Ruby was born Tuesday, November 25th at 3:43 pm.
She was 7 lbs 15 oz and 22 inches long.
And she's perfect!
Here's the story, it's a long one with lots of details.
My next post will be filled with tons pictures.
You've been warned...
On Sunday, the 23rd, I had horrible back pain and had trouble sleeping.
I was praying that I'd go into labor the next morning.
Monday, the 24th, I woke up not feeling so great.
My hips really hurt and I was experiencing a lot of pelvic pressure.
It felt like Ruby was going to fall out of me.
At noon, I started timing my contractions with an app I downloaded.
It just didn't seem real that I could be in labor. I didn't want to get my hopes up.
...
Sean was working from home that day. He stopped working.
I remember him coming down the hall yelling, "Call the Midwife!"
(He'd probably been waiting to use that line.)
Lexi was so excited, I wrote down a few things she said:
Lexi: "Mom you're going into labor?"
Me: "I think so."
Lexi: "Yay! Text someone. Put it on Facebook."
Lexi: "Why are you in labor?"
Me: "Because Ruby is ready to come out."
Lexi: "She wants to see me! She loves me!"
Lexi came up to me and showed me that she had up on jewelry.
Then she told me, "I'm wearing pearls and earrings so I look good when I see Ruby.
It's important to look good."
We had a family prayer before the kids left.
After the prayer, Lexi started bawling and told me while rubbing my stomach,
"I'm sad. I want your belly so big."
Just after 2:00, Sean dropped off the kids at his sisters' house.
We watched the episodes of The Office were Pam is in labor and gives birth.
Meanwhile I was rocking back and forth on a giant exercise ball.
...
At 4:00, I went to my midwife's to get checked.
I was 80% effaced and dilated to "two plus." (I had been 1 cm for the two previous weeks.)
I was upset that I hadn't progressed more. My contractions were painful but not super regular.
I tested positive for Group B Strep this pregnancy, which meant that I needed to be on antibiotics
for four hours before I delivered.
So I needed to get to the hospital hours before delivering but at that point I wasn't in active labor.
So Sean and I decided to head home. We stopped and got Artic Circle on the way home.
We watched a few episodes of Modern Family while I continued to time my contractions.
Just before 7:00 they were coming about every eight minutes and lasting about 40 seconds.
...
The hospital that I was supposed to deliver at in Riverton is a smaller hospital.
An M.D. is only scheduled to be there on weekdays from 8 am - 8 pm.
If I were to go into labor on a weekend or in the middle of the night, I was supposed to
call my midwife and she'd call whatever M.D. was on call and see if he was okay with me coming in.
This is because I was technically considered high risk
because I was planning on having another VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean).
And because I was planning on delivering with a midwife.
For these reasons, early on in my pregnancy,
I thought about switching back to the midwifes in Murray where I had Eli.
But there you see all eight midwives in the clinic and
I loved the idea of just seeing the one midwife in Riverton.
And Julie, came so highly recommended.
So my whole pregnancy, I knew there was a chance I wouldn't deliver in Riverton.
But Julie had plan on going with me to Murray if I did in fact deliver there.
...
That night my midwife had something scheduled that she couldn't get out of.
So I knew if anything happened,
I'd go to the hospital in Murray where I delivered Eli and see the midwives there.
So we headed to Murray.
We had decided to go walking. We went to Costco which is right next to the hospital.
My contractions really started picking up.
A man selling Bosch mixers stopped us and asked us if it was a good time to check out his product.
I told him no because I was in labor and in the middle of timing my contractions.
He was surprised and seemed a little freaked out.
We walked up and down the isle that we never go to, like the ones with air filters and sticky notes.
And every few minutes, I'd stop and pretend to look at a product or hug Sean while I contracted.
I'm sure we looked strange.
...
My contractions really started picking up.
Just before we checked into the hospital at 8:30,
my contractions were coming about every three minutes and lasting about a minute.
Sean wanted to drop me off at the door but I didn't want to go in alone.
So we parked as close as we could to the door and walked in together.
A couple saw us and ran inside and brought out a wheel chair for me.
...
We got checked in and sent to a room at 9:00.
As soon as I got hooked up to the monitors my contractions nearly stopped!
In thirty minutes, I only had two!
The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 3 cm.
But she told me that my midwife's 2+ and her 3 cm could be the same.
So essentially, I may not have progressed at all that day!
And since I wasn't in active labor, she gave me the option of just going home.
I was devastated!
We also had the option to stay at the hospital and get observed for another two hours.
The nurse pointed out that there was no way to know when real labor could start.
It could be hours or days or even a week!
We decided to go home. As soon as I got unhooked from the monitors and the nurse left the room,
I started having contractions again!
...
On the way home we stopped at Jimmy John's since I hadn't really eaten anything all day.
Then I took a shower and went to bed. I was able to get a few hours of sleep.
But I was having contractions all through the night.
I slept from 11:00 to 3:30.
I then got up and hot two pieces of toast with peanut butter.
And then went back to bed although, I didn't sleep well.
...
Tuesday morning I woke up feeling exhausted and miserable.
I got out of bed at 7:15.
I decided that I needed to be active and see if that could push me into active labor.
So that's what I did from 7:30-9:30.
I got ready for the day and did some stretches and got down on the floor and cleaned up toys.
...
Sean called my midwife's office that morning but Julie was out that day. The one day she was out!
Well she was around but not at the office.
So we made an appointment to go in and get checked with the other midwife at 11:40.
