Happy Birthday, Sweets!

Boy did life get harder - exponentially harder - after Ryann was born:) Thats not to say that SHE was so difficult, but the transition from one child to two children was difficult. And she was an angry baby - she didn't cry, she screamed because she was mad at someone. She did this from about two or three months. She was just angry about something - she wanted to sleep when she wasn't supposed to, or she didn't want to sleep when she was supposed to be sleeping. She did this until she was 13 months old. Nora adored our friends, the Fulmers. Ryann, on the other hand, would scream if she caught sight of them. If we dropped the girls off for them to babysit, she would scream from the time she was out of our arms, until we came home. One time I was bringing the boys somewhere and she was in a great mood (she was probably 9 months old). As soon as David got in the car and said "Hi" she started screaming. Doug has said many times - and he's totally accurate - that when Georgia cries it looks like (by the look on her face) someone is killing her puppy in front of her; when Ryann cried at that age, it looked like she wanted to kill your puppy in front of you. Very, very true. Somehow we survived;)

She was also quite a mama's girl and wouldn't let Cornbread care for her until she was about 5 months old and finally got it through her head that he wasn't leaving:) That made the first several months terribly difficult. Factor in the new nursing experience (didn't nurse Nora), the mama's girl thing, and a slight case of the baby blues... I was a miserable person to be around. But things got better:)

She had a stubborn streak very early on that continues to this day. She is stubborn - oh so stubborn, but she is adorable and sweet and loving and a joy. Happy Birthday to our Cutie Doughnut (by the way, you can NEVER change your cutiness).


Again, if you don't like birth stories, please stop reading here and go straight to the pictures.

At 34 1/2 weeks - the same point that Nora was born - I went to my regular doctor's appointment. He asked me how everything was and if there were any problems. I had been having a fairly uneventful pregnancy in the previous few months (I had spotted early on), but over the weekend I had been feeling crampy. I told the doctor and he wanted to do an exam just to make sure everything was okay. He checked - I was dilated to 2cm and 20% effaced already. He said it felt like my cervix was in labor and sent me immediately to the hospital.

I called Cornbread and told him what was going on. I didn't think anything would happen, but didn't know what to expect. The nurses hooked me up to the monitors and I was having contractions every 2 minutes but I didn't feel them. They gave me a shot of Magnesium to stop the contractions. It made me feel awful - queasy, sweaty & my legs hurt. I was stuck there. I stayed for 2 days & left on Thursday. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I was sent home on bedrest until I hit 36 weeks. I don't think the doctor expected me to make it even that long.

I managed the bedrest - barely and unhappily - for 3 days before I just gave up. I couldn't stand not being able to do anything - I couldn't drive, do laundry,vacuum, pick up or carry Nora. Nothing. I hit 36 weeks and he lifted the bedrest. I was now dilated to 3. And he had told me that my bag of waters was bulging... I did everything that week to induce labor and try to get my water to break - spicy food, walks, shopping, planting flowers, painting the ceiling & walls in the family room. No such luck.

I went in on Monday, May 17th for my 37 week appointment. I was having some bad contractions in the waiting room ,but as soon as I went to the bathroom they stopped. The nurse took my vitals as usual. Didn't make her usual comment about my blood pressure being good. Instead, she brought me back to the room and told me that the doctor would retake my bp. He came in and took it again. It was high.

I will never forget this: "Do you feel like having a baby today?" he said. Uh, yeah. I didn't think he was serious - Of course I felt like having a baby. I had felt like having a baby for the last 4 months. I had no idea what he was talking about. My bp was too high, so he sent me to the hospital to be induced.

I called Cornbread. He made arrangements for Nora. I got there at 12:30. He got there at 1pm. The doctor came at 2 to break my water. I was having contractions, but they were mild. By 6pm I was still only dilated to 3-4 and the nurse did an exam and noticed that my water had not fully broken. She called the doctor and he came back to break it again at 8pm.

I had no drugs. No epidural. We were watching a White Sox game and I can clearly remember yelling at Jose Valentin as my contractions were getting longer and more painful. I would stop mid-sentence for a contraction and resume right where I had left off when it was done. The nurses were laughing at me in the hallway because I was watching a ballgame in the middle of all of this.

By 9pm I was feeling too much pressure and wanted to push, but was only at 9cm. By 9:10 I told the doctor he didn't have a choice - I was pushing. At 9:19pm Ryann Joy was born.

She was beautiful and sweet and they gave her to me right away (different from Nora who was whisked away immediately). We held her forever. I talked to her and told her all about our family - how fun we are, how much we laugh, about our Guy, how much we love and how much love we had for her. She had no idea what I was talking about, but cuddled in my arms, I think she somehow understood:)

My Cutie Doughnut - Happy Birthday, Baby Sweets! You're our big girl!

One Month:

Two Months: Three Months:

Four Months: Five Months: Six Months:

Seven Months: Eight Months: Nine Months: Ten Months:

Eleven Months:

One Year: Two Years:

Three Years: To come:)