He's here, and he's a week old already!!!

Well, a week has past and very quickly might I add!
Here's how it all went down...

Friday the 18th I began to have a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. My midwife once told me that if I ever had more than ten in one hour, to give them a call. So I called my doc and they told me to lay on my side and drink a bunch of cold water. If it continued after that hour- go to labor and delivery and get checked out. So I followed instructions and after one hour decided it was time to head to the hospital. Winston was at work and I told him to stay there as I expected to just be sent home. So my mom came and got me after I took a shower and packed a few last minute items in my bag. We went to the hospital and were quickly admitted. Labor and delivery was packed!! I attributed it to the "Supermoon" that was taking place on Saturday! (Winston called me crazy, but the nursing staff agreed with me!) Anyhoo-we got put into an overflow room and was assisted by a wonderful nurse who quickly checked me. I was only at 3cm and 80% effaced. She gathered that I was not in labor. She also let me know that my doctor was in Disneyland and if I did go into labor, I would be assisted by the hospital doc. Great. So because of all my medical issues over the last month, I was not able to have my water birth and now my doc wasn't in town!! No big deal, I thought, as I wasn't even in labor. The nurse decided to check to see if my water had broken. I told her I didn't think it had. She administered the test and said we would know in about 20 minutes.

Winston then arrived, and we still had no news. About 5 minutes after his arrival the nurse came in and informed us that my water had indeed broken and I was NOT going home. HOLY CRAP!!!! I was instantly scared and excited all at once! They moved us into a delivery room and around 9pm they started me on pitocin. Now part of my original birth plan was absolutely no pitocin! However- as I wasn't in labor, they had to get me going!! So pitocin it was...

9 pm= 3 cm dilated

12 am= 5 cm dilated

2:30 am= 7 cm dilated

This is when the pain kicked in and the contractions got incredibly intense. At that point I couldn't take it anymore and asked for an epidural. This is where everything got bad for me. I was contracting terribly bad, while having to get the epidural and have my blood pressure taken. At one point, through my tears, I told Winston I couldn't do all of these things at the same time. He told the nursing staff and they took my BP cuff off and the anaesthesiologist waited through my contractions...however, it took him THREE attempts to get my epidural in. NOT FUN. Finally it was in place and I felt nothing. It was amazing. After that, we just waited.

5:30am= 10 cm dilated!

The nurses told me it was time and they were headed to get the Doc. Winston, my mom and John and I all got hit with instant adrenaline and the room got very active. Is the camera ready? Is this really it? We are having a baby?!!!

The nurse sat beside me and explained to me how the next few hours were going to go and how to push effectively. She told me that she thought that I would be having him around noon or so as I was progressing so quickly. She then told me to try a few practice pushes. I did. She then told me to stop as he was right there and would be out in a few more pushes!! She ran to get the doc. He was in the middle of another procedure and was not available for 30 minutes!! We waited. During our wait, I got very hot, and very sick. The nurse said I was in transition and it was normal. Finally, the doc came in. We started pushing. Winston, my mom and nurse Laura were the best coaches.

Fifteen minutes later, at 6:44am, March 19th, our beautiful son, Ryker Nathaniel, was place on my chest. He didn't make a whole lot of noise, but was very alert. Little cries here and there could be heard from him, however Winston and I were crying enough for him! He weighed in at 6lbs 12ozs and was 18inches long. We were so amazed by him and continue to be everyday since.

Ryker is our miracle baby and we feel truly blessed to have him in our lives.

Today he is a week old. He has been battling a bit of jaundice this past week, but is overcoming it very quickly. His weight dropped down to 6lbs 2oz as of Tuesday, but as of today, he is back up to 6lbs 9.5oz.

We brought him home on Sunday afternoon to meet his fur siblings...they have both been very interested in him but cautiously so.

We cannot stop taking photos of him, so here are a few as well as a link to many more.

Ryker Nathaniel Bruns
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3737255016/a=143219694_143219694/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/