Ryler's Birth Story

Hey everyone! So if you didn't already know, Ryler made his grand entrance on December 17th at 8:01pm!



I was scheduled to be induced on Monday December 20th at 8:00pm. Chris and I had so many plans for the weekend before the induction to get some last minute things together before Ryler came into this world. Well, he had other plans. This is how Ryler planned his arrival:

At about 6:00am (5:58am to be exact) my water broke while I was asleep. Chris was coming in to kiss me good bye before going to work when I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Chris thought it was just Ryler sitting on my bladder again. Soon after, I yelled for Chris to call the doctor and tell her my water had broke. The doctor said to come in to the hospital. So we got together all of our things, I showered, and we were on our way!

We got to the hospital around 7:00am. Where they confirmed that it was in fact my water that broke, they admitted me, and we got a labor and delivery room (room 9).



I was still at 1 1/2cm, so they gave it an hour to see if I would progress on my own. Unfortunately, I didn't, so the doctor started a Oxytocin drip at 9:00am. I was not having any contraction that I could feel and was doing great!



The doctor came in and said, "Unfortunately, you are feeling way too good. We will start upping your pitocin". And they did! By 11:05 the contractions were in full swing, and I began to understand that 1 to 10 scale in a whole new way. At 11:25 I was given a muscle relaxer which did help me to relax, but didn't help the pain.



At 12:30, the pain is at a strong 10+ and I asked begged for an epidural. The doctor checked and I was only at 2cm. She would not give an epidural until I was at least at 4cm. So they gave me Demerol and Finnegan, which did absolutely nothing for the pain of the contraction, but did help me sleep through the minutes in between.

At 2:20pm I was finally able to get the epidural. My blood pressure dropped really low (58/60) and I got horrible sick (Ryler was just fine through this whole thing). Once they fixed all of my issues, I was feeling much better and able to rest. After they gave me the epidural things starting moving really fast! At 2:45 5cm, 4:30 9cm, 5:01 10cm, and finally at 5:20 I started to push.

After a long three hours of pushing, at 8:01 the doctor placed my beautiful baby boy on my stomach. He came out very alert. The doctor roughed him up a bit to get him to cry for the crowd of friends and family listening at the door!



It was the most amazing thing I have ever been a part of!! He was then weighed and measured (6lbs. 15oz. and 20in).



Chris brought him to me after, and I nursed him while we got to really meet our newest member of the family!



Once the doctor was finished and I was done nursing, all of those fans waiting outside the door were let in to meet Ryler for the first time! I'm so glad Ryler has so many close friends and family that love him!



Dad took him to the nursery (with a quick stop to play the new born lullaby announcer) and then they took me to our new room (215 on 2East).



After the nursery was done they brought Ryler to our room (complete with mohawk super stylish hair that the nurses just loved) where he nursed again, and dad got to change his first dirty diaper. Then it was down for the night.





It was a super long day but I wouldn't change anything! It was the best experience and we can't wait to grow and learn with Ryler! Thank you to all our friends and family for their love and support through this whole journey. Now a new journey begins!!!

Ryler's Room

Ryler's room is now finished! We had such a fun time decorating it! Now we are playing the waiting game. As of today we have 9 days until my due date and we are just awaiting the day he decides to show! In the meantime here are some pictures of his room:

The clock made at the paint party by some of my closest friends. We had a blast!


Cute wall stickers that match his bedding. Thanks 1st grade teachers!!


Wooden letters over his closet. Thanks Broadmoor Support Staff!!


His name, bed, and bedding!


Whether he knows it or not his room is ready for Christmas with his Charlie Brown tree and dancing Snoopy doll!

Broadmoor Shower

The Broadmoor faculty put on a great shower for Mrs. Duhon and I on November 7th. I had such a great time! Ryler is set and his room is now complete! I am so happy to be part of such a great group of people! Thank you guys for everything. Here are some of the pictures to share that great day!


What a beautiful cake and it tasted great too!!


