The Johnsons: Ruby Macaul Johnson

I apologize in advance for this post.
I am also warning you that it will be long, there will be lots of pictures and I will be talking about giving birth. Quit while you are ahead if any of those turn you off.

Ok...I'm a mom! How crazy is that?

It all started on Valentines day...

At this point I was well past the point of being a week overdue. I had an induction set for the following Tuesday and I was willing to do anything not to make it to that day. (mainly because I have heard horror stories about being induced and also once you go past your due date, being pregnant is the worst thing ever.) I had tried everything short of Castor oil to try and get labor started (including having my membranes stripped).
Nothing. I was so discouraged that nothing was happening, but at the same time I was nervous to start this whole new chapter in my life.
As I mentioned, being overdue is the worst. Every day more and more people would ask about the baby, or if I was in labor, or if I had tried to get labor started. This made me feel even more discouraged because not only was I impatiently waiting to have my baby, but so many people kept reminding me that she wasn't here yet.
Anyways...on Valentines day, Travis and I went to a Stake adult dinner/dance. (I got a whole lot of "you're STILL pregnant?" and "I was hoping you wouldn't be here!" from people the whole evening) The food was really yummy and the dance was lame..so a few other couples and us headed over to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. It was such a fun night out, but Travis and I both agreed we would have rather been in the hospital having our baby! After the ice cream, we went home and went to bed because Travis worked early the next morning.

Valentines day 2014

The next day (saturday the 15th) Travis left for work at about 5:40am. I'm not really too conscious to even notice when he leaves, but that morning I had woken up right as he was leaving with this funny feeling that was slightly painful.
Was that a contraction?
I wasn't really too sure, so I went back to bed for a few hours. The rest of the morning I felt that same feeling again very sporadically. I didn't want to let Travis know because I knew he would come home right away and I want even sure if I was having real contractions. I decided if they became a little more noticeable, then I would let him know. But I didn't want to let anyone else know, because if I was in labor, I could be in labor for a looooong time, and didn't need the extra harassment. (And I knew my mother would drop everything and drive out to Medicine Hat if I told her I was feeling contractions!) Anyways, a little while later I texted Travis to let him know I had felt a few contractions during the morning, but it was probably nothing. Sure enough, he came home right away. I already had a scheduled stress test that afternoon at the hospital in order to prepare for my induction, but we decided to go in a little earlier than planned.
It was about Noon when we arrived at the hospital and I was hooked up to the test for about 30 minutes. Of course I didn't have any contractions during that time, so I let the nurse know what I had been feeling and she then told me I wasn't having real contractions. Don't tell me what I am and am not having! Discouraged that the test showed no progress, we decided to go to Target and buy some discount valentines candy and wait some more for this baby.
Once we got to Target, things started to get a little more regular and stronger. Exciting! We then wandered over to Sears and tried to set up a baby registry to pass the time. Well turns out nobody in Sears knew how to set up a registry, but at that point I was in a lot of pain, so we ditched the registry and went home.
We decided to throw on a movie and time my contractions. If they became less than 5 minutes apart, lasting at least a minute for an hour, we would go back to the hospital.
An hour into Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, we were loading the car! (my bags had been packed for almost a month)
It was about 4pm when we went back to the hospital proclaiming I was in labor. The nurse looked skeptical, but hooked me back up to the monitor for over an hour. The good news? I was in labor. The bad news? I was only at 2cm and they won't admit someone unless they are at 4cm.
Blast! I was sure I was further along! I was in so much pain, so the nurse gave me a shot of morphine and told us to go home. This was my first experience with morphine...I'm not sure it did a whole lot for my pain but it made me LOOPY. I was instantly drowsy and I felt like I was slurring my words. The only thing I remember about the drive home was how it took a lot of effort to text my mom because I couldn't focus and I kept falling asleep between contractions. When we got home, I crawled up my stairs and laid down in the shower. Travis started the water for me and said to call him if I needed anything
.
*Side note, earlier at my stress test I noticed that I had really hairy legs...how embarrassing!

