Brody's Birth Story

I've always enjoyed reading other birth stories and really wanted to document this experience so that I wouldn't forget.  I actually had to put a few things in my phone during this day to actually remember things.  There is a lot going on when you are in the hospital and things start to get blurred together and easy to forget with the pain and other distractions that go on. So here's my story:

Brody was a due date baby.  I delivered him at 11:17am on Thursday June 27th, 2013 at Sacred Heart Hospital.  I was scheduled to be induced on the 27th and was asked to be at the hospital at midnight that morning.  

I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced the week of his due date.  I had felt some mild contractions up until my due date.  You can read about my last doctor's appointment before delivery here.

We checked in at triage as soon as we made it to the hospital and started the paperwork to settle into our delivery room.  They brought us to our room and we did our best to get comfortable and try and get some sleep that night.  I met my nurse for the evening who was great and so comforting and she set me up with my IV which didn't hurt a bit.  She said I was one of the easiest IV's she had ever done.  I was thrilled because that meant one prick and done!  They started my pitocin at 1am and the inducement began....

Things started happening much faster than I expected.  I started feeling contractions immediately, but they were completely bearable.  I tried to get some sleep the best I could even though I was waking up every hour to use the restroom and had to haul this huge IV contraption with me each time and then the nurse was checking on me every hour, so sleep was a little hard to come by.

You can see large IV contraption here plus my amazing nurse who had the 7am to 7pm shift on June 27th.  I'm pretty sure this picture must have happened after I got my epidural because I don't look like I'm in too much pain.

So the contractions began in the 2am hour and I did my best to get some sleep.  The funny thing about contractions is that you have nothing to compare them too.  The nurse would come in every hour and check on me and they want you to give them your pain level on a scale of 1-10.  Well I really sucked at that.  I didn't know how painful these contractions were supposed to feel and how much pain I was supposed to tolerate.  

I made it until 5am when I asked for some pain medicine she could give me through the IV.  I wanted so badly to remember the name of this medicine, but of course, I have forgotten.  The medication is only meant to last about 1 hour because they want it to be out of your system before you deliver the baby.  I knew my doctor was supposed to come by my room sometime around 7am and he would break my water then.  For some reason, I got it in my head that I thought I would wait to ask for my epidural until after I saw him.  No reason in particular, other than that I think that I thought my nurse said I had to wait to get the epidural until after he broke my water which is not true and she did not say that.  I also had heard several horror stories from friends about the epidural wearing off by the time they delivered their babies, so I guess subconsciously, I was trying to wait for that reason too.

I asked for one more dose of pain medication at 6am because the contractions were so strong, but that dose was no help at ALL!  My doctor came in at 6:30am to check on me and break my water.  I was 3cm dilated at this point.  He broke my water so fast that I did not even know what was happening, so it really didn't hurt.  It was a weird feeling though and the pain came instantly.  The contraction pains.  I asked for my epidural sometime around 7am and that damn thing could not come fast enough.  

Matt was at my bedside at this point and I was squeezing his hand for dear life.  All I remember was that the contractions were coming hard and fast and there was very little relief in between.  Matt had called my Mom at this point to get her butt up to the hospital and I was quickly squeezing her hand for dear life too.  Matt looked over at my Mom at one point and she had lost all coloring and we thought she might faint.  (Ironic, because I was certain it would be my husband that would faint during all this; not my Mom.)  I think she got hot from me squeezing her and she said she just couldn't handle seeing me in so much pain.  It was so sad.  She sat down for a minute and then she was fine.  

FINALLY, the epidural came in around 8am.  I felt like it had taken eternity to get to me.  All I am going to say about this is that people are not kidding when they say it does not hurt at ALL and it is the most AMAZING thing ever invented.  

DO NOT WAIT TO ASK FOR YOUR EPIDURAL!

A very wise friend of mine gave me that advice before my delivery and somehow I still waited too long.  Honestly, I just had no clue that it could take them awhile to come and give it to me nor did I know the amount of pain that would immediately come right after they broke my water.  But I was just thinking that I would ask for the epidural and I would have someone sticking that needle in me within minutes.  Well that was not the case and just remember it also takes about 15 minutes for it to set in once they have given it to you.  

From this point on, the rest of delivery was a cake walk.  I really mean that.  I know epidurals aren't for everybody, but they really should be :)  {props to all the women out there that go without}

They checked my cervix right after I got the epidural, sometime around 8:20 or so, and I was already 6-7cm dilated.  I don't really remember what I did for the next couple of hours, but I know I had a smile on my face and both my mom and husband were extremely relieved!  

Matt's mom showed up sometime during this time too and we all got to visit and enjoy these last few hours before Brody's arrival.  

At 10am, I was 8-9cm dilated and by 11am I was 10+1cm dilated.  

