I was just reading my last two blog posts,
and I realized what a roller coaster of emotions we have been on for the last few days...
before I post pictures of all the fun we've had this week,
I wanted to share our story of our Brynnie's birth!
THURSDAY | 9.30.10
We had our induction scheduled for 6AM this morning...
Unfortunately, we got a call - at 3AM - from the L&D nurse administrator,
and later from our OBGYN to cancel the induction
due to an extremely high volume of patients. We were heartbroken,
but we tried our best to keep our chin up and muster up a little more patience.
After our induction was canceled-- and we broke the news to my parents (who were staying with us) and everyone else who was waiting on baby news--
we decided to spend the day doing something to keep our minds off of everything...
It really didn't matter to me what it was, as long as it didn't involve
talking about my pregnancy or babies.
I was so disappointed that our Baby Day - the day we had been waiting for these past 9 months -
was practically ripped from my grasp. :(
A little dramatic, yes, but at 9 1/2 months pregnant... everything is dramatic.
My dad decided that we should do some tourist-y things around Indianapolis, and - as always - we obliged him (without much of a choice in the matter, of course)
We went out for breakfast, then went to the Indiana State Museum for a couple of hours--
you know... really exciting stuff ;)
Yes, I was almost 10 months pregnant with absolutely no sleep from the night before,
but I was bound and determined not to let this HUGE disappointment I felt
rain on my "baby" parade...
To accomplish that, I was willing to do just about anything!
After what felt like forever, I was ready to go back home and rest...
I napped for a few hours while my dad and Allen went grocery shopping.
When I woke up, my mom and I planned out a course of action for the rest of the weekend,
since we wouldn't be bringing home a baby (so we thought),
and the boys made a fabulous dinner!
Later, we decided to take Oz on a little walk,
then we went to get some ice cream from Ritters.
yum!
On the way to Ritters, I was having some abdominal pains,
but I assumed it was the same pains that I had been feeling all week-- just a tad bit stronger.
I remember thinking that something might be up,
but I didn't want to get my hopes stomped on again...
Especially since I was still recovering from that morning.
We all went to bed around 11PM that night.
My mom and I were excited to do some shopping the next day! Staying busy was key,
but shopping was going to be the perfect distraction!
Little did we know, we wouldn't be making that trip...
Around 1:45AM, I woke up with really strong abdominal pains... and then 6 minutes later, there was another... and then another about 5 minutes after that.
FRIDAY | 10.1.10
I shook Allen awake after I was sure they had to be contractions because they were so regular... Without opening his eyes, he simply states, "Okay," and rolled over and went back to sleep!
"Okay?! I'm contracting... And that's just okay?!" I thought.
I chalked up his nonchalance to the fact that we were both probably trying not to get too excited about anything after all the disappointment from the day before...
But I was too anxious to sleep,
so I decided to get up and walk (or more like pace) around the house to see if they went away.
Well - they didn't go away - but they spaced out to about 8-10minutes apart,
and not as strong. I decided just to try to wind myself back down and relax.
I was still working on only a few hours of sleep,
and if I was really in labor, I didn't want to be that chick
who was too exhausted to "push" one last time!
After a few hours of trying to get comfortable,
the contractions were only getting stronger and back to 5-6 minutes apart.
I decided to lay back down and try to sleep because I had not really had ANY in over 24 hours!
I was able to lay down for about 5 minutes...
And then I just about flew out of my bed with a contraction!!
I decided to try to use my exercise ball to try to relax a little...
But two minutes later, I had another really strong contraction--
and this time, I wasn't going to try to be quiet about it!!
Allen sat up in bed and asked, "Are you alright?"
Now, he would probably like to tell you that I was a little upset by that comment- being that I had been awake and contracting for almost 4 hours by myself -
but all I can remember are a few swear words and possibly a dirty look in his direction...
After that, I had this really strange urge to pee,
and when I went to the bathroom, I discovered that I had lost my mucus plug.
i know... yuck!
After these events, we decided it was time to call the doctor.
We told the on-call OBGYN what the situation was,
"contractions 5-7 minutes apart and she just lost her mucus plug," I remember hearing Allen say into the phone. Wow. I never thought I would ever heard those words come out of his mouth.
I didn't have much time to think about it though...
I was busy walking around the house, bracing through contractions
and trying to get things ready for the hospital again.
After a short conversation, Allen informed me that
the on-call OBGYN decided that we should come in to be checked out... BLISS!
At this point, my mom poked her head out of the guest room door and asked why we were awake at 4:45AM... we informed her that we were on our way to the hospital,
and I will never forget the huge, excited smile she had on her face!
I so desperately wanted to smile too, but I was still trying to psych myself out...
I just knew that we were going to get to the hospital
and be sent home with indigestion or something ridiculous like that!
We drove to the hospital, which was the longest trip of my life...
