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My first son was born at 23 weeks due to an amniotic infection that was discovered once I was in labor! Therefore, this time around I was classified as "high risk" and was given extra scans starting at 16 weeks. I was given cervical length checks every other week from 16 weeks to 24 weeks (even though I had no issues with my cervix with my 1st pregnancy) just in case which all came back normal. I also began Makena shots (progesterone) at 16 weeks to prevent pre term labor and took them up until 36 weeks.
Well, I made it to 39 weeks 5 days!! Unbelievable!! So here is my birth story of my 2nd son, Brody James...
On Monday, January 30th, I woke up to my first contractions (Braxton hicks or real) of my whole pregnancy! They were 20 minutes apart but I thought, "This is it!", since I hadn't had any other labor signs before this! So I texted my parents in California, (I currently live in Minnesota) and my dad flew in that night. So thankful since my 2 year old son is super comfortable with my parents but not many other people, so it made me feel relaxed leaving him in their care. I waited until the contractions got down to 7-8 minutes apart and then we left for the hospital the next morning around 6am. We live about 45 minutes from the hospital, so I wanted to make sure we had enough time to get there.
At my 38 week appointment the week before, I was 1-2cm dilated and 70% effaced with a favorable cervix. So when we arrived after a day of painful contractions and was told I was still only 1-2cm dilated and 80% effaced, I was heartbroken. I didn't want to go all the way home and I was ready to meet my baby! So we walked around and were told to go get breakfast, but as soon as I ate, the contractions pretty much stopped
So that afternoon I had my regular 39 week check up with my doctor (well one of her partners since she was on vacation) and he let me know that now that I know the type of pain these contractions we're bringing but we're making no change to my cervix, I need to wait until I feel they are stronger. He said it wasn't all about how close they were in time, but how strong they were and how they were making your cervix change.
So for the next FOUR DAYS I stayed home with irregular, painful contractions (that were always worse at night) and stayed on the edge of my seat trying to be calm but in reality was super anxious! My husband was constantly begging me to go into the hospital to be checked, but I didn't want to be sent home again! By this point, my mother was able to fly in on Thursday February 2nd, so I thought my body would feel this stress relief and go into action! Nope! Still played the waiting game! I did nothing crazy to induce labor as I just felt blessed to be carrying a full term baby and that he would come when he's ready. I did, however, schedule a prenatal massage for that Friday, February 3rd to see if things could get going naturally simply because my parents could only stay for one more week! The massage therapist hit pressure points and put an oil called "Clary Sage" on my wrists and ankles.
Saturday, Feb 4th we ran some simple errands (Target and grocery shopping) and by that night my pelvic pressure was insane! I thought it was just from being on my feet so much that day but by that night my contractions were again getting closer and keeping me awake and extremely painful so I woke my husband and parents at 2am and said I needed to go to he hospital.
Thank God when we got to the hospital around 3am Sunday morning I was 4cm dilated! I was scheduled for an induction 2 days later but all of my friends and family joked that we would have a Super Bowl baby since my husband and I are both obsessed with football! So they admitted me and sent me to a labor room with a tub because I wanted to try laboring in the water. At 630am the on call doctor (Dr. Cremer) came and checked me and broke my waters. Contractions increased in pain and closeness rather quickly and my walking around and ball bouncing quickly turned to the bed. I never even used the tub!! I was however one of the first people to use the new wireless, Bluetooth baby monitor which attached to my belly button to track the baby's heartbeat and contractions. This allowed me the flexibility to walk around or get in the tub if I chose to.
At 830am pitocin was administered (which surprised me that they started it so quickly after only breaking my waters at 630am) and soon there after I received my epidural. (I thought I would last longer without it, but I started to have those God awful back contractions you hear about and it felt like my back was literally on fire!).
We began taking bets on when baby would arrive (everything from 1230p to 3p to 410p as guessed by my nurse). At one point, I rolled onto my right side and the baby's heartbeat dropped, the nurse said he must have been laying on the cord so she instructed me to stay on the left side. Well this became a problem as my epidural began to pool into my left side and I began feeling full contractions in my right side. It was horrible. So they gave me a second dose (called a bolace I believe) and although I was super thankful at that point, I was also SUPER numb!! My legs felt like they were 1000lbs each!
