A Baby Story: Braden

I've spent a lot of time this summer doing research... aka watching the TLC show "A Baby Story"... trying to prep myself for what labor would be like. So here's my "Baby Story" for those who are interested.

My pregnancy was really normal the whole way through. Braden was extremely active all the time, almost annoyingly so! Watching my belly do the wave was one of our favorite Sunday afternoon pastimes. As my due date started to get closer I started having pretty regular contractions, some of which were a little painful, and I thought for sure I'd have him before my due date came. My doctor only fueled my fire by telling me that I was making amazing progress for a first time mom and that the baby could really come any day. My Mom and Annie flew in on August 1st to help out with the baby and I was sure that he'd be here before too long. As soon as my mom got here we tried every trick for inducing labor that we could find. Rachel gave me foot and shoulder massages, I ate spicy food (which wasn't much fun since I already had constant heartburn) and we took long walks every evening. A couple of times, my contractions would get down to 7-8 minutes apart and I was sure I'd be heading for the hospital that night, but then they would randomly stop coming. My due date passed and my doctor suggested we wait a week and then think about inducing labor. I'd heard horror stories about inducing labor in first time moms and was terrified that the induction wouldn't work fast enough and I'd have to get a C section. So we kept walking, trying to encourage this baby to come quickly! Unfortunately, he wasn't interested in leaving the comfort of my womb on his own, so we scheduled a time to come in and be induced a week after my due date. 

We were called in to start the induction process on wednesday night, the 8th of August. After getting checked in, the doctors started me on Cervidil doses around 9:30 pm. When I started on the medicine, I was 1 1/2 cm dilated and only 60% effaced, so I had a long way to go. The plan was to give me doses of cervidil every three hours until the next morning when they would start me on the pitocin. So, I settled in for the long haul, Rachel, Brad and Amber came to the hospital to hang out for a little while and we watched the Olympics on TV. Three hours later at 12:30 the nurse came to check me and I was 2 cm and still only 60%. My contractions were made me just uncomfortable enough that I couldn't really sleep, so Taylor slept while I laid there and waited. Towards the end of my second dose of Cervidil (around 2:30 or 3) my contractions started getting a lot stronger and closer together. The nurse came to check me around 4 and I was still 2 cm but 70% effaced. She offered to give me pain medication to take the edge off of the contractions before I got my epidural, but I didn't feel like I was in enough pain to warrant medication quite yet. Around 5am my contractions started coming a lot faster and were much more intense. I decided it was time to stop trying to be tough and take something for the pain. The nurse came and gave me Fentanol and it helped a lot! I was actually able to doze off for about an hour at that point which was really nice. The only problem was that IV drugs wear off as quickly as they start to work so around 6am I woke up with crazy strong contractions that were coming right on top of each other, giving me no break in between. At this point I made Taylor wake up and help me through it because I was in a lot of pain. I buzzed my nurse and asked for my epidural, but it took about an hour for me to finally get it. During that hour I was in quite a bit of pain and the pain was so bad it was making me nauseous. Finally, after a lot of pain and a couple rounds of vomiting I finally got my epidural. Once the medicine started to kick in I was in heaven! It was such a relief to not be able to feel the contractions any more and I was able to sleep for another hour. The nurse checked me and I was now 4 cm and 90% effaced. I woke up around 7 and she checked me again and I had jumped from 4 cm to 7cm in a little over an hour! At that point she told me there was no need to give me the pitocin, my body had figured out what it was supposed to do and was moving full steam ahead. They broke my water around 8am and noticed that the fluid wasn't quite clear so they were a little worried about Braden inhaling meconium, but thanks to my Baby Story research I knew that this was fairly common, especially in over-due babies and I knew what the procedure was for treating babies with this problem. (Who ever said that watching TV was a waste of time?!) By 9:30 I was fully dialated and effaced and the doctors just wanted to wait a little while to let my contractions move Braden farther into the birth canal before I started pushing. By this time my epidural was starting to wear off, but my nurse advised against pushing the button that would give me more drugs because it would make pushing easier if I could feel my contractions a little bit. By 10:45 I was ready to push. The epidural had worn off quite a bit and during the first 15 minutes of pushing I was in quite a bit of pain, which lead to another round of vomiting (apparently that is my body's way of trying to cope with intense pain...). Let me tell you, contracting, vomiting and pushing are not a very fun combination, but after pushing my magic pain-killing button, the pain subsided just enough to stop the vomiting and concentrate on pushing. I only had to push for 50 minutes and at 11:34 my baby boy was born! He weighed in at 7lb 15 oz and 21 cm long. Unfortunately, because of the meconium, I wasn't able to see him right away. As soon as he was born the doctor cut the cord and they took him over to the warmer to observe his breathing. 

Braden right after birth. Even though I didn't get to see him right away, Taylor was able to go over and be with him, they even let him hold his hand while the doctors worked on him.

Finally, after about 15 minutes of observation (he was having a little trouble breathing) I got to see and hold my boy for the first time. I can't describe what it felt like to see his little face and to know that he'd finally arrived. 

Our first family picture

I only got to hold him for a couple of minutes before the doctors needed to take him to the NICU to help stabilize his breathing. It was hard to see him go, but I was so grateful for modern technology and good doctors that were able to help out my little guy.

Braden ended up needing to stay in the NICU for a couple of hours, but finally they brought him to my room and I got to really be with him for the first time. A lucky by-product of him coming a week late was that my entire immediate family was in town for Rachel's graduation from BYU. Braden was lucky enough to meet all of my siblings on the same day he was born. I guess the kid has already figured out how to make an entrance ;)

Braden with all his Longhurst aunts and uncles

Amber had also brought her youngest, Max with her to the graduation. Braden is the first cousin for Amber's kids and him and Max are exactly 5 months apart. You can tell by this picture that they are going to get along great. :) I'm sure these two have many crazy adventures in their future!

Braden giving Max the one-eyed glare...

I think my favorite part in all of this has been watching Taylor love our little guy. He has always been a great husband but to watch him love being a father just melts my heart.

My two boys

We are so glad that Braden is finally here. He is a great baby and is usually content to sit around and observe everything going on around him. He also is a great sleeper and sleeps for 4-5 hour shifts during the night. I still can't believe he's finally here and that he's ours to keep. I can't wait to watch him grow and learn and I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be his mom.

One week old. Poor guy has very little choice of whether or not he will like sports :)