Well I must say I've been a little negligent on my blog posting. I just don't know what I've been doing these past 6 weeks. :) In the next few blog posts I'll try to catch us up to date.
LABOR AND BIRTH STORY...(what I remember)
On Thursday Jan. 20th at midnight, slight contractions started, but they were very sporadic and just felt like mild cramps. I starting jotting the times down, but they were 40 min to an hour apart and some would last ten to 20 seconds and others a little longer. I did have to breathe through them. After a few hours I woke Ty up to tell him, but I wasn't sure if this was false labor or not. He was a little surprised but told me to go back to bed. I tried but couldnt! So I went upstairs to the extra bedroom and laid there with Logan and kept tracking my contractions. I think I fell asleep once for about 20 min. I did take a shower and even straightened my hair (not sure why, just felt like it to pass the time, I guess), plus I finished packing my bag for the hospital in case this was it.
Around 5-6am I called the Dr on call to see if he thought this was false labor or the start of something real and he said probably real. Wow! I couldn't believe it, since I was just 38 weeks..to the day. I luckily had a Dr. Appt scheduled that morning at 8:30am, so when we went in the Dr. said I was 4 cm dilated and my cervix was very friable. He said to go home and we'd be back later that day to deliver her. So Ty went to work for a bit, and I went home. I called my parents to tell them that they'd be meeting Reese that day, then my work to tell them I wouldn't be coming in. Jen left work and came to my house to sit with me, then once the contractions were about 10 min apart Ty came home (around 11 am). He had patients that day but just left...that was his last day at that job.
Jen was timing the contractions and by this point they were between 5-8 min apart and were getting more intense. I felt best laying on the couch and just breathing (deeply) through them. Ty called the hospital and they said to come in once they were less than 5 min. apart. It was hard deciding when to go in, because I wanted to labor at home before going in. I didnt want to be at the hospital forever. Once they started getting very close together though, I didnt want to stay at home any longer. By the time we got all of our stuff together (pre-packed luckily), I think we got to the hospital around 1:30pm. They were full and didnt even have a room for us at that time. I had to labor in a wheelchair in the hallway for a bit...I wasnt too happy about that, but we weren't out there all too long when they brought us to a makeshift triage room to get my IV started. By that time my mom and dad both arrived at the hospital too. I was about 5-6 cm dilated at that time.
I was then given a couple bags of fluids, so I could get my epidural. I was getting ready for that! Eventually I was moved into my hospital room. I had to walk (very slowly) down a long hall to get there. Once I was in that bed I did not want to get up. Ty was always by my side, and was very comforting and talked softly to me through each contraction. I couldnt tell you anything else that was happening around me though, I was in my own world and could only think about the contractions and getting through them.
Around 4:30pm the anesthesiologist came and I received my epidural. The beginning of it burned and stung a bit, but it was nothing compared to my contractions. It seemed to take effect immediately, I don't think I felt a contraction after that, though I did feel a lot of pressure, it was WAY better than the pain. By that time, we could only see the contractions on the monitor..they were about 2 min apart. I then took a 40 min cat nap to rest up for the delivery and I think my family got some dinner. I kept dilating at a good pace....I was lucky. It was also nice to have 2 nurses I knew...Sue Arlinghaus and Lyndsey Hargis. They were great!
By 7pm I was around 9 cm...it was time to prop me up and push! My whole family was in there for the delivery (Ty, mom, dad and Jen). I did a practice push and since her head was right down there, they called Dr. Darpel in. I think I only pushed about 4x. Her heart rate was decreasing a bit toward the end, so they gave me an episiotomy and she came right out. It was really all a blur after that, but thankfully Jen got it on video, for which I am thankful. I love watching it. It was amazing to finally see Reese and hear her loud cry. She was purple and puffy and her hair was wavy, since it was wet. She was born at 7:24pm and weighed 7 lb 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She was 2 weeks early too...I wonder how big she would've been at 40 weeks!
