Rilynn's Birth Story

I am so happy that I am finally getting around to sharing this post. So many prayers were prayed over Rilynn's birth and I feel so blessed that everything turned out the way it did.
In my last bumpdate, I announced that I was supposed to be induced on Friday, September 27th. I was going to go in and they were going to break my water to see if labor and contractions would start on their own. I really didn't want pitocin and most of all, I hoped for a vaginal delivery and to avoid a c-section. Although getting induced was not in our original plan, many factors went in to the decision we made. I had my membranes stripped on Tuesday and came home to write my final bumpdate. I prayed and prayed that I would go into labor naturally. My doctor had joked that I would probably go into labor on Wednesday, since it was the only day that week that she wasn't on call. Tuesday night we got Chickfila and snuggled up on the couch - our last night as a family of 2.
Wednesday morning, Ryan headed to PT around 5am. At 5:30am I noticed I was having period like cramps - and they were coming at intervals. I decided to lay there and keep track of the minutes between and length of the contractions. By 6am they hadn't stopped, so I got up and went to the bathroom. I quickly realized I was having my "bloody show" and immediately called Ryan. He didn't answer his phone, so I left him a message saying he should probably come home in between PT and work because I thought I might be going into labor. Next up, I called my mom and told her what was happening. I asked her to pray that this was really it. I really wanted to go into labor on my own before I had to be induced on Friday.
Ryan came home around 7am. By that time I had walked up and down our stairs a thousand times and was bouncing away on my yoga ball. We took a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood with Marcy and the contractions kept coming. Although I really wanted to believe that I was actually going into labor, my contractions were still 6+ minutes apart. I told Ryan if he wanted to go into work at all that day, he should go then and I would call him if the contractions got stronger or closer together. By now it was almost 9am. I took a shower, shaved and got dressed. I started packing up the last few things I wanted in my hospital bag. By 10am my contractions were around 3 minutes apart. I called Ryan at 10:30am to tell him that he should probably think about coming back home. I spent the next hour talking to my family & blogging in between contractions, all while bouncing and sitting on my yoga ball. Contractions were really like bad period cramps. I couldn't talk while I was going through them and they did hurt, but they weren't as bad as I had imagined all the years leading up to that day. I think because I had such bad and painful periods throughout my life I was better prepared for labor pains.
Right before noon we called Ryan's mom. After talking to us she advised that we go to the hospital - especially if I was considering getting an epidural. My contractions had been 3 minutes apart for almost 2 hours, so we decided to leave at noon. I snapped the picture above and we packed up the car. We drove to the hospital, which thankfully was only 5 minutes from our house.
When we got to the hospital we left all of our stuff in the car. I wanted to make sure I was getting admitted before we brought everything inside. The checked me into triage and started monitoring my contractions. At 12:30pm they decided to check my cervix. I knew I had to be 5cm for them to admit me. I held my breath as the nurse examined me. I was 5cm! She said that she was going to call my doctor and re-check me in a little while. The nurse confirmed my doctor was not in the office that day, but by this point, I just really wanted to have the baby. I knew I would have to be ok with having a random doctor deliver Rilynn.
At 1:10pm I was 5.5cm dilated. They decided they would now start the admitting process and went to get items to set up my IV. At 1:40pm they inserted the IV and prepped me to move to a delivery room. Around 2pm I was moved to a room and Ryan ran down to get all of our stuff. I texted our photographer to let her know what was going on. She quickly texted me back, but told me that she wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital until after her husband came home. I really wanted her to photograph the birth. Ryan and I prayed again that she would make it to the hospital in time.
At 2:30pm I was over 7cm dilated. I decided to get an epidural. I didn't want to wait too long and then be unable to sit still while they tried to insert a huge needle into my back. Surprisingly, getting the epidural didn't hurt at all. I felt some pressure, but that was it. From that moment on, labor was a completely different experience. I always thought I would be paralyzed after an epidural, but it is such a strange sensation. I could feel my legs and wiggle my toes, but I didn't feel the contractions anymore.
