Gabrielle Ryan Minsker

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY PRINCESS GABS!! I can not even believe that my little princess is 5 today. She has grown up way too fast. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her in my arms and rocking her to sleep, where does the time go? Gabby is the most amazingly sweet, caring, compassionate little girl I have seen. She wears her heart on her sleeve and she would do anything for someone at the age of 5. She never ceases to amaze me.

Gabrielle was one wanted little girl, it took us 2 years, lots of fertility meds, a million tears, and finally a miracle to get her. We were given a due date of October 29, 2006, when this date came and went I knew she was going to be a little girl who did things when she was ready and not when someone tells her. I woke up at 4:15 am on October 30th and I remember the cramps in my stomach were unlike anything I had ever experienced. My stomach would get rock hard and cramp up and then loosen again, I knew these were contractions, I laid there until 5:00am when they were coming every 5 minutes. I woke up Ryan and told him that I think Gabby was ready to join us. I showered and we were off to the hospital. When I arrived at labor and delivery they said I was having contractions but I was only dialated 2 cm's, they wanted me to walk for 2 hours and come back, ok. Ryan and I went for a nice stroll around the hospital and about 1 hour into our walk I said we had to go back, I could barely stand up the pain was gettting so intense. We made our way back to the delivery ward and the nurse "checked me", I remember her looking at me and saying "looks like you are staying, you are now 4 centimeters, you are having a baby today". I wanted to throw up, I looked at Ryan and said I wanted to go home, I was not ready to have her. The nurse told me it was too late for that and next thing I knew I was getting an IV and being wheeled upstairs. When I got to my labor room the anesthelogist was waiting outside the room to give me an epidural, he gave the meds and as soon as I layed back down my water had broke. The nurse informed us that Gabby gone to the bathroom and that she more than likely swallowed it, disgusting! They had to keep a close eye on her. I was laying there about 20 minutes later and I heard an alarm go off and over the intercom system they announced "Pediatric cardiology to labor and delivery 4 STAT", I remember thinking that was sad and then it hit me that I was in labor and delivery 4! Nurses and doctors came rushing in because Gabby's heart rate dropped from 156 to 60, she was asleep and they could not get her to wake up, they kept telling me that if she did not respond and her heart rate did increase I would need an emergency C-section and they would get her out in 10 minutes. I was a trying to stay calm for her and finally her heart rate went back to 150. I moved onto my left side and she seemed to stabalize so for the next 13 hours I did not move from my left side.

At 5:27pm after 1 hour and 42 minutes of pushing Gabrielle Ryan was born. She weighed in at 7lbs 7oz. Now, originally she was going to be Gabrielle Sofia but when she was born she looked SO much like Ryan it was scary. We changed her to Gabrielle Ryan. Gabby's birth was not "magical" as soon as she was born they took her away, they could not get her to breathe and they were jamming a metal tube down her throat to clear out all the baby poop she ate, the seconds felt like minutes and the minutes felt like hours. I remember looking at Ryan's face and it was pure terror, one of the pediatric doctors working on her said that if she did not cry in the next few seconds she needed to get to the NICU, and Ms. Gabby starting whaling! It was the most amazing sound I had ever heard.
                                         

Gabby gave us a nice little scare when she was born but she turned out to be a perfectly healthy baby girl.

Gabrielle, words could not ever express how much you mean to us. You are such an incredible gift and an amazing little girl. You have the charm, wit, looks, personality and brains to bring the world to its knees. Every single day you amaze us with something new that you have learned and give us a million reasons to be proud of you. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful Princess Gabrielle. We love you more than we can ever tell you.