Just before my epidural was fixed, I was checked for dilation and had made it to 6-7cm around 130pm. After that, everything went super quick and I was fully dilated by 3pm. Unfortunately, my nurse was changing shifts and I got a new one who wasn't my favorite. BUT, my mother and husband were in the room so they were great supporters when it came to the encouraging words I needed to hear while pushing. I was so afraid with being so numb that I would not be able to feel if I was pushing in the right place. But it went great! I was able to push for 8-10 seconds four times during each contraction. Holding my breath in to focus my pushing, my husband said he had never seen my face turn so red lol. The doctor commented that I must have been stuck at 4cm for a while because the baby had a "4cm cap" which I later found out was a little cone head type area from where he had been for a while! How crazy she could see that!
After an hour and 15 minutes or so pushing, Brody James was brought to my chest weighing 8lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches long. He was born at 410pm on Super Bowl Sunday! (Remember that my morning nurse had guessed 410pm on the dot!) She came to visit us and see the baby the next day and couldn't believe she was spot on!) He pooped on the way out (but not inside of me so no worries there) so they cleaned him off and my husband got to cut the cord (the first of his 4 children! My step daughters were c-sections and my first son was preemie). Baby Brody was full out crying, but I loved hearing it. As he came out I felt the biggest pressure/relief from my body and I went from overjoyed to crying! It was such an emotional moment, even my husband teared up! I couldn't believe I had done it! (Considering my first son, who was born vaginally as well, only weighed 1lb 8oz). My placenta came out immediately after and I did have a second degree tear that the doctor sewed up right away.
We stayed in the labor room for about two hours, passing Brody around between myself, my husband and my mother, as my epidural wore off and both of our vitals were monitored. We were then taken up to the 4th floor where they played the song when a baby has just been born. I was super dizzy when we got up there (just walking from the bathroom to the bed) and needed to sit back in the wheelchair immediately. I did order food downstairs but really only felt like peaches and pears so I don't think it was enough.
The epidural wore off fine for me, and the soreness from my vagina and the tear began to set in! Thank goodness they had some heavy duty pain medicine and ice packs! Brody passed all of his tests with flying colors (the jaundice test, newborn screening, and hearing test) and I was just in shock that we were going to get to take this baby home straight away! (With my first son we were in the NICU for 118 days and didn't even get to hold him until he was 33 days old)
The worst part post delivery was the constant pushing on your uterus to be sure it was contracting and clotting. Brody latched right away to breastfeed which was amazing and was feeding every 2-2.5 hours. We also took advantage, (thanks to the advice from our nurse) to use the nursery from 2-4am that night to get some sleep! Brody had spit up a couple of times so they didn't want us staying awake to keep an eye on that. It was so needed! The spit up stopped by the next day, as well as the raspy type of breathing from a little extra fluid they said he must have swallowed. The next day we had his circumcision and were told he wouldn't be eating much that day but to expect cluster feeding that night. And boy did he! He pretty much didn't stop feeding for the next week or so! Just now, at 12 days old, is he starting to sleep after eating for an hour or two!
His weight leaving the hospital was 7lbs 13oz, so down 5% but were told that up to 10% down was normal. He has had some baby acne, blocked tear ducts (which gives him some gunky eyes once in a while) and dry sensitive skin, but has otherwise been great! His circumcision has healed perfectly and his umbilical cord fell off right away at 7 days old. He was born with a full head of DARK brown hair which was super surprising as my first son, my husband and I were all extremely blonde as babies. (My husband is now dark haired so everyone says Brody is his twin!)
As for my healing, no one tells you how painful your lower region truly is afterwards and how swollen everything remains! I did use the witch hazel patches but not sure they did anything. On top of the pain, the itchiness begins (which I know can be a sign of healing) but it is intense! I did go in to get my tear looked at after 10 days because it wa still so painful and my stitches were in fact pulling apart a bit, but he said it would still heal normally. Another strange reaction post birth I had no idea of was my hands and feet swelling! I had ZERO swelling during my pregnancy so when my rings started feeling tight and my toes looked like little sausages, I was worried! But my doctor said it is just your body getting used to the redistribution of the huge amount of fluid change (including the IV fluid and pitocin) so it should go down soon. I was warned to have water nearby when breastfeeding as it gives you cottonmouth, and boy were those nurses right! I am CONSTANTLY thirsty!
