Julia Brynne's Birth Story

*This is copied from myspace where I had written this on 6/22/07. Figured it would be good to move it over here to my real blog now that I have one! I was going to re-read it and edit it but I just can't make the time for that right now. Enjoy!

WARNING!!! THIS BLOG IS VERY LONG AND CONTAINS GRAPHIC DETAILS!....

"How many hours were you in labor?" people ask. Well, that depends on when you start counting…....

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So, the last couple of weeks before Julia was born, I as well as many others began to notice that I was "dropping." There was a definite change but I didn't realize just how close I was to having my baby!....

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Thursday, May 31 we went to the doctor for my 37 week visit. She checked my cervix and I was 1.5 cm dilated. I think she also stripped my membranes because she didn't just stick her fingers up there, she swished them around quite a bit! That freaked me out a bit because I thought it would put me into labor quicker but I figured the doctor knew what she was doing, and was completely aware of the fact that I had 2 weeks left before my due date (June 19). She asked me if I was having contractions, and I told her yes, but they weren't painful or very strong. She asked how often, to which I replied, "every day…" I figured that was disappointing but she didn't really express any concern. At that point I was a bit glad she had stripped me because maybe I needed a little help moving along!....

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Friday morning, June 1 after going pee I noticed some slimy stuff on the toilet paper. I didn't have my glasses on, so I went and put them on, came back to the toilet and before wiping the rest of it, I noticed that there was this big blob hanging out! I let it fall and realized immediately that it was my mucus plug. Oh boy! It was then that I knew for sure I wasn't going to last another 2 weeks. I called the doctor to make sure I could still continue my normal activities and asked if it meant I was within a certain number of days from delivery. They said it meant nothing, I could still have a couple weeks left, and that I could keep doing everything I was doing before. O…kay…. So I did!....

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Friday and Saturday, June 2 I spent most of my time organizing the nursery and the rest of the apartment. I got quite a bit done. I guess I got that famous burst of energy for nesting. I thought it was just because I lost the mucus plug; I didn't realize it was the real thing!....

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Saturday night around 6pm I started having stronger contractions. I thought, finally! So maybe it'll be next week. I called Riley to let him know; he was like, "are we having a baby tonight?!" But of course I thought that we weren't; a friend of mine said if you have any doubt, you're probably not really in labor. So I assumed that when I was, I would know it for sure!....

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I called my mom to tell her how I was progressing, since she was planning on driving out from ....Abilene.... as soon as I went into labor. Just to let her know it would probably be sooner than we expected. And to get her fresh-squeezed lemonade recipe.....

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Riley's excitement throughout the evening made me wonder if I really was going to have Julia that night, but I though, nah… it'll be a few days! Besides, I really needed her to wait as long as possible so we could get our apartment all organized! I was like, come on, can't this wait till at least Tuesday?! Please?! I realize most pregnant women would think I was insane, as it is very normal to want that baby out of the belly by the time you get that far along! Which I did, but I had a little bit of patience if only due to my desire to get everything perfect before we brought our little one home!....

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I kept timing the contractions, and they were about 20 minutes apart. Riley and I talked about going to a movie, which we decided to do, since it could very well be our last night out before she was born! We packed the hospital bag (I had almost everything ready, just not in the bag yet!) and took it with us to the movies. We saw "Knocked Up". Ironic much?! It was hilarious. Yes, it was quite vulgar, unfortunately, but we got a good laugh as a lot of the story was very close to home! The whole movie we were timing my contractions: whenever I had one, I'd give Riley the paper, he'd pull out his phone that had a light and a clock, and write down the time.....

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By the time we got home and went to bed at 1, the average for those 7 hours was 18 minutes apart.  I kept having strong, painful contractions but didn't time them because I just wanted to get some sleep! Riley thought we were going to have her the next day, but I still wasn't convinced!....

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Until 3 am when I woke him up, crying from a really painful contraction. It was then that I agreed that we probably were indeed going to have Julia that day, Sunday, June 3. He was supposed to work that day, so I felt bad because he would have to call in and not be able to go, and the weekends are the busiest time for his job. But, he had already let them know I was pregnant and would have to take off a few days whenever the baby came.....

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So at 5:45 we decided to start timing the contractions again. Riley got up and ready and took the car seat base to the fire station to make sure it was installed correctly. Talk about last minute! He's usually a pretty heavy sleeper but this time he was so full of adrenaline, it was pretty cool…....

