Ryan Scott is finally here. He was born Friday, February 17th at 9:11 am at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany. He weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 21 inches long. John chose Ryan's first name (as I chose Kaitlyn's). Ryan was actually the name John's parents were considering calling him. I chose the middle name this time (John chose Kaitlyn's). I wanted a family name and we both agreed on my father's middle name.
Labor was much easier with Ryan than with Kaitlyn. I started having regular, painful contractions on Thursday night at about 9:30 pm. We (including KK) headed to the hospital at about 11:30 with contractions about every 5 min. Unfortunately I still needed to walk the hospital halls for 2 hours to be sure we were really progressing. KK was tuckered out, so her and John sat and watched me make my passes. By 2:30 am, I had dilated another cm (to 4 cm) and they decided to keep us. My epidural was placed at 4:30 (of course, being both health professionals, we were doomed to having problems with the epidural; the placement went smoothly, but I initially had difficulty achieving good pain control). A little adjustment and my epidural did much better. We finally got KK back to sleep at about 4:45 am. The OB broke my water at 5 am. We figured with the 36 hours it took to have KK, that when they checked me again at 9 am, I would (if lucky) be to 8cm. It would give us enough time to get KK up, dressed and to school before John needed to be back for the delivery. Instead, I started having major pain (transition) and they checked me a little early - at about 8:45... I was dilated to 10 cm and the baby was at +2 station... it was time to push. We scrambled to get KK picked up (luckily we had already contacted Nicki, our neighbor and she headed our way. Her husband, Mike, works on base and headed down too). They arrived at the same time and snatched KK. She was a little in a daze from the busy night but made it to school okay. Ryan was born just minutes later at 9:11 am after pushing through 3 contractions. The most memorable part for John, I'm sure, is that he got to deliver him. The OB was, of course, there ready to step in, but allowed John to guide out Ryan's head and shoulders and place him on my stomach. Just as I remembered with KK, it was an amazing, I can't believe he's mine, love at first sight moment.
KK sleeping at the hospital
He's here....
John cutting the cord...
First check up...
John holding Ryan for the first time...
John picked up KK from school that afternoon and brought her over to see Ryan. She was sooo excited and sweet with him. She wanted to hold him and uncover him to check out every inch.
Mommy and Ryan...
Getting ready to head home on Saturday afternoon. We finally got the okay to go at about 1pm. I was anxious as although the nurses and doctors were amazing, the Mother/Baby unit only had a community bathroom (yes, that's right, its a military hospital.... all of the new moms had to walk down the hall to use the bathroom or take a shower). I was ready to be home in my own bed with my own bathroom etc..
KK holding her little brother for the first time...
Nicki came by to visit us at the hospital Friday afternoon and she brought these beautiful flowers (and some champagne). It was great to have a visitor and show off our new little man. She also kept KK for us Friday night - it was so nice having John at the hospital with me and not having to take care of Kaitlyn too.
