I know Jason wrote a blog on Brianna's birth, but I figured I'd write one from my perspective as I was in no shape to write one at the time of Bree's birth. It all started early Tuesday morning, I noticed some changes in my body and called my doctor to see if I needed to bump up my doctor's appointment as the next appointment was scheduled for Thursday August 4th. The doctor agreed that I should come in early on Tuesday. At that appointment, the doctor confirmed that I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Dr. Kuiper said that I could potentially go into labor that day or the next day; however he also said that I could stay in this state for another week. It just depended on Bree's timing. Well, right after that doctor's appointment, I started getting some really powerful cramps (now I know they were contractions coming about 7 minutes apart). I had gotten the a okay to go into work to do some paperwork if I wanted. So, being the stubborn and perfectionist me, I decided to go into the office to say good-bye to a graduating client and to work on a discharge summary for a client that I had recently transferred over to my co-worker's caseload. At this point, the contractions were pretty painful and when I started tracking them for an hour, I realized they were coming about every 5 minutes (the magic number according to the doctors). So after I couldn't stand it anymore and realized that I wasn't getting any work done due to the pain, I called Jason. He didn't think it was the real thing as it all seemed so quick to him. Before this point, I hadn't felt any real contractions. We planned for me to call the doctor to determine what the next step would be. Sure enough, the doctor recommended that we go to the hospital to be checked. I called Jason back and before I knew it, my supervisor was driving me home. She was so supportive! She tried to talk to me and distract me from my pain for the whole 30 minute drive and told me that she was staying with me at the house until Jason got home. I love the support I got from my co-workers...they're great! I was hoping to provide them with more of an update before leaving the office, but I didn't make it to 3:30pm when our clients leave for the day.
The 20 minute ride to the hospital was perhaps the worst experience I have ever had. The contractions by that point were coming anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes apart, and the pain. Contraction pain is definitely a pain I have never experienced before. By the time we got to the hospital, I wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Can you all tell that I'm a baby when it comes to pain. We were sent up to the maternity floor and all of our information was registered on the computer. I remember thinking, "isn't this why I submitted the pre-admission paperwork, so we wouldn't have to sit through this while I was in such pain?" We were finally moved to the triage room where my vitals and contractions were monitored. By this time the nurses informed me that the contractions were coming every three minutes; however I was still only 2 cm dilated. After a few more minutes of monitoring, a nurse informed me that they probably would not admit me and would most likely send me home until I dilated further. When I heard this news, my heart sank. I couldn't imagine sitting in the car driving home only to have to deal with the pain of the contractions every three minutes. They weren't stopping and couldn't the nurses see how much pain I was in? I managed to tell the nurses that I was nervous about this plan (nervous was an understatement as I was actually petrified of this plan). Thankfully, they were understanding and allowed Jason and I to walk the maternity hallway for an hour to see if we could get the dilation to progress further before sending me home. So for an hour we walked the tiny maternity hallway, stopping to hold onto the handrails whenever an intense contraction occurred. After an hour, the nurses checked again and sure enough I was now 4 cm dilated and got the green light to be admitted. I wanted to celebrate as this was some of the best news I had heard all day.
We then prepared to be transferred to the delivery room, when even better news came....the anesthesiologist was waiting for me in the delivery room! I just kept thinking about how soon I would be feeling better once I had the epidural. As we were preparing to move my water broke. At the time I wasn't certain if my water broke or if I had urinated on myself, but the nurses reassured me that it was in fact my water breaking. I was then wheeled to the delivery room where my new best friend was waiting for me with an epidural in hand. It took three tries to get the epidural in as the first two times were put in correctly; however was hitting an nerve that caused my leg to twitch and jump violently. Finally, the epidural was in and the pain meds were making me feel like a completely different person. I remember the nurse asking me how the pain level was for one of my contractions, to which I replied, "oh, I'm having a contraction now?" She then laughed and told me the epidural was working just fine. I give women credit who go through labor without any pain medication, that was definitely an experience I could not do! So for the next few hours, Jason and I dozed off and on while doctors and nurses checked my vitals, our baby's vitals, and my contractions. With the epidural, it was difficult for me to recognize how strongly my body was working and in how much pain my body was in, but this all became evident to me right before the push stage when I suddenly felt the strong urge to vomit. To which I did, all over myself, the bed rail, and the floor. The nurse, Barbara was great as she reassured me that everything would be okay while cleaning me up. From that moment on, the push stage was only a few minutes away and everything in the delivery room moved with rapid speed.
The push stage was very quick. The nurse, Barbara, and resident, Lisa, had me push through two contractions before realizing that Bree was only a few pushes away. They called for Dr. Kuiper and in about two to three more contractions, we had a healthy, beautiful baby girl! The doctor allowed Jason to announce the gender of our baby, which I thought was a nice touch to our 9 1/2 month surprise wait. Jason was then able to cut the umbilical cord before they put Bree right on my chest. Bree and I had about a good 15 minutes of skin to skin contact before the nurse took her to be weighed, measured, and cleaned up. Thankfully, all this was done right in the delivery room as I didn't want to take my eyes off of her. As many of you know, Brianna weighed in at 6lbs 12 oz and measured 19 inches long. She came out with blue eyes, blonde hair, and the blondest of eyebrows. Ten fingers and ten toes and perfect! She gave one or two little cries and then stared around the room. The whole time she was in the delivery room with us, she had her perfect little blue eyes open, observing her surroundings. The emotions were overwhelming, everything from happiness to awe. The nurse cleaned her up and gave her back to me for a few minutes before wrapping her in a blanket and giving her to Jason to hold. From there we stayed in the delivery room for another hour or so before being transferred to the recovery room, where Bree's Gigi and Pappy (my parents) were waiting to meet her. Within the first two days of life, Brianna had visits from her Gigi and Pappy, Grandmom and Grandpop (Jason's parents), and her Aunt Kris and Uncle Jeff. It was so comforting to have family members at the hospital ready to greet Bree and welcome her into the family.
Bree's birth is still surreal to me. I don't think it has really hit me that this experience really happened and that Jason and I have a beautiful little daughter to raise and bring into this world. Perhaps the realization will hit me later, or perhaps this an experience that will always stay surreal. Whatever happens, I feel so blessed to have an amazing husband who took care of me throughout my whole pregnancy, a beautiful daughter to hold and kiss, and loving family, friends, and co-workers who shared in this experience with me. Thank you all so very much and welcome Bree! We love you!!
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