Friday, June 14, 2013

Welcome Kendall Ivory Ryan!

Kendall Ivory Ryan has finally arrived!!



I am SO excited to share this news with all of you amazing followers! 

I know you are all dying for details, so I will get to that good stuff and then share the other details leading up to her grand arrival. 

She graced us with her presence on June 7, 2013, 2 days after her due date. She weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. She looks just like her big sister did as a baby, with a little mix of big brother Mason. She is such a sweet, calm baby!


Now, for the fun birth story details...

I woke up around 4 a.m. Thursday morning (June 6th), feeling very mild contractions that were 3-5 minutes apart. Leading up to this day, I had been having contractions like these but the difference was that they were coming closer and staying that way, not going away and were a little more stronger, but still mild. I woke Frank up and told him I thought it might be time, and texted friends and my sister to warn her, as she was watching our other kids for us whenever the baby was born. I called our doula and told her what was happening and she suggested waiting it out at home since it was still very early labor, but being group b strep positive, my midwife had told me to come in to the birthing center as soon as I thought I was in labor, in order to get the antibiotics I needed to treat that infection properly. We waited it out at home until the kids woke up and we got them off to daycare for the day, and then I called and talked to my midwife and they said it wouldn't hurt to come on in and at least get checked and see where things were going. The day before at my 40 week appointment I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. We called our doula back and told her we were going up and she met us there soon after. They checked me when I got there and there had been no change in my cervix yet, but they monitored the contractions and the baby for a while and got the I.V. started for the antibiotics. After the first round of antibiotics were in my system, my midwife cleared us to leave for a couple of hours and go home or take a walk or do whatever to stall some time and some back to check on the baby and contractions. Frank and I went and got some lunch, stopped by the house for a few minutes, did a little light shopping, then went back to the hospital to check things out. They didn't check for more dilation at this point, but did check contractions and check on the baby again and all was still fine. We walked all over the inside and outside of the hospital for another hour or two, and then went back to our labor room and I took a nap while our doula hung out with me and hubs went home for a little while to grab some stuff for him to eat since it was nearing dinner time. After I napped for a bit, the contractions had peetered out and were so far apart that they were almost non-existant. We walked around a little bit more and I grabbed a salad from the hospital cafeteria for dinner, and then we waited for the midwife to come over and check me and make a plan for the rest of the night. Plus, it was nearing time for my second round of antibiotics. We got those started, and found out there was no cervical change when my midwife checked me. She said we could either go home and just see what the night and next few days brought, or we could stay at the hospital that night. We decided to stay because our children were at our house with my sister and I didn't want to mess with their schedule or get home and be with them only to have to turn around and leave again if things kicked into full gear. Needless to say we were both overly frustrated. Hubs left to go for a drive and ended up stopping by the house to see the kids, which was a great idea because it was nearing their bedtime and Merasia was having a hard time being without mommy at home, so seeing daddy was a big comfort for her and he was able to do their bedtime routine and get them tucked in nice and snug then came back to the hospital with me. While he was gone, I hopped in the shower and, I'm not going to lie...shed a few tears. I had just talked to the kids on the phone and Merasia was crying and telling me she missed me and wanted me to come home, and it just broke my heart to hear how sad she was. Add that to my frustration and exhaustion from the day we had just had, and it was just too much. I felt better after m little cry though, and the nurses got me settled into a different room for that night and Frank came back soon after I was moved. Frank went to sleep around 9ish, and I decided to try and shut my eyes and get some rest around 10 or 10:15. In the morning, the midwife would check me and see where things were at, and most likely, we would be going home unless something happened overnight. By this time, it was looking pretty bleak.

Little did we know this was just the calm before the storm!

