Someday Brady may ask (or his wife may ask, tear) all about his labor. And, God willing, I won't be able to recall all the painful details ... sooo ... I will document them now. Spoiler alert: Don't read if you really don't wish to know. However, if you are a girlfriend of mine who does not yet have, but plans on bearing children at some point, I would read it, just so you get some of the real facts of labor that everyone seems to hide from you ... better to be prepared, right? ;)
Let me set the scene: Early Monday morning, August 8th.
My water broke at 4am, about 2 minutes after I told Brady boy that if he wanted to come today, he needed to break the water right now, before Daddy left for work! Such a good listener, my little man! And good thing he did it while Daddy was close to home. As hoped for, my labor progressed pretty quickly, all on its own, shortly after my water broke. I had been terrified for weeks that my water had broken and I had just missed it. Well, I must admit, that after experiencing it, I now understand what my doctors were talking about -- you do NOT miss it. It is pretty much the grossest thing that ever happens and I am so grateful that Scott was home to help me out, as at one point I just stood there in tears because it was so disgusting I didn't know what to do. My trooper of a husband, still half asleep and still kinda manic, pulled through and got the dog to my parents, me to the hospital, and the wet sheets off the bed and into the laundry machine. Thanks babe! :)
I didn't start feelings heavy contractions after my water broke, which helped since I had to get the dog some food and make sure Scott grabbed everything off our list (he was a tiny bit of a scatter brain at first haha). I had been feeling really crappy all day on Sunday, having close contractions, but they didn't escalate immediately after my water broke. Sometime on Lake Shore Drive, about a half hour later, they started to kick in and I was like "Oh these hurt more!" Or maybe they hurt more because Scott was flying over potholes on Michigan Ave. ;) Luckily, they were still far enough apart for me to breathe and get into the hospital in one piece. (My lovely husband did valet park car, after first asking if he should park in the garage -- which is a two block walk from the entrance and I could not walk without 2 towels between my legs! Funny man!)
Upon checking into the hospital, the nurse, in the midst of getting me into gowns and hooking me up to machines, immediately asked if I was ready for my epidural (they waste NO time!). My contractions were picking up in pain, but were still a little more spaced out so I said "No I'm still okay." Apparently that translates to "Ok, well you can't go up to labor and delivery until you're in more pain and you demand your epidural." Or they were telling the truth and my room really wasn't "ready" yet. Which of course made me think of "Friends" and I had horrible images of having to share a room with a bunch of crazy women! All I heard was how crowded Prentice gets in the summer! The nurse, however, reassured me there was a room for me and it would be all mine. She then left us alone and it took maybe 20 minutes before I was sending Scott out to find her -- I was ready for the drugs! My contractions were coming around 2 minutes apart and picking up greatly in intensity. My best friend just asked me what they felt like the other day and the only response I had was "I sort of felt like I was dying at the peak of them." After complaining of an urge to push, the nurse checked my cervix and said it was only at 4cm so we were still ok. I did not want to miss my chance to get the drugs! And the water just kept gushing! Ew. Ew. Ew.
We were then sent upstairs where I begged for the epidural more forcefully! I was also super nervous about the epidural (hello paralysis!) so I was trying to get all the facts and ease my mind ... until the pain was too much! I literally interrupted the anesthesiologist from her talk and was like "Ok I don't care, do it now!" They sent Scott out and started the process -- which was really difficult for me because you can't move during it and my contractions were too close together for them to get much done in between. Ugh, was so not good for a little while. Luckily, all worked fine, and I soon began to feel the effect, stop feeling the water gushing, and calmed down a bit. The doctor showed up a couple of minutes later for a cervix check and I was at 6cm! It was about 7am. Progressing fast ...
Our families showed up then and came in to check on us. Ignoring the doctors pleas to rest (I still hadn't gone to sleep since I was up all night before my water broke! And I mean, seriously, soo hard to rest with that kind of anticipation/anxiety kicking in! Remember I hadn't come to terms with the fact that I was getting a baby at the end of all of this.), we chatted with our families for a little while. Lots of doctors and nurses and interns and so on came in and out, asked me if I could feel anything (I coulnd't. whew!) and commented on how fast my contractions were coming (no pitocin needed for this girl!). By 10am the doctor was back to check my cervix and told us we were "complete." SCARY. She kicked everyone out and told me we were gonna wait another 1/2 hour to hour letting the baby drop farther down into the canal and then we would begin "pushing." It was sooo really happening!
Pushing was a super weird experience. It definitely takes some getting used to when you can't feel much!! Holding my own legs up was maybe the hardest part at that point because they each weighed like 8,000 lbs. thanks to the drugs, but it was so not liked I imagined it to be. It was really calm. Just me, Scott, my nurse, and my doctor who was in and out. In between pushing, I would lay down and we would just talk. The doctor gave me an oxygen mask which was awesome because I get kinda light headed when I push and breathing into it in between contractions kept me awake and as energized as I could be. It was not until almost 2 hours later that things got bad.
Dr. told me she could see I was working, but little Bradester was being kinda lazy and wasn't descending down as quickly as they had hoped. Eventually, she told me, "I'm pretty sure this is just a 7 something lb. baby and we can get him out with forceps." I was down for it -- I did not want a c-section (not that you have a choice, but if I could help get him out, I would!). However, this was apparently too much for my anxiety to handle. The realization that a baby was actually coming, seeing the forceps, all the doctors that suddenly surrounding your bed and screaming demands at you ... well, I may have lost it a little bit. A good 10 minutes of chaos and crying and screaming and a huge blur and then I heard Scott saying "Look, look, there's the baby!" I opened my eyes and the doctor was holding a big bloody baby up in front of me. Since I was still mid hysterics (and I did not hear Brady cry, not helping my hysterics!) they took Brady over to his bed to get him cleaned off and tested and let me calm down. The doctor demanded some sedatives for me from the anesthesiologist -- but he was like "All I have is more epidural!" (Which they then pumped me FULL of -- I lost all feeling in the bottom half of my body and had no idea I had even gotten rid of the after birth and was being sewn up from a pretty severe tear.)
Eventually, Scott and the nurse calmed me down, Brady started to cry his sweet tears, and they finally brought my baby boy over to me. He was nice and calm on Mommy's chest and Scott and I got to enjoy our little miracle as the doctors spent a nice time "fixing" Mommy up. Labor war wounds. You somehow forget that's going to happen until your epidural wears off (then its not good--trust me.)
A couple of hours later we remembered that Gramma Kathy, Grandma Pat, Grandpa Phil, and Aunt Megan were waiting semi patiently ;) to come in and meet our little guy (we spent those couple hours cuddling him and trying to decide on his name) and once they met him, it was time to transfer out of labor and up to post partem. Later that afternoon Grampa Joe, Uncle Scottie, and Aunt Gina showed up to shower the little man with love and kisses.
And that little Brady, is the story of the day you entered the world, the best day of Mommy and Daddy's life :)
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