Whoa...we have a kid.

*Blogging while binge watching old seasons of Real Housewives of NYC (so embarrassing)*

Well, it happened. On May 22nd, I did a remarkable thing. I birthed a 7lb 11oz human into this earth. I am so f*cking proud of myself - I honestly can't believe I did it. And now we have the most precious baby girl: Rhynder Austin Schulz! (A little about her name: Rhynder [pronounced Rhine-der] is Kyle's grandpa's surname and Austin is where we got engaged). 

All those cliche things everyone says about having a baby is 100% true. We are so in love. Our lives are forever changed. Nothing can prepare you for parenthood. Time is flying. 

Thing that most surprised Kyle: How much he enjoys changing her diapers - It's their bonding time. 

Favorite thing for Kyle: Being able to soothe her and watching her fall asleep in his arms. 

Thing that most surprised JJ: How draining breastfeeding is and how painful recovery is. 

Favorite thing for JJ: Feeding her while she is awake and having her stare up at me. 

I definitely don't want this blog to become a "mommy blog" where I only talk about motherhood and Rhynder, but I did want to document my labor story so I can remember everything that happened (it was such a blur). Feel free to skip this part and just go straight to the cute pictures of her. :)

I was 2 days passed my due date and getting antsy. The hospital didn't have any open spots to be induced so I just had to wait to go into labor naturally. My doctor recommended trying castor oil to try to get things started. I took caster oil (SO gross) Tuesday night at 8pm and started having contractions at 11pm. They started to get really intense and come faster around 3am so that is when we headed to the hospital. [Side bar: Contractions are a BITCH. I was not prepared for this paralyzing pain]. 

I was admitted right away and already at 4cm. I got my epidural around 5am...it was a GODSEND! Painful, but totally worth it. After my epidural I felt a little splash but didn't think it was anything and didn't want to call the nurse because I didn't want to bother them. I thought I would just mention it next time they came in to check in on me. Well I was so relaxed, I fell asleep. I woke up around 8 and told the nurse and sure enough, my water had broke and I was at 10 cm already...it was time to push. We thought the nurse was joking because it happened so fast. I pushed through 2 contractions (8 times) and she was here at 9:33am. Luckily it was my doctor that was on-call at the time and delivered Rhy. It all happened so fast, our doula missed the entire thing! 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much of a BADASS Kyle was through this entire experience. One of the nurses asked if they could hire him because he was so good at calming me and getting me through the pain. I am so lucky to have gone through this with him by my side. 

Rhynder - We are so obsessed with you! 

Bran is doing GREAT with his new little sister. At first, he was a little anxious but within a day or so he realized how protective we were of her and he is now giving her kisses and following her around everywhere. 

 Okay, I'm going to go take a nap now. :)

Cheers,

JJ