1 month

Wow baby boy Robert, I cannot believe that you have been with us for 1 whole month. You are already changing so much. You make the BEST faces. You now open both eyes instead of doing your "Popeye" impression all the time (you have the most beautiful blue eyes). You have NOT figured out the eating and sleeping thing yet--you are pretty much all over the map--but you generally still do well during the nights (usually we get a 3.5-4 hour stretch). You can sometimes be quite a fussypants, and we're not really sure why. We're having trouble figuring out formula for you as you're having a few *ahem* digestive issues, but otherwise you are a very healthy boy. At your 1-month well baby visit we discovered that you are in the 95% for height and the 75% for weight. Daddy is so proud of his "big little boy"! Sometimes we catch one of your spontaneous smiles---best thing ever. I cannot even imagine what it will be like when you actually smile AT me for the first time. I hope you've enjoyed your first month out here in the world, and if not, please cut Mommy and Daddy some slack because we're having to figure all this out as we go. One thing we know though: WE LOVE YOU!!!

The birth of our baby boy...

November 7, 2011. That was the day set for our little baby to come into the world. My due date was 11/13/11, and we had no intention of inducing early, but at my doctor's appointment on 11/4/11 it was discovered that my blood pressure had suddenly spiked and I was spilling protein in my urine; not good signs. After being ordered for blood work and monitoring of the baby, the decision was made to induce. I was SO upset and scared--I didn't want to induce and was worried that it would make labor worse or cause us to need more interventions. I just wanted things to go naturally and work the way they were supposed to work. Labor never started before the induction day though (and we tried everything), so we checked into our hospital at 4am.

The original plan was to start me on something called Cytotech (or something like that) to see if it would get labor started, but when they checked me I was already 4cm dilated and having contractions. We decided to skip the Cytotech and just went ahead and broke my water and started the Pitocin drip. My parents and in-laws showed up soon after this, and we all hung out as labor progressed. Around 9am or so the contractions were really intense--lasting over a minute and coming really close together. I went ahead and ordered my epidural, which wasn't scary at all. It took a long time for it to completely kick in as I seemed to have a "dead zone" around my left hip that just wouldn't numb. Once that was taken care of though it was just sweet relief and I got to enjoy the rest of the morning and early afternoon hanging out with the family. They checked me every two hours and I pretty consistently dilated a cm an hour. Around 3pm we got the go ahead to start pushing and everyone but Trey left the room in anticipation of shortly meeting our little one. Labor had progressed so smoothly that we were all in high spirits and just couldn't wait.

And this is when everything went downhill. I started pushing and was told that I was a good pusher, which was a huge relief for me because I had this weird fear that I would be a bad pusher and would be all embarrassed and stuff. They were telling me I was doing well though, so push I did. We tried a few different techniques and I really tried to put my all into every push--I wanted this baby out quickly. My left hip started hurting again (BAD) so they called anesthesiology, but they didn't show up. We kept pushing and pushing, with the pain getting worse and worse, but the baby wasn't moving down. I asked for anesthesia again because my hips and pelvis were screaming in pain, made worse with every push. I'd been working with a doctor (intern), but then my doctor came in too. We'd been pushing for an hour and a half but things weren't progressing; they told me they thought the baby's head was stuck on my pelvis and if they could get him loose, he should come right out. They tried the vacuum and had me push as hard as I could, four times per a contraction. They got the head loose and assured me that things should really move along now, but after more hard pushing (and unbelievable pain) nothing was happening. The head was right there, but I couldn't get it out, and that turned out to be because the baby had a shoulder dystocia---even though we'd gotten the head past the pelvis, one of the shoulders got stuck too. Anesthesiology never showed back up and I was FEELING IT ALL, but you could tell the atmosphere had suddenly become much more serious. Although the baby's heart rate seemed to be ok, my doctor said we had to get this baby out. We finally got the head out, but since the baby was so stuck both the doctor's were pulling and twisting, trying to corkscrew the baby out. I could literally see them leaning their weight backwards as I pushed, trying to get this little one out. I'd been pushing for just over 2 hours and was exhausted, but I knew we had to get this done. In the end, I was pushing for all I was worth with two doctor's pulling on the baby and nurses standing above me & shoving their fists as hard as they could into my pelvis to try to push him out. Finally, finally, our baby boy slipped into the world.