I felt a couple REALLY REALLY strong contractions in my sleep around 10:30 or 10:35. I tried to ignore them because I was so exhausted but by the third one I couldn't even stand laying in bed anymore and had to be up on my feet to work through the contraction and the pain. Frank woke up to ask how I was doing and I told him I was good until these really different, strong contractions set in. I noticed I was peeing a lot more as well, which happened to me in active labor with Mason as well. I asked Frank to apply pressure to my lower back with each contraction, because it hurt so bad and doing that helped the pain a lot when I was in labor with Mason. This time though, it didn't really seem to help much. But NOT having him do it didn't help either, I just didn't know WHAT would help, but I just needed him to do something. I was moaning and rocking through each contraction to try and help ease it and get me through it. I paged the nurse and told her I was contracting every couple of minutes and she came to check me. I was 3-4 cm. so she moved us back to the birthing center unit to our labor room. I kept asking her for a bag because I felt nauseous and I know it's the real deal when that happens because it happened with my other labors as well. Sure enough a short time later I used the bathroom and then got sick. After I got sick, the nurse checked me again and I was 5 cm. They hadn't called the midwife yet until they saw I was making changes so when they realized I was 5 cm., they ran to call her since she lives 40 minutes away. We had already called our doula and she was back on her way to the hospital. Soon after we found out I was 5 cm., I was standing by the bed rocking and moaning through another contraction and Frank was pushing on my lower back, when I felt a POP and then my water trickled out. I said "Oh god my water just broke!" Frank ran out into the hallway to yell to the nurse and she came in to wipe up the water and saw there was light meconium in the fluid so a water birth wasn't an option (water birth was our birth plan) but at that point, I didn't even really care. Right after my water broke I said I felt like I had to push. I got back in the bed so the nurse could check me and I was fully dilated and baby's head was moving more and more down. They told me I couldn't push until an OB got there because of the meconium but I told them I couldn't help it, I was pushing! They ended up calling another OB from the same midwife's office I was receiving care at, since she lives closer and may get there before the midwife. Our doula got there soon after and was whispering supports in my ear and telling me to do whatever my body needed to do as far as pushing so I would push a little with each contraction and breath through the rest of it to try and wait for the midwife or OB to get there and deliver. Soon after the OB that lived closer to the hospital arrived and I just let loose with pushing then since there was no reason to hold off then! At one point the OB put her hand over Kendall's head as it was about to crown, to try and hold her there for a minute so I didn't push her out too fast and tear badly. With the next contraction and next push, her head was out! My midwife walked in the room right after her head was out. :) I was sitting up in the bed and could see her head sticking out, and we waited for her to turn and then I pushed her the rest of the way out and literally watched her being born myself. It was BEYOND amazing! At 12:48 she was born and placed on my chest and I couldn't hold back my emotion any longer. The nurses took her to check her out with the pediatrician soon after and she was fine as far as breathing and everything else went. They gave her back to me to nurse her and she latched on right no problem and nursed for an hour or so. So, from the time REAL labor kicked in to the time she was born, labor was 2 hours and 20ish minutes. That's a new record for me since my other two labors were 4.5 hours! :) Of course it was another natural, drug free delivery, but it was definitely the most painful out of all of them! It was BEYOND intense but SO amazing and worth it! It was the first birth that Frank had to sit down afterwards and get a cold cloth on his head, because he felt like he was going to pass out just from running around so much and helping me, yelling to the nurses, calling our doula, and having pretty much no sleep since we had been up since 4 a.m. Thursday morning. He was such a champ though and I couldn't have done it without him!

The kids came up to see Kendall later Friday, and are absolutely in love with her! The twins just want to hug her, hold her, kiss her, and help with everything with her all of the time. Of course we have to set some limits because there is only so much they can help with, but I love that they want to help and that they are adjusting well, so far, to her being here. I was worried about Mason reacting to her because he has been the baby for 2 years and has definitely been more of a mommy's boy than the other children were, but he loves her beyond words! He doesn't bother her much at all when he sees her sleeping in the pack and play or in the swing. He rubs her head and then leaves her alone, or gives her a hug and kiss here or there, but isn't mean or anything towards her. I'm sure he will have his moments here or there, but for now,  he loves her and that's all that matters! 

Kendall looks a lot like her big sister and big brother Mason, she's a nice mix of the both of them. I love that my boys look like each other and now my girls do too. So funny how that worked out! She was only breastfed for a few days, and now gets a combination of breastfeeding and formula. It's just the option that works best for our family. She makes a beautiful addition to our family, and definitely completes us! We are SO in love with her and blessed more than we ever could have imagined possible! <3 <3

Here's some photos to close out with.... :)

















1 comment:

Sandra VanHoey said...

Oh my goodness...Congratulations, she is beautiful and I'm glad this is over for you now and only time to spoil her. Such a Blessing!