I am writing this as a remembrance of the day that my first baby girl was born.
Rileigh was a long awaited precious gift from God. I went to the hospital on Sunday, December 30, 2007 at 8pm. We got checked in and they showed us to the room we would stay the night. We got all settled in and they gave me some "pill" thing that would make my cervix soften and hopefully dilate. Well this worked really well for me since I was already dilated to a 2. I didn't get much sleep that night because I was having contractions all night and they were coming in every hour to monitor my vitals. Finally at 6am they came in and told me that I would be moving in a hour to labor and delivery to start the pitocin. We got all our things packed up and then the nurse wheeled me down. Once in labor and delivery my nurse Carol (best nurse in the whole world!!!) came in and started getting me all hooked up to the pitocin and told me that she would be a call away if I needed anything. I was still dilated to a 2 so I had a long way to go. I was feeling a little sleepy so I tried to get a little shut eye between people in and out of my room all morning. By early afternoon I think every family member that I know that lives close was at the hospital waiting on our precious baby to come. The afternoon came and went and about 3 pm Dr. Woodbridge broke my water. I was trying to hold off as long as I could to get my epidural because I had heard so many stories that as soon as you get it your labor slows down and believe me I didn't want anything about this to slow down. Almost as soon as my water was broke I was feeling the contractions badly. I still tried to be strong and work through it but just couldn't I got my epidural probably 30-45 minutes later. After that I was doing pretty good for about 3 hours then I started to feel contractions again on my left side. They told me that the epidural works with gravity and since they had me on my right side because that is supposed to help keep your blood pressure down that I should try turning over on my left side to see if that helped. I did that and it really did nothing for me as the 8 o' clock hour was passing I was more and more uncomfortable tons of pressure and lots of contractions. Finally at about 9:30 Dr. Woodbridge came and said I was to a 10 and ready to start pushing!!!! Finally I was to the point I could start pushing. I thought it was all downhill from here this will last a couple of minutes and I will have my baby girl!!! I sure wish someone would have told me that isn't the way that it always happens. After about 1 hour of pushing I was ready to throw the towel in and give up. Nope there was Eric telling me I was doing a good job...it was 10:30. I was starving and exhausted from lack of sleep and the extreme work I had been going through all day. I pushed for another 30 minutes....it's 11:00 and I am telling the nurse to get Dr. Woodbridge because I want a c-section I just can't do this anymore. I was still having tons of pressure and pain all on my left side. Dr. Woodbridge comes in and looks over me and comes to the side of my bed you are about to deliver this baby in about 2 more pushes. You can do this you are a strong women and you don't want to have a c-section. I know she said some other great encouraging words because all I could think after the fact was that if she hadn't come in when she did I don't think I would have been able to delivered Rileigh. I told Dr. Woodbridge about all my pain and pressure and she had some one shoot a bunch of medicine in my epidural line that immediately made me feel better and then about a dozen people started coming in my room. I knew she wasn't lying that it was going to be soon. Finally after about 3 pushes at 11:36 I saw the face of my new baby girl!!! RILEIGH GREER MCBAIN was FINALLY here!!!! At her birth she weighed 8 lbs 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long. To me she was the prettiest baby ever and what a way to ring in the New Year holding my new baby!!! That was the best New Year's Eve ever.
I knew that I would love my baby and I knew that no matter what she looked like she would be beautiful to me. I must say she was the prettiest baby I had ever seen even though her lip was all swollen and she was black and blue all down her left side. After they got me all fixed up and ready to go to my room, they wheeled me and Rileigh up to the nursery and dropped her off. What made them think that I was ready to give my 2 hour old baby to anyone? We watched them measure her and then they wheeled us off to our room to get us settled in. When I got there Eric made sure they were going to bring me some food because I hadn't had anything to eat since Sunday night for dinner and that was long gone!!! They got me in my bed and Eric got his bed made and they brought me some food. I was so hyped up at this point I wasn't tired anymore. I ate and laid there hoping to get a couple minutes of sleep before they brought Rileigh back. About the time I had finally started to drift off to sleep (Eric had gone to sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow I think) they brought my baby back to me. By this time it was about 4 am. All I could do now was lay in bed and stare at her. She was beautiful!!! I am not sure how long any of us slept that morning but from that point forward she was here and it didn't matter if I didn't get any sleep. I was happy to be able to look at her little face. I love you baby girl Happy 1st Birthday!!!
