Matt, Christen, Derek & Rylie

Rylie's Birth (3-9-12)

Here are the details of Rylie's birth. I wanted to make sure to remember all the details so I just giving you a heads up. Grammy flew in Wednesday night so that she would have a day to get used to Derek's routine. On Thursday we went about our normal activities. I took Derek to swim lessons (1 last time before Matt takes over), while Matt and Grammy watched. Friday morning we had breakfast together and then Matt and I headed to the hospital, while Grammy took Derek to the zoo.
We checked into the hospital, signed all remaining paperwork, and got settled in our pre-op room. I had an IV placed in my arm and we hung out for about 1 hour watching college basketball until we met our anesthesiologist. He went over the entire c-section procedure and reassured me that I would not feel a thing. Then I was wheeled away to the OR and Matt was left to put on his scrubs and wait in the "man cave" as they called it. In the OR I was prepped and given my spinal. Within no time I could not feel my legs and feet...such a weird feeling. When they rolled me onto my back (on the table), I felt like I was going to pass out. The anesthesiologist put something in my IV and within a few minutes I felt back to normal. Matt joined me in the OR and our doctors arrived. The atmosphere in the room was so relaxed and layed back. The doctors were talking to me and we were having a good time. I couldn't believe how relaxed things were and how I was TOTALLY ENJOYING EVERY MINUTE of the surgery. Sounds crazy, I know, but compared to Derek's long/intense/emotional birth this was a breeze and totally enjoyable. I kept waiting to feel them cut me open and I was ready to scream. I finally asked if they had cut me yet and the doctors said I was already open and they could see Rylie's head!! Once they had me open, Matt stood up and watched the rest of the surgery. He watched (and narrated to me) as they pulled Rylie out!!! At this point I was so overjoyed that I was enjoying everything that I started to cry tears of joy!! Matt snagged some cool pictures of Rylie being delivered and then I heard her cry! Oh what a sweet sound it was!! They cleaned Rylie up (I could watch everything) and Matt cut the umbilical cord. They wrapped up Rylie, and Matt brought her over to me. All I can say is that I was overjoyed and grateful. The doctors stitched me up and the whole surgery took about an hour!! Unbelieveable considering Derek's delivery last 2 1/2 days before the emergency c-section and my body was so drained at that point that I couldn't enjoy anything.
We were wheeled into the recovery room where we rested for an hour and then were taken to the maternity floor. I remember looking up at the clock and thinking how fast everything had gone...and now baby Rylie was here with us!

Recovering from the c-section after Rylie's birth was totally enjoyable too!!! Again, this time was much different than with Derek's birth. I felt great within the first 4 hours (once the spinal had worn off and I could feel my feet). I did NOT get a spinal headache. I did NOT have crazy hot flashes. I was NOT nearly as sore. I did NOT have any panic attacks. I couldn't wait to hold Rylie and did NOT want to give her up. God allowed me to be confident in my abilities to take care of my newborn and I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital and be home doing my normal activities.

Derek and Grammy came to visit us later that afternoon of the c-section. Derek was so sweet meeting Rylie. He has been calling her "Yi Yee" since December (when we picked out her name). He came to visit just as they were giving Rylie her first bath and enjoyed watching. Rylie gave Derek a present and once he saw what it was, he was over her and on to playing with his cars!!

Rylie is an amazing baby. She is totally different than Derek was. Rylie eats, sleeps, and poops. She is not awake for very long and then goes back to sleep again. She can sleep through anything (which is wonderful, since Derek is very active and loud). Derek did not nap much at all in the beginning. He was always awake and when he did sleep he wasn't usually in a deep sleep and would easily wake up. We are so grateful that Rylie is such a good baby. We have caught ourselves several times playing with Derek and totally forgetting that we have a 2nd kid.

Rylie's birth was a truly amazing experience, one that Matt and I are absolutely grateful to have been able to experience. I am so thankful that I got another chance to experience childbirth and that God blessed us with such an enjoyable experience. We have done a lot of reflecting on Derek's birth and comparing it to Rylie's birth (its kind of hard not to). While Derek's birth was so difficult we would NOT trade the experience or what we learned from it. It was his tough birth that allowed Rylie's birth to be so truly beautiful and special. We are so grateful to have a healthy son and daughter.