Bryson's Birth Story

November 19, 2012

At our final regular doctor's appointment, we discussed the option of being induced. The main reason we considered the option was because I was due on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Because I was already 2cm dilated and 70% effaced by about 38 weeks, the likelihood of me going into labor over Thanksgiving was high. This would mean that my entire doctor's office staff would be on Holiday and we would end up with a doctor we'd never met, despite 9 months of meeting with everyone in our office! This was NOT a desirable option to me... On top of that, My family was planning to be in town over Thanksgiving, so if I had Bryson during the Thanksgiving break, I'd be in the hospital the whole time my relatives were here! Or worse, Bryson could hold out until his due date and my family would have to leave to get back to work and never get to meet him!
All of this led us to decide to induce on Monday, November 19th, at 39 weeks. It worked out well because my favorite doctor was on-call and we got to know the due date (assuming B didn't come early) so I could spend a few days at home relaxing and getting ready. On top of that, we'd be discharged on Wednesday and home for Thanksgiving the next day!

So this is how the day went:
We woke up around 5:30am, as we had to be at the hospital by 7. I wanted to shower and look as presentable as possible since I didn't know when I'd get another good shower.

My final belly picture! 39 weeks:

We checked into the hospital and the nurses got me all set up with IVs, etc. I was a little nervous about what was impending, but my mom and husband were there to keep my mind occupied.

Here we are waiting for the doctor to arrive to begin the induction:

The doctor finally arrived sometime around 8:30-9am and she told the nurses to give me a cervix softener. The nurse said they have to get me to 4cm (from 2ish at arrival) before they start any pitocin. So it could be all day, just depended on how ready my body was. 

Around 9:30 I was allowed to order breakfast, as nothing was happening. But by 10 when the food came, none of it sounded good and it turned out, I was really ready for induction and was having contractions. It didn't feel at all like what I thought it would. I expected my whole stomach, from my pelvis to my ribcage, to tighten up and squeeze/hurt. My actual experience was more like having major cramps. VERY painful, low, menstrual cramps. After an hour or so, I [ashamedly] asked for a pain shot. I couldn't believe I already wanted pain meds and it was just the beginning! How was I supposed to last through the actual painful part of labor and delivery if I couldn't handle this!?  Wonderfully, my gracious mother told me that I shouldn't be upset with myself for wanting pain meds as she thought I was progressing a lot faster than I thought I was. And indeed she was right! I can't remember the exact dilation, but when they checked me, I was a good 4-5 centimeters in just an hour or so!

I remember lying there, trying to focus on the Scripture Lullabies I had playing and breathing through the pain when the contractions would come. My mom said one of the main reasons she knew I was dealing with a lot was because I was shaking my legs back and forth, which she said was my body trying to help me work through the pain.

Around 1-1:30pm, 4ish hours after they gave me the cervix softener, I got up to go to the bathroom. While walking back to my bed I felt something dripping down my leg. I called to Caleb and he brought me tissues because each time I moved, more would drip! Apparently my water had broken! Wonderfully, I didn't end up with any "induction" past the cervix softener! My body took over from there and we quickly went from zero to sixty! 

By 3pm, I was asking for the epidural. I was in a lot of pain and I was progressing so quickly that I was afraid I wouldn't ask in time and I would be denied. Around 3:15, the doctor came in to administer the epidural. When he asked me to sit up, I asked if he could wait until I was between contractions (as the nurses had done each time they checked me) because it was really hard to do anything but focus on breathing while in that pain. He told me no. He said the epidural would take longer than just between contractions anyway, so sit on up and lets get going. Okay! Guess I had no choice. 

Unfortunately, sitting was very uncomfortable, as it felt almost like I was sitting on something (which I found out was my son's head!) and in all honesty, his presence at the exit door makes you feel like you have to "go to the bathroom".... I told the nurse about that sensation and as soon as the doctor was done with my spine, the nurse checked me. She said, "Well we're just at the door of 10cm! You can start pushing!" To which I replied, "No way! Not until this epidural kicks in! I didn't get that for nothing!" :) She told me not to worry that it was working immediately and in a rush, the doctor came in and my mom went out! It was just me, my husband on my left, the doctor delivering, and the nurse helping on my right side while keeping track of the baby's heart rate. That was about 3:30pm, just 6-7 hours after we began! Not bad for a first baby!

During delivery I kept my eyes closed and focused on what the doctor was telling me to do and/or listened to the scripture lullabies still playing beside my head. At first, I tried to push during and between contractions, but because of the epidural, I couldn't feel anything happening when I would push without the help of the contraction. Seemed like wasted energy. So instead I would lie back and catch a breather between contractions so I could give it my all when my body was working with me to push Bryson out.  The doctor told me at one point when I was at the "ring of fire" (Bryson's head was RIGHT there), that if I didn't have the epidural, there would be no way I wouldn't be pushing as hard as I could to get Bryson the rest of the way out! To which I replied, "Well that's why I got the epidural - I didn't want to feel the ring of fire! Even if it means Bryson taking a little longer to come out!" As a side note, my mother agreed and said she thinks that at the rate I was going, if I would've skipped the epidural, Bryson would have been born within minutes!

As it was, Bryson Nicholas was born at 4:24pm on 11/19/12! He was 8lbs 12oz and 21inches long!

As soon as Bryson was born, they put him on my chest. I couldn't believe how big he was! How had that been in me!? He had lots of dark hair, and his pouty crying lip was so pitiful and precious! 

The nurse came over to take him for footprints and other cleaning/testing, but I asked if I could hold him until the doctor was done with... whatever she was doing down there... because I sure as heck did not want to be watching that when I could focus on my son, who was blocking my line of site to the doctor! The nurse laughed and said that was fine, some of the things she needed to do could be done while I held him anyway.

It was great to keep him longer, the few seconds I would've had with him was just not enough! 

Our first family photo (right after delivery):

Daddy loving on his beautiful son:

After everyone was cleaned up and ready to go over to postpartum, they put me in a wheel chair and pushed us from one side of the hospital floor to the other, going right past the waiting room where all of our family had been waiting with bated breath to meet our son! It was a short stop, but everyone got a quick glance, and my younger sister actually got to come over to postpartum with us, as we needed another set of hands to carry all of our stuff from one room to the other. She was thrilled, as she was the first family member to hold Bryson! 

The rest of the evening was spent with family and friends coming in and out until about 11pm. 

Then we tried to sleep, though I kept waking up and trying to nurse Bryson, as I thought he was supposed to be eating every couple hours. Apparently he was too tired and just wanted to sleep though, so I decided to try to get some sleep too. I wish I would've known before I wasted my precious sleeping time trying to wake him up (and frustratedly not nurse) that it was normal and okay for him to sleep for many hours the first night (which I found out the next morning)! So I had the nurses keep him in the nursery with instruction to bring him to me when he woke up, and not to give him a pacifier.

Around 3-4 am they brought him in and had given him his first bath! 

After that nursing time, we slept again until morning, when the nurses and doctors started their rounds and try to keep you from getting whatever sleep you could be getting... lol The nature of staying in a hospital!

Overall, Bryson's delivery was amazingly easy, as far as birthing goes! We had a great stay in the hospital and we are even willing to do it again!