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Ryan's Story

I was born on Monday, 5 March, 2001, at 7:34 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time in Calvary Hospital, Canberra (Australian Capital Territory). I weighed 3405 grams or 7 lbs 9 oz and was 50 cm or 20 inches in length. My Mum was in hospital for 10 days before my birth!

Mum was visiting my Grandma in Canberra and also doing some IT Training for staff at ADFA. She taught MS Excel 97 on Thursday, 22 February, and went to bed at about 9:30 pm after an episode of ER on TV. It was the episode where a baby was born at 20 weeks gestation and died. Mum cried and turned to Grandma and said, "That won't happen to Ryan even if I had him now because he's 35 weeks." At about 2 am Mum got up to go to the bathroom and went back to bed. As she sat down on the bed she had a funny feeling. Her waters had broken.

Mum went to Grandma and said "I think my waters have broken." Grandma said to go back to bed and see how everything was in the morning. Mum was a bit scared though, and phoned Dad at about 3 am. Dad gave her the phone number of the Hornsby hospital, where I was supposed to be born. Mum phoned the Hornsby hospital and asked what to do. She was told to go directly to the nearest hospital and get checked out. Well, Mum did that, and she was admitted to the hospital right away. Grandma was all ready for me to arrive immediately, but nothing happened!

Mum decided to stay at Calvary Hospital because she wanted me to meet my great-grandmother, Dodie, as soon as possible. So, we stayed and got to know the nurses. Mum was really bored in hospital and she spent a lot of time reading, watching TV and doing cross-stitch. She learned how to breastfeed from the videos and how to take care of me after my birth. Every day she was hooked up to a machine and my heartbeat and movements were recorded. One day I got the hiccups! Mum thought it was really funny and couldn't stop laughing because my hiccups were recorded on the paper running through the machine!

The decision was made by the Registrar that Mum would be induced on Tuesday, 6 March. Mum talked to me every day as the day grew closer and finally said to me, "Well, if you don't decide to do this tomorrow, you're going to be forced out." So, at midnight on Sunday, 4 March, Mum started having little niggling pains. By 6 am she was having regular contractions about 15 minutes apart. At about 10 am Dad arrived and Mum sent him home to get some sleep. By 3 pm Mum was moved from her room into the birthing suite. She was put on a drip and given IV antibiotics and (stuff) to help augment the contractions. Mum's second stage of labour was only 1 hour long. And I was born at 7:34 pm.

I was put into a humidicrib in the Special Care Nursery and given IV antibiotics too.

I slept until about 2 am. Mum had woken up by then and came to give me my first breastfeed. For a little guy, I did well latching on, but I got tired really quickly. Mum figured out a good way to breastfeed me and we made a great team. Mum had been very concerned she wouldn't be able to breastfeed me because Grandma had problems. So, Mum was really pleased when we both got the hang of it so quickly.

Mum spent the next few days in a fog of sleeping, feeding, burping, changing, and washing me. I woke up every couple of hours at this stage and Mum looked extremely sleep deprived. Mum was also a bit sick of hospital by this stage, so she arranged for us to go home as soon as possible.

Finally, on Friday, 9 March, 2001, I was allowed to go home with Mum. Mind you, we only went to Grandma's house, because we couldn't go right back to Sydney. Straight after we left the hospital we went to visit Dodie. I smiled and poo-ed on Dodie and we communed for a few minutes. Mum thinks I liked her, but I'll probably never remember meeting her.

Dad arrived on Saturday morning and he gave me my first bottle feed. He was a bit nervous, I think, but we soon got to know each other. His hands are really big, and I was so little in his arms. Mum's birthday was on Sunday and we drove back to Sydney for our real homecoming. I did well in the car and slept most of the way.

Two weeks later we returned to Canberra so Dodie could perform a Naming Ceremony. She officially named me Ryan Morgan Gibbs, and my sponsors are Jason, my uncle, and Kim, Dad's good friend.

Only two weeks after my naming, Dodie died. She was determined to stick around to meet me, and she achieved her goal. Mum misses her lots and will tell me lots of stories about her as I grow up.

Last modified: 16 September, 2003
Author: Carolyn Gibbs
URL: http://www.gibbs.net.au/children/ryan/story.html