It's hard to believe that Riley is almost three months old! She surprised us all by joining our family five weeks early on August 15Th, 2008. Here is the story of her birth:
As most of you know Brett and I were in the midst of moving and finding a bigger house to raise our family in. On the 14Th Brett and our good friend, Cooper, finished moving all or our belongings from our townhouse in Ankeny to my parents' house to store until we could finally move into our new house. We planned to stay with them until we could move into our new house - hoping it would only be several weeks. I had a miserable day at work and could hardly walk due to my super fat ankles! We enjoyed a quiet night watching the Olympics in Mom and Dad's basement. Around 12:30 am, after watching Shawn Johnson win, we headed to bed. I had a terrible headache and couldn't get to sleep. I finally fell asleep around 1 am while Brett was fast asleep next to me. Around 2am I woke up to thinking I was sweating. I went to the restroom and realized that maybe my water had broken. I woke Brett up and grabbed a towel. After 10 minutes of staring at each other and having a repeated conversation that consisted of: "Do you think my water broke?" "I don't, do you?" "I don't know, do you?" "what should we do?" we decided to call the doctor. After talking to the doctor we quickly threw some things into a bag and heading to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I made a somewhat frantic call to my parents who were in California for my cousin, Katy's, wedding (which was the next day).
From this point on, things are a little fuzzy. We arrived to the hospital around 3am and got settled into an exam room. They checked me out and confirmed that my water had broken. The nurse said that we might be in the hospital for a couple days before Riley was even born since it was so early. She was way off! Within the next hour or so contractions started coming and I was asking for the drugs! The doctor decided that I should be moved to labor and delivery and was up there around 8am. In the matter of 2 or 3 hours I was dilated to 10 and ready to get Riley out. Brett tells me that I was lucky to get my epidural because I progressed so fast. Luckily the anesthesiologist happened to be on our floor and was able to come to the rescue. Around 10am the room was full of doctors and nurses ready to greet Riley. At 10:46am, little 4lb 10 oz Riley Nicole was here. The doctor's put her on oxygen and checked her out for about 10 minutes and then brought her over to me. I only remember hearing her cry for a minute and then she was so quiet for the 10 minutes that I was able to hold her.
We were so luck that Riley was able to come home from the hospital with us. She spent her 
first day in the nursery with oxygen. We didn't get to hold her again until that evening when the nurses decided that she was stable enough without it. Riley was a little jaundice, so she came home with a billy blanket. She had to wear her billy blanket for a week, which was a pain. Riley was connected to it all the time, unless we were changing her or bathing her. Since she was constantly connected to it we weren't able to carry her around the house and were confined to sitting in my parents' basement all day! Giving birth to Riley was an amazing experience and one of the best times of my life! We can't wait to watch her grow!
first day in the nursery with oxygen. We didn't get to hold her again until that evening when the nurses decided that she was stable enough without it. Riley was a little jaundice, so she came home with a billy blanket. She had to wear her billy blanket for a week, which was a pain. Riley was connected to it all the time, unless we were changing her or bathing her. Since she was constantly connected to it we weren't able to carry her around the house and were confined to sitting in my parents' basement all day! Giving birth to Riley was an amazing experience and one of the best times of my life! We can't wait to watch her grow! 
No comments:
Post a Comment