Rylee is Finally Here!
For those of you who wanted to hear the "marathon"...

I am still in the hospital. Rylee is sleeping next to me. My milk came in fast, and she is already a pro. She has almost gained back her birth weight. I am very thankful that breast feeding is easy this time! Girls are quicker learners than boys, I guess! =-)

As far as labor goes, it was a very long two days. Contractions started off and on the beginning of the week, but started coming regularly on Wednesday. By Wed. afternoon, I knew it was time to GO! They were about 6-7 minutes apart, but the hospital asked that I come in when they were 10 minutes apart, since this was my second birth. Unfortunately, the contractions stayed regular at this pace for SEVERAL hours.

Things progressed slowly from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday night. They started using pitocyn (?) Thursday morning. I DO NOT like that stuff at all! I was in pain, but I was also hurting for little Kadin who was having to be dragged around and have different people to watch him. I cried ALOT for my little boy! When Rylee finally was born on Friday afternoon, Kadin was with his THIRD baby sitter for the day! He had reached his limit! And, when he finally got to see me that night at the hospital, he was soooooo excited. The stress he was experiencing from all the change began to manifest in many ways. But, I have been able to spend some special time with him every day at the hospital -- reading him his favorite book, getting him to "help" me change Rylee's diapers, etc -- and he seems to almost be back to normal. He seems to be adjusting well to having a little sister. Hopefully, we wont' have too many challenges with this transition at home. I wonder if he realizes that she is coming home with me????


On Friday at around noon, I FINALLY dilated up to 5 cm. It was a hard road up until then! I don't know why my body has problems dilating up to 5 cm -- it was the same with Kadin. But, when I finally dilated to 5 cm, they gave me an epidural. This time, it worked! The medication they use here only cuts about 30-50 percent of the pain, but it was enough to take the edge off so that I could relax a bit. As soon as I relaxed, I started dilating much more quickly. My water broke shortly after that. Once my water broke, Rylee was born in 15 minutes. The doctor didn't even make it to the delivery room! Sean had to leave to call the baby sitter, and he almost didn't make it either! It was just me and the midwife! Thankfully, she "caught" Rylee! Sean arrived right before Rylee's head started appearing.
I was hoping for an easy delivery since I had such a hard time with Kadin. All my pregnant Japanese friends here who were due at the same time popped their babies out in a couple of hours. One of them BARELY made it to the hospital! But, I am just thankful that Rylee arrived safely. And, I am thankful for having six days to recover before going home to tackle being a mommy of two! Thankfully, MY Mommy arrives on Saturday!
I sure felt the prayers of all our family and friends who were standing in the gap for us. I praise God for such a great experience with the birth and at the hospital. God has given us favor with all the nurses and doctors and other new mommies. I have made many new friends! I have only experienced having babies in Japan, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but both experiences were GREAT for me. I would definitely have another in Japan... just not anytime soon! =-)

To see Rylee's slide show, click here!