Brady's birth story! (long sorry)

Most of you know I had PTL at 33w and it was stopped, but I also got the steroid shots for his lungs. So I put myself on bed rest and really tried hard to keep him in there cookin.

On Thursday Aug 26th I was having bad cramps and back pain off and on most of the day. Also I was loosing a lot of my MP and also there was small amounts of blood. All night I was having cramping and didn't sleep well even after taking two Tylenol pm's. 

Friday Aug 27th was when it started to get more in a rhythm. Then I had a large chunk of my MP and some more bleeding so I decided to call my OB's office to see what they thought I should do. I was still early but knew I hit the point they would not stop my labor. With my OB's new EDD for me I was 36w2d.

I knew my OB was on "vacation" but would be there for the birth (she had family flying in and took the week off from the office) so the on-call OB said I should go to L&D to be monitored and checked (mon I was still 2cm and 70%) So DH and I packed up not knowing what was going to happen and headed to L&D. We got there around 1:30pm got all hooked up and saw I was contracting every 5-7 min. Then the nurse came in and checked me...I was 3cm and 75%...but we were not sure if this was just from walking around the whole week or from just the last day of contractions. They called my OB and she said she was at the airport about 2 hours away but would head straight back to come see me.

My OB got to the hospital around 6pm and checked me, she said I was a 4+cm and still 75%. She said "looks like we are having a baby" I started to cry and asked if he was going to be ok. She looked at me with a big smile and said "Be excited!! your having your baby and he will be just fine!" That helped me not be as nervous and started to get excited.

She then told me she would be back in the morning to check me again unless the nurses call her and she needs to come in. She then informed me that she already talked to the pediatrician on call because he will need to be there for the birth because im early. She then informed me that he went through my file and instead of using her new EDD he was using my original EDD so he had me at 35w1d and because of that she felt everyone should go by that date. They would not stop my labor but they would not help me progress either. But she told me once I hit 6 cm and if my water had not broken she would break my water and could start pitocin because thats "the point of no return." 

I had pretty painful contractions all night and was walking the halls with DH and squatting to try and make progress faster. With DD I stalled out at 4 cm and it took a very long time to get to 5 so I was a little nervous.  

Around 6am the nurse saw how often I was contracting and how much pain I was in and said she should check me....I was still a 4! ugghh all night of contractions for nothing!

I was starting to get really tired and not liking the pain. It was still manageable but didnt seem worth it knowing I wasnt getting any closer to 10cm.

Around 11am my OB came in my room and said how bad she felt for me. She really just wanted to get things going for me but was torn because more time he was inside me the better it was for him, and of course I agreed but I was so tired and the pain was getting so hard to take. So after 30 min of her talking to me about everything and seeing me go through several bad contractions, I didnt make noise just breathed and rocked but she could tell I was in a lot of pain, she told me that she will check me and the deal is if I have made it to a 5+cm she would break my water and start pitocin at 8pm.

She checked me and I was so nervous she would tell me I was still a 4...but nope! She looked at me and said "yup I would say your a good 6cm and 80%!" I just smiled so big and said "thank you god!" So she broke my water (completely clear!) and told me she would start my pitocin at 8pm and that I should try to rest because I was having a baby tonight!

After about an hour after my water broke my contractions slowed down some (weird I know) so my nurse suggested I get the epi now and take a long nap because when the pitocin starts it will be fast and I shouldnt wait. And I agreed, I was so tired and new how pitocin makes things so much worse. She checked me again right before I got the epi and I was almost 7cm! I can't believe I made it to 7cm with no pain meds!! The anesthesiologist came and did the epi...I let DH watch instead of holding me cause I knew he really wanted to see it be done. I had one before so I wasn't too nervous about it. He was awesome and it was done really fast. Within mins my pain was gone! It was about 1:30pm and took a nap until around 6pm. Then the nerves hit and I started to get really excited and nervous for my little guy.  

8pm came and the pit was started. They upped the dose every 15 min. DH loved looking at the screen watching how big the contractions were and how close they were getting. I then had my mom and MIL join us knowing it was just going to be a few more hours.