That was a long birth story, but now for some photos!!
REESE ELIZABETH BROWN had arrived. :)
LABOR AND BIRTH STORY...(what I remember)
On Thursday Jan. 20th at midnight, slight contractions started, but they were very sporadic and just felt like mild cramps. I starting jotting the times down, but they were 40 min to an hour apart and some would last ten to 20 seconds and others a little longer. I did have to breathe through them. After a few hours I woke Ty up to tell him, but I wasn't sure if this was false labor or not. He was a little surprised but told me to go back to bed. I tried but couldnt! So I went upstairs to the extra bedroom and laid there with Logan and kept tracking my contractions. I think I fell asleep once for about 20 min. I did take a shower and even straightened my hair (not sure why, just felt like it to pass the time, I guess), plus I finished packing my bag for the hospital in case this was it.
Around 5-6am I called the Dr on call to see if he thought this was false labor or the start of something real and he said probably real. Wow! I couldn't believe it, since I was just 38 weeks..to the day. I luckily had a Dr. Appt scheduled that morning at 8:30am, so when we went in the Dr. said I was 4 cm dilated and my cervix was very friable. He said to go home and we'd be back later that day to deliver her. So Ty went to work for a bit, and I went home. I called my parents to tell them that they'd be meeting Reese that day, then my work to tell them I wouldn't be coming in. Jen left work and came to my house to sit with me, then once the contractions were about 10 min apart Ty came home (around 11 am). He had patients that day but just left...that was his last day at that job.
Jen was timing the contractions and by this point they were between 5-8 min apart and were getting more intense. I felt best laying on the couch and just breathing (deeply) through them. Ty called the hospital and they said to come in once they were less than 5 min. apart. It was hard deciding when to go in, because I wanted to labor at home before going in. I didnt want to be at the hospital forever. Once they started getting very close together though, I didnt want to stay at home any longer. By the time we got all of our stuff together (pre-packed luckily), I think we got to the hospital around 1:30pm. They were full and didnt even have a room for us at that time. I had to labor in a wheelchair in the hallway for a bit...I wasnt too happy about that, but we weren't out there all too long when they brought us to a makeshift triage room to get my IV started. By that time my mom and dad both arrived at the hospital too. I was about 5-6 cm dilated at that time.
I was then given a couple bags of fluids, so I could get my epidural. I was getting ready for that! Eventually I was moved into my hospital room. I had to walk (very slowly) down a long hall to get there. Once I was in that bed I did not want to get up. Ty was always by my side, and was very comforting and talked softly to me through each contraction. I couldnt tell you anything else that was happening around me though, I was in my own world and could only think about the contractions and getting through them.
Around 4:30pm the anesthesiologist came and I received my epidural. The beginning of it burned and stung a bit, but it was nothing compared to my contractions. It seemed to take effect immediately, I don't think I felt a contraction after that, though I did feel a lot of pressure, it was WAY better than the pain. By that time, we could only see the contractions on the monitor..they were about 2 min apart. I then took a 40 min cat nap to rest up for the delivery and I think my family got some dinner. I kept dilating at a good pace....I was lucky. It was also nice to have 2 nurses I knew...Sue Arlinghaus and Lyndsey Hargis. They were great!
By 7pm I was around 9 cm...it was time to prop me up and push! My whole family was in there for the delivery (Ty, mom, dad and Jen). I did a practice push and since her head was right down there, they called Dr. Darpel in. I think I only pushed about 4x. Her heart rate was decreasing a bit toward the end, so they gave me an episiotomy and she came right out. It was really all a blur after that, but thankfully Jen got it on video, for which I am thankful. I love watching it. It was amazing to finally see Reese and hear her loud cry. She was purple and puffy and her hair was wavy, since it was wet. She was born at 7:24pm and weighed 7 lb 8 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She was 2 weeks early too...I wonder how big she would've been at 40 weeks!
That was a long birth story, but now for some photos!!
REESE ELIZABETH BROWN had arrived. :)
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