Ruby's Birth Story

Here is our sweet Ruby Evelyn's birth story.  I'll begin from a few weeks prior...

Thursday, May 10 - Week 38


I went to my 38-week doctor appointment. Dr. R checked my cervix and I was dialated 3 cm and 50% effaced! This was super exciting to me because with Lucy I didn't really dialate or feel contractions until I went into the hospital and they started Pitocin (because my water broke at home).
I had been feeling a few contractions here and there so I wasn't surprised that I was dialated but I didn't think I'd be at a 3 already. Dr. R said he didn't think I would make it to my due date by the way things looked. I also asked him how big he thought she was and he said if I had her that weekend she'd probably be about 7 lbs 4 oz. What the what?! I thought for sure I would be in for another tiny baby. Yep, I was wrong, ha ha!
After my appointment, I had lots of stronger-than-normal contractions that day but nothing consistent. My friends thought I might go into labor that weekend and I was kind of hoping that would happen. But the next day I woke up and felt maybe 1 or 2 that day. It was a little disappointing but I went about life as usual.

Now let's fast forward a week to my next appointment...

Thursday, May 17 - Week 39 - False Alarm #1


Went to my appointment and Dr. R said he didn't need to check me unless I really wanted him to and I said please do! I was so ready to have my baby girl. Then the sweetest thing happened. He checked me and he said, "Whoa! Her hand is right by her head. She just grabbed my finger." Immediately all my emotions just caught up with me. I started to cry. It just made it so real. There was a little person inside of me just waiting to come out. Dr. R. has been practicing for 30+ years and had never had that happen during a cervical check.
So this time I was 3.75 cm dialated, 80% effaced, and baby was at the zero station. She had been sitting so low since week 35. He said he could almost guarantee I would go into labor that day or Friday. For sure by the weekend. I was so pumped. I started having contractions quite regularly throughout the day after I was checked. At about 3:30pm they were getting closer together and more intense. I called Trey and said, "You need to come home!" I ran around the house like a crazy person and got Lucy's bag together, packed a bag for Trey, and finished packing mine. Trey got back and took Lucy to a friend's house. When he got back the contractions were about 8 minutes apart. We timed them for an hour and they started getting 4 to 6 minutes apart. Dr. R said to go to the hospital when they were 7 to 8 minutes apart just because I was already so far dialated. Here is a picture we took of the belly before we left...

So we headed on over and had to wait in the waiting room for about 20 minutes for them to clean a room for us.

I got in my gown and got hooked up to the monitors and had a few contractions and then all of a sudden they stopped. Like completely. Because I wasn't quite 39 weeks (I was 38 and 5 days), they couldn't really do anything for me but send me back home. I was super disappointed. Apparently during all of the excitement of the day I forgot to drink water and became dehydrated and that's what sent me into false labor. So ladies, if any of you start feeling contractions consistently, drink a bunch of water to rule out the possibility of it being false labor. It will save you a trip to the hospital and some disappointment. :)
So for that whole weekend it felt like we were just playing the waiting game. Longest few days of my life!


Sunday, May 20 - False Alarm #2


I woke up in the morning and thought I was leaking amniotic fluid. I called the hospital and they told me to come in. After getting checked again by some residents, they said I was at a 4, 90% effaced, and everything looked good but the bag of waters was still in tact. Bummer! I went back home, feeling some good contractions that day. We went on a walk and that brought some good ones on, but again nothing consistent. Thank goodness for great friends who lifted our spirits that day. We were both feeling like this baby was never going to come!


Monday, May 21 - Cue the Itchiness!


My mom flew in that afternoon and we had a fun evening. I felt some strong contractions spaced out through the day. I had been starting to feel kinda itchy everywhere a few weeks prior but on Monday it really bumped itself up a few notches to being itchy all over pretty much all the time. I had talked to my friend about it who had cholestasis during her pregnancies and it sounded like my symptoms were very similar to hers. Talking to my mom I found out that with her last two pregnancies she had it too, but her doctor called it jaundice of pregnancy which apparently is the same thing. There was the red flag right there.


Tuesday, May 22 - Go Time!


The itching got bad so I called my doctor. He wasn't in the office that day so I saw a resident, who was so awesome by the way. I wish I could remember her name. Anyway, she said that it sounded like I had cholestasis and rather than run a bunch of tests like they usually do that would take a few days to process, she thought it would be best to send me to the hospital. Like right then! She checked my cervix and I was 5 cm dialated, 90% effaced. She said normally they deliver moms with cholestasis at 39 weeks and since I was 39 and 3 days it was "go time"! I thought she meant like she'd set it for the next morning but she meant right then. I guess after 39 weeks there is a high risk for infant fatality(yikes!). So she said you don't have to run over there but hurry home and get your stuff together and then head over. She emailed my doctor to let him know I was on my way over and it was likely he'd be able to be there. This made me giddy with joy because I really love Dr. R and wanted him to deliver my baby. She also said she called Labor and Delivery and they were waiting for me! Woohoo! I was so happy and surprised that it was finally time! I would finally get to meet and hold my sweet baby girl.
Luckily my mom was here because I called Trey who was at the hospital but he was in the middle of an exam. Lovely. So we dropped Lucy off at a friend's house and my mom was able to come over to the hospital with me until Trey finished his test. I'm so happy my mom was there and I didn't have to go over alone. Here I am in the delivery room, knowing for sure I was going to deliver my baby this time. I can't believe how huge my belly was!!!