My goal was to make it to 11:40.
We decided to go walk around Target just before 10. That's when I started timing my contractions.
They were coming about every five minutes and lasting about a 50 seconds.
At 10:45, I was in a lot of pain, especially in my back. And I was done walking.
I didn't want to wait until my appointment at 11:40.
Sean and I were trying to decide if we should go to the hospital in Riverton
and maybe my midwife Julie would deliver maybe she wouldn't.
Or if we should go back to the hospital in Murray.
We decided to go to Murray since we had been there the night before.
...
We got to the hospital at 11:00.
At 11:30, a nurse checked me.
I was so nervous that I wouldn't have progressed any from the night before.
When she told me that I was dilated to a "five plus," I was ecstatic!
Sean was too. We knew that we were really going to have our baby.
...
The midwife who was on call came in just after that.
I was so excited when I saw it was Melissa.
I met her when I was pregnant with Eli and absolutely adored her!
She walked in just as I was having a contraction and instantly tried to help me through it.
She helped me with my breathing and applied pressure to my legs.
She was amazing. I was so excited that she'd be delivering.
...
Probably the worst part of my whole laboring experience was getting my IV.
It took three tries. And I got some pretty horrible bruises from it.
At noon, I got my epidural.
By 12:50, I was dilated to 7 cm.
At that point, we could have broken my water to speed things up but we didn't want to.
I needed to wait as long as I could to deliver because we were trying to get the antibiotics in me
for at least four hours before delivering.
...
So we just hung out for a few hours.
Melissa, the midwife, stayed with us and just chatted.
She wanted to know all about us.
Where we were from, how we met and she wanted to see pictures of our kids.
So, I showed her pictures on our blog.
She talked to Sean about his work. And we talked about her kids.
It was a nice way to pass the time.
She was like an instant friend. I've never had an experience like that with an M.D.
That's one of the reasons I love seeing a midwife. They just seem to care more.
It's a whole different experience.
...
At 3:00, I started feeling a lot of pressure.
At 3:15, I was told it was time to get ready to push soon.
At 3:25, Melissa broke my water.
I had a lot of fluids.
She then asked Sean if he wanted to catch the baby.
He didn't seem sure at first, but I really wanted him to do it.
So he got his gloves on and got ready.
At 3:35, I started pushing.
I felt more this time around then I did with my other deliveries.
I had an epidural, but I felt a lot more pressure and burning with each push.
I could tell more what was going on with my body.
I asked for a mirror and watched as I pushed, which is a very surreal experience.
After 8 minutes of pushing, Ruby Morgan Christensen was born at 3:43 pm.
She was instantly put on my chest.
...
I have no words that can describe how it feels when you see and hold your child for the first time.
It's a tender moment. I was filled with complete joy and instant love.
...
Sean cut the cord and I pushed out the placenta.
I asked to see it and the sac. It's so strange.
Then the nurses checked Ruby's stats.
We all made our guesses on her weight.
Sean thought she's be 6 lbs and 12 oz (or something close to that)
and I guessed she's be 7 lbs 7 oz.
We were both surprised when she was 7 lbs 15 oz on the dot.
Then they measured her and said she was 22 inches long. That's a really, really long baby!
I still am not sure if I believe that she was that long.
(Eli was supposedly 20.5 inches.)
...
Then I nursed her and finally after all that Sean got to hold her.
Then it was time to head up to our new room.
The nurses in the maternity ward were concerned with my blood lose.
I was loosing a lot more blood than they wanted me too.
So they gave me some medicine, I don't remember what it was or exactly what it was for.
Then they tried to put in a temporary catheter twice but couldn't.
They were concerned about my bladder being full which can cause you to bleed more.
I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom yet because my epidural hadn't worn off.
Finally, three nurses helped me get up and go the bathroom.
My right leg, was dead weight, and I nearly fell once, but we made it.
After that my blood lose slowed down.
...
That first night Sean stayed with me.
We sent Ruby to the nursery, in an attempt to get some sleep.
The nurses would just bring her back when she wanted to nurse.
The next morning, Sean went to Michelle's to get the kids.
He brought them to the hospital to see Ruby.
They were so excited. The girls were so interested in everything about their new sisters.
Lexi asked me while I was nursing if Ruby had bit me yet.
They all took turns holding her and left after we all had lunch together.
Michelle came and visited me that afternoon and so did Julie,
the midwife I had see through my pregnancy.
Julie, had cried when she found out she missed the delivery. I felt bad for her.
But she was so happy for me. The whole goal of this pregnancy was to have another VBAC
and a positive birthing experience and a healthy baby.
Even though she didn't deliver,
I had Julie with me my whole pregnancy and she was an awesome support to me.
...
That second night, I sent Ruby back to the nursery
and tried to sleep as much as I could when I wasn't nursing.
And Ruby was an awesome baby. She hardly ever cried the whole time in the hospital.
I really enjoyed my time recovering in the hospital. I was in no hurry to go home.
That day was Thanksgiving, my due date.
I had a big Thanksgiving lunch and then Sean and the kids came and picked us up.
They were all so excited.
It was so strange leaving the hospital with four kids.
...
I was trying to figure out how long my labor was this time around and it's hard to say.
It's hard to know when active labor really started.
My guess is just before 8 am when I got out of bed.
And then I had Ruby a little before 4 pm.
So I'll say my labor with her was about 8 hours.
...
Here's the link to
Lexi's birth story.
And here's
Avery's birth story.
And here's
Eli's birth story.
