pushes we were having conversations.  Things were calm and mellow.  Holmes did a great job of encouraging me and coaching me through.  I started pushing at 10:47 a.m., and Ruby Lauren entered the world at 11:06 a.m.

I was immediately in love!

 They put her little body directly on mine.  This is where she stayed for the first hour of her life.  She immediately started eating, and I lost it.  This little one that I longed for and dreamed of was finally here.  And she was perfect!  We made a couple of quick phone calls, but couldn't even tell people her weight and height.  All was perfect in my world.

After an hour of loving up my sweet brand-new baby her Dr. came in to check her out.  He walked in with a smile and lots of energy and congratulations.  He is wonderful with our kids, and I was anxious to introduce another to him.  He commented immediately that she was 'perfect', and noted many similarities to Big Brother and Big Sister.  I love how with all of his patients, he remembers the small details every time we see him.

He spent some time checking her over, and we finally got her stats.
She was 7 lbs. 3.5 oz.
19.25 inches
head- 13.375 inches
chest- 13 inches
belly- 12.15 inches
She is perfection!

 After Dr. McNamera was done with her initial assessments, the proud Daddy finally got a turn with his new baby girl.

Mommy got in one last little cuddle before Nurse Cindy took her to clean her up.

Her temp was down a bit, so they placed her on the warming bed before they gave her a bath.  Poor Ruby had such a quick ride out that her face was a little bruised up.  She had lots of blue and purple marks on her face this first day.  By day 2 it had mostly cleared up, and she was looking lots better.

Nurse Cindy had to rinse her hair out twice because she has such thick, long hair!

And there she was all cleaned up.  We packed up our things and made our way to a bigger room.  We settled in and announced to the world that our Baby was here.  The visitors started coming....that's a whole other post.