Brandon's Birth Story

Wednesday, June 22nd - 8pm

I hadn't heard from the hospital yet so I called and they informed me that they had been really busy and had to move 4 of their scheduled inductions from that day to Thursday which meant that I had been moved from 2nd on the list to 6th on the list. They told me that there was a chance that I wouldn't be able to come in until Friday to be induced but it would be Thursday late afternoon at the earliest. Bummer. Luckily this news came after my day of reflecting on the many blessings of being able to get pregnant and bring children into this world and so I was okay with the news.

Thursday, June 23rd:

6:45 am - My phone rings and its the hospital. They ask me what pregnancy this was for me and if I'd had any complications with my other 5 births and how far progressed I was and if my Group B strep test was negative. It sounded as if they were screening their list of scheduled inductions for easy, quick, uncomplicated deliveries and when it seemed that I would be one of those they asked me to come is as soon as possible. I got up and showered right away and checked to make sure I had everything I needed and ate some breakfast as Peter was getting ready to go.

7:45 am - We leave to go to the hospital (my mom had arrived late the night before and stayed with the kids until Peter's dad could come out and be with them so she could be at the hospital with us).

8:30 am - Checked in and got settled. Still at 3+ and 90% effaced (as I'd been for the past week). The nurses put in my IV and started the pitocin and the Doctor broke my water. After only about 20 minutes I could feel the contractions picking up in intensity. This is it!

9:00 am - Turned up the pitocin. The nurse noticed that Brandon's heart rate was dropping after each contraction. So she propped me up onto my side a little bit and laid my bed down a little so I wasn't so upright.

9:15 am - Brandon was squirming around inside of me and the monitor wasn't picking up his heart rate at all. We tried to readjust the monitor but ended up putting an internal monitor on him as well as an internal contraction monitor (never had one of those before) so I didn't have to have anything wrapped around my waist which was really nice.

9:30 am - Turned up the pitocin again. Brandon's heart rate was fine now so I turned off of my side and back onto my back because the contractions were REALLY painful and uncomfortable in that position. My mother in law and sister in law Lisa (and baby Hayden - 10 weeks old) arrive at the hospital.

10 am - My contractions were substantial enough on their own (aka super hard, regular and plenty painful) to not have to turn the pitocin up anymore. I'm now 4+ cm dilated. My mom and sister in law Jessica arrive at the hospital.

11 am - 5+ cm dilated contractions really painful and 1 minute apart, definitely can't talk through them. We start guessing when Brandon will be born. Lisa says 12:21, my mom says in a text to my sister in law that it'll be about an hour but not much longer. It looks pretty intense from where they are sitting and they seem sure it'll be over soon. I remember thinking that it hadn't been that long yet and was hoping they were right, but trying to stay realistic and know that it could be awhile.

11:15 - After being hooked up to an IV for almost 3 hours I had to use the bathroom and knew that the longer I waited the more painful it would be to try to get up and walk across the room. But I knew that getting up would probably get things moving along a little faster as well. So off we went for a potty break. Sure enough the contractions came on fast and hard as I got up and moved around. As soon as I got back in bed I was in a ton of pain and feeling some pressure with the contractions as well.

11:35 - 7 cm dilated. Called the Dr back in. At this point my eyes were closed and would stay that way until Brandon was born so I could focus and stay in control. I was in a lot more pain then I remembered being in with the other kids.

11:55 - Sister in law Jen arrived (Yes, it was a party!)

12:02 - Doctor arrives. 7-8 cm dilated TONS of pressure but still not complete. My arms were both super numb and tingly and my fingers and hands were starting to cramp up. I had to have Peter with me holding my hand.

12:09 - Tons of pressure lots of pain, having a hard time staying in control during contractions. I was finally at a 10 but Brandon still wasn't very low. I wasn't about to wait for him to drop, I had to just push and be done with the pain.

12:10 - pushed with 2 contractions. It hurt A LOT more than I anticipated and I had to push A LOT harder to bring him down. I needed to rest in between the contractions because the pushing was so exhausting and took every ounce of strength I had in my body (not something that I experienced with the other kids).

12:12 - Brandon was born! 8 pounds 1 ounce, 18.5 inches long, with a 37.5 cm head circumference! The nurse said she's only ever seen one other vaginal delivery with a head that big. She said that all of the others had to be c-section. No wonder it was so much harder and hurt so much more! And no wonder I wasn't progressing more on my own. Usually the baby drops down into the birth canal and puts more pressure on the cervix causing it to dilate and efface, Brandon's head was so big that he couldn't drop down and he wasn't putting ANY pressure on my cervix!

I opened my eyes as soon as I delivered him and I saw my mom there next to the Doctor all suited up wearing gloves and a robe and she was holding Brandon in one hand and scrubbing on him and helping to clean him off with the other hand and she had a HUGE smile on her face and I faintly remembered hearing a conversation about my mom helping with something, I was too zoned to really know what they were talking about but then it dawned on me and I asked, "Mom, did you just deliver my baby!?" and she smiled and said, "Yes I did!" The Doctor was there by her side talking her through everything and helped her along but she got to help deliver my last baby! Peter got to help deliver either Logan and he has cut the umbilical cord for all of the kids but this time I needed him up by me and holding my hand, it was a lot more intense than the other deliveries. At one point he let go of my hand to get something in between contractions and I felt frantic. As soon as he came back I was fine again. It is amazing to me how a simple thing like holding my hand was able to keep me in control and focused.

It was such a neat thing to have so many people that I love there with me as well. Both my Mom and my Mother in law and 4 of my sister in laws (Stephanie was stuck in traffic and got there minutes after Brandon was born but I still count her as being there) and Peter. The feeling in the room as he was born was so joyful and we were truly celebrating his birth. Peter was SO excited and I think it was a mixture of the joy of having a new baby and his excitement for me being done with this hard pregnancy.

Everyone had their phones out and were taking pictures and texting them to family members and posting them to Facebook. Brandon was passed around and loved and adored by his Parents, both of his Grandma's and all but 3 of his Aunts and it was just such a loving, exciting, joyful time.

I held Brandon in my arms and cried as I told him how glad I was that he was here, and how glad I was that he was a part of our family. Looking into his sweet new innocent eyes, I felt full. I felt that sense of completeness that I'd been hoping would come. And I felt it again a few hours later when my whole family piled onto my hospital bed and were all together for the first time here on earth. There are no words to describe that feeling.

There is no way to say how happy I felt as I looked around me and saw my children, ALL of them and my wonderful husband and know that this is the family that Heavenly Father wanted for me to be blessed with.

And what a fabulous blessing it is! :)