One Year Ago Today...

I wrote this just a few short days after I gave birth to Riley. I wanted to make sure I would always be able to remember all of the details leading up to her arrival and to also be able to share this story with her one day.



Riley Joy’s Birth Story:
I started to go into labor at 8:11am on Monday, 5-19-08 on my drive to work. I felt something like a cramp, but just blew it off. Then I noticed I got another and another, all with in a few minutes of each other. I started to watch the clock as I finished my drive and just made mental notes of when each contraction started. At this point I really didn't think I was in labor because I didn't know what to expect. I arrived at work, clocked in and got settled in for my Monday work day. I decided that it might be smart to write down all the times that I had felt the contractions and as they continued throughout the day I kept track of each and every one. I had placed a call to my ob that morning before the contractions started, regarding some other issues I was having. By the time they called me back around 1:00 pm, I decided to tell them what I had been experiencing all day. The nurse told me I was most likely in labor and that I should not eat or drink and just come straight into the hospital. She said she would fax all my information over and they would be expecting me shortly. Well, that made me extremely nervous to think that I was actually in labor and I wasn't ready to go to the hospital just yet. I remembered what my birthing class had taught me and they said the more work (laboring) you do at home, (or at work in my case) the less time you're stuck sitting in the hospital. The contractions were a little painful but nothing I couldn't handle. I decided to keep working until I really felt ready to go to the hospital. I finally decided it was time for me to leave work around 4:45 pm and my little brother, Kyle (who was also working that day), followed me to my parents house to make sure I made it there safely. My parents live less than 5 minutes from the hospital where I was delivering so I decided to go there and wait for Nick to meet up with us. He had to go back to our apartment in Boynton Beach, grab what we had already packed for the hospital and add a few of the last minute items I had asked for. I relaxed at my parents house until Nick arrived and my Dad decided I should get one last meal in me regardless of what the nurse had told me earlier-plus I was pretty hungry around this time anyways! He picked up Boston Market for the whole family and we ate our last meal before going to the hospital-yummy! Through dinner, my contractions were getting much stronger and they were around 2 minutes apart. At this point we decided it was time and we should go to the hospital and get checked in.


This picture was taken at Mom and Dad's house just as we were leaving for the hospital.

At 7:30 pm we left my parents house and arrived at the hospital. We went to registration to check in (where I had already pre-registered) and for some reason they couldn't find any of my information!? What a pain! Here, I am having pretty strong contractions, I had already pre-registered myself so I wouldn't have to sit here in pain and they lost all my information-UGH!!! So, there we sat while I had to re-register myself and finally they came around with a wheelchair to bring me up to labor and delivery. Nick, my Mom and I got settled into the delivery room where the nurse, Susan, gave me my new hospital attire and got me all set up. She did her first internal check with me to see where I was at and she said I was between 3-4 cm dilated. She said she would check back in a little while so the 3 of us tried to get comfy for a bit and watched some TV. Around 9:00 pm I was getting very uncomfortable and when nurse Susan came back to check on me she said she would be more than happy to get my epidural going. YAY-I was thrilled! The anesthesiologist came in and hooked me up with the epidural. Once that started all the pain of my contractions faded away within minutes. AHHH-I was feeling very comfortable by 9:30 pm. They also decided to start the pitocin now that I had my epidural going. Around 10:30 pm they broke my water. At this point nurse Susan told my Mom that I would probably be there for a little while so my Mom decided to run home and take a nap until we had some new updates and Nick would call her. Nick and I also decided we should try to relax and get some sleep. Nick slept a bit and I faded in and out while watching TV. Nurse Susan came back in, every once in a while to check up on me. Around 12:30am she checked me and told us I was 7-8 cm dilated and that Mom should make her way back up here because the baby should be here around 2:00am. By 1:00am Mom came back to the hospital and at this time Dr. Jennifer Harper arrived ready to deliver our little girl. I started to push at 1:20am and by 1:36am on Tuesday, 5-20-08, Riley Joy Rutherford made her arrival into the world. She came out with the cord wrapped around her neck and her hand was up by her face wrapped in the cord as well. They had to cut the cord before she was completely delivered and once she was out they had to give her oxygen and work on her a bit to get her to cry. Once she cried I felt like I could breathe again and I couldn't wait to get my hands on her. Nick cut the cord and they cleaned her up. They put her on the scale and she weighed in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 inches in length. They bundled her up in blankets and let Nick and I hold her for a few minutes before they brought her to NICU for observation. She looked just like her daddy when she was born! Nick and I were just speechless and couldn't believe that we had made her out of our love for each other. Our new family had been born that day and it was the most amazing, wonderful and beautiful day of our lives!!!






There was no such thing as a dream come true
Oh, but that was all the day before you
Now you're here
and every thing's changing
Suddenly life means so much
I can't wait
to wake up tomorrow
And find out this promise is true
I will never have to go back to
The day before you!



"The Day Before You" by Rascal Flatts