Things still weren't ok though. He came out completely blue. They quickly cut the cord & ran him to the other side of the room, to the incubator. Definitely not the "Congratulations, it's a boy!" and laying him on my chest that we'd pictured. He wasn't crying, he was having trouble breathing, and suddenly the NICU team was bursting into the room. I couldn't see anything over the two doctor's who were standing in front of me, though my doctor was constantly asking for updates & telling me what the responses meant. He assured me that the baby was going to be ok, he was just stunned from the last part of the delivery. Trey was sitting next to me, trembling and trying to see around everyone, and one of the NICU nurses was keeping him updated too. All I knew was that my doctor was saying "He's going to be ok", and so in shock I would just nod my head and say "Ok" back. After what seemed like a million minutes a tiny little cry could faintly be heard. He started pinking up and breathing a little better. They brought him over to me just long enough to kiss him and then they took him off to be hooked up to monitors. Meanwhile, my doctor worked on putting me back together and stopping all the bleeding. I felt...numb. The delivery had been so hard after such an easy labor, and I didn't know if my son was truly ok and when I'd get to see him again. But he was here and that was all that mattered.

Robert E. Ryals IV was born at 5:13pm on 11/7/11. He was 9lbs 0.8oz and 22 inches long. Because of the traumatic delivery he looked like he'd been beaten up, with bruises on his face, head, neck, and arms. Because of the shoulder dystocia he also suffered a broken right clavicle. After 4 or 5 hours on the monitors they let us see him for 30 minutes, then took him back again. It wasn't until early the next morning that we got to keep our little one. It was the wildest ride of our lives but we had the most awesome prize in the world to show for it.

We are so thankful that our little boy ended up being pronounced healthy in every way. The bruises have faded and Mom is pretty well healed up too, so now we're working on figuring out life together. Welcome to the world little Robert, we love you!

Our brand new baby boy

Robert E. Ryals Jr, the III, and now the IV

Going home!

Maternity Photoshoot

Tomorrow makes 37 weeks. 37 weeks pregnant. Wow, time has flown! The due date is still three weeks off, but our sweet little "Ace" could come at any time now and still be considered full-term. Yay, baby! Still, every week that baby stays inside gives it that much better odds for being totally healthy, so we are content to keep him/her where he/she is for now. At least until November...

So since we are quickly approaching the end of this pregnancy journey, we finally decided to get out and do some pregnancy photos today. The wonderful and awesome Ryals Photography agreed to do them, and we had a great time in the park enjoying some gorgeous weather. Below are the first round of pictures that made the cut.

Baby Shower #1 - Family & Friends

(Since we don't know if it's a girl or a boy, "Duckies" was the theme.)

So last Saturday (September 10th), my mother-in-law and sister-in-law threw me the most amazing baby shower ever. Now, I'll admit that it's been years (and years and years) since I've been to a baby shower, but I truly could not imagine a more wonderful one. I was blessed to be able to have my Mom & Dad travel in from South Carolina for the event, and there were many other family and friends who also showed up to make our day special. Having so many share in our joy & excitement is just...beyond words. We were so thankful for each and every person who came or sent something, and their generosity to us knew no bounds. This is definitely going to be one blessed baby!

Here's all the grandparents (plus an aunt) with an amazing gift---the grandparents went in together to get us this incredible glider. I can already picture using it for all of our kids & having it as a family tradition. Love, love, love it!

3rd Trimester!

Even though this technically happened last week, we made it---we entered the 3rd and final trimester! I cannot even describe how crazy that sounds. It seems like I always hear people talking about how long pregnancy drags on, and while I have no doubt I will feel that way at the very end, so far it has been flying by.

I've found that other than the extended sickness that took place during the entire 1st trimester and first 1/2 of the 2nd, I have been blessed with an easy pregnancy. I probably turn a little whiney sometimes about my aching hips when I try to sleep, but other than that I really have no complaints.

Everything has gone swimmingly well, with Baby Ryals and I always receiving a good report at check-ups. Our one scare was when I failed the 1-hour glucose tolerance test. For this test they have you go in to the lab, drink a super-sugary orange drink, & then test your blood one hour to later to check how your body is handling sugars (apparently pregnancy can mess with your insulin and cause you some blood-sugar issues, known as gestational diabetes). At the one-hour check my body apparently wasn't handling it very well because I failed by 12 points. This meant having to go back to the lab to do a 3-hour version of the test. I was SO nervous about having gestational diabetes. I know that it can often be diet controlled, and if not by diet alone then by insulin, but I just hated the thought that something might increase our chances of problems; I just wanted everything to be ok. Thankfully it was, and even though my second 1-hour check was still too high, at the 2-hr and 3-hr points I was within the normal range. Now, things weren't perfect---I was at the high end of normal, so to be safe the doctor advised me to proceed as if I have mild glucose intolerance. That meant cutting out most sweets and limiting processed carbs. After finding this out I proceeded to research and started refining my diet. I made homemade waffles with wheat flour so that I could eat one with peanut butter for breakfast each morning (one, this provided more complex carbs than processed, and two, eating it with protein helps slow the absorption of the carbs), I also made whole wheat bread to eat for lunch as a sandwich sometimes, cut out the nightly sweets I'd been eating (oh my have a had a baking sweet tooth this pregnancy! brownies and cupcakes and cookies, oh my!), etc.

