The Big Arrival

The bean has arrived! We welcomed Ryan Durrance Blalock at 8:03a on Friday April 20th. Here are the baby stats:

Date/time: 4/20/12 8:03am CST
Weight: 8 lbs 1.8 oz
Length: 19.5 inches
Head circumference: 14 inches
Chest circumference: 13.5 inches

Ryan's arrival is a long story! As expected, I was induced due to the high blood pressure. It wasn't ideal since I wasn't progressed as far as they like to see for an induction to be successful, but the doc didn't want to risk the BP. So we went to the hospital at 1am on Thursday April 19th to start the process. They got me hooked up to Pitocin to get labor started, but it took a very long time for things to progress. There were a couple times where the doctor said if things didn't get better in X amount of time then we would have to do a C-section which I definitely did not want. But thankfully, whenever we got that threat I managed to progress enough that they let me keep going. It was a very, very long 30 hours before Ryan was finally born. He did great though, and only got distressed at the very end so while I was pushing the doc had to do some magic to get him out quickly. As soon as he was out he let out a big cry! They put him up on my belly right away and Mark was able to cut the umbilical cord. And then we got to see our little man for the first time!

We were at the hospital until yesterday afternoon. He came down with a bit of jaundice so they kept us a few hours longer than normal so they could check him and monitor his feeding/diapers. We had to retest at the hospital this morning and see the pediatrician and he's doing better so we're in the clear as long as he keeps eating well. After 4 days in the hospital we were VERY excited to come home.

Here's what we know about Ryan so far:

1) He has very long toes and feet
2) He hates being cold
3) He loves being swaddled
4) We aren't sure what color his eyes are at the moment; they are either very dark blue or brown
5) He inherited my difficult veins, so he has lots of band aids from the nurses trying to get blood for the various newborn tests

But of course what everyone wants are pictures!

Ryan's Arrival

We'll have lots more to share over the coming weeks/months I'm sure.

We're doing well now at home. We're still figuring thing out of course, but everyday we figure out a new trick or get better at something. He's not sleeping great at night, he likes to sleep during the day a lot. So we're both pretty tired. But loving every minute!

40 Week Update

It's been an eventful week leading up to my due date (which is on Tuesday 4/17)! At my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, my blood pressure was officially high. The doctor was pretty concerned, so he wanted me back in on Thursday to recheck it and said that if it was still high they would do some additional testing and possibly induce me. I was also ordered to bed rest until then to keep the BP down (which I wasn't too happy about!). On Thursday, the BP was still high (in fact it was higher) so he sent me over to labor & delivery for some blood work and a contraction stress test. And since the BP was so high, he basically said be prepared to stay for an induction.

So, Mark and I headed over to the hospital. They took some blood and then hooked me up to an IV with low levels of Pitocin to induce some contractions. They were monitoring the contractions, the baby's heart rate, and my BP (which was down when we got there but stayed a bit erratic while we were there). The goal was to see how well he tolerated the contractions. One of the risks with high blood pressure is that the baby might not be getting enough oxygen from the placenta. If the baby's heart rate drops during a contraction it indicates that he's not getting the oxygen.

So we sat at the hospital for about 6 hours while they kept upping the dosage of the Pitocin trying to get a consistent pattern of contractions (apparently I'm not very sensitive to it). Meanwhile, my blood work checking my liver function came back clean which was good. The baby tolerated the contractions very well indicating that he's still getting enough oxygen from the placenta. Once they got the data they took me off the Pitocin to see if the contractions would stay and they stopped almost immediately. And after all those contractions, I had no more dilation. So the bean wasn't ready to debut and they sent me home under bed rest orders. It was the right move to not rush the bean, but we were a little disappointed that

So that's where I am! I'm very sick of resting and getting quite bored. I see the doctor again tomorrow afternoon to see what the next step is. If there is more cervical progression, then I'm thinking they will want to induce. So who knows, we may have this baby sooner rather than later!

Here is the 40 week bump pic and I'm hoping it's my last :)

39 Week Update

With a week left until our due date, I'm quite ready to have this baby! While I'm still feeling pretty good, this week brought some new discomforts since he's dropped. Mostly hip and some back pain. I'm not moving too quick these days!

At my doctor's appointment last week the baby was at -1 station (which is good) and I was 1 cm dilated. So there was some progression. I've had an increase in the number of Braxton Hicks contractions this week too, so I'm hoping there will be some more progression this week when I see the doc on Tuesday.

The big excitement for us this week is that we bought a boat! It's an 2002 18 ft Edgewater center console. We were able to take it out today for a maiden voyage and it was great! Here are some pics, it was a gorgeous day for a boat ride:

Putting in at the ramp

Proud owners!

Pepper likes the boat

Captain Mark

Pretty water

There were a few bumps on the ride, we're hoping it will encourage the bean to make his debut :) Here is the bump, I don't think it's much bigger but it's definitely lower!

38 Week Update

Sorry for the late blog post! Last night we were preoccupied with homebrewing and I just forgot until it was too late I was a sleepy pregnant lady :) Mark put together a very tasty looking wheat beer for me last night. By the time the bean gets here, it will be ready to drink!

Not much to report this week. No indications that the bean will be making his debut anytime soon. My doctor did say that he is likely going to be over 8 pounds when he's born! Not too surprising since he has been measuring a little big all the way through the pregnancy. We're pretty much ready at this point, all we have left to do is pack a hospital bag and install the car seat. Very exciting!

Here is the bump!