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I took a nice hot bath, shaved my legs and took a shower, while still watching the clock. The bath was grrrreat, it really made the contractions hurt less. Too bad I couldn't have one of those at the hospital. Not that I wanted to give birth in the tub, just sit in it for a while.....

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We left for the hospital around 7:30 and got there around 8. We called my mom to let her know, she was a bit surprised but said she'd get dressed and be on her way! I was also planning on visiting my dad that day, so I called him to let him know I probably wouldn't make it! We signed some papers and went to triage where I had to pee in a cup, change into a gown and get all strapped up to a machine so they could monitor the baby and my contractions.....

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The nurse checked me and I was dilated to a measly 2.5 cm. I thought, great, they're going to send me home! She said they would keep me another hour or two to see how much I progress, and that I had to be 4 cm before they would admit me. I seriously thought we were going to end up having to come back later. NOOOO!!!!! The contractions were getting really bad and the wouldn't let me have anything but ice chips. Which I knew would be the case before we left the house, so I had a bowl of cereal.....

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Anyway, the nurse came back, checked me and I was 3-3.5 cm. They went ahead and admitted me since I had progressed that much in only an hour. We were gonna have a baby!!!....

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They wheeled me upstairs, while Riley went back to the car to bring in all the stuff. I got all set up in the bed where I would eventually deliver Julia. I got hooked up to an IV for fluid hydration (which was great, it made my contractions less painful… I guess I was dehydrated) and antibiotics for group B strep so the baby wouldn't get it. They took some blood, did my blood pressure, etc. I had to sign a bunch of other consent forms and they asked me about pain medication, if I wanted an epidural and so forth. I said, no, I'd like to try to do without it. She asked if I wanted to leave it open for option later and I said yes. I guess that was so I didn't have to sign it later if and when I asked for one.....

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She said a different doctor would be delivering me since mine wasn't on call (which was okay), and that he wanted to start me on Pitocin to speed up the delivery. I wasn't too crazy about that but didn't want to be difficult so I agreed.....

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Once I got all hooked up to the machines again, we just sat there and breathed through the contractions. Riley went down the call list to let people know I was in labor and slowly people started showing up. My best friend Katie, my sister Laura, my dad, my mom, my friend Elizabeth and her daughter… I can't remember who else.....

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My contractions were getting worse and worse. The nurses said the goal was to get them 2 minutes apart and that made me pretty upset. So basically half the time I spent there in the bed was in sheer pain, and the other half was trying to recover from each wave of misery.....

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The doctor wanted to break my bag of waters, which I also wasn't thrilled about, so I asked a bunch of questions and finally agreed. I didn't really want to get out of bed anyway. I thought it was going to be really painful but I couldn't even feel when he did it.....

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I asked about IV pain medication, and both the doctor and nurses encouraged me to get the epidural instead, because the IV meds were narcotics and would make the baby sleepy. So I continued without either.....

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It was weird going through all that pain with everyone watching me. I kept thinking, are they bored? How does this make them feel? I wasn't embarrassed or upset at them there, I just thought, my poor family and friends just have to stand here and watch me lie here in pain… how awful! But of course they all just felt sorry for me. I got some great massages though, and many encouraging words. My nurses were really helpful and friendly too. They answered all my questions and explained everything to me pretty clearly.....

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Around 130 or 2, I was in really bad pain and wasn't sure how much more I could take. They checked me again and I was only at 5.5 cm. I decided, being barely over halfway dilated, I wasn't going to handle the rest of it very well without some pain medication. Give me the epidural! As previously instructed, Riley discouraged me from getting it but was supportive after making sure I wasn't going to be mad at him later for "letting" me get it.....

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I didn't realize it was going to take so long after asking for the epidural that I would finally get it. They said I had to finish off the bag of IV fluids, then call the anesthesiologist, then prep me for the procedure, yada yada… it was awful. I had gone as long as I thought I could go, finally decided to forgo a natural birth and was then forced to wait even longer!....

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So, the anesthesiologist finally came in and I was ready for some relief! I sat on the edge of the bed, the cleaned my back up, stuck the needle in, which I barely noticed considering my contractions were so painful! I didn't even see her face until after the procedure was done. They say it's really hard to sit through the contractions to get the epidural but I wanted it so bad I was perfectly still! I just leaned up against Riley who stood in front of me. I threw up right after they put it in, but they said that was a good sign. Huh? I guess because your body goes into detox mode when you're in labor.....

