Riley was born on 1/18 at 344 AM. We were suppose to be scheduled for a c-section on 1/19 but Riley had plans of her own. My contractions started around 9p on that Saturday night and by 1130p, I told Scott it was time to head to the hospital! Jen and Kevin came over to watch Ella Kate since she was sound asleep in her bed. And off we went to the hospital, Ms Angela met us there and Jen called the rest of the family to give them updates. We arrived around 1245A and they hooked me up to the monitors and by this time the contractions were stronger and coming about every two minutes. My doctor was out of town and would not be back till Sunday afternoon, they tried to call her to see what she wanted to do but they could not get her so they went to the doctor on call. She wanted to go ahead and do a c-section as soon as possible since I was having contractions so close together and they did not want my incision from my section with Ella Kate to rupture. So about 245a, the nurses came in and said we are moving to the Operating Room in about 20 minutes.
Dr Holden Parker would be delivering the baby and I was happy about this because I knew her and knew she was a great doctor. I was still very sad that my doctor, Dr Sherman, would not be there, but I knew I was in good hands. It took the doctor a while to get to the hospital and they actually called her from the operating room becuase Riley's heart rate dropped a few times, this scared me to death but they said it was ok because after a minute or so, it would go back up. The doctor arrived and finally Scott and Ms Angela were able to come into the room and we were able to get started. Riley was born at 344am weighing 6 lbs 12.6 oz 19.5 in in legnth. Scott filmed it all and as soon as she was born, I had not gotten to see her yet so I asked how her little lip looked. Scott told me it was not bad at all and the next thing I know, his head is on the table next to me. We all think he is having an emotional moment or something, but the next thing we know is the video camera has dropped and Scott has passed out! This scared me and Scott's Mom to death. They gave him some oxygen and he was ok, think it was probably the three tyelnol PM's he took right before I told him I was in labor and it was time to go! Poor thing, it was scary seeing this big man go down like that!
The nurse came in and said we had some family that had just arrived and was waiting to see us. I was so happy katie and Mom made it, Jen had to stay with Ella Kate because Ek was not letting her out of her sight! Everyone got to see the baby and then I had to go to recovery and they all followed Riley to the nursery to see her get her first bath. Ms. Angela went home to take care if Ella Kate, so Jennifer finally got to come to the hospital! Thank goodness for her and Kevin, not sure what we would have done without them that night!
Her lip is not bad at all and thank goodness her palate and gums are all perfectly normal, so our prayers were answered. We have our first appt with Dr Moses and the cleft team on 2/4 so we will have a better timeline for her surgery after that appt.
We had tons of family and friends visit us in the hospital. Dad and Deb got to Baton Rouge early Sunday. And Scott's Dad and Lesley and Brandon and the kids came by. Alycee and Erin came to see us the first day and my friend Lindsey from work came the next day, and then Jen brought Allison over for lunch one day- everyone was so excited to see our new addition. My favorite thing was seeing Ella Kate with her new baby sister. She just loves her, and wanted to kiss her and hold her. Ella Kate was also so happy to see her Mommy and brought me some flowers and some gold fish crackers, my little sweetie!
We were able to go home on that Wednesday and have been dong well. Riley is doing so well with breastfeeding and I was so worried she would not be able to do it. But she is a nursing champ and all she wants to do is EAT! This is keeping me pretty busy and pretty tired, but I cannot complain! Ella Kate has adjusted so well to Riley and I love seeing them together, Ella Kate loves giving her kisses! Mom stayed with us our first few days and then Ms Angela came over to help out. And then Deb came in this week and has been a huge help, keeping us very well fed! And Ella Kate loved getting to spend more time with her Me Me Deb! And Deb and I took Riley to her first peditrician appt and she did so well! She actually gained weight, so the doctor was very impressed with how well she was eating!
So we are just trying to get adjusted to having an almost two year old and a newborn, definlety keeping us pretty crazy and VERY TIRED! But also the most wonderful feeling in the world seeing our two girls together and knowing what memories and stories the future will hold for us. I love that Ella Kate has a sister and will get to have that special bond that I share with my sisters, there is nothing else like it in the world!
I also wanted to thank all of our family and friends for all of the help, flowers, and sweet gifts. You all are so wonderful to us and we feel very fortunate to have you all in our lives.
Here are some pics-