I notice that my nurse is now starting to get a little worried because she is having trouble getting a hold of my doctor.  Luckily, his office is actually in the hospital, so I knew he wasn't too far away.  During this time though, we are asking the nurse how many babies she has delivered and could she deliver this baby if she needed too, etc.   It was all in a half joking manner and she was awesome and assured us my doctor would make it to us shortly.  But, she had delivered at least 10 babies; so that made us feel better!  

My doctor made it just in the knick of time and you can read about his arrival to my delivery day music playlist, here.  Doc came in, set up, and was ready to roll in just a few minutes.  Needless to say, I only pushed for a matter of minutes and sweet baby boy made his appearance into this world at 11:17am.  

My doctor was amazing and the whole experience was just incredible.  I can see how women do this more times than once now because they are right when they say you quickly forget about the pain you endured once you meet this little miracle.

As soon as Brody was born, the doc had Matt cut the umbilical cord which Matt swore he was not going to be able to do and then they gave little Brody to me for skin to skin and to feed.

(Sorry, I wasn't going to post this picture due to the blood and me showing a little leg; but its so real and part of the experience that I decided I couldn't leave it out.)

After a little while, I gave little man to the nurses to weigh him and do their thing.  He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz and just under 21 inches long.

My Mom and Matt were in the room with my during delivery.  Here's my Mom getting a close look at little Brody.

My Dad and brother Brandon and my MIL were all out in the waiting room during delivery.  After he was born, we brought them in to meet little Brody and hold him for the first time.  It was such a surreal experience.  I couldn't believe I had really just given birth to this beautiful baby boy.

My Dad with Brody

After everyone got all their snuggles in, the baby nurse came and got Brody to give him his bath and do their tests in the nursery.  All of our guests left and Matt and I were happy to get a nice nap in.  We were exhausted.  It had truly been the most amazing day of our lives.

Brody all cleaned up

Matt's little bed

The nurse getting me situated before I took my nap.

After we woke up from our nap is when things got a little crazy!  I picked up the phone and called down to the nursery to see when they would be bringing Brody back down to our room.  The nurse that answered said they were just about to come down to talk to us because it seemed that little Brody was having a tough time "transistioning" into this big world.  Things start to really get blurry for me here because basically I just hear that something is not right with my baby and I feel sick to my stomach.  I start to get emotional and try to explain to Matt what they told me and we try to take it all in.  After they bathed Brody, he lost coloring and his oxygen levels were low.  His little lips turned blue and his coloring was "dusky", so they ultimately end up admitting him to ICU that afternoon.  

It was hard for us to completely understand what was happening.  It was the scariest day ever.  My Mom came back up to the hospital for support and we were all trying to get a better understanding.   They said later that it was like the perfect storm of symptoms at one time.  He was having trouble breathing while sucking which was causing the low oxygen levels and they also had heard a heart murmur.  Turns out that heart murmurs are very common in newborns (about 30% get them) and they close up on their own within 24 hours, but because Brody was also having the oxygen issue; they needed to run tests and keep him monitored.

We got to see him in the nursery before they brought him over to ICU. You are tired and emotional and  yet you are trying to comprehend all that is going on.  They ordered a heart ECHO test to be done on Brody to rule out any type of heart defect.  Those results were going to take 24 hours to come back and they also did some blood tests to rule out any types of infections.  As they rolled him off to the ICU, we had to move from our delivery room to our new recovery room where we would stay the next two nights.  

Everyone in the ICU was really amazing.  We were able to go back and see him whenever we wanted and I could feed him as needed.  Once he was in ICU he really did great.  They monitored him and took and received the test results they needed.  Thankfully, everything came out normal with his heart tests and blood tests and we were happy to hear our baby was healthy.  

Our experience in the ICU was very positive.  We were so lucky to have a full-term, big baby and we were quickly reminded of that the first time we walked into the intensive care unit.  Brody did great and the nurses were so helpful the entire time.  They taught you how to change diapers, take their temperature, give them a sponge bath, care for the umbilical cord, nurture little mans circumcision, and so much more.  They would answer any questions you had and I kept encouraging Matt to ask as much as possible.  

They were so helpful and supportive of nursing women and taught you how to work at getting your milk supply in and how to pump and all that comes along with breastfeeding.

You were allowed to have two people at a time back in the ICU, so the grandparents were able to come get their snuggles too.

Unfortunately, once admitted to ICU; they have to keep them for a minimum of 3-5 days.  It was a waiting game as to when they would release him and finally we got word that it would be Monday around noon.  So the little man spent 4 nights in the hospital and Mom and Dad only spent 3.  They let Matt and I stay in the hospital one extra night (sat night) and then the last night we had to sleep at home and he slept at the ICU.  I did great though and knew he was in good hands.

We were so excited to be able to take him home Monday afternoon!

Leaving the hospital

We made it home!!

Overall, we still had an incredible experience.  We can now say that the little man is just a bit of a drama king and decided to make a dramatic entrance into this world and just needed a little extra attention.  We are so thankful and blessed that he is healthy and safe and have loved every minute of having him home.  He changes daily and is the most amazing thing we have ever done! You can read more about his progress in his One Week update and also at 3 Weeks.