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Introduction

Ryan’s Birth Story


7/6/01


On Thursday 7/5/01 I started losing what I thought was my mucus plug. At 6:39am Friday morning as I was laying in bed contemplating what Taylor and I were going to do for the day I felt a strong but non painful “snap” just inside my cervix – I thought to myself “Could that be?” and just as I had that thought water began GUSHING out of me! I screamed for Glenn – “OH SH--!!! My water just broke!” At that point Glenn asked what we were to do – I told him we had some time so I was going to take a shower and he needed to get Taylor dressed and ready to go to our friends house. I got into the shower and the contractions began shortly after. They came fast and furious – 2 minutes apart to start and they never let up! Within an hour I was screaming to Glenn that we had to leave NOW!! My water was still leaking with every contraction and I was having A LOT of pain with each contraction. The pain was all located right above my cervix. I thought that contractions would hurt all over the entire uterus but apparently I was wrong about that! I never experienced labor with Taylor so I had no idea what to expect. Glenn and I left the house at 7:30am and took Taylor to our friends house down the street. We then began the 30 minute drive to the hospital that ended up only taking us 20 minutes – hmmm, wonder how that happened!! Glenn was driving like a maniac because I was in excruciating pain and acting like a mad woman I am sure….he recalls the drive as having two passengers with him – me and someone else he had never seen before!

We arrived at the hospital at 8am. Glenn drove up to valet parking and got me a wheelchair – as I got out of the car I realized that my seat was soaking wet from my water leaking with every contraction – I guess I should have been embarrassed but I suppose those people see that kind of thing all the time. We went into the admissions area and they immediately gave me my wristband, told me DO NOT PUSH and rushed us up to L&D. Once in L&D things began to move quickly. The nurse got me changed and hooked up to the monitor while asking me all kinds of questions that I don’t remember now. Since I was having a c-section they got me hooked up to an epidural as soon as they could – I think by 9am I was a happy camper. My Dr. came in and said he had another procedure to handle and as long as I was comfortable there was no reason to rush to the OR. He said he would do the c-section at 9:30am. Well, 9:30 rolled around and no Dr. My nurse came in and said that he was running late and would take me to the OR at 10am. That was no problem because I was comfortable.

At 10am the nurses began taking me to the OR. Of course, they had already prepped me so I was ready to have my baby! They got us to the OR and the anesthesiologist began pumping my epidural full so I would be numb. I was concerned because with my first c-section I had a spinal block and I was worried that I would feel them cutting me open. They all reassured me that I would feel nothing – which I didn’t. The anesthesiologist was just wonderful! She told me everything that was happening and I was doing my best to stay calm. It took them a long time to get to the baby because I had a lot of scar tissue to deal with. The Dr. said that he had never seen so much scaring. Apparently my last c-section scarred real bad and the said that some people just tend to scar really bad. Glenn was a great source of strength to me during the surgery as well. He was watching most of it, which surprised me when I looked up at him. He was standing looking over the cover and just watching the Dr.’s try to pull the baby out! When they finally got to the baby he was stuck. The Dr. and the resident tugged and pulled for what seemed like an eternity! They tugged and pulled, tugged and pulled, grunted and moaned and even had to take a break!! I guess my little guy was really stuck up in there! His head was always right under my right breast so I think he had really wedged himself up in my uterus. Finally at 10:29am they pulled out my beautiful son and laid him on my chest. All I could see at that point was a head full of black hair – what a beautiful sight! They quickly took him over to the warmer to check him out and Glenn rushed off with him. Now that I had seen and heard my son I could relax even more!

Now was the time to stitch me up – they started doing whatever it is they do after the baby is born and I started to feel some slight pain in the area that the incision was. I told the anesthesiologist that I could feel a lot of pressure but some pain as well. She immediately started to give me drugs to help but nothing was working. She kept giving me stuff and still, nothing was working and the pain was getting more and more intense. By the time they were done sewing me up I was bawling my eyes out, as the pain was so intense! The Dr. and anesthesiologist were apologizing that I was having discomfort and promised to make it go away. They wheeled me to the recovery room and the anesthesiologist kept working on giving me stuff to make the pain go away. Finally, she pumped the epidural full and that made the pain go away. WHEW that was quite the experience. Glenn was gone the entire time with the baby, which was a good thing because he would have lost his mind if he saw me in that condition. By the time he came into the recovery room I was feeling fine. He came in with our daughter Taylor and she was handing everything wonderfully! She was happy to see me and said she saw baby Ryan. I expected that she would get upset seeing me all hooked up to monitors but she surprised me and was very brave throughout the entire visit. She was especially interested in the new baby so Glenn spent a lot of time with her at the nursery window watching him being taken care of by the nurses.

I think an hour went by and they took me to my room. Glenn, Taylor and a few of our close friends joined us to celebrate the birth of our son, Ryan Andrew Kassel. He was 2 wks early much to our surprise. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 19 ¾ inches long. He is a very good baby, sleeps and eats and only cries when he is hungry. He doesn’t even fuss when he has a messy diaper! He is a joy to have around and Taylor is enjoying him as well. She has fed him several times now and loves to hold him with help from daddy.

Ryan had his first Dr. visit on 7/11/01 and had already gained his birth weight back – he went from 6lbs 11oz on Sunday to 7lbs 2oz on the following Wednesday.

One year seems like a long time but really it isn't long at all. I have enjoyed Ryan and all of his milestones. He now weighs 22lbs and is such a big boy. He is about to walk anyday now.

I LOVE YOU RYAN! Happy first birthday!