Birth story

Rylee Aden Balls

8lbs 6oz

20 1/2 in long

May 23, 2011

2:52 pm

Some of the details are starting to get fuzzy but I want to get down what I remember before too late.

Sunday I was getting ready to get everything done on Monday so we would be all ready for Tuesday. Sunday night rolled around and I kept having little signs that I was going to  go into labor on Monday. I had my mental list of stuff to do. I was going to wait to do everything so I would have stuff to do to pass the day on Monday. I had thank you notes I needed to get out and planned on waiting but I ended up being not lazy and writing and getting them into the mail box. Then I finished my book so I started to read one that my mom had picked up and the dog in the book was named... Riley! I thought it was interesting. Then my husband started to oil the doors because I asked him to do them on Monday since every door squeaked and I didn't want the smell in the house when we brought the baby home. Randomly later that night he went and oiled all the hinges and I thought it was weird. It kept popping into my mind that I was going to go into labor but I wasn't going to fall for it again. I wasn't even having pains. My sister Kim texted me at 2:50 am asking if I was in labor. I told her no but I was having this weird sharp pain I had never felt before. I wanted to tell her that yeah I was most likely in labor but again, I wasn't going to fall for it. I woke up through out the night with those pains and having to pee. They weren't super strong but they were way different than anything I had felt before.

I woke up at 6 am with a big pain and sat up in bed. BJ woke up and sat up with me and said, "You are in labor huh?!" I wasn't sure but we got the ipod out and the contraction timer and they were lasting 46- 60 seconds each and coming at least every 3-4 minutes. After about 30 minutes I had BJ start making a big breakfast that we had planned for Tuesday. I sat and breathed through the contractions and then they started getting stronger. I woke up my mom and had her take over making food so BJ and I could get everything we needed. I ended up eating about 2 bites of my food. We left to go to the hospital at about 7:30 am.

They checked me and I was at a 4 1/2. They left me hooked up to the machine to get Rylee's heart rate for about an hour then finally took me into my room. I had to stay on the monitors but I sat on the birthing ball and had BJ rub my back. Rylee hadn't woken up yet so I tried drinking OJ to get her going. After awhile the contractions started to get stronger and I was not liking them at all. I started thinking that I just went through 41 weeks of being in pain and uncomfortable why am I going through this?!? They made epidurals for a reason! But I knew I didn't want one so I tried breathing through them. I told BJ that I was done but he was truly amazing and helped me through everything. Finally I was done and asked BJ to call the nurse to get me an epidural. The midwife then reminded me I could try the jazzuzi tub. So they checked me and I was at a 6 by about 11ish. I got into the tub and they were getting worse. I had to wait for my IV to get down to a 5 so I waited it out but I still wanted an epidural. By the time I got back to my room I was done. Walking and having a contraction is the worst possible combination ever!!!!! I got back and they had me go pee before I got my epidural. I ended up throwing up the few bites of food I had that morning. I wasn't hungry though! I then got into the bed to wait for the guy to get there and the contractions were at their worse! I was crying and yelling through them. I didn't get much down time because there were some that were 30 secs apart some 1 minute apart. The doctor finally got there and we got the epidural in place. I started to feel better and then only felt pressure in my booty. It was around 12 and the midwife checked me once the epidural was in full effect and I was a 10 and 100% and as she was checked me my water broke. Rylee was still in a stage -1 so they let me have more contractions to get further down before I tried to push.

I waited for about an hour and they even gave me some shot to slow down the contractions because they were so close together. At 1 we started to try pushing. I did not like the way my body felt. I was numb from my boobs down and tingly. I couldn't really lift my legs or move. I felt nothing so it made pushing really hard. I didn't really know what to do. We tried laying on my back and laying on each side. The nurse even brought in a mirror to try and help me push. After an hour my arms started to get tired because I was holding onto the bed rails to try and push harder to get her out. 2:30 came around and my midwife finally came into the room who was delivering another baby and we tried different things to make me push harder. I was starting to get my feeling in my legs which helped but she still wasn't coming out! They got really concerned because Rylee's heart rate kept raising. They finally called a doctor to do a vacuum to help get her out. Her heart rate got up to about 200. I had been pushing every other contraction because they were so close I wouldn't have had any rest in between. I changed to every contraction along with the vacuum. I still took 3 contractions and finally her head came out.

One last contraction and 4 pushes later she finally came out! She had meinconium in the womb meaning she pooped inside, so they tired not to make her cry in order to get it out of her before she sucked in all into her lungs. I couldn't believe it when she was laying on top of me. I was in shock really and they took her off to the side to clean her and I watched as the placenta was delivered. They then handed her back to me and we cuddled while I was sewn up. It took a long time because I tore in a bunch of little places. I just snuggled her and once I was done we tried breastfeeding. I was worried how that would go but she latched on perfectly and ate on both sides with no problems. I was amazed! I passed her off and ate my hamburger then I was able to take a quick shower and head to my other room.

The epidural wore off but I still felt good. I was glad the itchy tingly feeling was gone! If I hadn't got the epidural she prolly would have come a lot earlier than 2:52 but I didn't know that. Next kid I'll try to remember to wait out the last half hour. I was so set on natural but was and still am fine that I got the epidural. It made the hour waiting to push so much better and gave me the strength to push for 2 hours. Who knows if I hadn't got on if it still would have to push for that long but I'm glad I didn't try. She still might have needed the vacuum who knows. Over all I am very pleased with how labor went and was super grateful I didn't have to be induced.

I couldn't have made it through without my husband. He rubbed my back non stop for 5 hours. He helped me breath through those horrible contractions. He made sure I was okay getting an epidural and tried to help do everything I could without one. He has been amazing with Rylee too. I'm grateful I have him! I'm also super grateful for the power of prayer and feeling close to the Savior throughout the whole thing. It really was a huge comfort to me.

Even now, I day later I can't believe I'm a mom. I think Rylee is the cutest baby I have ever seen! She makes me laugh with the cute little noises she makes. She doesn't really cry unless you don't respond to the squeaks she makes. I love them! It makes my heart happy to see her cute little face. I think she is so tiny! I love her!

Rylee Aden Balls

8lbs 6oz

20 1/2 in long

May 23, 2011

2:52 pm

Like I said, Cutest baby ever!!!!

I love love love her huge feet!