Overall, I had a great birth experience and am beyond blessed to have a healthy, full term baby boy to join our family
Side note/fun fact: Brody James was born on February 5th, 2017, where we got to hold him for the first time. My first son, Zackary Allen, was born on January 2nd, 2015, but 17 weeks early, so we did not get to hold him until he was 33 days old, which happened to be February 5th, 2015. Exactly 2 years prior to Brody's birth
Well, I made it to 39 weeks 5 days!! Unbelievable!! So here is my birth story of my 2nd son, Brody James...
On Monday, January 30th, I woke up to my first contractions (Braxton hicks or real) of my whole pregnancy! They were 20 minutes apart but I thought, "This is it!", since I hadn't had any other labor signs before this! So I texted my parents in California, (I currently live in Minnesota) and my dad flew in that night. So thankful since my 2 year old son is super comfortable with my parents but not many other people, so it made me feel relaxed leaving him in their care. I waited until the contractions got down to 7-8 minutes apart and then we left for the hospital the next morning around 6am. We live about 45 minutes from the hospital, so I wanted to make sure we had enough time to get there.
At my 38 week appointment the week before, I was 1-2cm dilated and 70% effaced with a favorable cervix. So when we arrived after a day of painful contractions and was told I was still only 1-2cm dilated and 80% effaced, I was heartbroken. I didn't want to go all the way home and I was ready to meet my baby! So we walked around and were told to go get breakfast, but as soon as I ate, the contractions pretty much stopped
So that afternoon I had my regular 39 week check up with my doctor (well one of her partners since she was on vacation) and he let me know that now that I know the type of pain these contractions we're bringing but we're making no change to my cervix, I need to wait until I feel they are stronger. He said it wasn't all about how close they were in time, but how strong they were and how they were making your cervix change.
So for the next FOUR DAYS I stayed home with irregular, painful contractions (that were always worse at night) and stayed on the edge of my seat trying to be calm but in reality was super anxious! My husband was constantly begging me to go into the hospital to be checked, but I didn't want to be sent home again! By this point, my mother was able to fly in on Thursday February 2nd, so I thought my body would feel this stress relief and go into action! Nope! Still played the waiting game! I did nothing crazy to induce labor as I just felt blessed to be carrying a full term baby and that he would come when he's ready. I did, however, schedule a prenatal massage for that Friday, February 3rd to see if things could get going naturally simply because my parents could only stay for one more week! The massage therapist hit pressure points and put an oil called "Clary Sage" on my wrists and ankles.
Saturday, Feb 4th we ran some simple errands (Target and grocery shopping) and by that night my pelvic pressure was insane! I thought it was just from being on my feet so much that day but by that night my contractions were again getting closer and keeping me awake and extremely painful so I woke my husband and parents at 2am and said I needed to go to he hospital.
Thank God when we got to the hospital around 3am Sunday morning I was 4cm dilated! I was scheduled for an induction 2 days later but all of my friends and family joked that we would have a Super Bowl baby since my husband and I are both obsessed with football! So they admitted me and sent me to a labor room with a tub because I wanted to try laboring in the water. At 630am the on call doctor (Dr. Cremer) came and checked me and broke my waters. Contractions increased in pain and closeness rather quickly and my walking around and ball bouncing quickly turned to the bed. I never even used the tub!! I was however one of the first people to use the new wireless, Bluetooth baby monitor which attached to my belly button to track the baby's heartbeat and contractions. This allowed me the flexibility to walk around or get in the tub if I chose to.
At 830am pitocin was administered (which surprised me that they started it so quickly after only breaking my waters at 630am) and soon there after I received my epidural. (I thought I would last longer without it, but I started to have those God awful back contractions you hear about and it felt like my back was literally on fire!).
We began taking bets on when baby would arrive (everything from 1230p to 3p to 410p as guessed by my nurse). At one point, I rolled onto my right side and the baby's heartbeat dropped, the nurse said he must have been laying on the cord so she instructed me to stay on the left side. Well this became a problem as my epidural began to pool into my left side and I began feeling full contractions in my right side. It was horrible. So they gave me a second dose (called a bolace I believe) and although I was super thankful at that point, I was also SUPER numb!! My legs felt like they were 1000lbs each!
