Introducing...Ruby

She's here! And she couldn't be more perfect! She's a week old now and Korey and I just sit around and look at her and fight over who's going to love on her. So far she's sleeping good, eating good and looking good! We can't complain at all.

Her arrival started with a scare the day before she was born. I noticed that morning that I hadn't really been feeling her move around. I tried to take a shower and then lay down but it didn't help. Luckily I was at my parents house so mom called the doctor and we rushed down to Northside. It was a very scary hour or two, but by the time we got to the hospital and got hooked up to monitors I was starting to feel her move, but still not as often as normal. At that point the doctor asked if I wanted to be induced. I immediately said no. That was not what I wanted at all. But after talking with Korey and thinking about it more we decided to go ahead with it so that I didn't spend every minute worrying about her movements and if she was ok. That night we were moved to a delivery room and got ready to welcome Ruby the next day.

On Friday morning I got up and took a shower, did my hair and make-up and mistakenly thought I would still look good after giving birth. I was wrong! The nurse started the pitocin at 7am and immediately the contractions started being about 2 minutes apart. At 830 the doctor broke my water and turned off the pitocin. From that point on the contractions were about 30 seconds apart. Because of the pitocin earlier I had to be hooked up to monitors constantly which was not ideal but the nurses allowed me to sit in the rocking chair and get up to the bathroom as much as I wanted. Being in the bed made the pain with each contractions worse so I stayed out of it as much as possible. For three hours, I had contractions 30 seconds to 1 min apart. By noon, I was 8 cm dilated and feeling like I needed to push. Little Ruby was born at 1:58pm. I won't lie and say it wasn't painful. It was probably the worst pain I've every had, but in the end I'm still so glad that I didn't have an epidural! Its a different kind of pain because you know there will be an end to it eventually and you know that its not the kind of pain that is causing more harm to your body. I liked that I was able to feel everything that was going on with my body. I could feel the baby moving down and I could feel the urge to push and the progress I was making. I also think that not having the epidural helped moved things quickly. I just kept thinking to myself that women all over the world do this every day.

I can't tell about the birth without mentioning how well Korey did. He was amazing!! He's been known to turn white and pass out with minor medical procedures such as taking blood pressure so I wasn't sure how he would do during the delivery. But he came through! He ended up doing more than I ever thought he would do. In between pushing I kept looking at him and asking if he was ok because I just couldnt' believe it. He was helpful during the contractions and pushing and watched the entire delivery and even cut the cord. I also have to mention how appreciative I am that my mom was there to help during the whole thing. I couldn't have done it without Korey and her. And also, best friend Kelly and my sister Rachel. You guys were awesome and little Ruby will thank you one day!

Rachel took all the professional looking pictures and the others are from my cheap camera. But Ruby is beautiful in all of them! She's looking forward to meeting all of you so come visit!