RYAN HOWARD WALKER

Well I guess since that last post was about me pregnant with a boy, I might as well finally post about this little man of ours! ;)

Well let's start at the beginning... (Warning: This will be long!)

Way back when we had our ultrasound (the last post), they discovered that I had a low lying placenta (this is where the placenta is really close to the cervix). The doctor told me this at my following appointment and said not to worry too much about it because it would most likely move up and away from my cervix as my belly grew bigger. He also told us that the radiologist had seen something wrong with one of our baby's kidneys - something about a double renal pelvis, whatever that meant. My OB said that he had never seen or heard of anything like this before and referred us to a Perinatologist to help us figure out what was going on. When I went online after we got home from our appointment to see what this condition brought up, all the references to these findings were in older men with kidney cancer. Needless to say, I was totally freaked out. I remember crying on the way home, and then crying again and again every time that I thought about it. I was just so worried that my little boy was going to have something wrong with him.

We waited for what seemed like forever to get in with the doctor, which really was only about 1 1/2 weeks. They did another ultrasound at this visit and then the doctor came in to talk with us. Our fears where quickly set to ease when the doctor explained that what the radiologist had seen on the first ultrasound was just some fluid backed up in our baby's kidneys - which he told us was either kidney reflux or a "kink" in his ureter. He said that this is really common in boys and it's something that they usually will just grow out of. He told us that it was actually really rare that they even found this on the ultrasound, it was something that they usually find after the child is born and had had a lot of urinary tract infections (they only saw it because our baby was peeing right when the tech was looking at his kidneys). He also told us that only 1-2% of kids that have this will end up having to have surgery to fix the problem. Oh were we so so relieved!!! He did also mention at this visit that he thought I had partial placenta previa (where the placenta is covering a little bit of the cervix), but again not to worry that it would probably move. We just needed to come back at about 32wks and check it and our little man's kidney's again.

Fast forward to 33wks when we had our next ultrasound... We found out that are suspicions were correct and that my placenta had not moved - I actually now had a complete placenta previa - which meant I would be definitely having a c-section. Like I said, we were already pretty sure this was the case because about a week before my appointment I had some really really bad hemorrhaging. I started bleeding so bad one night that I ended up in the hospital. It was one of the scariest moments of my life - I was positive that I was losing the baby. I just kept bleeding and bleeding - like gushing on to our bathroom floor, it really looked like someone had been murdered! Anyways after rushing to the hospital, the bleeding slowed down, the baby looked good, and I was sent home to be on bed rest until my ultrasound the next week. The Perinatologist recommended that since I had already had hemorrhaging that we take the baby early at 37wks. They don't want you to go in to labor at all because of the danger of bleeding and possible separation of the placenta which can both be life threatening to the baby and mother. He also said that our baby's kidney's were looking better (not as much fluid back up in his kidney) and that he would most likely be just fine and normal when he was born.

Fast forward again to Sept 20th / 37wks. / Baby Day!!! We arrived at the hospital about 9:00am and got checked in. Now I have to admit I was pretty darn nervous. Having a scheduled delivery is kind of nice because you get to plan everything, but on the down side it gave me way too much time to think about it. (I mean when you go into labor naturally you're nervous, but don't have time to really think about it because there's so much other stuff going on). When they rolled me back to the delivery room I was actually so sick to my stomach because I was so overwhelmed with nervousness! But the nurses were really sweet and tried to keep my mind off of it. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me my spinal (which actually took 2 times to do) and then I finally started to relax and feel ok. Then Justin and the doctor came in a things got started. C-sections are definitely a very weird thing - being sliced open, but still awake = very weird. And then about 15 mins later - Boom you're a mom!!! PURE JOY - Our little Ryan was here!!! I do have to admit it was kind of sad when Ryan arrived for me, everybody else in the room got to see him except me, as I lay on the table behind the sheet. But Justin was really good about going and taking pictures and then coming back to me and showing him to me. And then those first precious cries came and I couldn't hold back the tears anymore - I think that HAS to be the sweetest sound in the whole wide world.

So while they were sewing me back up, Ryan was getting weighed and measured - we were really surprised to find out that he actually weighed more than Brianna did, who was full term. And he was super long - he missed the record for the hospital by 1 inch, which the doctor was sure he would have been at if he'd gone the full 40wks.

Meanwhile, I started feeling really weird. You've always heard that expression, "It feels like there's an elephant on my chest.", well this is exactly like I felt. I just couldn't get a breath, it became really really uncomfortable, so I asked the anesthesiologist if this was normal. She said that my oxygen levels were normal but this does sometimes happen and that she could give me some medication to help, but it would most likely make me go to sleep. I really didn't want to go to sleep, I mean I hadn't even had a chance to see my baby yet, so I tried to tough it out. The feeling kept getting worse and worse, I swore I was suffocating to death. I was so close to asking her to give me the medicine, but she saw that I was getting really uncomfortable and was really gasping for air, so she tried elevating my head to see if that would help. Thankfully it took just enough of the pressure away that I was able to tolerate the feeling and not have to get the extra medicine.

So while all this was happening Ryan's chest started retracting so he had to be put on oxygen. His O2 sats did eventually come back up and then he just had to be monitored for a couple of hours. I finally got put back together and the doctor came up and talked to me for a little bit. He said that they roughed me up pretty good (Ryan was way on my side and they had to really pull to get him out) and that I had a lot of bleeding (because of my placenta), so I would have a lot of bruising and pain - Yay me! (I even actually ended up having a bruise of some one's full hand-print on my thigh. LOL!)

But right after that, the nurses finished cleaning me up and got me covered and then there was this perfect little boy in my arms and all that crazy stuff from before went out the window. Oh he was just perfect!!! I know it sounds cliche, but your heart really does grow so much bigger when they put that baby in your arms, you just can't believe how much you love this little thing that you just met. They delayed cleaning him all up because they wanted me to just keep him skin to skin on my chest for a couple hours and watch his oxygen levels. So I just got to cuddle with my little guy for awhile which was amazing. His levels never dropped again and he did great!

Oh we are so blessed to have this little man. He is just the sweetest thing - even though he's a pretty grumpy boy :) We are all so in love with him!!! He's the perfect fit to complete our little family!!! (Oh btw, Ryan had an ultrasound of his kidney's when he was one day old and everything looked completely normal - yay!)

Ryan Howard Walker

Born: Sept. 2o, 2011 @ 10:41am

Weight: 7lbs 14oz

Height: 22"

Here he comes!!!

We were actually really surprised that the doctor let us take this photo (because of all the legal formalities). Justin had been schmoozing him for weeks to let us get a picture and finally he gave in and said he'd allow it.

He's HERE!!!

First cry.

Oh he's so sweet!

Getting his little footprints.

Me feeling a lot better after my head was propped up.

Loves those cheeks!

Getting some oxygen.

Finally able to meet my little boy.

PURE LOVE!

Our new addition.