Braeden John Butler Birth Story

Braeden John Butler was scheduled to arrive by c-section on March 11^th at noon but he had other plans.  My doctor told me that I would be able to eat until 4 a.m. and so that I wouldn?t be hungry, I set my alarm for 3 am to have a light breakfast before going back to bed for a nap.  I told my DH and daughter that they would have to have breakfast out of the house so that I wouldn?t get hungry watching them eat J.  I woke up at midnight not feeling ?right? and then again at 2:30, so I got up and decided to make my breakfast then. 

I made my breakfast, sat down to eat and read my book and noticed that I was having a lot of pains and wondered if they were time-able.  I used Contraction Master and found that not only were they time-able they were 3 -4 minutes apart lasting a minute and 15 seconds+/-.  I waited 45 minutes to see if they were going to continue before waking DH.  I went into the bedroom and woke him telling him that I thought I was in labor.  He came out and we timed a few of them before I called the doctor.  While I?ve been in labor three other times, I thought it was crazy that Braeden would choose his own date on the exact same date we had chosen for him. 

I called the dr. and he told me to go to L&D to be checked, so I took a shower, finished packing my last minute toiletry items into the bag and woke up Hilary so she could get her things together also.  We arrived at the hospital at about 4:30 a.m. and I saw my name had already been added to the board and I was assigned a room. I, at that point, thought they might just send me home because I wasn?t really ?in labor? ? wishful thinking. 

The nurse checked me in, strapped me onto the monitors and checked my cervix.  I was about a fingertip to 1 dilated about 70% effaced.  I asked her if I was going to be going home and she said ? ?not today?.  They called the anesthesiologist to try and find a vein for my IV as I have notoriously bad veins.  It took about 4 pokes in my hand before he moved to my one good vein in my right arm at my elbow.  They gave me a shot of Trebutalane to stop the contractions since they were coming closer together.  I asked if I could go to the bathroom because I thought I had to poop and they wouldn?t let me because she said that I could push too hard and they didn?t want me to have the baby in the toilet ? which seemed weird since I was only a fingertip to 1 no more than 30 minutes prior.  I asked about the food that I had eaten since I wasn?t supposed to have anything within 8 hours of the surgery.  They told me that they were going to give me something in my IV to hasten the stomach processes and made me drink Reglan to keep from refluxing during the surgery and aspirating my breakfast. 

My doctor showed up and told me that they were going to do the c-section once the assistant surgeon arrived but that I would have the baby by 6:30 a.m.  It was going really fast.  At 5 a.m. I called my BFF since she was also going to be in the operating room with my DH.  As it turned out, she just made it to the hospital about 5 minutes before they wheeled me into the OR. 

I had a terrible time with the spinal since I don?t like having anybody touching my lower back.  It was probably the worst part of the surgery for me.  Once it was in, I was crying and the anesthesiologist gave me something to slightly sedate me so that I would calm down.  They brought in my DH and BFF and started the surgery.  Braeden John Butler was born on March 11^th at 6:30 a.m. on the dot.  He weighed 6 lb., 10 oz and was 19 ? inches long.  I was 38 weeks and 2 days.  When they first showed him to me, I said ?He?s so SMALL? ? I was expecting a bigger baby since all my other kids were over 8 lbs. and I had one that was 9lb 8 oz!!

I spent three plus days in the hospital and aside from the normal c-section pain I think I?m doing really well.  Braeden is nursing perfectly ? after a hard start.  They had me using a nipple shield and drops of formula to get him excited to suck.  That was not what I needed?I just needed to pump with a manual pump for a few pumps to draw out the nipple and get ?primed? and he latches on perfectly.  That is something I figured out at home after reading a breastfeeding book they gave me, ironically, in my Enfamil bag at the hospital.  My milk came in around day 3 and he eats like crazy.  With a very small loss of weight down to 6 lb 3 oz before leaving the hospital, I?m sure he?s gaining weight now. 

Since I wasn?t prepared for such a small baby, I didn?t have any NB onesies ? everything I bought was 0-3 months.  We had to buy a few smaller things for him to wear but otherwise he?s loving his swing, his bouncer and is all around a really good baby. 

Thanks to all of you who were so supportive on the trimester boards?I?m glad to join you on the 0-6 now J