Brielle's Birth Story

First I cannot believe that my pregnancy is over and done with. The beginning went by slow and then it really picked up. I'm glad I had a few weeks off of work to enjoy Brooklyn and enjoy my pregnancy. I'm getting up there in age, so we are very sure there are no more kids in our future. And, let's not forget the fact that we have no more frozen babies. Holy shit, I have a frozen baby in real life. It's kinda strange!

My induction was scheduled for Thursday night and Thursday was not easy. I felt like I was just sitting around all day waiting for it. I was very nervous and apprehensive. I felt guilty for scheduling an induction and not waiting until I went into labor on my own. I began to feel bad for Brooklyn, knowing that changes that were ahead for her. Pretty much I was just a hormonal mess. I kept hoping my Braxton Hicks would turn real and I would miss my induction like I did with Brooklyn, but I didn't.

At 7:00pm on Thursday I called Labor and Delivery to confirm my appointment. The charge nurse said to head on over as it was rather slow. We said good bye to Miss B and left her with my mom. The whole drive there was so weird. It's weird knowing that your whole life is about to change.

When we arrived at the hospital I made Mr. Later Than Most take one last pregnant picture of me and all of our bags. We went up to Labor and Delivery, checked in and got settled in our room. We were rather sure it was the same room I delivered Miss B in. Right away I got changed and the nurse came in to check me and see where I was. My OB does not perform internal checks, so I had not idea if I was even effaced or ready for birth. We were extremely surprised to find that I was already dilated to 4cm and that I was contracting on my own! I never really felt anything!

My OB suggested that I get my epidural sooner than later. He figured it may go fast since I was already at 4cm. I agreed with that and we had the epidural before starting the Pitocin. Unlike my last birth, this time they would not allow my husband to be in the room for the epidural. Also, my last epidural did not hurt, but this one really did. The anesthesiologist actually had to complete the process twice as she could not get in a good enough spot the first time. Lucky for me, I got to feel the needle go in two times instead of one! I remember wincing out loud both times and wishing that the process was almost over. I did not remember feeling any pain with the first pregnancy, but holy crap that thing hurt! Finally, the catheter was in and I began to slowly feel the effects. Though I've had an epi before, I began to worry a little about the after effects and if it was going to work right. When I had Miss B my epi wore off quickly and I was in so much pain. It was non-stop crying for hours.

This epi seemed to go well. Once I felt good, they began the Pitocin in increments of 2. Slowly my contractions started to pick up and space out evenly. I had little to no pain at all. Each half hour they kicked up the Pitocin and checked to see if I had made any progress.  After a while, it became apparent that I was a bit of a mystery. Apparently my cervix was dilating unevenly. So the top inside part was dilated more than the bottom. At one point they were calling me a 7/5. 7cm at the top and 5 at the bottom. My regular nurse had another nurse come in around 11pm to make me and make sure that I was dilating the way she thought I was. Sure enough, nurse number two is also surprised that she too will have to record two different numbers for how dilated I am. At this point they decide to call the doctor and see what he had to say. It was now midnight and the nurses felt like I could be stalling a bit. The nurse said that things would go quickly if my water broke, but the doctor was not going to break my water. He didn't want to rush things.

Around 1am they kicked the Pitocin up a bit and had me change into a bunch of different positions. One position they referred to as the "Texas" something. I slept like that for over an hour and a half and luckily, it seemed to work.  When the nurse came in she said everything was looking great, but baby was floating all around in amniotic fluid and had dropped. As she finished her check, my water broke. No more floating baby! They called the doctor to report that I was now effaced fully (and evenly) and that baby would be on her way soon. It was about 4am when that call was made.

Mr. LTM and I started to get excited that it was almost delivery time. Not too long after the nurse came running in and stopped the Pitocin. She said that baby's heart rate showed that delivery was very, very close but the doctor wasn't here yet. In case you don't know my birth story from Miss B, the doctor missed her birth. The nurse taught me how to push and Miss B would not stop her entrance into the world. She was delivered by about 8 nurses after only three pushes.  The doctor came in about three minutes after Miss B was born.  They didn't want this to occur again, so the Pitocin was stoppted until my doctor showed.

Around 5am my fav OB came strolling in with a big smile on his face. This guy is the best. He was actually not working the night of my induction or delivery, but the nurse said he "specialed" himself in for my delivery. I felt special when she said that doctors only do this for patients they really liked. :)

After a check by the OB, they kicked the Pitocin back up so I could have some regular contractions to push baby out. We waited and waited. With Miss B I felt no pressure to push. This nurse was aware of that and kept explaining what I should be feeling. "You'll feel like you have to poop." That's all she kept telling me so that feeling should be rather clear. Um yea, never felt sensation with either birth.

Around 6:30am I FINALLY called the nurse to tell her that I felt something. Not like I had to poop but just pressure in general. The doctor returned with an extra nurse and they had me start pushing. I pushed through two contractions and they had me stop. At this point there was for sure some pain. I could tell that baby was crowning because that feeling cannot be mistaken. Kind of a burn mixed with pressure. While I was laying there with a baby sticking partly out of me, the doctors and nurses began getting everything ready and turning all of the lights on. At one point they giggled because I asked if this was really going down right now. I couldn't help it! Everyone got so serious. In my mind I figured I was giving it my all on the next set of pushes and this baby was going to come out.

After one more contraction and pushing, my little Brielle Elizabeth entered the world. No cries right away. I could hear the doctor tell Mr. LTM that the cord was around her neck but nothing to worry about. They suctioned and suctioned her. I remember the doctor talking to Brielle and telling her that he saw her swallow a bunch of fluid and that she needed to try to get that up. Mr. LTM kept asking if she was okay, but the doctor was so busy suctioning her that he really didn't answer. I did begin to worry. I kept asking the nurse if she was ok and she just answered, "yea." I was kinda hoping for a "oh don't worry, she's good!" or a "She's excellent." None of that. My worrying continued for what felt like eternity but was probably only another minute. Brielle started screaming and they handed her right to me for some skin to skin. I remember thinking how cute and little she was. I was sure she was a 6lb'er.

I know skin-to-skin is amazing, but holy shit, I didn't enjoy that experience. I mean, they gave her to me bloody and she's screaming the entire time.  Then, I'm delivering the placenta while she is still screaming on me. Then, she's still screaming as they were stitching me up. It was very overwhelming. I didn't want to seem like a horrible person, so I just held her the entire time while she continued to scream. In hindsight, I'm just glad she was screaming after the scare we had.

After about an hour of skin-to-skin, they took Brielle over to be weighed. At 40 weeks and 2 days, Brielle was born weighing 7lb 13oz and 19.5 inches long. My little cutie received 9s on both of her APGARS.

Overall, this was a great birth. The induction process went as smooth as it possibly could. I'm thankful to have another beautiful girl on my hands.