At this point in my pregnancy I was only allowed to work 25 hours a week, so I was working on Monday/Wednesday/Fridays. Everyone was telling me we really needed to do a Babymoon or at least a date night before the baby came- I kept saying no, we dont have the money, we cant. But for some reason on Wednesday I had a change of heart and decided we did really need to have a date night out- so I had a secret date planned for Brian Thursday night- I was so excited!
When I got home from work Wednesday night, I started to feel what I thought was pressure from Braxton's head dropping- it wasn't necessarily painful, but more uncomfortable. As the night wore on it would kind of peak and then fade away- I remember laying down for bed and being "really uncomfortable" hoping that he would "just move positions" soon. I woke up on Thursday still feeling what I kept describing as uncomfortable. Brian went off to work- joking about actually staying home with me in case I was going into labor. I just laughed and said oh honey, this is not labor- its not that painful...... well as the day wore on the "uncomfortable-ness" seemed to intensify- I started to get worried maybe Braxtons head was in a bad position or something wasn't right, so right before lunch I called Brian at work and asked if I should call the doctor. He told me to go ahead if I thought something was wrong or if I was in a lot of pain. I felt really silly calling- but it was 11:58 and they closed at noon for lunch, so I thought I might as well call just to put my mind at ease. I will never forget the conversation I had with my nurse- I told her I was having pressure that was coming and going about every 3 min and the pain was increasing. She said "oh honey- thats contractions. You are in labor- You need to get here ASAP". I called Brian back to let him know we were going in and they said I was having contractions- but I still didn't believe I was in labor. I wasn't screaming in pain or bending over unable to walk or talk, the pain wasn't near as bad as the Braxton Hicks contractions I had been experiencing. Of course Brian freaked out when I told him, but I just kept telling him its okay, don't speed take your time. I said the same thing when he got home and was trying to change clothes and get his hospital bag- I was so convinced it wasn't labor. But the pain was starting to increase by this time. So much for my secretly planned Date Night!
I dreamed the ride to the hospital when I was in labor would be like in the movies, water broke, in pain, rushing straight back- but this was nothing like that. We got to the hospital at 1pm and Brian dropped me off at the front door and I had to STAND in line and wait...and wait... to check in. (Not sure if its like that at every hospital, but this is one reason I will not be going back to this one). As I was standing in line, I started to realize I was in labor. Tears were now streaming down my cheeks I was in pain. Finally, I got to the front of the line- I could barely talk to the lady- she put the wristband on me and told me to wait in the lobby to be called back ( reason #2 i won't go back)- and we waited ...and waited...and waited.... and I cried...and cried... and cried... (Even though I was in pain and crying- it was still nothing like what I imagined!) 45 min later- yes, i think that is ridiculous- they called us back. We went into a tiny little room where they monitored my contractions and Braxtons heart beat and sure enough, I was having intense contractions every 3 min and was already dilated to a 4! So....another 30 min later they finally moved us to a labor and delivery room- by this time we called all our family and friends to let them know this was the real deal! My mom and dad and Brians parents were there and our friends Taylor and Teresa.
Dr. Hall came in, she said that she wasn't on call that night, but that she would stay to deliver our baby (thank goodness!!!) She had a church event from 6-7 that night, but she said we would be in for a long long night and she would come back afterwards and there would be a small chance I would have the baby before midnight. They went ahead and broke my water- I couldn't feel anything because of the epidural. They had me laying on my left side and left us alone for awhile-Teresa also happens to be my chiropractor so she went ahead and adjusted me while the nurses were out. My pelvis was out of alignment and she got it back in place and got it to stay.
My whole pregnancy Braxton never really liked me laying on my left side, so it didn't surprise me when the nurses came back in and told me to switch to my right side because his heart rate was dropping. About 30-45 min after laying on my right side I was having pain that was just too much to take. I finally buzzed the nurse and told her that position was causing me a lot of pain and I needed to move. She came in to move me and said well I might as well just check to see if you have made any progress....she checked....and said "well honey, that pain is because you are at a 10 and ready to push" WHAT?!?! I said you mean, its time?!?! A group of family and friends had just left to grab dinner because we were all told we would be waiting all night- so we had to make a few phone calls and texts to get everyone back- and then I realized Dr. Hall was still at church! I kind of panicked- the nurse said it was okay, we could wait a little while to push and she had called Dr. Hall to let her know to come back now.
I had Brian on my left side coaching me through everything and then Teresa and my mom on my left. We started pushing without Dr. Hall there because there wasn't any more time to wait. Luckily, Dr. Hall was there by the 2nd set of pushes! It only took 6 pushes and Braxton was here! I felt no pain at all- it was the easiest part of this entire journey! All the doctors and nurses were shocked by how easy and fast I dilated and was able to push him out- it was all because Teresa adjusted me and got my body back in alignment so that Braxton could come as easy as possible! It was within an hour or so after being adjusted that I was holding Braxton in my arms!