By 8:45pm I was starting to feel some slight cramping pain on my left lower side. And noticed my right leg was so numb and my left wasnt very numb. I asked for the lowest does of the epi and never pushed the button. I wanted some feeling of my legs and didnt mind feeling some of the contractions. The nurses were not going to really check me until I said I felt pressure or my contractions were on top of each other for 30 min. 

At 10:00pm my nurse came in and said things were looking great and Brady was looking perfect too. So DH, my mom and MIL were all getting excited and talking to me about how I wanted things done (who was holding my legs or hand, who is taking pictures...)

Then it was 11:00pm and my nurse came in and asked if she could check me just to see...she checked and I was 8cm and 100%! whoo hoo!! I knew it would be really fast now, everyone else was saying no no this will take a couple more hours. Then at 11:30 I was feeling horrible pain on my left side with each contraction then BOOM so much pressure! It totally felt like I had to take a massive poop! The nurse looked at me and said "oh god really?" she gloved up so fast and barely put her fingers in and said "yup theres his head!" then people started to rush around, my nurse called my OB and then repeated over and over not to push...It took so much out of me not to push!

At 11:50 my OB came into the room and I was so relieved and happy to see her! She turned down the lights sat at the end of my bed and put a big pad under my butt and said "ok you can push whenever you want" I had DH holding my right leg, my mom holding my left and my MIL was at my head with the camera ready to go. (DH told me from the begining that he did not want to look until he was out) well I looked up at DH and he had the cutest smile on his face and just staring down there waiting for his little boy.

Now I can still feel each contraction on my lower left side like I had no main meds, it hurt but made it a lot easier to know when to push. I felt the next contraction and a ton of pressure and started to push...I was so focused and my OB kept saying how great I was doing and only a couple pushes and he would be out. On my 3rd push she asked if I wanted to feel his head! Once I felt his head I wanted him out! I pushed 2 more very hard pushes and she said his head was out and to give her just a couple small pushes. I tried but I guess it was too hard because he came flying out! She laid him right in front of her on the bed and I just started balling! DH looked so cute and just stared and him.

I asked if he was ok and then she put him on my chest and said he was perfect! He was screaming so loud which meant his lungs were great!! He was the curtest little thing! I held him for about 3 min the the ped needed to take him over to the warmer and check him out. His APGAR was 9/9! Then they weighed him and shouted out 6lbs 12o! My OB looked up at me (she was getting my placenta out) and said "wow good job mamma! hes so big for his age! thats just amazing!" 

From the first push until he was out took 12 min! DD took 20 min the next will probably be one push haha oh and I didn't tear at all!

I loved everything about my delivery! My OB was just amazing and calm and I loved that it didnt seem rushed or clinical...just dim lights and soft voices. Then everyone left the room to give me and DH time with Brady. I did skin to skin and nursed him for about an hour.

He is just a great baby! The ped released us when he was 36 hours old and said he was perfect. We had to go back for one night of bili lights because he is a little jaundice, the number would be normal for a full term baby but for him they want to just get it done with now instead of waiting it out. He nurses perfect and is already gaining weight back on! 

So he was born Aug 29th at 12:05am. He was 6lbs 12 oz and birth, 24 hours he was 6lbs 8 oz, 3 days old he was 6lbs 5.2 oz and now at 4 days old he is 6.7 oz!

In 4 days I have lost 13 lbs so far. Pre pregnancy I was 115lbs and the day I delivered I weighed 147 lbs. My goal is to get to 125lbs and stay there.

The only thing that has been hard is sleep. He sleeps great and I have DH and my MIL who can take him so I can rest but I just love doing everything for him, I love when he is sleeping to just hold him or put things of his away, so its my own fault I haven't slept much.  

I just love having a little boy! DD was so much fun and now its just different having a boy....its hard to explain. I just love him so much! He was worth every worry, pain, complication and oh the heartburn! He was worth everything and more!

OK wow I am sorry this was so long....I don't blame you if you skipped a lot of it haha