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I expected the epidural to alleviate the pain within 15 minutes which was really long enough to wait, but none of the pain went away for at least a good 30-45 minutes. My legs were starting to go numb but I could still move them. My back was killing me. Every contraction was piercing. It was awful. I kept saying, "it's not working!" and was scared and crying. They kept telling me it would kick in soon, and pumped some more through the catheter.....

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I started to feel a little better around 3pm and they came to check me again. "You're complete!" she said. I couldn't believe it. All this time I've suffered and could've had a much better time going through labor, and now that I feel better you tell me I'm almost done?! It was insane. I was pretty nervous, knowing that I was about to start pushing. Riley had earlier predicted that Julia would be born at 3:30, which I didn't believe but then realized he just might be close!....

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The nurses kicked everybody out except my mom and Riley, then called the doctor and got me all ready to start pushing. I pulled Riley aside and said, "I can't feel my vagina!" As numb as I was down there, I seriously didn't know how I was going to push her out. The nurses assured me that I would be able to, I just had to pretend like I was going poop. Which I did a little bit, by the way, so Riley says. That's okay, most women do a little and the staff is totally used to it and not grossed out.....

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The doctor could see that I was already starting to tear on the inside so he did an episiotomy, which I couldn't really feel but knew I would later! So at 3:20 I started pushing, they instructed me to push with each contraction. I did a couple pushes with each of 3 contractions, and at 3:31 she came out! I was completely amazed.  They had put a mirror in front of me so I could see her being born. That was pretty cool.....

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It didn't really hurt to push her out; actually I hardly felt anything.  I didn't feel like I was pushing at all. But apparently I was, because she came all the way down and was born! So Riley was only one minute off, crazy huh?....

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Well, they let Riley cut the cord after she was born, and it sprinkled a little bit of blood in the air. Good thing the doctor was wearing a mask! Then they put her on my tummy and wiped her off. I was watching, thinking they were being really rough with her but I guess that's how it's done! When I looked at her I thought, uh, she doesn't look like either one of us! Not that she didn't look like a real human baby or anything, it was just weird. She had dark curly hair, like jerry curl! I can't remember but I'm sure I cried. I was so relieved that it was over and kept thinking, if I'd known I was going to end up needing the epidural I would've got it a lot sooner and not suffered all that time! Riley has a theory though: go natural as long as you can and by the time you get the epidural, your body just relaxes and the baby doesn't spend a lot of time in the birth canal- and you get a baby with a perfectly round head. Whatever. Next time I'm getting it as soon as I'm admitted.....

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So the let me breastfeed for a little while and let everybody come back in. By that time a lot more people had shown up, so Julia got passed around quite a bit! Then they took her away to do tests and weigh her and all that.....

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The doctor sewed me up, which didn't hurt but I could feel him tugging down there. I wasn't looking forward to the medication wearing off! Every woman that I know had warned me how bad that incision hurts while it's healing. It's true.....

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I stayed in that room until about 730 and got some rest while Katie and Riley called everybody to let them know I'd delivered. Then they wheeled me up to the postpartum floor. Julia didn't come back until around 8 or so and I thought she was probably starving by then! So I fed her of course.....

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My mom stayed with me both nights at the hospital and we had several visitors the next day. It was so nice to have her there. We don't get to see each other very often so I'm really glad we got to share this special time together. Thanks for coming all the way out on such short notice! ....

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I felt wonderful the whole time during recovery. Better than I had in several weeks! Even though I felt tired, I still had energy. It was strange. Nurses came in every 5 minutes it seemed to check on me or give me instructions or medication or leave paperwork for me to read or sign. It didn't really bother me though. I'm a light sleeper.....

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I decided to take advantage of the nursery at night, and just had them bring Julia in for feedings so I could rest up before I had to go home and take care of her full-time!....

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By the time we checked out, Julia had only lost 6 ounces, which is within normal range. She gained it back within a week!....

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Well, I won't keep writing, or it'll take me forever to catch up on the last 2 weeks we've had her home! I'm sure I've left something out anyway. Just know that we're all doing great… Riley is the best husband and father I could ask for, and we've been so blessed to have family and friends help us out since Julia was born- you know who you are, thank you so much!....

=)