An Amazing Surprise!

October 27, 2006 I felt different.  I can't exactly explain it.  All week I had been extremely tired.  I had been having mood swings for about a week.  I wasn't late, I wasn't nauseous, but I got the thought in my head...What if I'm pregnant?  So on my way home from work I stopped at Walmart and bought a pregnancy test just to prove I wasn't.  I bought the 3 pack just in case I needed more for a later date.  I couldn't get home fast enough.  Ryan was already home, but I didn't know what to say to him, so I just said I needed to go to the bathroom.  I was literally shaking as I watched two pink lines show up almost instantly.  I had to hold onto the counter for support.  I waited the two minutes as instructed, but those two lines were still there.  I was speechless, scared, happy, nervous, but mostly, I was excited!

We had been married less than 2 months when I took that positive pregnancy test.  We had decided to wait until we had been married a year before talking about when to our first baby.  I will never say that Riley was a mistake, or even that he wasn't planned.  He was planned!  God's timing is sometimes different than our timing.  Riley has brought so much joy to my life, and I cannot imagine my life without him!!

The entire pregnancy was pretty good, with only mild morning sickness.  With the exception of being my first pregnancy, it was pretty uneventful as far as pregnancies go, which I think is a good thing!  We were thrilled to find out we were having a boy, though we would have been just as excited if we were having a girl.  We did the 4D sonogram, which I think was an amazing experience. 

I started having terrible back pains in the last few weeks, which I later realized were actually contractions.  On the morning of June 26, 2007, we drove to the hospital for the last time as a family of 2.  I was already dilated to 2.5 cm when they started the pitocin drip and the IV.  The contractions weren't too bad at first, but as they do, gradually increased to the point I wanted the epidural.  Unfortunately, Riley was facing my front (instead of my back) which was causing horrible back labor.  But then, labor stopped progressing completely.  I had only dilated another 1.5-2 cm in a 10 hour period.  The doctor told me at about 5:45pm that Riley's head was getting stuck in my pelvis.  He said if I really wanted, I could try to move around some more to get Riley to move, but that he recommended a c-section.  I was tired, and I was ready to meet my new baby boy!  So I agreed to the c/s.  Then everything happened way too fast!  I got extremely nervous as I was wheeled into the OR.  It wasn't because I was about to have major surgery.  It was because the moment we had been waiting 9 months for was finally here!  I was about to meet my son! 

At 6:15 pm, Robert Riley was born!!  He was 21 1/2" long, and 8 lb 2 oz!  They let me "hold" him for only a moment before taking him back to our room.  They then closed me up, took me back to our room, and I finally got to hold my baby boy!  The entire day was very surreal, especially those first moments holding him!

Now he is almost 3 years old.  Wow!  How did that happen?  I look at him everyday and wonder How did he get so big?  Where's my baby boy?!  There is nothing better than being his mommy!  Well, maybe there is.  I think the only thing better is seeing Riley with his baby brother!