Birth Story

As you all know little Brek made her début last Monday! CC was a doll to keep you out of suspense. So here are the details a week later.

3:00 AM-Saturday woke up with heavy spotting, I thought this is the ‘bloody show’ everyone talks about-I might do this on my own! ;)

3:00 AM-Sunday-Woke up with cramps, thinking this is it pre-stages of labor, I might do this on my own!

4:30 AM-Monday-Woke up had CC call the hospital to confirm our ‘reservation’ (yes, we prefer to discuss it as a ‘vacation’ instead of a medical procedure). They were packed so we got deferred to 7:00 AM.

6:30 AM-Showered, Shaved, Finished Packing, Told Chica goodbye.

7:00 AM-Finally, departed from our house—stopping to have one last pick-me-up from the 7-11-Chocolate Dunford Donut, YUM!

7:30 AM-Arrived to our 7:00 check-in, oooops.

7:30-9:00-Check-in, they asked me questions like, ‘do you feel safe at home?’ ‘have you ever had an STD?” Weird. You have my chart!

9:00 AM-10:00 AM-IV, The labor and delivery nurse and I spent some time talking about going natural and she was very supportive. I was concerned because I was going to be on PIT that the contractions would come on too fast and I wouldn’t be able to manage it. She felt that we could try and if it got too bad they we could take care of it at that point. I was really thankful for her because I think my Midwife would of put me on an epidural upfront, I know a Midwife, right?

10:00 AM-Started PIT. The nurse started me slow, 4 drops per minute and we increased as time went on. At this point I am dilated to a 1 and 80% thinned. At my appointment the week prior I was dilated to a 1 and 75% thinned with high blood pressure, hence the induction.  Nothing was really changing.

10:15 AM-Increased PIT to 8 drops per minute. No change.

10:30 AM-Increased PIT to 12 drops per minute. Started contracting a small amount.

11:00 AM-Increased PIT to 16 drops per minute. This is where the contractions started and I stayed at this level of PIT until delivery.

11:30 AM-The nurse came in and checked me, dilated to a 3. She said she was going to lunch and that she would be back in an hour to check. I thought, ok, nothing is really happening.

11:40 AM-Sent Cory to get something to eat. I thought at this rate that man better have something in his stomach so he can get through this long day.

11:45 AM-I thought I was going to DIE! The pain, it just kept coming and I was all-alone. (I know everyone would be back and I had a nurse button but I kept thinking, why did I send him away?)

11:55 AM-Cory came back, I was holding on to the arm rail like a raft floating in the ocean. At this point, I do not have any medication so I can get up and down, I was so thankful that I could walk around, go to the bathroom independently, and take the monitor off if I needed too.

12:00 PM-3:30 PM-I dilated from a 3-9. (We didn’t know that until 3:30 PM) The pain was intense during these 3 hours.  Cory tried to call the back-up nurse but nobody would respond. He went to the desk, he kept pushing the call button, Nothing. Finally, he said, we need help with pain management! (I was hurting pretty bad and the bloody show was a little more than I expected.) At 3:30 PM my awesome delivery nurse and the epidural guy came in and she apologized that nobody told me she had a delivery after lunch and that is what detained her. She was really irritated that nobody else came in and checked me.  She checked me and I was at the last moment before I could have any assistance with pain management. I was dilated to a 9! I did it, most of my labor without any support! She was pretty proud we made it through without any communication. Then she said, do you still want something because you are almost there. In complete desperation I said, YES!

By 3:45 PM-I was completely out of pain. (Because I was so close to delivering they didn’t give me an epidural they gave me a spinal block for 90 minutes.) She checked me again, I was completely dilated and my water broke as she was checking me. The next step was to start pushing, so we did.

4:45 PM-The Midwife finally arrived (Not sure how many deliveries she had that day but she was pretty busy, after Brek was born she left to catch another baby). At this point the pain is completely gone, the nurse was awesome and kept complementing me on how ‘good of a pusher I was’ I pushed from a -1 to a +2 in 4 contractions (for you non-moms, that is pretty impressive).

Brek was posterior for 12 weeks in my womb (that means she was head down but face up, babies are typically born face down) her little head was misshapen (like Marge Simpson) so it was hard for her to come out. (I think she turned face down on Sunday night and that is what I was feeling because she was face down at birth) I could push her out but then she would slip back in.

4:45 PM-5:10 PM-We tired everything, I would push and push, CC and I did a tug of war trying to focus my pushing efforts elsewhere, they used a ton of KY trying to get her head to slid out, they massaged me, they tried slipping fingers in to catch her, but that gal just couldn’t come out. (Remember, at this point I am SO thankful for the medication—we are laughing and joking.) I actually, referred to my sweet daughter as “Prairie Dogging It”. I had to explain it to the doc and the nurse and then they started laughing--it was awesome.

By 5:10 PM the Midwife decided that she needed to do an episiotomy and with that Brek was free!

5:24 PM-Baby Brek was born! The cord was wrapped around her neck (which is the case in approximately 75% of all births, they typically do not tell you about it) the Midwife unwrapped it and then her body came out. She barely cried. CC cut the cord, they placed her on me and we had a quick moment. Then it was time to move on to the placenta and sewing.

All and all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought—plus the end result was amazing.

It didn’t go as planned but I am glad it went as it did.  Even getting medication at the end was worth it because CC and I could enjoy the amazing process and not be distant from each other. In the depths of pain I was experiencing I didn’t even want him to touch me. Once we got medication we were able to laugh and joke and have a conversation. When my family arrived to meet Brek we were able to visit and not be consumed with the details because we were there for each other during the entire process.

Tuesday, we were in the hospital for monitoring. I was hopeful they would send me home but they wanted to watch Brek for jaundice.

Wednesday, the Pediatrician needed to check Brek and then we could check out. By 10:00 AM we were on our way home. I had to stop and get a prescription and we were home!

Thursday, we had to go back to the pediatrician and follow up with the jaundice check, all was well.

Friday, we did newborn photos. (More on this later—new mom’s shouldn’t do this this soon---even if they say you should. It is too hard on the heart strings and takes WAY to long.

Saturday, we hung out at home.

Sunday, hung out at home.

Monday, hung out at home.

Loves and hugs—I am very excited about hanging out at home with my new family!

Erin