a guy, a girl, a dog, and ry-ry: Sulley Birth (part 2)

at 5am on Thursday, I got up and showered. I did a brief self-check to confirm there was no new activity in the labor department. There wasn't. Brent and I grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital. My mom came over the night before and stayed with Ryland - prepare to bring him to meet the baby right after his birth.

Check-in was surreal. It reminded me of checking in to a hotel. I walked back to a room and put on my gown and settled into bed. I let a nursing student attempt to start an IV (OUCH OUCH OUCH!!), then a more experienced nurse jumped in after 2 blown veins to get it going. Shortly after arriving, our birth photographer, Alex from Alexandra Knight Photography, arrived. She takes beautiful photos using film (not digital photography) and I was so excited to snag her for Sulley's birth. She jumped right in and got pictures of my extremely embarassing "surgery alert" socks.

I'll let Alex's photos tell the rest of the story - because in this case, I think the pictures are worth much more than my words. She took most of them with black and white film, which I think turned out beautifully. (Just a note: the following photos are reduced filed size to be uploaded and won't print well, please go to our gallery to see all photos. )

This is quite funny actually - the only NORMAL blood pressure reading I had gotten in a week, and of course it's minutes before going back to surgery!

Our midwife Jana

Saying goodbye to mommy's tummy

laughing at daddy's surgery gear

last belly shot!

You can't tell here, but the anesthesiologist set a camera to his iPad so we could watch Sulley's birth - that's what he is holding. The clock says "9:10" Sulley's birth time!

Ryland was a little weary of all mommy's medical gear

Blood pressure fell extremely low here - Brent's a great support person while nurses worked to get me stabilized. (I was fine! Just inverted for awhile)