Our Story

Wednesday June 13th was one of the hottest days I have experienced in Santa Rosa. Earlier in the week we learned that our home, as well as many others in Sonoma County, does not have air conditioning. We had the missionaries over for dinner and cooking just added to the heat. Later that night Ammon discovered ants in our living room so Jody and I spent an hour cleaning, vacuuming and spraying. I was on a mission to get rid of the nasty buggers. So much that I think it may have put me in labor. Around eleven I took a cold shower and went to bed. When I woke up at 1:00 to use the restroom I began noticing pretty frequent contractions. I tried to go back to sleep and ignore them but they didn't stop and were coming every 6 to 8 minutes. I started getting nervous because I was told that the baby would probably come very quickly and I still had to drop the boys off at a friends house. But I also wasn't sure if this "was it." So I woke Jody up and told him what was happening. He seriously became one of those hilarious husbands within seconds. He jumped up and nervously got dressed, started getting things together and got the kids in the car. It was funny because I wasn't even sure if I was ready to go to the hospital but he made that decision for me. We dropped the boys off at our friends house at three in the morning. Ammon was super excited because he wanted to play with her dog. Luckily he got in bed and fell asleep quickly.

When we got to the hospital the nurse checked me and I was four centimeters but contractions weren't getting harder or closer together. We walked the hospital for an hour and again nothing changed. Luckily my doctor let me stay and then broke my water in the morning. I got an epidural an hour after she broke my water and then waited to see if I would start contracting more on my own. About noon my contractions started coming more frequently and stronger. Of course I couldn't feel them but I could see them on the monitor. I was afraid that the epidural would wear off like it did with Cohen. Fortunately I was given a button to push if I wanted to up my dosage every twenty minutes. Once I realized that I was getting closer I pushed the button every twenty minutes.

The nurse checked me around 1:30 and I was 7 centimeters. Around 2:30 I was 8 and then I fell asleep for an hour and when she rechecked me at 3:30 she said, "There she is. Her head is right there and I can see her dark hair!" Jody jumped out of bed and sure enough saw her head. Then the nurse asked me to push a tiny bit to see how much it would take for me to push her out. As I started pushing she quickly told me to stop and not to cough or laugh. The doctor showed up about five minutes later and I seriously pushed two times and she was out! It was the easiest and best labor I have ever had.

Remember how nervous I was for the after labor contractions? Well my nurse hooked me up with pain medication every 3 hours and Ibuprofen every 6 and my contractions were much more bearable.

Rylee was born at 3:45, weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. Yes I've had two other children but giving birth is such a miracle. There is nothing like having a baby move and grow in your belly for nine months and then see them in person for the first time. What a blessing it is to have three beautiful, healthy children.