Meet Morgan Riley!

Announcing: Morgan Riley Braithwaite
Born: October 24th, 2010 10:13am
Weight: 8lb7oz
Height: 22.8in

Thank you all for being patient with us posting about the baby! Everything is going pretty well. We were discharged on Tuesday but when we left Morgan had a slightly elevated bili level, so we had to have it tested today (Wed), before we left town. The limit for day three is 17.9, and she measured 17.8, so rather than getting back to Iwakuni and being admitted to a Japanese hospital was decided to stay and do the photo therapy here. After 4hrs of being under the lights she's dropped to 15.4, and she just has to drop by three I believe. So she'll get tested again in the morning and depending on the levels, if they're good then she'll be taken out of the lights and then tested again in a couple hours, and if all is good then we can finally go home! If not, then we'll be here another day doing therapy. On the 30th, I'll (Alyssia), would have been up here in Yokosuka for a month, so it would be REALLY nice to finally be home.
Well on to the birth story. My due date was last Thursday, 21st, and that day had come and gone. On Saturday we walked to the mall right outside the gate with our friends, looked at a couple stores and then decided to walk to Chili's here on base. In total from the mall to Chili's it's probably about a mile. Which isn't too bad considering we've been walking this base like crazy! I think one day we walked close to 10 miles! So we eat at Chili's and then take a taxi base to the club here on base because there was going to be a live band. We're at the club for a while and I get up to go to the bathroom and my legs felt really big and tingly, I take a look at them and they'd gotten pretty swollen. I've been really lucky with this pregnancy that I had gotten swollen this entire time, so I knew something might be up. So we go home and I put my feet up for awhile and the swelling did go down, but Ryan wanted to get it checked out just in case. We're staying right behind the hospital so it's a 2 min walk to the ER, they take my blood pressure and it was 144/93, which they don't like to see 140/90 in pregnant women. So they send me up to labor and delivery to put me on monitors. I've been having contractions for a few weeks now but nothing that was uncomfortable and that's what they saw on the monitors. The doctor checks me and I'm still 75% effaced, -2 station, and 3cm dilated. She said that since I was over due, with high blood pressure if I wanted I could be induced if I wanted; which I did. So about 1:30am I'm admitted and pitocin is started and around 3:30am I couldn't take the contractions anymore so I got the epidural, which was heaven and I don't think I could have done it without it! At 5:30am, the doctor wanted to check me, and my water broke and I was still at 3cm, so I thought I was in it for the long haul but she checked me again at 9:30am and I was at 9cm and at a -3 station. So she said at 10am I'd start pushing! So at 10am I pushed a couple times with just the nurses, then they called the doctor in and I pushed some more and it all went really quick. I pushed for about 10min or so, and she was here! The doctor didn't even have time to put her gown on, I think she thought I'd take a bit longer to push.
The entire labor went really well, I never wrote up a birth plan and I didn't need to because they were really good about asking what I wanted. Ryan did really well as a coach also; never got faint or sick and even cut the cord, when he cut the cord blood squirt all over. He also got to help out with her first bath and cleaning her up. She was one dirty girl, as soon as she came out she pooped, and pooped while he was holding her in a towel. Breastfeeding is going really well also, and everyone is doing great!
Here are some pictures from delivery.

First Family Picture!

We have some more pictures that we haven't taken off the camera yet. I'll hopefully update with more pictures when we get home and settled in. Thank you for all the congratulations and best wishes!!!