And what a wonderful month it's been :)
Brynn's birth story
Brynn's due date was Wednesday April 6th, so when that day rolled around and I woke up still pregnant, I was getting discouraged. Then my doctor called that morning to tell me that she would be out of town on Friday and that if I went into labor over the weekend I'd have the on call doctor deliver the baby. This happened last time and I had the on call doctor deliver. Don't get me wrong, he was fabulous, but I also ended up with a couple of interventions that I would have preferred not to have and my recovery was excruciating.
My doctor said that she could bring me in that night and break my water so that she would for sure be there during the delivery. I have been very adamant about not wanting any interventions this time around..no pitocin etc. So I stressed about what the right decision would be all day and prayed about it and talked to my sister (who is about to be a pediatric nurse and spent time in labor and delivery) all day about it. She was also not in favor of inducing labor in any way especially out of convenience. They scheduled me to come in at 9pm that evening, but the hospital called and said they had no beds available in labor and delivery and would re-schedule me for the next morning. I thought well good that gives the baby a little more time to come on her own. I did a lot of walking that day and Steve and I went out for a nice dinner while Ava stayed with Gigi.
11:30 pm we are laying in bed watching dateline and I felt a contraction and two small pops. I told Steve I thought my water may have just broken. He jumped up and said "Are you serious!" and then I didn't feel a gush or anything so I thought well maybe it was a false alarm and I laid back down. A few seconds later here it came and I realized it did just happen, on it's own just the way I wanted it to!!! A few minutes later the contractions started and they were already 5 mins apart so we got dressed, got our things and headed to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital at 1 a.m. my contractions were already 2 minutes apart and I couldn't walk so Steve had to wheel me in. Now, let me take a moment to let everyone know that Steve did not speed to the hospital like a bat out of hell like you would all think. In fact he drove like it was a cheery sunday afternoon of sight seeing and we had nowhere special to be. Then instead of pulling in to the valet area in the front of the hospital where they would get me out and wheel me in, he parks in the garage!! I said "seriously, you are going to have me walk all the way from here to labor and delivery in the middle of these contractions and soaking wet?" I could barely stand up at this point! God love him :) Luckily there was a wheel chair near the elevator so he went and got it and wheeled me and all of our luggage into the hospital, dropping shit all along the way. Totally reminded me of the out of towners a movie my Aunt Gloria and I used to watch. When we got to labor and delivery, there was not a delivery room available so they put me in the recovery room to labor while I waited on a room to open up. My doctor was already there and I was already at 4 cm so she said I could go ahead and get my epidural. Of course my dumb self said no I thought I could wait a little longer. She said "are you sure because this is moving really fast" I said I was sure. As soon as she left the contractions became unbearably long and painful and I was begging for the epidural. The nurse came in and told me that she would need to start my IV and get an entire bag of fluid in me before I could get my epidural. I thought "oh shit I'm going to die or kill somebody before then" My entire body was shaking from the amount of pain I was in, but it was still not as overwhelming as the pitocin contractions I'd had with Ava. So two hours later at 3 a.m. the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. Can I just tell you how not fun it is to be getting a needle put into your spine in the middle of a super long excruciating contraction while trying to stay bent over and perfectly still with nothing to hold on to? Maddening!!!
Epidural kicked in much faster than the one I had with Ava and this time I could actually move my legs and still feel pressure. With Ava I couldn't sit up or move my legs on my own. The nurse said they wouldn't really check me anymore because they didn't want to cause an infection so I asked how I would know when to push. She said "oh you'll know, you'll feel the pressure" I told her that with my first delivery I didn't feel a thing so what happens if I don't feel it. She said "you'll know when the baby's laying on the bed between your legs" LOL!!! I love a good sense of humor :)
Around 5:30 or 6 a.m. I felt pressure so when the nurse came in I told her, she checked me and I was already at 8 centimeters! I couldn't believe it, everything was going to smoothly and quickly. When we looked at the monitor I was thanking God for the epidural because by the looks of the contractions on the monitor I would have been in HELL! It was basically one big long contraction with no break. I was nauseous anyway though which they say is normal at that stage. By 6:30 I was complete so we did a few practice pushes, she wasn't quite ready to come yet so they decided to wait a little longer. Around 7:30 a.m. or so the doctor came in and it was go time. This time I could actually feel the pressure and was able to push and feel a little more of what was going on. I heard the doctor saying something to the nurse about her cord being wrapped and of course I panicked! One of my biggest fears whas the cord being wrapped around her neck. After the delivery they told me that the cord was actually wrapped around her arm, but that she was fine.
Brynn was born at 7:56 a.m. and everyone was shocked at her size! Although she was bigger than Ava by almost 2 lbs, the delivery and the recovery were so much smoother! I could not have been happier with the way things went. It was exactly the way I wanted it. My doctor, no interventions other than the epidural and best of all no pitocin and no demerol! When Steve and I saw her face we both instantly said she looked just like Ava when Ava was born. Nobody else remembers how she looked when she was born but we both did. We couldn't believe how much Brynn looked like her big sister! guess we'll have another little mini me for Steve (with my chin and this time with dimples!)
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