Rylie Beth

I don't even know where to start with this post, so I guess I will start at the beginning...the beginning of the most memorable, whirlwind week of Brandon and my life. Last Saturday night, we spent the evening at home, just the two of us. I had been invited to a graduation party but didn't really feel that great so we decided to stay home. We went to bed and of course, I had to get up around 3:15 to go to the bathroom (that had become the norm in the last few months). Well, I am a person that as soon as I stand up, I am awake and it takes me awhile to fall back to sleep. As I finally dozed off again at around 3:45, the weirdest sensation hit me and I jumped out of bed as my water broke...all over the place! I think I yelled "oh my gosh!" which instantly woke Brandon up. I told him my water broke and he asked if I was sure...and yes, I was definitely sure! I hurried into the bathroom and had no idea what to do, so I jumped in the shower as my wonderful husband jumped up and started getting our last minute things ready to go.

Now, the weird thing to me was that I literally had not felt one contraction and still wasn't feeling any. That is just not what I expected at all. However, due to baby being breech, our doctor had told us that if my water breaks, get to the hospital soon. I got out and dressed and we headed to the hospital. On the way there, I started feeling contractions, but they were mostly in my back, weren't that painful, and were not that close together. We got to the ER to check in and my memory of that was that the triage nurse was very chatty and started telling us all about her kids...very odd, I thought, to do this with someone who was in labor. She also told us that they would probably send us home due to lack of contractions. Brandon kind of looked at her like she was crazy and said ya right...her water broke and we have a breech baby.

Well, they came with a wheelchair and took us up to labor and delivery. In triage, I was hooked up to the normal heartbeat moniters and they did all of the tests to make sure my water broke (believe me, I knew my water broke. I literally thanked God on the way to the hospital that it had not happened in public! They say that when a baby is head down like they are supposed to be, the baby's head acts as a plug for when your water breaks and it often just slowly leaks out. Well, I didn't have that plug, so it was more of a flood for me!). The doctor came in and did an ultrasound to make sure baby was still breech, and she was in the exact same position she was at our last ultrasound. They hurried us through everything, the anathesialogist came in to introduce himself and explain what was going to happen, Brandon was given scrubs to put on, and then we were headed into surgery.





They made Brandon wait outside while I was given the spinal block. I remember telling one of the nurses not to forget to go and get him before they started the surgery and she laughed and said that was a very valid point, and one that she had never been asked before and assured me that she would not forget. They laid me down and put a sheet up in front of my face so that I couldn't see the surgery. Brandon came in and they started. I could feel lots of different pressures, but obviously no pain. Brandon was telling me what was happening as well as the anathesialogist was explaining what I should be feeling. All of the sudden, I felt like an elephant was sitting on me for a second, and then I heard them say that we had a baby girl! I heard a nurse call someone and say "Bethany Juarez delivered a baby girl" and then I heard Rock-A-Bye-Baby play on the hospital speakers. It plays throughout the hospital everytime a baby is born. They took her over to a corner and I could see her when I turned my head. My first memory of seeing her was that I couldn't believe her chubby cheeks! A nurse then took the camera from Brandon and took a picture of him cutting the cord. They wrapped her in a blanket, gave her to Brandon and he came over to me...and we both started crying. She was perfect! She weighed 7lbs. 11oz and was 19 inches long. And then they had to take her to the nursery...that was the longest next 20 minutes while they finished my surgery.







Soon after I got to recovery, Brandon and Rylie came back to me and we immediately tried to feed. I wasn't really working out and she kept wheezing when she was breathing so they actually decided to take her back to the nursery. So I was alone again. Thankfully, my wonderful mother saw them come back into the nursery and asked if she could come back with me so I wasn't alone. A doctor from the nursery came back shortly and said that they needed to moniter her for a few hours and that her blood sugar had dropped, so they needed to feed her. I was totally fine with that and Brandon got to feed her. They were also allowing one person at a time go into the nursery to see her, so soon my dad came back to be with me so that my mom could go be with Brandon and Rylie in the nursery. I guess that breathing problems are common with C-Section babies, and especially breech ones, because they don't take that trip through the birth canal that normally clears a lot of the fluid out of a baby's lungs.









We got to my room and my family that was in the waiting room came back to see me. I was so thankful that they were all there because it was a great distraction while I was waiting for Brandon and Rylie to come out of the nursery. It took a few hours, but I finally got to hold my baby girl again for more than a minute. I don't know if I can describe the feeling that I had. Brandon and I just sat there for awhile looking at our daughter, our little girl. She was finally here, in our arms. She was beautiful and she was ours.







The rest of the day is kind of a blur. Everything had really gone so fast. My water had broken at 3:45am and we had our baby at 6:52am. We had family in and out meeting Rylie. Since I delivered on May 2nd, the rule about no kids under the age of 12 being in the labor and delivery area had been lifted the day before. This was great because it meant that my cousin Ashley and her baby Cayden could come in, as well as my little cousin Tatum, who had been so excited to meet Baby Rylie my entire pregnancy. Gammie Helen (Brandon's Mom) had started driving from California within hours of the phone call that my water had broken and she arrived around noon. It was so great to watch her meet her grandbaby for the first time.





I have to recognize the staff at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. The nurses and everyone that we met and worked with while I was in the hospital was incredible. I have no complaints about my stay...in fact, we loved it there! I was walking with my wonderful night nurse, Nicole, and I told her how great everyone was and how everyone seemed to love there job. She said it wasn't an act, Mercy really is a great place to work. They even come around every afternoon with tea and sweets! I would highly recommend this hospital to anyone who is having a baby.







We stayed in the hospital until Wednesday since I had had a C-Section. Really, I hurt less than I expected during my recovery. Obviously I had to move slow, but I could move around a lot more than I expected. Feeding was probably that hardest part about the whole thing, but the nurses were great and patient and Rylie and I both started getting the hang of things. She did drop almost a full pound from her birth weight in the first few days so we had to suppliment her feedings with formula. We learned very early on (the first night to be exact) what that whole lack of sleep thing meant as a parent. Our little peanut does not like to sleep at night. We are actually still trying to figure out how to get any sleep at all!







I don't know if I can explain how amazing my husband was through this process. I have heard stories of husbands who won't change diapers and mom's who don't trust them enough to leave the baby with them...this is the exact opposite of Brandon. He has never complained about a diaper, and he has changed way more than me due to the fact that it was difficult for me to get out of bed those first couple of days. He is already an amazing dad, and I now know what my friends were saying about having a child putting a whole new aspect to your marriage. I fall more in love with him every day watching him with our little girl. I could watch the two of them together for hours.





For those of you who have made it to the end of this very long post, thank you for reading our story. I have been wanting to write it all down, but knew it would take awhile and haven't had a long stretch of time yet. I know it was very detailed, but I hope someday Rylie can look back on her birth story from my perspective. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and beautiful daughter...and thank you God for the new adventure you have just started in our lives!