Ruby Layne

On New Year's Eve, I went into labor and delivery at the hospital I work at (embarrasing right?) just SURE that my water had broke. I was leaking small amounts of clear fluid when I stood up from a sitting postition or bent over. It was a small amount but I was SURE it was amniotic fluid. I was sent home with the reasurrance that it was not my fluid but that I was urinating. I was also beginning to dilate so it could be cervical fluid *barf*. She also stated that the fluid could be coming from a high leak in the sac.

So I went home... three days later the leak got worse and then I was afraid to go in... I didnt want to be sent home again. I had a gush of fluid at noon.. but no labor started.. only the random braxton hicks I had been feeling all along. My back was quite sore though... Around 3pm I sent Dwain to work telling him that either the fluid was going to stop, or it was going to get progressivly worse and I would go into true labor, either way, I would go get checked out that evening. Around 6pm with my step mom having a fit, I called him home and we headed to the hospital. Once we got there my fears about being sent home intensified even more. I SOOO didn't want to be embarrassed again. I was so tired of being pregnant but also a little nervous about having her early and shortening my maternity leave. It was too late to worry though, by the time we reached the hospital I was already dilated to a 5 and my amniotic fluid was coming out in gushes whenever I laughed or moved. Labor at that point was fairly pain free and I felt better standing than sitting. My doc said that I should get the epidual fairly quickly to avoid it being too late as this baby would probably come quickly.
My epidural was flawless... I was in absolute heavan and spent the next couple hours talking with my nurse and Dwain. At some point the nurse checked me and found that I was dilated to a 6 for several hours and the doc decided it was time to start some pitocin to get things moving. Once the pit was up, I dilated VERY quickly. Don and chelsie came to visit around 11pm and I was already starting to feel pressure from baby's head... the next time she checked me Ruby began to show she was VERY unhappy with her head being squished and I ended up with oxygen and stuck on my right side for the remainder of labor. It went VERY quickly from this point. Another half hour and we were waiting for the doctor. The nurse had me push once just to see how the decent of the head progressed... "is the doctor in the hospital right now??" was all I heard.
Once he got there.. I pushed once and her head was out... I had to stop because she put her hand out too!! Two more quick pushes and she was born. It was hard to get her to cry at first... she just wanted to snuggle up and sleep. She nursed right away though once we got to our postpartum room. I had to stay an extra day because I got an infection that gave me a 102 fever. It was horrible... I was cold and achy and just felt like I had been run over. 24 hours of antibiotics and I was fine though... even if a bit tired from the constant nurse traffic in my room. Ruby got jaundice and lost a bit of weight... she was 6lbs 14oz when we left the hospital. They wanted to keep her another day but I said NONONONONO!! We settled with a visit to the doc within two days for a weight check. I was so happy to be going home... at least my wild bunch sleeps at night LOL.

anyway... here she is
Ruby Layne
1/4/08 12:36 a.m.
7lbs 11oz
21 inches long