2 Week Check

Ryann had her two week check yesterday. Her current measurements are:

9 lb 3 oz
21 inches
She is a healthy, chunky baby. She is a really good baby too. She's on a schedule of eating every two hours and then at night she only wakes me up one or two times a night. She only cries when she is hungry or gassy. I feel so lucky to have such an easy going baby. I'm just hoping that she stays this way. Ryann is turning towards our voices and starting to spend a little more time awake after she eats. She is picking her head up more and more. Her cord fell off Sunday so it is nice to be able to fully submerge her for bath time and not have her go so hysterical.
A couple days ago I brought up all my pre-pregnancy clothes. I started pulling some of my pants on and they actually fit!!! Then yesterday at Ryann's appointment I stepped on the scale. To my surprise, and excitement, I weighed less than when I got pregnant. Don't ask me how, but I'll take it. Now just to lose the extra weight I needed to lose before I got pregnant. I'm now off all my diabetes medication. It feels so good to not have to deal with that and to be done pricking my finger. I'm feeling like myself again, just now with a baby.
Nathan's girlfriend made this cute Kimono for Ryann...
with matching shoes
Spending time with daddy and Maggie

6 Days Old

Today Ryann had her "5 day" check at the doctor's office. I'm glad that the clinic does these because being a first time mom I have to say I had myself over worried about a couple things. All is well with Ryann. I was worried about her cord, it was oozing and had been bleeding a little...of course it was okay. She had a little jaundice when she left the hospital but not enough to treat so I was told to just watch it. I watched it and naturally worried about it. She did have to go have her heel pricked to have her billirubin level checked. I should be hearing soon on those results and will go back again tomorrow to make sure they are coming down. Ryann's measurements for today were:
Weight: 8 lb 11 oz
Length: 19 inches
Her weight puts her in the 90% percentile (are we at all surprised), length 50% percentile, and her head circumference was 75% percentile (I didn't get the measurement on her head). She is a chunk and we love every ounce of her.
Ryann enjoyed her first 4-wheeler ride on Saturday with her dad. Not even a week old and she has had a bike and 4-wheeler ride.Sunday she got her first bath at home. She had a nice ripe diaper and then while I was changing her she managed to pee all over so I decided that it was time for a bath. She did really well, of course she cried but she didn't scream as much as I had expected. Peacefully sleeping before the torture begins.
Eyes open...and crossed
Tongue out
Ryann found her fingers. She comforted herself by sucking her middle finger.

Pictures

Birth Story

We got to the hospital Tuesday morning about 6 AM and my amniocentesis results were not back yet. After some searching it turns out that the lab in Salt Lake had not finished running them, guess there were too many rush orders and mine got pushed back. After a phone call though, they said they should have results back in at best an hour. Clint and I just hung around the hospital waiting to hear if we were going to have a baby that day. Finally about 8 AM we were in the delivery room and I was getting my IV put in to start my Pitocin. Things were pretty slow going all morning. I could feel the contractions but they were not bad at all, I even took a little nap. Then at about 12:30 my doctor came by and broke my water. I was only a 3 at that point. I held off on getting my epidural before he broke my water not wanting the epidural to slow things down more than they already were. I made it about an hour after having my water broke and was asking for my epidural. Once I got that in and going, I was feeling great except that my blood pressure dropped and that caused Ryann's heart beat to not be stable. I had the nurse checking my blood pressure every two minutes trying to get that up and the anesthesiologist watching me too. I ended up having to get two shots of something, I can't remember what, to bring my blood pressure up. The epidural was wonderful though, I knew I would feel numb but I was surprised at how drugged I felt. Around 3 PM the nurse had my doctor come back and put in an internal contraction monitor so that they could better watch the baby. At that point I was a 4. Still slow going.
At about 6 PM they checked me and I was a 7, finally something was happening. I had started to have some pain in the right side of my back and rotating how I was laying hadn't helped, so they called back down the anesthesiologist. He dosed me really slow that time since my blood pressure had dropped last time. They checked me at 6:45 PM and I was a 10 and it was time to push. I pushed a couple times just to get Ryann to drop a little bit more and in came my doctor. I only had to push about 30 minutes and out came our "little" girl at 7:26 PM, 9 lbs 9 oz and 21 1/2 inches long.
I did have to have an episiotomy. He cut me to get her head out and didn't expect her body to be so big so I did tear a little. My doctor is glad he started me when he did because if she had been any bigger we would have had to do a C-Section. I'm glad to have avoided that. Clint was great. He was there holding my hand through the contractions and the epidural. He was great when it came time to push and counted for me. He even looked and saw her coming out a couple times. I even reached down and felt her head coming out.
It was nice having her so late in the day because we didn't have to worry about a lot visitors coming right after giving birth. Clint's parents were there, his aunt came by, and one of my co-workers stopped by that night. Ryann spent the whole night in the nursery being bottle fed to keep her sugars up and to avoid having to put an IV in her. Wednesday we had visitors all day to keep us busy, it was so nice. Thank you everyone who visited! We got to go home Thursday morning and we are all doing great. I'm so glad to be done being pregnant and have my sweet baby girl home.

Last Day-37 weeks and 5 days

I had my last appointment today. There is the big belly. This time when Dr. Anderson measured my belly he said, "Wow". Yup, I had grown two more centimeters in one week. There is no slowing down the growth of this baby. Today I was dilated to a two and he stripped my membranes. He told me he was just expecting my amniocentesis to come back all fine so he had already called down to OB and told them be expecting me tomorrow morning at 6:30 AM, the results of the amnio should be back early early in the morning. He will have them start me on Pitocin when I get there. Then once my contracts are steady and good then he will come down and break my water.
After my doctor's appointment I headed over to the hospital to have my amniocentesis done. I got all registered for that and for delivery tomorrow. The technician did an ultrasound to find the area with the most fluid. The ultrasound showed that my belly is almost all baby. Then the Radiologist comes in and he numbed up the area with the most fluid. Of course this makes Ryann move so he has to find a new spot and numb me again. That time she held still and he got the fluid he needed. I didn't watch but Jeannie was with me and she said you could see on the ultrasound the pocket of fluid getting smaller and smaller. For me the worst part wasn't the poke of the numbing needle, or the numbing medication going it, it was actually the pressure of all the fluid in that spot on my belly. I didn't feel the actual procedure at all. Now to await the results. I'll call before we make the trip down there to make sure the results are all okay and her lungs are developed. Tomorrow we should get to finally meet Ryann!

Counting Down

I got good news at my appointment today, Ryann will be coming next Tuesday or Wednesday! There is an end in sight!!!
My appointment last week went well. My Group B Strep was negative, yeah! one less thing to have to worry about. No change in my medication, no protein or sugar in my urine, and my cervix had thinned.
Over the weekend I was having cramping, some back pain, and what felt like just strong Braxton Hicks contractions. Maybe I had some real contractions, but they weren't obvious to this first timer. Then today at my appointment after Dr. Anderson measured my belly he said, "She will be coming next week." Yup, my belly is big! But I was so glad to know all the discomfort this weekend had paid off, I was dilated to a two. Next Monday I have to have my amniotic fluid tested to make sure her lungs are developed. Dr. Anderson says it might be a little over kill but he thinks it is better that we do it just to be safe. We will get those results back on Tuesday and then he will start me that day or Wednesday.
So the count down till Ryann arrives can begin...8 DAYS LEFT!!!