Brady

Brady is getting bigger and I realize that I have yet to write down his birth story.  So here goes...

Brady's official due date was February 4th.  From the beginning of my pregnancy I knew/hoped that I wasn't going to make it to February and that he would most likely be born in January.

When I went in for my appointment on January 16th, the good doc informed me that he was going to be out of town the following day and then the beginning of the next week.

This pregnancy had been a lot like my pregnancy with Ivan.  I was super big with way more amniotic fluid than three woman needed and I started having contractions months in advance.

I hoped that I would go into labor on my own, but with the amount of amniotic fluid I was hauling around I knew that having my water break at home or in public was not a friendly option.

So, with the good doc going out of town we discussed being induced towards the end of the week.

Then it snowed and it didn't stop.  The power went out, my contractions got closer together and I feared that I would give birth in candle light.  Luckily, it eventually stopped snowing, the power came back on and I made it to Thursday of that week.  Thursday morning I checked in with the hospital and I had an appointment for the next morning at 7:00am.

I woke up at 6:30 Friday morning and called the hospital to make sure there was still room for me.  They said to come on in and we'd get things started.  I like to be on time and we were running a little late and I was getting stressed.  I tried to get the car pulled out of the driveway and even with our 4-wheel drive, it wouldn't move.  Seth came out, we finished packing the car and started the process of pulling out of the drive way.  Seth had to rock it back and forth and several times we came within inches of hitting our other car.  I became even more stressed and probably wasn't the most positive person to be around.

We made it to the hospital, checked in, got hooked up to everything and started to wait.

Right after I was hooked up, the birthing center got slammed with other women and I was grateful that we made it just in time.  The good doc checked in with us and then for the next four hours I was on pitocin and not sure if anything was really happening.  We've always been lucky enough to have awesome nurses and I really liked the one we had this time.  She was great and it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere.  Uncle Chuck checked in with us at lunch time and to my surprise broke my water around noon.  I asked to have the epidural sooner rather than later and got it around 1:15.

I wasn't terribly uncomfortable before my water broke, but things picked up and by the time I got the epidural I was grateful for it and started to feel human again after getting it.  Everything went so smoothly.  The nurse kept commenting on how 'textbook' it all was going.

Around 2:30 I noticed the epidural wasn't keeping up with the pain and Uncle Chuck had arrived.

When it came time to push I didn't really give it everything I had.  I didn't really have to push with Ivan and I figured the same thing would happen with Brady.  When he didn't come out with the first push, I realized I was going to have put a little effort into it and he was born a couple pushes later at 2:43pm.  I'll never forget how swollen he was and how angry he looked.  His eyes were so swollen and he was barely peering out of them.  He looked like he couldn't believe we would put him through such an event.  He weighed in at 8lbs 7oz and is my smallest baby thus far.  He was born at 38 weeks and I kind of wonder how big he would have been had he gone full-term. 

 

My parents brought the boys in about an hour later and they were a little timid about it all.

Because of how busy it was at the birth center, it took awhile for the nurses to help me out of bed and get cleaned up.  Once that happend, I felt really good and just wanted to eat.

Seth brought dinner from the Pita Pit and Nilla Wafers from my parents.  I think I downed the whole box.  We moved to our recovery room and I actually felt good enough for a shower.

My blood pressure usually drops super low during delivery and standing takes it out of me. 

We stayed the night at the hospital and I tried to rest but with all the nurses and everyone checking on me, it was a little hard.  I asked them to keep Brady in the nursery which was nice. 

 The next day we had lots of visitors and I was surprised by how good I felt.  I usually try to take the minimum medication but this time I was determined to stay on top of the pain and so I took as much medication as they let me.  Best decision ever.

I kind of wanted to stay another day but by the afternoon decided to head home.

The check out process took forever and three hours later we were on our way.

The boys were ready for bed and waiting for us to get home.

My mom took the week off from school and spent it at our house taking care of us.

We had meals brought to us a couple of times that week, several days the next week and even a couple of times the following week.  We were so blessed by our new ward and I am grateful for everyone who took care of us.  This was the easiest recovery by far.  The pregnancy was a little draining emotionally and physically and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Brady has been a great baby.  I've had a love/hate relationship with nursing but nine weeks later I'm still at it.  When we were still at the hospital I told the nurses that I would give nursing a try but that I probably wasn't going to keep doing it once I got home.  They were very supportive and told me it was my decision and that they would support me either way.  I think that really helped me.

Part of me wishes this were my last pregnancy and delivery but I'm still holding out for a girl, so we'll see where that hope takes us.