September 26th, 2019 was our official induction date. We were supposed to arrive at the hospital at 7pm, and call one hour early just to be sure our room was ready for us. Zack, Gracie and I wanted to make our last week as a family of three extra special. Visiting our local pumpkin farm, having Gracie pick out a special toy of her choice (she picked a glittery Unicron beanie baby in case you were wondering 🌟✨🦄), and on our last day we had a delicious family dinner date.

After dinner we took our baby to Grandma’s house, gave her lots of hugs and kisses and promised that the next time she sees mommy and daddy, baby brother wll be here ♥️

After daddy and I dropped off miss Gracie, we headed home to grab our hospital bag, take a shower, give our fur babies some love and be on our way. Baby time here we come! 🤗

We checked in to the hospital at 7pm. They walked us to our room (room 8 – alllllll the way at the very end of the hall), and we anxiously awaited for the induction process to start.

At about 9pm we were given cervidull to help ripen and open the cervix because we were not dilating what’s so ever! Doctors advised us that the cervidull is supposed to stay in for 12 hours and that by morning time, we might reach 1, maybe 2cm in dilation. But oh my gosh were they so wrong…. Midnight rolled around the corner, and I was in an IMMENSE amount of pain. The contractions were so intense… When the doctor checked to see if the cervidull has been doing more than just making me contract (i.e – dilate), they discovered that I went from 0 to 4cm in just 3 short hours. They decided to pull the cervidull out early, start the pitocin and let nature take its course. Once the cervidull was out, I felt intense contractions, but nothing like they were… Thank goodness for Zack bringing me huge cups of ice chips and popsicles when needed 😄😄

After a few hours, the doctor came to check on our progress again. We were still at 4cm dilated, and the cervix was still very high.

A couple more hours pass and still the same news… So, I requested a membrane sweep in hopes that that might keep things moving along…

With Gracie I was absolutely TERRIFIED of the epidural… and once the epidural was given to me, it made me feel uncontrollably cold and so so tired. I must have had at least eight hospital blankets on me and I was still shivering. My eyes were so heavy, I couldn’t keep them open for more than a few seconds. With Rylan however, the epidural seemed to be so much more intense. I was still VERY cold… I must’ve had at least 10+ heated blankets on me and I was still shaking and shivering uncontrollably. I was also very tired. But once the tiredness wore off a little, it became really difficult for me to breathe. My chest and heart felt heavy and I felt like I was going to die very literally… It felt as if I was being suffocated and couldn’t get the oxygen I needed. I felt like was I was going to throw up but nothing would come up because I didn’t have any food in my system for 6+ hours. My blood pressure dropped so low the nurses and doctors became concerned. They decided to end the epidural.

At about 1:20pm I felt an enormous amount of pressure “down there”. A nurse was standing beside me and Zack. Both of them telling me to breathe. I remember the nurse saying “if you feel like it’s time, let me know”. About two or so minutes later, I felt like his head was RIGHT THERE lol. I screamed IT’S TIME! Zack ran to grab the first nurse he saw – not even 30 seconds later, Zack plus about six other nurses and the doctor came RUNNING IN. The doctor took a peek and then said, “Okay, get ready to push”. The lights went dim, I felt EVERY SINGLE THING, but when I was asked if I’d like to feel the head, I couldn’t say yes fast enough lol. Feeling his little peach fuzz gave me so much motivation. Not even 15 minutes into pushing, and Rylan Emerson Mikolajczak was brought into this world on September 27th, 2019 at 1:41pm. He weighed 6lbs, 12oz and measured 20 1/2 inches long. Born with beautiful grayish, brownish eyes and a head full of brown peach fuzz. He’s the sweetest little thing.

Gracie is the most amazing big sissy too. It’s so beautiful watching her transition into big sister. She’s so gentle, loving, helpful, and our hearts are so beyond the word full to be a family of four ♥️💕

We love you so very much sweet boy. So happy to finally carry you in our arms and have you home ♥️♥️♥️

Thank you so much for stopping by.

P.S – Posting Rylan’s Birth Vlog down below. Feel free to check it out 🙂

Until next time…

Jess, Zack, Gracie, Rylan and 3 fur babies