The Moreau Family: Ryan Leigh Moreau

Let me start the night before Ryleigh was born (9-8-11). I received a gift card from a group of parents at the end of the school year for a wonderful restaurant here in Reno. Heather and Timmy came over to babysit Noah and Emma while Ryan and I went out on a date. While at dinner I noticed that my contractions (which I had been having for awhile now) were starting to come very consistently. I started keeping track on my phone the whole time we were at dinner. They were coming every 5-7 minutes.
After we finished eating, we headed home and I called my OBGYN's office. The on-call nurse happened to be my regular nurse. She told me to drink some water and to lay down for a little bit to see if they stop or slow down. If the continued I was supposed to go to the hospital and if not to call in the morning and they would get me in to see my Dr. I also called my mom and asked her to drive up to Reno b/c if my water broke or I went into active labor in the middle of the night, i wanted someone here Noah and Emma would know.
As soon as we got Noah and Emma to bed, I frantically packed a bag and finished a few things in the nursery. My mom arrived around 1am and we all went to sleep. I continued having contractions throughout the night, but nothing too painful. That morning I woke up and had some breakfast and again the contractions kept coming pretty consistently. I called my Dr's office and they told me to come in for some fetal monitoring. Ryan and I headed to the Dr's and I was placed on a monitor. My contractions were coming every 5-7 minutes but I was only dilated to a 1 so I wasn't progressing enough to admit me. My Dr was on call that night so she told me to go walk around for a few hours and come back to the hospital to get monitored again.
Ryan and I went and got a quick bite to eat and then picked up some groceries. I wanted to make sure the house was stocked up in case I did have Ryleigh that day. Good thing we did too! We came home, unloaded the car, said goodbye to Noah and Emma and loaded up our bags. We then headed to the mall where we walked in circles for over an hour. My contractions were coming quicker and were much stronger at this point, so we headed to the hospital to get checked.
We checked into the hospital and got hooked up to the monitors and a nurse also checked my to see how dilated I was. I was still only a 1! I was so upset. I thought for sure they were going to send me home. My contractions were still coming and some were even painful at times. Finally the nurse came back in and told us we were going to have the baby tonight at 8:00 pm! Ryan called his parents to tell them to head up to Reno and I called my mom to let her know we wouldn't be returning home.
I was then prepped for surgery by my nurse and then we just were waiting on the Dr who would be assisting Dr Perry. After a few minutes we were then told that there was an emergency c-section and that mine was getting pushed back. A nurse blacked out and fell to the ground and another one of my Dr's patients was getting ready to push. We were told that they would get us in when they could. Then all of a sudden a nurse came in and announced it was time. The emergency c-section was no longer needed so it was my turn!
I walked to the operating room with Ryan, said our goodbye's (he wasn't allowed in until I was completely prepped), and then I hopped on the table. The anesthesiologist whom I met earlier, was there and started explaining everything to me. After 6 (yes 6) attempts and a lot of tears, he finally got my spinal block in. It was go time. The nurses finished prepping me, Ryan was let back in and then Dr Perry and Dr Paul started. Things were so different this time. There weren't 2 different teams of doctors and nursed waiting for the baby and I wasn't nearly as nervous. Things were much calmer and much quieter.
At 8:55 pm, Ryan Leigh Moreau made her grand entrance to this world weighing 8 lbs 10 oz and was 20.5 inches long! She came out screaming and kicking and looking very much like Noah. We were instantly in love. Ryan went with her to the nursery while the doctors finished up with me. I was taken to recovery where I was met by my mom and then a few minutes later Ryan brought the baby to me to nurse. We went to our room only a short time later and were joined by Ryan's parents.
The next morning, Noah and Emma came to meet their baby sister. They were so sweet with her and Ryleigh had presents for them. We had lots of friends come to visit and went home after only 3 nights. My mom and Ryan's parents stayed with Noah and Emma while we were in the hospital and it was so reassuring knowing that they were being well taken care of.