• 3:15pm - We checked in and got into a room. I immediately fell in love with my nurse Gabby. She was so awesome during the whole thing. There was 1 medical student that came in, who was a female which I was fine with, but they kept things pretty quiet, which I was grateful for as I started doing my relaxation techniques. I was worried that because Penn State Hershey Med Center is a teaching hospital that I would have a million people coming in and out through the whole thing and I wouldn't be able to relax. I think having Dr. R there might have helped keep the crowd to a minimum since he knew I wanted to try giving birth naturally and needed a nice quiet environment. So anyway, they hooked me up to the monitors and I was having steady contractions about 8 minutes apart. They weren't too intense yet so I was just chatting with my mom and whoever was in there at the time. Totally chill. Dr. R came in and said he had to go to a meeting but he should be back by 5pm. I was so happy he would be there!! The plan was to break my water and if things still didn't progress after that then they would start oxytocin. He knew I wanted to do it with as little meds as possible so I'm glad they broke my water before automatically starting me on oxytocin.
• 4:20pm - Trey was still gone taking his test so I was giving him text updates. I thought they would wait until Trey got there at 5 to break my water but I guess they wanted to move things along so the resident who was on that day broke my water right then. I couldn't believe how hot that water was! And there was tons of it! I just laughed, it was the weirdest sensation. Once my water broke, things started to pick up. The contractions starting coming closer together and they were more intense.
• 5:00pm - Trey made it! Thank heavens! They checked me and I was at a 7 and transitioning into active labor. He made it just in time because I needed his help during the contractions. I was usually my breathing techniques and trying to relax but it was getting hard with all the pressure I was feeling. I switched to the birthing ball and that really helped with the back labor I was feeling. Right after Trey arrived Dr. R came in too. Two sighs of relief right there. Now I was really ready to get the baby out.
• 5:33pm - The contractions were so strong and close together and in between I started really feeling the need to push. Dr. R came in and checked me and I was ready to birth that baby. I got back into the bed and pushed a few times and at 5:37pm out came Ruby! There is nothing better than the feeling of instant relief once your baby comes out. I loved how I was so awake and happy and present with this birth.  I felt like I could bond with my baby right after I had her. With Lucy I was soo tired and I just felt out of it with all the drugs I had pumping through me. I loved that after I could just get up and go to the bathroom. I walked from the delivery room to my recovery room. I felt pretty darn good. And no tearing! This delivery was so quick, it really was such a blessing. I hope all my pregnancies after this are like that. I would much rather dialate slowly over weeks and then just get to the hospital and get down to business than doing all of it at the hospital in one day.

Here are some pics we snapped during our stay...

Ruby weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs even and 20.5 inches long. She had lots of brown hair and looked a lot like Lucy did as a newborn. Right away we could see her personality come through, she barely cried at all after she came out. She was super chill. And an awesome eater! Another answer to my prayers throughout this pregnancy. I had a really hard time breastfeeding Lucy and after many tears I decided to pump. There was no way I could do that this time around, it was way too time consuming.

This was right after she came out, they plopped her right on my belly. 

 Showing off her long fingers, just like her mama's.

 Her poor little face was all swollen. This picture makes me laugh.

 Ahh, sweet relief.

 Her cute bumbee

Meeting Grandma Marsha and big sister for the first time

It took us a few hours to decide what her name should be. We went back and forth but finally decided on Ruby Evelyn. We chose Ruby because we like the name and Evelyn is my grandmother's name. It fits her nicely I think.

 So stinkin' sweet

 That hair! I can't believe how thick it is too, especially the mullet area. Lucy didn't have that much hair until she was 18 months old!

Happy fam all ready to head home. Lucy was excited to see Ruby but didn't really want to get close to her. As soon as we got home and wanted to hold her. She's going to be a great big sis to Miss Ruby.

In her going home outfit all ready to go

The 3 Banbury ladies relaxing on the couch. It felt great to be home.

Every nurse and doctor that checked in on me were so nice. I had a really good experience with the whole thing. I'd heard stories of a not-very-nice nurse so I was dreading getting her as one of my nurses. But all my nurses were so awesome. Gabby definitely took the cake though. Trey remembered her from his OB rotation and he said she was one of the best. I just feel extremely lucky and blessed to have everything go so well and have such great, caring people around me and such a quick labor and a quick recovery. I felt so good I asked if I could go home the next day. At 6:30pm the next day I was able to leave.
We love our little Ruby so much. It seems like we've always had her. She adds such a sweet little spirit to our home. It's been fun and a little tiring remembering what it's like caring for a newborn again. I just try to enjoy every little moment because they grow so darn fast.