At 3:10pm they checked my cervix again. I was almost 9cm dilated. I was so excited and so happy that my body was doing everything on it's own. Things felt like they were moving so quickly. Around this time, our photographer showed up. I was so happy to see her. We spent the next hour or so just talking and laughing. The epidural let me sit and enjoy that time. I was able to soak in every minute of the labor and relax and be at peace. Around 4:30pm they checked and told me I was basically 10cm dilated. They could not believe that my water had still not broken. There were a ton of women in labor at the same time, so they had to wait for the doctor to show up to break my water. In the meantime, they put a huge peanut shaped ball between my knees while I laid in bed. I continued to ask my photographer all sorts of questions (she has 3 kids) and we patiently waited for my turn with the doctor.
Finally, around 5:30pm the doctor came in and examined me. He broke my water and told me that since Rilynn was fine and not showing any signs of stress, he would prefer to give her some time to naturally make her way down the birth canal before I started pushing. He told me just to relax and that they would check me again in a little while. With every contraction I could feel more of my water pouring out. It was so weird and I felt like I kept peeing in the bed.
By 6:30pm I was feeling pressure and I was obviously still fully dilated. The nurses told me we could do some practice pushes in a few minutes. The doctor was tied up in another delivery, but they thought we had plenty of time. I crazily agreed to let my photographer hold one of my legs, because in the moment I would much rather have her "down there" than Ryan. I never believed I would be at a point where I didn't care who saw my hoo-ha...the only person I still wanted away from that area was Ryan. Close to 7pm they did a handful of practice pushes. Again I felt no pain, just a bunch of pressure. I listened to them encourage me when I was pushing "correctly" so that I could try and mimic that on the next push. All of a sudden they told me to stop pushing. They could see Rilynn's head and it was sitting right at the end, waiting to come out. They were shocked because they thought I was just "practicing" and didn't expect her to come out that fast.
They needed the doctor but he was still busy in the other delivery. They told me to do everything in my power not to push anymore. The next minutes were the hardest of the entire delivery. The epidural was wearing off a bit and I had to hold the baby in through 4 contractions. The nurses asked if I wanted to feel Rilynn's head. Again, before labor I always swore I never wanted to do anything like that, but in the moment I said "ok". I reached down and felt a whole head of hair. They told me she had a ton of dark thick hair and I started smiling and laughing. She wasn't bald!
My blood pressure monitor started going off so they placed an oxygen mask on me. One of the nurses said, "We need a doctor now...". They ran off to get the doctor and I started getting really emotional. Something just came over me. I began crying a little bit, but thankfully the doctor came in shortly after. He took one look and said, "Holy cow - we're about to have a baby!" In order for our photographer to catch the delivery, I finally agreed to let Ryan hold one of my legs. I begged him not to look "down there"! He still swears he didn't but I am pretty sure he did...
I pushed about 3 times and that was all it took. Little Miss Rilynn made her way into the world. The first thing out of my mouth was "Is she a girl?!" The doctor looked confused and said, "Yeah of course!". They handed me a blanket and prepared to place her on my chest. As I saw them start to move her towards me I just burst out crying. I thought of the pregnancy we lost. I thought of the months leading up to us getting pregnant again. I thought of my fear over the past 10 months that we would never make it to this moment in time - but we were here. She was here. And she was perfect.

Rilynn was born on Wednesday, September 25th at 7:32pm. She was 8 pounds 14.5 ounces and 21 inches long.
I am so grateful to God that everything went so smoothly. I went into labor on my own and I never had to receive pitocin. I was blessed to deliver vaginally and avoid a c-section. Giving birth was one of the most emotional things I have ever gone through. It wasn't painful and I feel like I was able to enjoy the experience and soak everything in. I know that was thanks to the epidural. I wouldn't change anything about Rilynn's birth story. It was so much more perfect and amazing than anything I could ever have planned or imagined on my own. And although I was worried in the weeks leading up to her birth about how everything would play out, God ultimately had perfect timing and a truly blessed story of how He would bring her into our lives.
























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