Just before my epidural was fixed, I was checked for dilation and had made it to 6-7cm around 130pm. After that, everything went super quick and I was fully dilated by 3pm. Unfortunately, my nurse was changing shifts and I got a new one who wasn't my favorite. BUT, my mother and husband were in the room so they were great supporters when it came to the encouraging words I needed to hear while pushing. I was so afraid with being so numb that I would not be able to feel if I was pushing in the right place. But it went great! I was able to push for 8-10 seconds four times during each contraction. Holding my breath in to focus my pushing, my husband said he had never seen my face turn so red lol. The doctor commented that I must have been stuck at 4cm for a while because the baby had a "4cm cap" which I later found out was a little cone head type area from where he had been for a while! How crazy she could see that!
After an hour and 15 minutes or so pushing, Brody James was brought to my chest weighing 8lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches long. He was born at 410pm on Super Bowl Sunday! (Remember that my morning nurse had guessed 410pm on the dot!) She came to visit us and see the baby the next day and couldn't believe she was spot on!) He pooped on the way out (but not inside of me so no worries there) so they cleaned him off and my husband got to cut the cord (the first of his 4 children! My step daughters were c-sections and my first son was preemie). Baby Brody was full out crying, but I loved hearing it. As he came out I felt the biggest pressure/relief from my body and I went from overjoyed to crying! It was such an emotional moment, even my husband teared up! I couldn't believe I had done it! (Considering my first son, who was born vaginally as well, only weighed 1lb 8oz). My placenta came out immediately after and I did have a second degree tear that the doctor sewed up right away.
We stayed in the labor room for about two hours, passing Brody around between myself, my husband and my mother, as my epidural wore off and both of our vitals were monitored. We were then taken up to the 4th floor where they played the song when a baby has just been born. I was super dizzy when we got up there (just walking from the bathroom to the bed) and needed to sit back in the wheelchair immediately. I did order food downstairs but really only felt like peaches and pears so I don't think it was enough.
The epidural wore off fine for me, and the soreness from my vagina and the tear began to set in! Thank goodness they had some heavy duty pain medicine and ice packs! Brody passed all of his tests with flying colors (the jaundice test, newborn screening, and hearing test) and I was just in shock that we were going to get to take this baby home straight away! (With my first son we were in the NICU for 118 days and didn't even get to hold him until he was 33 days old)
The worst part post delivery was the constant pushing on your uterus to be sure it was contracting and clotting. Brody latched right away to breastfeed which was amazing and was feeding every 2-2.5 hours. We also took advantage, (thanks to the advice from our nurse) to use the nursery from 2-4am that night to get some sleep! Brody had spit up a couple of times so they didn't want us staying awake to keep an eye on that. It was so needed! The spit up stopped by the next day, as well as the raspy type of breathing from a little extra fluid they said he must have swallowed. The next day we had his circumcision and were told he wouldn't be eating much that day but to expect cluster feeding that night. And boy did he! He pretty much didn't stop feeding for the next week or so! Just now, at 12 days old, is he starting to sleep after eating for an hour or two!
His weight leaving the hospital was 7lbs 13oz, so down 5% but were told that up to 10% down was normal. He has had some baby acne, blocked tear ducts (which gives him some gunky eyes once in a while) and dry sensitive skin, but has otherwise been great! His circumcision has healed perfectly and his umbilical cord fell off right away at 7 days old. He was born with a full head of DARK brown hair which was super surprising as my first son, my husband and I were all extremely blonde as babies. (My husband is now dark haired so everyone says Brody is his twin!)
As for my healing, no one tells you how painful your lower region truly is afterwards and how swollen everything remains! I did use the witch hazel patches but not sure they did anything. On top of the pain, the itchiness begins (which I know can be a sign of healing) but it is intense! I did go in to get my tear looked at after 10 days because it wa still so painful and my stitches were in fact pulling apart a bit, but he said it would still heal normally. Another strange reaction post birth I had no idea of was my hands and feet swelling! I had ZERO swelling during my pregnancy so when my rings started feeling tight and my toes looked like little sausages, I was worried! But my doctor said it is just your body getting used to the redistribution of the huge amount of fluid change (including the IV fluid and pitocin) so it should go down soon. I was warned to have water nearby when breastfeeding as it gives you cottonmouth, and boy were those nurses right! I am CONSTANTLY thirsty!
Overall, I had a great birth experience and am beyond blessed to have a healthy, full term baby boy to join our family
Side note/fun fact: Brody James was born on February 5th, 2017, where we got to hold him for the first time. My first son, Zackary Allen, was born on January 2nd, 2015, but 17 weeks early, so we did not get to hold him until he was 33 days old, which happened to be February 5th, 2015. Exactly 2 years prior to Brody's birth
