Sunday, May 30, 2010

A Birth Story

Now that Ian is one week old, I suppose it's about time that I update with details about his birth.

I guess things really started Saturday night.  Ryan, Janet and I were playing Scattergories; having a good ol' time.  I was having some cramps, but nothing unusual. However, when I stood up to get ready to go to bed, I found I couldn't bend over at all.  I finally made it into bed, but it seemed like as soon as I laid down, I started getting contractions.  They seemed regular enough, so I had Ryan start timing them. It was just after 11 pm.
We went into the hospital at 1:30 am after contractions were consistently 5-6 minutes apart.  Unfortunately, all those contractions weren't really doing anything. After several hours at the hospital, they sent me home until I got into more active labor.  So at 5:30 we went home to try to get some sleep.  Unfortunately for Ryan, he had to get up to be at church, so he went the rest of this adventure with practically no sleep.

I was able to sleep a couple of hours without waking up from the contractions.  Then at 9:30 my water broke, and we knew we were in active labor.  This was it.  Back to the hospital we went.
Honestly, I can't really give too many details as to what happened the rest of the day. It was pretty much a blur.  I got checked in, had lots of contractions, tried to sleep in between them, and the day just sort of went on.
I do remember having lots of back labor because Ian was a little booger and was turned face forward.  He finally turned around before making his appearance, but it wasn't until almost the very end of labor.  I did ask for some pain medication for my back, but other than that Ian came all naturally.

I have to say though, there was no way I could have done it without Ryan and Janet.  Poor Ryan went all day with no sleep, and Janet didn't have much either. But there was never a time when at least one of them wasn't with me.  They were both my heroes though and I was so thankful for them for sticking with me through 8 hours of active labor.

But yes, finally, at 5:29 pm, Ian Gabriel was born and I got to hold him for the very first time. It was sweet relief to finally be done, but even sweeter to see my boy.

Now he is a week old, and I have loved every single day we've had with him so far. I really have not minded getting up in the middle of the night several times for feedings or diaper changes. I love being a mom. I love just watching my son.  I love to see Ryan with him. I love that this little boy is so loved. He is a miracle and a joy in our lives.  We are truly blessed.

I'll leave you with a few pictures. There are much more between Ryan's and my facebook pages. You can also look at the grandma's pages (Becky Traxler and Jayme Barry) for other pictures.  Enjoy them!





4 comments:

  1. Congrats Rachel! He's so beautiful!

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  2. All 4 of you look tired! :) I'm glad you had a good experience overall :D Congratulations!

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  3. he is absolutely adorable:) i'm so glad that everything went well and he got here safely!

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  4. Rachel! Yay! He's wonderful and you sound like a pro already (at labor and mothering!) I hope I can be as awesome as you are. :D
    Congrats!!!

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