Ralph Robert

I want to write about Ralph's birth story, before I forget the details of the day. Mind you, here I sit, so sleep deprived almost three weeks later, yet desperate enough to just get something written down. Please disregard the poor writing and grammar. I also apologize for the insane amount of pictures and videos, obviously we are new, overly excited parents here :)

Throughout my pregnancy I was convinced I would have this baby early. All of my sisters went early with their kids, and I even had dreams about him coming early (which is unusual for me). Lo and behold- I find my due date has come and gone with no baby. On October 15th, I show up to my OB appointment two days overdue. This is the appointment I had made weeks prior to having Ralph, knowing I wouldn't be there.

The weeks leading up to having him were beyond hard for me. I'm so impatient and was sick of being out of control of the situation. Every night I'd go to bed just hoping contractions would start and every morning I would wake up disappointed. It was hard for me. Dustin was the most patient and kind husband, yet there was nothing he could do either. I was feeling desperate.

As I was saying, I go to my OB appointment two days overdue, and tell my doctor how I feel, how bad my anxiety was getting, and how I was done being pregnant. He took my blood pressure and it turns out it was high. Thanks to the high BP, he called the hospital and sent us in! (It sounds so silly in retrospect, but it was an answer to prayers. I wasn't sure I could make it another day at that point. It was a Thursday and my induction was on Sunday, the days between the two may as well have been a second pregnancy for me at that point. I was at my wits end.)

Dustin and I rushed home to pack a few last minute items, Dustin even managed to shower and cut his nails before we went in (classic Dusty, zero anxiety whatsoever). We headed into Utah Valley around 10 am. Walking in with those hospital bags was pretty surreal, it felt like I was dreaming.

We checked in, and the nurses got me hooked up to the monitors. As soon as they had, we realized I was already in active labor, though we started the pit drip to keep it going. I felt great. I wasn't progressing very fast, so around 1:30 PM the doc came in and broke my water. That got things going really fast. Within 30 minutes I was begging for my epidural was so relieved when it was finally working. I was feeling good once again.

By 6 PM I was dilated to a 10, an the nurse had me "rest and descend" while Ralph slowly lowered. This whole time I was in active labor I felt totally ready and calm, Dustin and I were just hanging out, passing the time, and watching 30 Rock progressing. As soon as they told me I would be pushing in an hour I started to get a little nervous. Not so much for the pain, but for the fact in just a little while our lives would be changing for good, I would be meeting this baby, which made me really nervous. The baby that would be with me for the rest of my life.

After an hour, we started pushing, the nurse and Dustin were the only ones there. It wasn't as hard as I would have thought it would be. I felt good, I could move my feet and feel pressure but no pain. It was a really good experience and I feel so lucky. After 55 minutes and the doctor coming in to deliver, Ralph was born at exactly 8:00 PM weighing in at 8lbs 8.8 oz and 20 inches long.

Dustin cut the cord and the doctor flopped him on me right away. I helped clean him off but couldn't really see him because of the angles we were at. Ralph wasn't crying right away so they had me do skin-to-skin almost immediately to help him out. It was so strange having this baby on me that I couldn't even see because he was too close to my face. I kept asking Dustin to take a picture of him on me so I could see what he looked like. Finally after the nurses were less concerned, I held him away from me and got my first look at him. It was so surprising, when I was pregnant with him I hadn't really thought about what he would look like. I figured he would be this generic average sized baby. But when I saw his fat face and fat body I couldn't believe it. I had this HUGE baby after the doctors told me my baby would be in the mid 7s.  I had measured normally the whole pregnancy and somehow I had a very large baby.

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That first night with Ralph was so special, like most new parents neither Dustin or I could sleep. I couldn't part with Ralph and send him to the nursery that night either. I even found myself crying over the fact the whole experience was all over, and how I wish I could re-live it again. He was worth being pregnant for, which was saying a lot! Half of the night Ralph slept in his little hospital bed, the other half he slept on my chest. I couldn't believe how much I loved that baby after not feeling connected to him at all pregnant. Every squeak he made Dustin had to go check on him because it sounded too cute to ignore. We loved him as soon as he came, with all of our hearts.

                   

The day after my parents (and Jayne) and Dustin's parents came to meet him, along with Courtney and Wyatt. We spent one more night in the hospital, then took our Ralphie home that next day. He wasn't named until the hour before we took him home- we finally felt good about naming him after his great-great grandfather and grandfather: Ralph Lance Peter Robert. He's got some big shoes to fill being named after two great men, both of which are on the paternal side. He's a 4 name man ;)

We left the hospital exhausted and relieved to be taking him home. Everything felt perfect, and right. He's such a sweet and nice baby. Ralph, we love you!