Ryan's Birth Story

Sunday, January 24, 2010 had been a busy day, and the whole time Ryan was not moving as much as he normally does in my belly. We had a wonderful Bermuda shower with friends, and arrived home around 8:30PM. All day I had tried to drink things to make him wake up and move, but nothing seemed to work. Around 10:00PM I decided to call the Dr. office which directed me to the maternity ward at the hospital to call and go in for a non stress test. We arrived around 10:45PM thinking they would just hook me up to monitors to make sure he was all okay, and return home. However, during the 1-2 hours on the monitor he was not moving at all but had a good heartbeat. (Most babies move atleast 10 time in hour). I was also have a lot of Braxton hicks contractions that were progressively getting worse with time. The on call doctor decided to have me put in a labor and delivery room and continue to monitor me for a few more hours to see if I improved and by this time it was 2AM. With every contraction getting stronger his heart rate would sometimes dip and decelerate which was not a good sign. The nurse called back the doctor to give a updated report and the decision was made that it would be in the best interest of everyone to have him come via c-section right then and there. We were not prepared at all with a camera, suitcase, or anything nor did we call anybody. At this point I was being prepared and sent up to the OR at 3AM. After final preperations in the operating room Andrew was able to join me as Ryan entered the world at 3:34AM, January 25, 4 weeks early. He came out and made two small kitten cries, and then was taken away after being looked at. I was put back together again (an by the way C-sections are not fun) and then wheeled to recovery. Andrew was able to spend one or two hours with him as they worked on him to make him stable with his breathing. Around 6AM after I was put in a room, Andrew went home to get a nap and call the family to let them know the good news. I was finally able to get out of bed and make my way to see him around 4pm Monday afternoon in the NICU where he has been ever since.