So a few minutes later, when I was coherent and awake enough, I called for Travis and he came RUNNING to the bathroom. When he asked me what was wrong I said:
"Can you pass me my razor, I might as well shave my legs"
He looked really confused...but got it for me anyways. After falling asleep for a while in the shower, I decided to haul myself to bed. By the time I laid down, I had the feeling we needed to go back to the hospital right away. The only trouble is, I was still SO drowsy. I kept falling asleep between every contraction...so it took me almost an hour to gather my thoughts, wake up and tell Travis we needed to go.
By the time we returned to the hospital again, it was about 815pm.

During all of this I had been texting my mom and she was really torn about whether or not to make the drive out to Medicine Hat...I could be in labor all night and who knows when things would actually get going. At around the same time we got to the hospital, she decided to start driving.

From our car to the ER doors, I had to stop about 4 times to hunch over and get through a contraction. I literally thought I was dying. What little effect the morphine had on me had worn off and I had never felt such intense pain in my life (up to that moment). We got into the ER and Travis told the triage nurse that I was in labor and we began to walk up to Labor & Delivery...however I couldn't walk, so I got wheeled up in a wheelchair. When we got up there the same nurse who we had just seen earlier was surprised to see us back so soon. I quickly (ok...not so quickly, still unbelievably drowsy) put a gown on and was hooked up to the monitor for the 3rd time that day. It had only been a few minutes until I begged the nurse to check and see how dilated I was. I must have been moaning enough, because she checked me right away.

Then she said:
"Oh...we need to move you into a delivery suite, it's time for you to deliver right now"

Panic. The only thing that was going through my head (other than sleep) was drugs for pain. I was quickly informed it was too late (I'm sure my jaw hit the floor at this point) and the next thing I knew I was already being helped up to move to the next room. Travis texted my mom and told her we were moving to the delivery room...she was only at Taber. I'm sure she only sped a little bit from there...

The next hour went as follows:
Sleep, scream/yell/push, drink water, sleep.
(Even though I was sleeping between my contractions, doesn't mean that it wasn't the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced in my life.)
After about an hour, the doctor and a resident came in the room and gowned up.
Then Travis asked if he could help deliver. The doctor looked at him like he was a crazy person until Travis told him that he is an EMT, then Travis gowned up and all eyes were on me. (I can't even tell you the number of people who saw all of me in that delivery room...good thing I was sleeping & delirious half of the time)

The nurse at my side kept telling me "You are going to feel some pressure" Pressure?? It literally felt like I was being ripped in half. The next thing I remember was them mentioning how much hair she had and then all of the sudden I watched my husband bring our baby into the world! There was so much going on, and I think I was in total shock...but at least I finally felt like I had woken up! Did that just happen? I had a tiny little baby laying on my chest that was mine. What a miracle. (It was nice because they let her lay on my chest for about an hour before they took her to be weighed and measured.) Once she was out, Travis clamped and cut the cord and the Doctor took over to deliver the placenta. Then the nurse cleaned me up, called the Doc. back to give me a few stitches and then my mom was able to come in. About an hour later, I was able to walk the distance (about a block) to my room in the mat/child ward. I was surprised how fantastic I felt that quickly giving birth. I think the fact that I was up walking so soon after labor made my recovery a lot better!

Just a few minutes old!

Proud daddy

First family photo.
Nice zebra sports bra..at least
I wasn't completely naked.

Proud grandma

Travis got to sleep on that chair for 4 nights!
Lucky

7lbs 11oz 19.5" @10:37pm

Tiny girl with daddy!

That is just the basic story of how that day went down. There are so many little moments that I hope I never forget. I woke up that saturday morning pregnant and went to bed that night with my perfect little Ruby beside me in the hospital.

I am so lucky that I had a super easy pregnancy and a smooth delivery.

We stayed in the hospital 4 nights because Ruby lost about a pound in her first 24 hours and she was jaundice. We had so many friends and family come visit us in the hospital...but we were ready to get out of there by day #2. (our hospital experience would have been better if we had some decent nurses...) Within an hour of being discharged, we were on the road to Lethbridge for a few days relaxing with family.

Ruby & Gma

She loves to tear her face off. Facepalm.

Fun fact! Ruby was born with a few extra digits.
She has a small skin tag on her right pinky
and a small nub of a finger on her left pinky.
We have an appointment with a plastic surgeon
this summer to get them removed. (Dang girl
cooked so long she started growing
extra fingers!!)