Introducing…

Ryan Winn

So, I had a lot of creative ways I planned on announcing his name.  First, I had drawn this with chalk.  But I also planned to buy a “hello my name is___” sticker and put it on my belly.  :)  Not quite the same effect AFTER birth! 

Ryan was actually named by Tyler.  If you remember the video I posted on here months back interviewing Tyler about being a big brother, one of the questions was “what do you want the baby’s name to be?”  While Josh and I had mentioned the name Ryan before, we had never said it in front of Tyler.  So, when he came out with that name on video, I was really shocked!  We had not decided on that name.  In fact, we were leaning towards Andrew (Drew).  After hearing Tyler say Ryan, it just seemed right.  So, in a neat way, Tyler named his brother!

So, how did it happen?  I should type it out now before I forget!  Wednesday evening while watching American Idol, I noticed Braxton Hicks contractions that weren’t going away.  I found it strange but didn’t really think too much of it.  They weren’t painful.  I figured that sleep would help, so I went to bed around 11pm.  Around 1:30 am, I woke up and still had a hard, tight belly.  I walked out to the living room, checked some email, and mentioned to Josh, who was still awake, that surely it wasn’t anything, but I found it strange that they weren’t going away.  I drank a large glass of ice water and went to lie down on my left side.  I remember sitting there thinking “oh, they are going away, good!”  I went to roll over and POP.

Water broke!

I was really confused.  I kept walking around the house saying, “this can’t be happening so early!”  I was 37 weeks.  Tyler was 4 days late!  We didn’t know who to call to watch Tyler.  By this time it was close to 2am.  Josh’s mother was in NJ, my mother was in Jamestown and  had class to teach plus my dad’s surgery Friday morning, so…..we called Josh’s older brother.  Gideon drove an hour to our house while we cleaned up the house, packed our bags, and I continued to stay in denial.

We walked through the hospital doors at 4am, and my water was still a’breakin.  Josh knew every person working there.  It was hilarious.  I wasn’t in any pain, so I remember everything clearly.  I lied in a hospital bed from around 4:30am to 10:30am waiting for my delivery.  I was only 1 cm dialated, so I wasn’t in active labor AT ALL.  It was so peaceful.

They rolled me into the operating room, and everything all of a sudden hit me.  OMG, I’m about to have a baby.  Everything was so methodical and sterile.  I just sat there looking around at the big equipment, the team, and took it all in.  I got my spinal, laid down, and felt my lower half become completely numb.  I was so out of it with Tyler’s delivery that I didn’t remember any of that.  It was so bizarre.  I couldn’t move anything.  When everything was prepped, they brought Josh in. 

Like with Tyler’s delivery, he watched every second of it over the curtain, and I reminded him he didn’t have to give me a play-by-play :)  Before long, I heard cries of little Ryan!

Our second redhead son came into the world at 11:00 am on the dot.  He weighed 6 lbs and 14 oz.  He was 21 inches long just like Tyler.  When they held  him up for me to see, I immediately said “omg, he looks just like Tyler.”

The next 45 mins-2 hrs is a blur.  I got extremely knocked out by the medicine they put in my IV that I am pretty sure I slept through the second part of my delivery!  I was pretty doped up. 

Ryan nursed right away and did great!  But we haven’t been so lucky since.  He’s really tired, so we are working on it.  We are definitely tired ourselves after being up all Wednesday night, Thursday day, and most of Thursday night since Ryan was not sleeping well.  But we are in love with him, so we are fighting the sleep deprivation! 

My recovery has been so great.  This was a huge fear of mine because I HATED my c-section recovery last time.  But I feel really good and have been up and walking, showering, and getting in and out of bed by myself today! 

So, here are a few pictures for now.  Don’t worry, there WILL be more!