Raegan's Arrival

RAEGAN CLAIRE RANSOM IS HERE!

I apologize for being out of touch! For the past week and a half, we (Chuck, myself, my mom, and Chuck's mom) have been in a complete "BABY HAZE". It's so hard to believe that our baby girl is actually here. All of the moms out there know exactly what I mean when I say that there is no feeling like it--Chuck and I are completely in love.

I have so many things to "blog" about-from the experience as a whole, to little things she's already done, to visits from family and friends, to funny anecdotes that you will undoubtedly find hysterical, (Let's just say that when it comes to baby bodily functions, daddy was broken in very early!), etc. For now, I'll simply share the story of how/when Raegan made her debut.

The last time I updated this, the ongoing debate was: "to induce or not to induce"-that was the question. Well, here is how it all went down...

Monday, April 6th, 2009: We had our weekly OB appt. Everything looked normal. Also had some progress...though, not as much as we had hoped for. Dilated 2.5 cent and was 60% effaced. My OB mentioned again that we could induce at any time. He actually posed the question of whether or not I wanted to get induced that Thursday (the 9th). We asked his opinion and what our options were, etc. He basically said that, although Raegan wasn't "late", that she was just getting bigger in the womb and was no longer benefiting from being inside of me. He said that if we opted to not get induced, and if she still hadn't arrived on my due date (Fri, April 10) or through the weekend, that he would send me to get an ultrasound the following Monday before my OB appt and we would be scheduling my induction some time that week.

For some reason, I had a really hard time with this decision. After much prayer, thought, and discussion, Chuck and I decided not to induce on Thursday. The only downside would be that we would go into labor Fri, Sat, or Sun and our OB wouldn't be on call. Giving Raegan a chance to arrive on her own outweighed the negative connotation of this possibility. Plus, the more I talked with people who had been induced, the more I didn't want to do it unless absolutely necessary.

I felt good about the decision. That day and night, I continued to have what I considered light abdominal cramping, back aching, in addition to experiencing some other "signs". I kept thinking---"Are these contractions?" Everyone assured me "Oh, you'll know when you're having contractions and you won't have to ask"...

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009: 9am: I call the OB's office to let them know that we decided not to induce on Thursday. During that conversation with the receptionist, I mentioned that I'd like to speak with Beth, the nurse, to let her know some of the symptoms I had been having the day prior and that morning. The secretary asked what those symptoms were. When I told her, she went and got Beth out of an appt with a patient. (She had never done this before as she always sends me to Beth's voicemail.) Beth came to the phone and said that I needed to come into the office. She was very calm but said that I needed to be checked out.

9:20am: Chuck and I are on our way to OB's office. The verdict? I am progressing. Almost 4 centimeters dilated and 70% effaced. I told Dr Wingo that I'd called into the office earlier that morning to communicate it, but that we'd decided not to get induced on Thursday.

Wingo's response? "It doesn't matter. You aren't going to make it that long anyway." Chuck's jaw hit the floor. Dr Wingo never says things like that. He's the guy who, when I'd had other "signs" said, "Yeah yeah yeah. Those signs just mean that you'll have a baby within a month or so." Chuck asked for a predicted timeframe. Dr Wingo didn't have one. Chuck went back to work. I decided to keep myself busy.

11am: I meet Elaine and Mandy for lunch...a HUGE lunch....followed by dessert. I continued to have light cramping and back aches. But, again, dismissed both as contractions b/c I would "know for sure when they were contractions".

1:30pm: Elaine follows me to my house and I hop in the car with her to go run some errands.

1:32pm: I'm feeling a little "strange" and think there's a slight possibility that my water broke. Elaine pulls over at McDonald's so I can check. False Alarm.

1:35-3:30pm: Elaine and I shop.

3:30pm: Elaine drops me off at home.

3:30-4:30pm: Trying to stay busy, I break out the laptop and work on planning a bridal shower for a good friend of mine, Stephanie Heath. While I'm working on sending an email about the shower to friends, I notice "something"...but, I dismiss the "something" as the same false alarm as it was at the McDonald's stop. I continue with the email for about 15 minutes.

4:30pm: I get up to go check out the "something"...In an effort to not dispel Too Much Information, let's just say that my water had broken!

4:31pm: I call Chuck.

4:32pm: I call my mom and dad.

4:35pm: I take a shower.

4:45pm: Chuck's mom, Ms Nan, just happens to stop by the house-only to find me in a towel and trying to get things ready for the hospital.

4:45-4:55pm: Chuck gets home. I text family and friends to tell them the news while I'm getting ready.

