Tyler David is here!

Our big boy decided to arrive one day before his due date.  He weighed 9lbs. 6oz, and was 20 inches long!!  We weren't expecting him to be that big, maybe 8lbs.  I had been having contractions every night for a few days prior so I figured my labor would be in the middle of the night.  My contractions started at about 1:00am and we called the doctor about 2:30am.  Mama and Papa Rapp came over to stay with Emily.  We got checked into the hospital about 3:45am. The contractions were manageable at this point and were 2-5 minutes a part.  I received my epidural at 5:30 and the doctor on call broke my water at about 7:30am.  I was feeling really good and thinking this has been pretty easy so far.  They say the second one is much easier and I was believing it.  I started to push about 9:30 and my doctor came in and discovered that Tyler was sunny side up.  She said I could deliver him but it would just be a bit more difficult.   She said it would be equivalent to pushing out a baby one pound heavier but it was doable.  The pushing got more and more difficult and I was ready to give up, but couldn't help to think of the little man being placed on my chest in a few minutes. My epidural was gone at this point and I was able to feel everything.  On my last push, a varicose vein exploded and blood was everywhere...all over Tim and the doctor.  This is when things got scary!!!  Tyler was delivered at 10:11am and they put him on chest immediately.  The doctor said we need to get her to the Operating room immediately for surgery to fix the varicose vein.  They took Tyler off of me and told Tim he had to stay behind and wasn't allowed in the OR, probably because he wasn't sterile with scrubs on.  They wheeled me away, my family all watching anxiously in the hallway.  It was awful.  I was in the OR for about an hour and they stitched me up.  I returned to my delivery room and got to cuddle with Tyler for a bit.  

It is required to monitor a big baby's blood sugar after birth to make sure they are ok.  His blood was low and they gave him some formula and he guzzled it down.  Our pediatrician came and noticed in her exam that he was having some difficulty breathing.  They took his blood sugar and it had dropped.  So, he was whisked away to the NICU for 2 hours to monitor his breathing.  What a whirlwind!!  As if, my ordeal wasn't enough, now they were taking our baby to the NICU.  After close monitoring, his blood sugar returned to normal range and his breathing stabilized. 

We came home after 2 nights in the hospital and it never felt better to be home!  I have a long road of recovery ahead of me...2 to 3 weeks...but seeing Tyler makes it worth it.  It wasn't a fairy tale birth story but God was definitely with us every step of the way and I never doubted for a second. 

Tyler is doing great!  Eating like a champ and sleeping pretty well too!  I forget how much babies sleep.  Emily absolutely adores him and is a huge help.  Tim has been SO wonderful through all of it.  Emotionally he got hit by a truck, it is not easy to see your wife be taken to the OR while he was left to wait in the delivery room.  He has been our rock and taken care of all of us...doing laundry, taking care of Emily, and helping me since I am not very mobile yet.

nh