Rylie's Birth Story

Rylie's Birth Story

Rylie Jo Shupe.

November 6, 2008.

9lbs 3oz

20 1/2 inches long.

Perfection.

God's answered prayer to Barrett and I.


I had been going to the Dr. weekly. 3 visits, 3 times to be "checked". Rylie was as Dr. Northcutt put it "snug as a bug". We were now about a week away from my due date and she was showing us no signs of making her way down or engaging. At our weekly visit on Nov.4th Dr. Northcutt mentioned he thought we may be having a big baby. He wanted to schedule an ultrasound to determine how much she weighed. He casually mentioned the possibility of a C-section if she was a bigger baby. I left the Dr. office that day and was scheduled to return Friday for an ultrasound. We were supposed to return Friday the 7th(Bear's b-day) at 6:30am for our ultrasound.



On Tues. the ultrasound people called to let us know we could come in Wednesday at 12:30 instead if we wanted. We were ready to "see" our baby girl again and told them we'd be there Wednesday.

We went to the ultrasound that Wednesday. As the guy is doing the ultrasound we cry in amazement at what we are seeing. She was beautiful. She gave us a great chance to see her face. Bear asks the ultrasound guy if she is big. He responds, "She's on the big side." He lets us know he will be sending the results to our Dr. that afternoon.


I came home from school exhausted and decided to lay down. I really wasn't expecting a call from Dr. Northcutt until the next day. In the middle of my nap, my cell phone rings. I answered expecting to hear our sweet nurse Susan on the phone. Nope it was Dr. Northcutt.

He told me that the ultrasound showed Rylie to be weighing around 9lbs 10oz! I was speechless. He went on to tell me that the weight could be off by a pound. All I could think was a 10 pounder! I am going to deliver a toddler!

He told me that a vaginal birth would be very hard on a baby this size. He gave me some scenarios that "could" happen. He then told me that his professional opinion was that I should have a C-section. Done deal. We have trusted all along that God sent us to Dr. Northcutt and we would trust his professional opinions. He tells me that we can check in at 5:30 am the next morning. He said we'd check in, then move to OR and Rylie would be here around 7:40.

As you can imagine I couldn't sleep at all that night. My baby girl was coming and I was ready!

We decided to have one last picnic in our living room as a family of two.

We arrived at the hospital the next morning early (thanks to Bear!) and got checked in.

As we were prepping for surgery I got REALLY scared. I am pretty sure I told Bear I couldn't go through with it!

At around 7:00 I walked back to the OR and got prepped for surgery. After the epidural I was feeling better but I was still really scared.

Dr. Northcutt walked in and I asked him to pray with me. Then Bear walked in and we began praying. Bear kept his face close to mine. We prayed and waited to hear our baby girl cry.

Dr. Northcutt said "Okay Jodie, here she comes."

He said she was a "two-hander."

At 7:41 am we heard the sweetest cry in the world.

Bear went over to look at her and came back beaming. He kept saying she was perfect.

I got to see her for a second and then they took her to clean her up.

It took a little while to sew me up.

Bear and Rylie went back to our room and Honey and Nana Shupe got to go be with them.

When I got back to the room, someone handed her to me.

It was amazing. I just kept thinking I can't believe this is my baby!

I had loved Rylie for 9 months while she was growing inside of me. I had prayed for her daily. I had rubbed my growing belly and sang to her, talked to her, and fell in love long before I held her. But holding her that morning felt amazing. My heart was so full of love and joy.

Rylie is an answered prayer. A constant reminder that God is faithful in our lives.