The Birth Story

Here is the story of how our precious Ruby came into the world. (It is long and includes the words cervix and placenta. If that makes you uncomfortable, maybe skip to the pictures at the end).
I've debated on whether or not to write it out on the blog, mostly because I'm not sure how many people really want to read about me giving birth, but then I remembered how I loved reading birth stories when I was pregnant, and also how I'm sure these memories that are so fresh and new will soon start to fade. Although I know I will never forget the moments that led up to our daughter coming into the world, I think it will be really neat to have the story written out to refresh my memory and hopefully share with her someday if she wants to know.
As many of you know, my labor technically began almost 2 weeks prior to Ruby's birthday. I began having stronger, more regular contractions on Wednesday the 22nd. I was timing them and they were regular but still not "toe curling" like my doctor had described to me. I  went to bed that night hopeful that labor was right around the corner. I woke up around 3am, surprised that I had slept so well for almost 4 hours. I decided to get up and walk around a little and noticed that my contractions had stopped. I was bummed to say the least and went back to bed feeling dejected and convinced that I would indeed be the first person to be pregnant forever.
The next day after sleeping until 11am (SO grateful for this now), I had let go of any expectations about when I was going to go into labor and had decided to enjoy a relaxing day at home. I took the pup on a long walk, went to target, the mall, and got a chick-fil-a lemonade. Around 3 that afternoon I started having consistent contractions again, I kind of ignored them for a while, chalking it up to the same thing that had been happening for days and days. Andrew got home around 4 and I mentioned it to him in a nonchalant way. Around 5:30 he was getting ready to go to the boy's football practice when I said to him "maybe you shouldn't go..." my contractions were getting a little harder to work through. Not even 15 minutes later I felt like I was about to pass out from the pain..."we need to get ready to go to the hospital". It was POURING DOWN rain, I mean, flooding in our backyard and street kind of rain. I laughed at Ruby's timing. Andrew did great, I told him not to rush and to drive safe, to which he replied that he couldn't rush even if he wanted to because of the weather. He avoided the major pot-holes on the way and got us there in under 20 minutes. I thought I could walk from the parking garage to labor and delivery. I ended up needing to make several stops along the way to breathe through the contractions, but we made it there.
The labor floor was so busy. Nurses were running around like crazy and the lady at the desk that was supposed to check me in ignored us for what felt like a good 5 minutes. I was leaning up against the counter huffing and puffing thinking "I seriously might have this child right here at this desk". Finally the charge nurse saw me and I think realized that I was in real labor, and took me into labor room one (the one big, beautiful rooms with big windows and the hydrotherapy tub, which is what I was really hoping for). She told me how busy they were and that she, or another nurse would be back in shortly. My doctor was already on the floor and said she saw Andrew's hair from down the hall so came to check out what was going on. She checked me and told me I was almost 8 cm dilated and that it was time to "get this show on the road". Because I was strep b positive I had to receive a dose of IV antibiotics before my water broke. The nurse came in and got that started and hooked me up to be monitored for 15 minutes. Ruby was looking great, so we got the go-ahead to get into the hydrotherapy tub. Oh my goodness, I cannot even say how much of a relief it was to get into the water. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt like no other pain I've ever experienced, but being in the hot water and feeling weightless was just amazing. About 3 hours after getting into the tub my doctor came back to check me again. I was almost at 9cm at that point, but my water still hadn't broken. My doctor then gave me the option for her to break my water or just labor and wait for it break. I was terrified how much harder breaking my water was going to make my labor and contractions, but knew that eventually I was going to feel that pain regardless if it happened with or without intervention, so I went ahead and asked her to break it. About 2 hours later (I'm still in the tub at this point), I asked Andrew to call the nurse in because I felt like I really needed to push. She came in and helped me out of the tub and into the bed to check me. I was still at 9cm, but she said the only thing that was keeping Ruby in was a small amount of cervix that still hadn't thinned out completely. Ruby's head was pressing more on the left side and because of that wasn't thinning out the entire cervix. She had me turn on my side and rock back and forth through the next 5-6 contractions. This was by far the most intense contractions I had throughout the entire labor. I was completely swallowed by the pain. All I could do was grab on the side of the bed and breathe and moan. I think this is when I said to Andrew "I cannot do this!!!" I also vaguely remember slapping myself in the face a few times....strange! Ha. My amazing nurse was rubbing my back and speaking encouragement through that whole transition phase, I look back and am so grateful that the Lord blessed me with a soft spoken, laid back nurse who just let me deal with the pain on my own without trying too hard to comfort me. It was exactly what I needed, to just get in my zone and deal with it by myself.
She checked me after those contractions and I was ready to push.
The nurse went to get my doctor and while she was gone I started pushing on my own. It felt so good to push through the pain of the contractions. When my doctor arrived she helped me out by showing me where to focus the push, and stretched me out a little while I was pushing. She was such a great encouragement through the whole thing...we really were blessed to have such an amazing doctor and nurse by our sides during the whole experience. Andrew was also so supportive and encouraging during the entire process, he kept reminding me to breathe and telling me that I was doing such a good job.
I started pushing at 11:30. I remember looking at the clock and wondering if Ruby would be born on the 23rd or the 24th. 35 minutes later, our beautiful girl made her grand entrance after some of the craziest pain ever. I don't think anyone can fully describe what it feels like to have a babies head partially inside of you and partially outside of you. The fact that I had to wait for the next contraction to push her head out once she was already crowning was just completely insane to me. My doctor kept saying "just breathe, she'll be here soon...just breathe, breathe, breathe" and I can remember saying "okay, *breath*, okay, *breath*, okay" over and over again. Finally I felt the next contraction coming and I pushed her head out. My doctor told me to reach down and pull her out, so I did. Andrew told me later that seeing the instant switch in my emotions from agony to pure joy was so neat. I don't remember even caring about the pain anymore, I just remember saying "hi baby girl, hi Ruby!" over and over again and feeling more love in my heart than ever before.
I looked up at Andrew who was laughing and staring down at us, he leaned down and kissed me and I felt so complete. Our girl was finally in our arms, and I cannot even begin to describe how amazing it felt.
They took Ruby to get cleaned up and suctioned out because she was having just a little trouble catching her breath. Andrew stayed with me, but I said "go with the girl! and take your camera!" I'm glad he did, because these are the only pictures we got right after the delivery.

First family photo

It's hard to believe how much my sweet, wrinkly little newborn has changed in just 2 and a half weeks! 

Precious Ruby, 

There really aren't words to describe how happy your dad and I are to finally have you here with us. Your birth was truly an experience that I will never forget. The moment I became a mom, your mom, will be forever etched in my heart as one of the most special, remarkable, and meaningful moments in my life. Our love for you is one that neither one of us can fully explain, because it is just that big and marvelous. You've stolen our hearts, and we will never get them back. That's just how we want it to be too. Thank you for making us parents, and for being easy on us when we have absolutely no idea what we are doing. You're gracious already, and I'm grateful for that. I'm excited that we get to experience life with you and so thankful that we get to spend the rest of life loving you. 

To the moon and back ten thousand times, 

Mom