The Stringer's Stories: How the Stork Delivered Ryan

I know many of you want to know how this all went down and I would also like to remember myself what all happened a few months from now, so here's the story of how it all went down....

On Sunday, September 9, we spent most of the day just playing and relaxing. Jason had to work late for the September 15th tax deadline so around 5:00 pm Nathan and I went with Jason's mom and sister to get yogurt and meet Jason and his dad. On our way back home, I had about 2 contractions that felt a little stronger than braxton hicks but didn't think anything of it because they went away. When we got home (about 6:30), I told Jason that we really needed to install Ryan's car seat and move Nathan's car set in my car. (I mean I was almost 38 weeks!). We had been putting this off for quite a while but I was really determined to get it done then. When we got them installed around 7:30 we all went inside and sat on the couch and shared some grapes. While I was sitting on the couch, I felt my stomach keep contracting. Again - it was nothing strong so I just assumed they were Braxton Hicks. Well, around 8 we were going to start getting Nathan ready for bath and I thought I felt my water break but it was not this big gush I associate your water breaking with. After I a while and a phone call with my friend Kristin, Jason and I decided he would give Nathan a bath and I would lay down and call my doctor. I got the oncall doctor, told her my situation and while she didn't think my water had broken since there was no gush, she told me to come in and get checked just to be sure. So, thankfully I had my bags packed and Jason and I started on our way to the hospital around 8:30. Since the hospital was closed, we had to check in at the emergency room and then someone from labor and delivery came and got me. At this point, I still wasn't too sure that my water had broken. I told the nurse this and was then wheeled into a room where I was told they would check me out. I was given a robe to change into and went into the bathroom to change when my water definitely broke! (Thankfully this happened in the hospital and not my car on the way to the hospital!).

I was then officially admitted into the hospital and hooked up to the fetal heart monitor and contraction monitor. I was then hooked up to pitocin to help me start contracting and dilating. Around 1 am or so, I got my epidural. My doctor called a few times to check on me between the time I was checked in and the time she got there around 5 or 5:30. Around 4:30 am or so Monday morning, my blood pressure started to really drop and Ryan's heartbeat would drop every time I had a contraction. I was also contracting really quickly and had to have the pitocin turned off. They tried turning me a few times thinking that it was just the position I was in that Ryan did not like. After that didn't work, they started me on an IV to put fluid (or some big technical term) back in me since they were then thinking that I had lost soo much fluid and it was affecting the umbilical cord. It was at this point that my doctor said that if this didn't work, I was going to have to have a c-section and went to work on the paperwork. Well, the fluids didn't work and my contractions were getting closer together and Ryan's heart beat would take big dips with each contraction. My doctor then became concerned that the cord was somehow messed up (not so much wrapped around him - but just messed up) and I was ordered to get an anesthetic to numb my stomach for a C-section. This part all went kind of quickly so I'm kind of vague on all the details. I know it was at this point that Jason called my parents and his parents and told them I was going into an emergency c-section. After my anesthetic, I don't remember much. Between the epidural and the fear of having a c-section, my body kept having cold chills and I started to get really lightheaded and sick. I don't even remember telling Jason bye before they wheeled me out. I don't remember much of the surgery either. I was so sick and lightheaded the entire time all I remember was willing myself to not be sick. After a while, I remember seeing Jason show me Ryan. I could hear him crying and could hear everybody around me, but was just too lightheaded and sick to really concentrate on anything going on around me.

After the drama of the c-section I was wheeled to my own room where again I don't remember much because I was still very lightheaded. All I remember is that the nurse was getting worried because my blood pressure was getting too low and kept falling. I was ordered on fluids and eventually started to feel better. After a while, my doctor came in and said that I had lost a lot of blood because it turned out that my placenta had abrupted. (Good thing for the emergency c-section!) Well, I eventually got to see my little boy and the rest went downhill from there.

I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 more days before being released. Below are some of the pictures from our hospital stay.