Aryssa's Birth Story

So here we go!! I guess an update first Aryssa is doing wonderful. When I talked to the NICU dr this morning she said that she thinks she will only have to stay 2 weeks. The reason she is in the NICU is because she hasn't wanted to eat yet. but i will get to that in the birth story... so here goes.

when i left you all it was 445pm thursday night. the evening continued as usual, the only thing i was getting was penicillin to help protect me and Aryssa from the strep b since my tests hadn't come back yet. around 7pm i was getting some contractions, but nothing severe, they would come and go and not consistent. My RN (ryan) asked if i wanted to be hooked up to the monitors to see the contractions but i said no b/c then i knew i was bed bound. So we continued on with our night just waiting. around 10pm i was getting some more contractions, and when they were strong ryan told me to keep it up, but again they were not consistent or worth being bed bound to "see" the contractions i knew i was having them i didn't need to see it also :) The next nurse came on at 11pm and came to check on me. ryan picked my nurses for me so i knew i had someone good. ryan left said good luck and to get ready. well at around 1am (like usual) i started getting more contractions, and thinking back would have been a great time to call my sister, but honestly i didn't think anything of it, and my mind wasn't that clear. so grant and i just rocked through them and hung in there. finally about 2am-ish. grant called the Rn b/c the contractions were strong and i wanted some Nubian. also my sister had told me to wait until i couldn't b/c then the Nubian would work better and the more you take the less the effect. well she gave me the Nubian in my IV at around 240am. and the contractions were still crazy, so she decided to check me. (they hadn't been doing any internal exams b/c of my water breaking so early, they didn't want to put any bacteria near the baby or cause an infection.) so Jen (RN) decided to check me.... i don't think i have seen some one's eyes get that big before. she looked up said don't move you are fully dilated! in the middle of a contraction i yell to grant CALL AMANDA RIGHT NOW! Jen rushed out of the room, and let the NICU and called my dr that i was ready to go. it seemed like 3 sec and my room became filled with nurses and people getting things all ready to go. luckily my dr was only 6 min away and she walked in and said " i thought we were going to induce you at 5am" but per usual aryssa wanted to arrive around the 1am mark. So she gets her gear on and the resident checked me again to see for herself and yup she said all i had was a little ridge, and that i was ready to go. the NICU warmer was all ready and the nurses and NICU dr were ready. i was thinking in my head, wait my mom my sister...they are on there way, but little lady had other plans. also while they were watching me having contractions, i saw they were taking the warmer out and remembered they had her bracelet on the tank. so mid contraction i say "hey wait her id band...her id band" the resident giggled ( she told me the next morning that at that point she new i was going to be a great mom mid contraction thinking about the baby already.) i also made the resident get my camera for grant since my mom and sister weren't there yet and of course that is what i was thinking about mid contractions as well... So all was ready and and my dr looked at me and said alright lets push. So about 305am-ish i started pushing. both my dr and the nurse had to remind me to stop breathing and push down. you don't think of that in the heat of things, your mind thinks breathing will make it better. well your mind is wrong sometimes :)

So i get the pushing down.... and again mid pushing i say the most random "oh man amanda was right it burns!" lol one thing my sister always said no one told me it was going to burn. and well the whole room got to know that amanda was right it does burn. lol well a couple pushes later at 315 am Aryssa Mae arrived. 5 lbs 4 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. Grant cut the cord and i told him to follow her. he went to the warmer and they were checking her all over, i heard the NICU dr say oh great, great. looked at my dr no oxygen needed looks great. they put her on my chest for a few seconds and then had to get her to the NICU to do a good check. so grant followed them down there, as i was getting cleaned up and finished the whole placenta birthing.

Grant came back and said she was doing great and had some pics for me. i was feeling greatish i mean i did just have a baby. no stitches at all and the only issue was some bleeding that they had to give me drugs to get the clotting started. Then my sister and mom walk in, my room was already back to normal and they look and i said it's done...she came already. it sucked b/c i really wanted them to be here and i know my sister really wanted to come. but aryssa was ready when she was ready and there was nothing we could do. well they checked me and made sure i was all cleaned up and then we got to go to the NICU to fully meet my little girl. it was amazing, she is perfect. you can't explain that moment to anyone...words just don't seem to fit. a perfect gift from god.

well not that you know it or anything but it is later saturday night now, we have been going to the NICU at every feeding. they say she needs her rest in between feedings, and that we can come down whenever but they would like her to stay in her incubator between feedings so she rests solidly. usually we go down and i get to change her diaper (5lbs 1.6oz @ 745pm saturday) and get stats if needed. after the feeding we usually sit there for quite a while snuggling and passing her back and forth to get our loves in until the next feeding. i don't think they mind that as long as she gets a good amount of rest in between feedings anyway. she is eating every 3 hours as of now. and now they have been having me try and get her to latch on while they give her food through the feeding tube. to try and signal her brain, and the last couple times she has tried latching on and sucking a little bit. they said it is still a lot of work and any progress is great. plus me just being there gives her the smells and atmosphere even if she is eating from the tube yet. my milk hasn't come in yet so they have to supplement with formula for now... i keep praying every time i pump that there will be something, but i have to remind myself that it doesn't come in 2 sec after delivery... even though the first time i pumped i got a ton since not much.
anyway grant and i are going home tomorrow, we are going to get stuff together, and come back all the feedings we can. it is going to be hard leaving the hospital, but i know she is in good hands and we are only 5 min away and i can call anytime for a quick update on my little girl. i will also try and upload the pics when we get home that i have taken here. they change so quick i have to capture everything.
till next time... :)