Baby Ryan decided to make an earlier appearance. I was scheduled for an induction, but we didn’t make it to that day (3 days before).
It started around 1:00 AM on a Friday that I woke up to early labor “signs” and by 6:00 AM after waiting out the contractions for hours to see how real they felt, I contacted my doctor. In the meantime I packed my hospital bag, cleaned my house, showered, and just kept moving through the contractions. My doctor advised me around 6:30 AM to go to the hospital and on our way we went. Arriving to the hospital I was nervous as I wasn’t sure it was the “real thing” or false labor (worried they were going to send me back home) as my prior two births were inductions and I’ve never been through the natural start of labor. After what felt like a million questions and paperwork at the hospital, they checked me and I was shocked to hear I was already 5 CM dilated. I was admitted to the hospital and preparing for Ryan’s arrival. I’ll spare the details of labor (and pain), but Ryan arrived at 12:53 PM same day, after pushing for 8 minutes. My epidural kicked in after the birth (1st time even having an epidural), but it was nice to not feel anything for a few hours afterwards. When Ryan arrived it was a huge sigh of relief. He’s finally here. We finally made it to the moment we’ve been waiting for since we started. There were a lot of tears and a fluster of emotions. Melissa was holding her little boy and I just got to watch them meet for the first time. I got to hold him and stare in awe. The hospital allowed us rooms next to each other to continue our bond into recovery, and that time was so nice as we got to visit with everyone and hold Ryan more. From Friday to Saturday felt like a whirlwind and went by so quickly, I was released home within 24 hours. Being part of this journey has been nothing but special. As coworkers, best friends, to carrying her baby, this journey has been so beautiful. Our boys will be friends, we get to see Ryan grow up, and Melissa will be part of our lives forever. The love we all share for each other is so intertwined and our story will forever be so special.