4:55-5:30pm: Chuck and Ms Nan work on gathering up final items for the hospital. I put on make-up. (I was strangely calm.)

5:30pm: We head to the hospital. Ecstatic.

5:50-9:30pm: We check into hospital. I get all "hooked up". Chuck and I keep saying that we can't believe it's happening. At one point, I ask the nurse, "Am I having contractions?" She says, "Um, yes. See that monitor? It's measuring your contractions. They are sporadic but they are contractions." What do you know? Apparently, the cramping and back pains were contractions all this time. Mom and Dad arrive. Ms Nan and Bob arrive. Dana arrives. Contractions continue....and get stronger each time. I hold out on the epidural.

9:30-11pm: Contractions are getting stronger and stronger. They are about 3 minutes apart and I'm 7 centimeters dilated. Everyone is gone except for Chuck and me. I decide to go ahead and get the epidural before the pain becomes worse and risk flinching during the process.

11-12:30pm: Epidural is complete. I am the most comfortable and relaxed than I've been in 9 months. Chuck and I talk, watch "Friends" (yes, we brought every season on DVD), and even nap a bit. The nurse, Becky, wakes me, checks me, and says that the baby will be here "soon". Chuck's jaw drops, "How soon?" "Around 2:30 or 3. She's progressing fast. You might want to call your family." Chuck calls family to see if they want to be woken up when I start pushing.

2:10am: I am 10 centimeters dilated. Becky calmly says, "I'm going to call Dr Wingo and when I get back, we're going to start pushing." (By the way, I found this whole situation, not only surreal, but completely ironic and not what I expected. In the movies, it's like "10 CENTIMETERS! GET THE DR! EVERYONE MOVE MOVE MOVE!" This was much more relaxed. It was great.)

2:10-2:45am: Pushing continues...during breaks, we (Chuck, myself, and Becky-the nurse) watch Friends and chat...I had a little game of trying to "outdo" the last push with the next. Everything was really quiet and calm.

2:45am: Enter Wingo.

2:45-2:53am: Push, push, push

2:53am: Enter Raegan!!!!

What can I say? Incredible. Wonderful. Everything and more than we imagined. In that second, our family went from 2 to 3.

8 pounds/0 ounces/21 inches of a miracle:

I'm not going to lie and say that everything was picture-perfect from that moment on. As some of you may know-we had some complications. Everything is fine now, but we had some scary moments. High level: Raegan was taken by NICU to "Transition".

They were worried about potential respiratory issues. I was completely fine for a while except scared for my new baby and anxious to hold her, nurse her, and comfort her. Once I got brought down to Recovery from Labor and Delivery, I had some complications of my own, had to be taken back to Labor and Delivery, etc. Sparing the details----God is good...really good. And, as nuts as the post delivery was for us, we were and ARE thankful for our healthy baby girl. That is the most important thing. All is good.

(PS-to those future moms out there, Labor and Delivery was the EASY part! Before AND after the epidural. That's coming from someone who waited a long time to get the "drugs". Don't let anyone scare you. If you have any threshold for pain, it's a breeze and you can do it!)

Friday April 10th: I eventually got released again to Recovery and was able to hold, nurse, and comfort our new baby girl. After several nights of stay in the hospital, lots of visitors, lots of calls, and our tornado warning scare-which, of course, on its onset forced us out into the hallway of the hospital for an hour and a half right when we were about to be discharged-we eventually headed home. Precious Raegan slept the whole way there.

Friday, April 10 - Today: Life is great. We are trying to figure this whole parenting thing out and I'm sure, making tons of mistakes along the way. But, we are doing it. And, it's wonderful. And, we are in love.

Our moms have been extremely helpful. De De was here for a week and Nan Nan has not only been "on call" but will be helping this week. Thank you so much for your prayers, calls, meals, well wishes, etc. Chuck and I feel so blessed. We look at this little person and can't believe that we brought her into this world. As any parent knows-the whole experience brings on a whirlwind of emotions. I don't know that that will ever end.

We'll keep you posted from here! I'm sure there will be lots of stories to share. And, yes, I will eventually make the blog private. I just haven't had a chance to go through the motions and change all of the settings. Imagine that...

(By the way, when it IS set to private, you'll receive an email if you requested to continue to have access. If at any point, you are unable to access it and you didn't receive an email, just let me know.) Thanks for letting me share the incredible experience of our pregnancy.

Now, the fun really begins! Here's to dirty diapers, sleepless nights, and lots of cooing!