I've also finally added in some walks, which is something I've been wanting to do but haven't found the motivation for until now. So far things are going well and I'm feeling fine. I'm just praying it's enough to keep baby happy & healthy. Only 11 more weeks and we'll meet this little one. And this next month will be busy---I have a family and friends baby shower being thrown by my awesome mother-in-law and sister-in-law, we'll be taking some birthing classes at the hospital, working on finishing the nursery....*Gulp* So much to do!

Half Way There!

We are very happy to announce that we have made it 1/2 way through the pregnancy! I [Lindsey] cannot lie---these have definitely been some challenging weeks/months---but the morning sickness is finally passing and things are starting to seem more real (oh look, my tummy's growing, there really must be a baby in there!). While I'm just now starting to feel the baby move a little, Trey & I are both anxiously waiting for when our little one can be felt from the outside. I think that then it will REALLY seem more real. We had a treat this past week though in that it was time for the 20 week ultrasound. They call this an "anatomy scan" and it's when they look closely at all the baby's development (organs, bones, etc). We are thrilled to have a clean bill of health, though Baby Ryals was certainly uncooperative. He/she (we opted not to find out the gender) kept turning away, and when they tried to get a good face shot, the little thing just arches its back & threw its head back and away from the ultrasound wand (or whatever they call it). It was actually quite funny, though I would have loved some more pictures too. Ahhh well, such is life with a baby --- it's not all about MY wants anymore. ;-)

1) Look at that sweet little profile, complete with a cute little nose, lips, & chin!

2) Not sure if baby is sucking its thumb or getting ready to rock-out (that's what my sister-in-law thinks), but I like it!

Our Biggest Project EVER...

Ok, I know that it's been FOREVER since I've written anything on here, but I think you'll forgive me when you find out what our newest project is. It is by far the BIGGEST project we have ever taken on, as individuals or as husband & wife: IT'S A BABY!!!! That's right, we will be adding a new member to our family come this November (an estimated date of Nov 13, 2011 to be exact). We really cannot come up with words to express our excitement, terror, happiness, fear....so many emotions run through you in the days, weeks, & months after first finding out the big news. For us it was an especially big shock as we had been trying for awhile and were actually facing the possibility of having to go through medical tests. God has his timing though and even when I thought it was yet another month down with no baby, He was waiting to surprise me. I couldn't even believe my eyes with the positive test (I'd actually taken it to prove to myself I WASN'T pregnant)---I had to hurry up & put my contacts in so that I could look at it again. Talk about a great surprise! We've been having fun since that time thinking & dreaming of our little one. So far the only verification of the little life has been 1) me being constantly sick from 6 weeks pregnant to just this week (15 weeks; that's a total of 9 weeks of being sick pretty much every waking moment; thankfully the anti-sickness meds finally seem to be enough to overcome the hormones that make you feel sick), and 2) the ultrasound/Doppler that let us hear our little one & see his/her preciousness. Don't believe me? Look below:

See? Cutest little thing ever!!! Nothing could ever describe the first view, or watching your little one's arms & legs spazzing out when he/she gets upset by the pressure of the ultrasound wand...Incredible. God is just incredible, this gift is incredible, and the journey we're on is incredible. Stay tuned, I'm sure we'll have many adventures to share over the coming months (and not just about the baby!).

Where Does the Time Go?

I don't know about anybody else's January, but ours seems to be FLYING by! It's been a pretty good start to 2011: We've both got jobs (ones that we actually enjoy), we're editing our diets again and losing some more weight, Jacquimo and the girls are happy and healthy...It's been good. But man it's been fast. I truly hope the rest of the year doesn't go this quickly. We have hopes and dreams for the year, which of course we look forward to realizing, but I don't want to go through everything at a break-neck speed. The older I get the faster time seems to go and the more precious it seems to be. Ironic, huh? Hope all of you are having a wonderful start to year, and here's to more good months!

Happy New Year!!!

We can't believe it but another year has come and gone. Where did 2010 go? It has been quite a year. This year has had its shares of ups and downs, that's for sure. There was a cold but wonderful trip to Destin, Florida, chickens, birthdays galore, a great summer vacation where we visited multiple friends and family, redecorating, a visit to the ER, the world's worst teaching job for me, traveling to see family for Thanksgiving, the Ryals Family Christmas (Trey walked away from the "Mean Santa" game with instant Starbucks coffee; I got a knife and flashlight...), a new and wonderful job for me, and Christmas itself. *Whew* We are so thankful though for God's provision this year and for our health, marriage, friends and family. We cannot wait to see what 2011 holds in store for us, and pray for God's continued guidance and work in our lives. We have a lot of dreams for this coming year, and as quickly as 2010 flew by, they could come true at any moment! We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas season as well, and Happy New Year!