Being a Mommy

I always wondered what this moment would feel like, now that it is here, it feels like that is all I have known. Even though I am completely clueless on how to take care of this sweet boy and I feel so lost at times, he makes it allll worth it! I keep getting emails from many of you asking me to tell about my experience with delivery, so for those of you who want to know, here it is.

I wasn't too far past my due date, only 3 days, but the Doctor agreed it would be OK to induce early, even though he wanted to see if I would go on my own but who knows how long that would take. I went into the hospital @ 6:00 p.m. on Monday evening and they started Oxytocin around 7:00 p.m. Dr. Barton broke my water immediately, even before they started the Oxytocin and I was only at a 2. I should have known by that, that this was going to be a long one. Around 1:30 a.m. my contractions were uncomfortable. They were tolerable, but uncomfortable. I knew at some point I would get the epidural, but I wasn't sure when. The nurse came in and said the Anestesiologist was down the hall giving somone else an epidural and wanted to know if I would like one too. I was only about a 3 1/2 and so I said that would be fine because I didn't know how long it would take to get him back when I really needed one. I got my epidural and all I can say is that besides finally having the baby in your arm, an epidural is heaven sent! Adam and I tried to keep ourselves occupied throughout the night with movies, and tried to get a little sleep. Around 7:30 a.m. Dr. Barton came in to check me and I was only at a 4!!!! Are you kidding me, 6 hours of waiting and I was only at a 4!?!? He told me that if I didn't progress more by 10:00 a.m. he was going to do a C-Section. I was terrified, I really really really did not want a c-section and I immeditaly began praying that something would change, I didn't care if it was a centimeter, I just wanted to show him improvement. Well, come to find out, I wasn't the only one praying that I wouldn't have to have a c-section, many family and friends were praying in my behalf, which I am so grateful for!! The nurse came in a little bit before 10:00 a.m. and said she wanted to check me before she called Dr. Barton. As she was checking me, I thought for sure that she was going to tell me I was only at a 5, but then she said, "Well...it looks like you are at a 9." I lifted my head up and said, "are you kidding me?" She called Dr. Barton, and he was just as surprised. He came in, checked me and said sure enough you are at a 9, almost a 10. The nurse didn't hear him, but he told her that he wanted me to start pushing in about an hour. She came in and told me that she wanted me to "labor down", basically meaning that she wanted to baby to come down on its on naturally. By this point, my Oxytocin levels were at 17, (the level of how much your are having pumped into your body. The max amount is supposed to be 20) Dr. Barton told her to increase it to 20. A different Doctor came in and checked me, then told the nurse to jump my Oxytocin to 30 to speed things up. I was a little shocked by this because Dr. Barton told me that he didn't want to go past 20 because it can damage the Uterus because of all the stress the Oxytocin can put on it with contractions. Thankfully, the nurse did not bump it up to 30. Dr. Barton came in at noon and said he wanted to get this baby out because I should have already been pushing for an hour and it was taking too long. Him and the nurse argued a little bit because she didn't hear him tell me to start pushing, and he thought I had already been pushing for an hour. Well, I started pushing a little bit before 1:00 p.m. and Brennon was born at 3:23 p.m. His head was stuck on my pelvis and Dr. Barton had to use 2 different vacuum approaches. The little stinker just wouldn't come out. Oh, I forgot, around 2:00 p.m. my epidural was wearing off and the anestesiologist came in to give me a "boost" which only lasted about 45 minutes, then it wore off again. I could pretty much feel everything the last 30 minutes before Brennon was born.


Honestly ladies, I have no desire to try and get the Sheerah badge, I have never felt pain like that in my life, and I would never do it again if it weren't for the wonderful little baby that comes out and the epidural :) Major props to those of you who do it natural!
Once Brennon was born, they immediately took him over to give him some oxygen because his breathing was pretty shallow. They even started to take him down to their make shift NICU to put him on some oxygen because his color wasn't coming in, but half way down the hall, he was doing much better. They turned around and brought him into me. His swollen face and gigantic conehead was so adorable! Adam and I just looked at him with amazement. "I did it", I thought, "and now I want to sleep". HA HA! Not that any of you want to really know this, so I won't give you TMI, but I will just say it took the Doctor a VERY long time to stitch me up, he must have used 2 rolls of thread (or whatever they use) LOL!
We were moved into recovery and that was that! We went home Wednesday around 8:00 p.m. and have been doing wonderfully since. It has been really hard with my soreness, swollenness (not really a word) and tiredness, but luckily I have a wonderful husband, who in my opinion is honestly and truly the best daddy around. Many of you would like to argue with me on that one, but I don't care, he is the best! My mom has also been staying with us since he was born. My dad came up for a few days, but then needed to get back home. My mom has been a HUGE help and I don't know how I could have done a lot of this without her help. Breastfeeding has not been too bad, of course it hurts, but I am hoping to get through that soon.

Brennon sort of liked his first bath. He hated being in the water, but the minute I started washing his head he immediately calmed down and loved every minute of it! He is so fun!

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