Mrs. Gretchen hosted the shower in her fabulous home!


The guests' of honor


Us opening gifts!

Jungle Art

A couple weekends ago Tina hosted a paint party for Ryler. It was very small with just a few of my closest girlfriends. The only thing left to do in Ryler's room was decorate the walls. Together we painted some jungle art. Each person painted the animals in his bedding and some random jungle animals, and since his initials are R.A.M. we had to have a "jungle ram"...lol. It all turned out so cute! Now, Ryler will have fun art to look at. I think it's so important to surround yourself with good people and that is what we are starting for Ryler. Everyone needs a great network of people to turn to in times of need and when you just need support. Ryler's network is coming together already!! Here are some of the pictures of our little get together.

Family Photos....sort of :)

Chris and I are soaking up every minute of this pregnancy! This is such a fun time in both of our lives and we can't wait for the big day. While waiting, we have been very busy! Recently we had two awesome photo shoots. The first photo shoot being a Maternity shoot, was done by our friend Amy. She did such a great job and we really had a blast taking the pictures. After a couple risque wardrobe changes, and some rough terrain we got some fabulous shots, here are a few of the highlights.










The second photo shoot was of Ryler. We got the chance to see Ryler in 4D. It was like he was right there with us. I might be a little partial, but he sure is a cute baby! He didn't want to cooperate at all though. Who would have thought a stubborn kid....not ours?!? But after some dancing around and hanging from my feet he turned to say hello. Best news is that he has flipped and is now head down! He is weighing in at 3lbs. 10oz. and his estimated birth weight is around 7 1/2lbs.






Hope you enjoy these early family pictures. I'm sure I'll have tons more in December.

Time is Flying!

Wow.....how time is flying by! In the beginning I thought it would take forever for 9 months to pass. I'm now 29 weeks. We only have about 10 weeks until Ryler's due date. This means Chris and I only have 10 more weekends to fill with things we won't be doing for a while and honey do's to get done before the baby arrives. And half of those weekends are already booked with things to do......Ahhhhh!!



The shower this weekend was so wonderful! It was great being able to visit and catch up with everyone! Thanks to Jann, Al, Lana, and John for a great shower! Also, my mom did a great job with the decorations! I hope everyone enjoyed their party favors! Tina, Bridget, Kelly, Linda, Mom, Chris and I had a blast making them. Also, a special thanks to Eric for helping out at the last minute with pictures. Great job E!!



We had another ultrasound at 27 weeks. The doctor wanted us to come back for another one because Ryler was too wiggly last time to get a good picture of his heart. Well, we got to see him.....kinda! He is all folded up. He has his feet resting on top of his head. So, in other words there were no good pictures of his heart again. However, he is definitely still a boy!! Again Ryler was so wiggly getting measurements of anything is difficult. He is already "on the go" all the time just like mom and dad!

Soooo…. It’s been a while

Soooo…. It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog. School started on August 12th and the beginning of school is always very hectic! However, this semester I have a student teacher which has been very helpful! Thanks Katie!!


*This picture was taken last week for the UL’s “Wear Red Day.” This is all of the students and faculty at Broadmoor. The fire truck from the station next door came over to lift our photographer into the air for this great picture!!

Chris, Ryler, and I are doing well! Ryler is really moving and kicking up a storm now. He is awake and moving around about every two hours. He does NOT like loud noises!! At school, if I’m standing too close to the bell and it rings, he jumps and flips and flops until it stops ringing…..too cute!! He has also been listening to the classics like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc… every night and he seems to really like that. He’s usually kicking around when I go to bed and when I put the music on he settles down. Hopefully that happens when he’s out of the womb too…lol!!