I was so scared the entire time just waiting for bad news or complications- the pregnancy had been so tough- I was dreading hearing the words "Time for Plan B" or "C Section"- but God blessed us with a completly easy and pain free labor- gave me a little break from how hard it had been :) Labor was nothing like I was told or had watched on TV- it was the easiest part of the whole process and the most pain free!
He was born at 7:46pm weighing 7 pounds 11 ounces. I remember just holding my breathe praying that I would hear him cry and praying that he would be healthy- and sure enough I heard the cry and the nurses said "he was perfect". After he was born we did lots of skin to skin time- we let everyone come in and see him, but they had to come back the next day to hold him- they wanted us to stay skin to skin for the night.
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| Proud Daddy! |
He was so perfect- and I couldn't believe we were actually holding our baby. It had been quite the journey and this was the perfect ending! They said he was completely healthy- thank the Lord! When he was first born he could only open one eye- I was kind of worried, but they said it was completely normal.
He got his very first adjustment just shortly after he was born!
They had lactation come in to help teach me how to breast feed for the first time- the lady was awful. She kept getting frustrated and mad at me because I wasn't getting the hold right and finally she just gave up on me and said we would just have to try again later. I knew right away I did not like that lady! It didn't get any better the rest of the stay- I actually went to the nursery a few times asking them what we were going to do since he wasn't getting any food because I wasn't getting it down yet- they all reassured it me everything was fine.
The next day Dr. Adair (our pediatrician) came to look him over- and Braxton is truly unique- she noticed that on the palm of his hands he only has one line- only 4% of Americans have one line and it is an indicator of Downs Syndrome. The second I heard those words I freaked out and started googling and researching- the doctor tried to assure me that she didnt see any signs of Downs in him- he seemed perfectly healthy, she just wanted to let us know. Brian did some research and found out that Brittney Spears, Robert De Niro, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair also only have one line! Other than that she said he looked perfect!
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*Note: I didnt think to take a picture of his hand until I was writing this blog-- so he is not a newborn in this picture- picture was taken at 4 months old.
One good thing about the hospital is that they have a photographer come around and takes pictures of your baby- we had so much going on in our room when she came and it was the only time she had open, so we grabbed an outfit- he was in newborn sizes, but we thought he was going to weigh 9-10 pounds so we only had 0-3 sizes :( so we put him in an osu outfit and got some really good newborn pics. I meant to take some of him naked, but in the moment I totally forgot!
We wanted Braxton to stay with us in our room the entire time- we were so in love with him already- but the nurses kept telling us we should really send him to the nursery at night so we could get some sleep and rest before we went home, so the 2nd night we were really exhausted- we hadnt slept in so long so we finally decided to take him down there and rest. It was my first time really up and walking- but when we got there they told us sorry they didnt have room for him :( so back we went- needless to say we didnt get any rest at the hospital!
The day I had labor I hadnt eaten all day and by the time I had him I was STARVING- I think everyone forgot about me though, because they brought Brian dinner- but once Braxton was here everyone loved on him and then left for the night. And Lakeside doesnt have a cafeteria. So finally once we realized no one was going to bring dinner for me, we buzzed the nurse and begged for some food for me. All they had was cold leftovers :( I was dying for a Pepsi and Bueno!
Thankfully the next night, Teresa- who had also been my college roommate, and knows me so well- brought me some Bueno burritos to eat! yummmmyyy!!!!!
We did get Braxton circumcised- I thought he would be in a lot of pain and super fussy from it- but he was just fine when he came back. Everyone was telling us what a laid back lil guy we had and how lucky we were! We were just so in love!
We had so many wonderful visitors to come see our little one- almost all of our family made it out to the hospital, all except one of my brothers, and we had lots of friends stop by- it was such a happy time for us!
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| Grandma |
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| Grandma |
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| Aunt Myranda- and the boys in the background! |
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| Aunt Shannon |
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| The Bolner Family |
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| Taylor |
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| Teresa |
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| Gift from Truley & Family! |
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| Diaper Wreath from Teresa! |
We couldn't wait to get home and start our family of 3!!!! I always thought when you left the hospital you had to be escorted out in a wheelchair- but not at this place- we carried everything out ourselves and I had to walk out on my own. We loaded up the truck and headed home (or so we thought)...
We are now a family of 3- and not only are me and Brian best friends, husband and wife- but now we are mommy and daddy. We are so blessed!!!
YAY! So glad you finished this! I have never walked out of a hospital with a newborn! ALWAYS in a wheelchair! Weird. I did just walk out yesterday with Finn, tough. That was kinda strange for me!
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