Also, Chris and I have started taking Lamaze classes together! We really love them….yes, I said we. Mrs. Lenette teaches them at a birthing center, Gentle Choices. She is a great instructor/midwife and only 4 other couples are in the class. It’s not the Lamaze classes you see on TV where they teach you to Hoohooo, heeheeeee, hoohoo, heehee…. It’s more just general education on birth, labor, breastfeeding, etc. The first class we learned different techniques, so I would be able to handle the pain at home instead of spending so much time in the hospital. Chris did the most work at this class…..lol. He learned different massage techniques to make me feel more comfortable and calm during labor. By far, the cheapest massage you can get and a really great one too!! Next week is Hypno-birthing……?? I’ll let you know what that’s all about next blog!!

Oh, What a Difference a Couple Weeks Make

So, today we went for an ultrasound of the baby. The doctor did a number 2 ultrasound, which is where different parts of the body like bones, skull, tummy, kidneys, etc. are measured, his brain is scanned, and they look closely at the four chambers of his heart. Everything turned out well! He is looking like a very healthy baby boy (very much a boy, as the nurse would say, “he likes to show his boy parts”). He squirmed around so much that the Doctor had a hard time measuring everything. After a while he stopped showing us his boy parts and turned right toward us. Check out the progression of our baby boy Ryler!

Things I Have Learned from My Pregnancy

In the last couple of weeks I have learned some things that I felt I just had to share.

1. Traveling for 12 hours in one day is NOT so comfortable when pregnant. I know I’m not that big yet, but it is still very uncomfortable to sit in one position for that long.


2. Ryler does NOT like to be squished! Anytime I bend over to get up or get something off the floor he stretches out and kicks back. It’s cute! I’m also starting to recognize Ryler’s sleep patterns. He is definitely a mover and a shaker!!


3. I like maternity clothes way more then I thought I would….it’s soooo much more comfortable then squeezing into your old jeans and leaving them unbuttoned with the belly band covering it up!! You spend all your day fidgeting with your pants making sure people can’t see that you don’t have your pants buttoned or pulling up your pants…..annoying!


4. Boy clothes are coming around but most of it is not nearly as cute as girl clothes. However, my friends and family have found some of the cutest boy clothes lately!


5. Making a baby registry (Babies R Us | Target) is fun and suuuuuuuuuuper overwhelming!! Babies need so many things these days!! All I see is $$$$$$$$.....which if you know me well you know this is making me a nervous wreck….lol. No matter how much planning you do, I don’t think you’ll ever be ready for it!


6. When you talk to people they immediately ask, “How are you feeling” and while asking that question they take a (very obvious) scan of your belly. Talk about make a pregnant woman feel self conscience!! So, for the rest of the conversation I’m thinking, “They think I’m too big” then I start thinking about how much I’ve gained, and what I ate, etc. In other words, if you are one of these belly scaners, I really have no idea what we talked about….lol


7. Losing 160 pounds and keeping it off over a four and a half year journey is hard...super hard, but gaining weight after all that (even though you’re pregnant) is much much harder!

Hamburgers and Hotdogs

Most of you saw the great news on Facebook. If you haven’t it’s a BOY!!! However, the best thing about Friday was getting to see our little one. And this time he looked like more then scratch on an old black and white TV. He was very, very wiggly. Even the ultrasound tech was amazed at just how much he was moving around.

What a difference a few weeks makes! (left side:6 weeks, right side:17 weeks)

The Ultrasound Technician took all of the baby’s measurements and it looks like we have a very healthy baby boy. Right now he is weighing in at a grand 8oz. which would move his due date to around December 11th. Who would have thought, Chris and I have a big child……hummmm….odd? :O) You know how due dates go though, so we’re just thinking somewhere around in December (if your listening baby boy, mommy is hoping for you to come after the 17th due to my maternity leave weirdness).

So here are some of the shots they got yesterday! We are happy to introduce our SON…..Ryler Aaron Mahler!!

Here's his profile

Like the caption says...100% boy

And there's his little foot, perfect for giving Mommy a little kick!

Thank you, Oma, Poppi, Mimi, Grandma Mahler, Pappi, and Nanny for being there to share in our great news and for being part of this amazing journey.