My only comfort while driving down the Interstate was clinging to the "oh sh*#" handle!
At one point, I may have been hanging from it. OUCH.
We arrived in triage, and after our initial checkup, were told we were told that I was dilated 3cm
and we were admitted into triage at 6:00AM. FINALLY.
Of course, an administrator came in a few minutes later
to inform us that they were still full from the day before (when our induction was canceled),
and that they were going to get us into a labor and delivery room as soon as one became available!
I know I heard many other soon-to-be mothers- in the other triage rooms- yelling their frustrations with this little piece of information...
But that was no problem for me AT ALL... I would have delivered in that room right then if it meant that I was going to meet my baby girl!
I was on Cloud 9 thinking about the moment when I would see her face for the first time,
and nothing in that moment gave any care to what kind of hospital room I was in...
I labored for a couple of hours in the triage room, and then I decided it was time for an epidural--
I was a little disappointed in myself because my "goal" was to get to 5cm before I asked for it,
but all of the nurses were telling me that the anesthesiologists were in high demand,
and I needed to get my name in ASAP to make sure that I would get it in time.
At "almost 4cm," I was ready to put my name in...
And low and behold, 5 minutes later, the good doctor walked in my door!!
Let me just say that I can't say enough about my epidural!! I am DEATHLY afraid of needles,
especially really big ones that are poked into one of the life sources of your anatomy...
but I honestly didn't really feel a thing!! It was the best decision I could have made because I was already exhausted from not having ANY sleep...
And after the epidural kicked in, laboring it turned into a vacation!!
Around 11AM, we were told they finally had an available labor and delivery room...
of course, I was completely numb from the chest down,
so transporting me was a little more of a challenge than I had anticipated!
It was so strange - as a healthcare worker who did regular transports with patients - to be on "the other side" of that scenario... Definitely not something I would like to do again!
After we all got comfortable in our new digs, I took a little nap... (yes, a nap!!)
Then, Brynn decided to give us a little drama!
Dr. Denman (my OBGYN was on vacation) came in to break my water around 12:30PM...
I was so excited because they said that would speed things up with my delivery!!
Nevermind the giant crow bar that was used
or the fact that the color of my "fluid" was described and repeated a few times.
yuck. again.
We were celebrating the milestone of my "water" breaking,
and decided to take a few photos during our downtime,
when my nurse walked into the room and started moving my monitor belt around and looking very carefully at the monitor. I knew what that look was, because I had a "look" like that too...
One that I used when a patient wasn't doing very well,
and I was trying to troubleshoot and keep my cool before alerting to a crisis.
I asked the sweet nurse, who happened to be an orientee, what the problem seemed to be...
and she explained that Brynn's heart monitor needed to be moved around a little
because it was showing a heart rate that was close to mine, so they thought that - if her position had changed- it might be picking up my heart rate instead of hers...
Of course, that was not the case.
And my heart completely sank about a minute later,
when 3 other nurses threw open our door and ran into our room!
All I could really hear was the alarm sounding from the hallway. They start scurrying around, yelling out things like "Put some oxygen on her NOW!" -"Get her up on her side!" and "Somebody needs to check her to make sure the cord isn't prolapsed!"---
I don't think they realized that I understood EVERYTHING
about what they were saying and I was in an immediate state of panic!!
It turns out Brynn just needed to be stimulated a little,
because she had "moved down" so quickly due to my broken water...
but the damage had been done to Mommy's emotional state...
This was the second time she had a major deceleration during my labor and I was absolutely sure that this one had done some permanent damage to her brain!!
It makes me want to cry just thinking about it...
There were lots of tears from Mommy (after all the nurses left, of course-- but I'm sure they all saw my breakdown on the monitor)... And then from Daddy too.
Allen just pulled up a chair next to my bed and held my hand... He knew exactly what I needed.
No talking, no explaining... Just trying to get my bearings again.
We thought she had given us all the drama we could handle,
but apparently she was just warming up!!
The nurses turned my monitor away from me because I was obsessed with her heart rate after all of the decelerations. I wasn't allowed to focus on that anymore.
About an hour and a half later,
I was starting to feel a little more of my legs
and some contractions because the epidural was wearing off.
My contractions were very mild and stable, however, so it wasn't too terrible to deal with...
Then it looked as if she was starting to have another deceleration {and I still have no idea how the monitor was turned back toward me ;)}.
I put on my call light, and the nurse walked in just as I realized that I was "pushing"--- and I couldn't make it stop! She checked me and looked up to say, "Oh my goodness, there's the head!"
She hurried out in the hallway to call the doctor, then came back in to set things up for the delivery... Five minutes later, at 2:15PM Dr. Denman was in the room!
At 2:32PM, Brynn Roslyn came into this world to meet her mommy and daddy.
6lbs, 2oz - 20 inches
She definitely knows how to make a quick and dramatic entrance on her own terms! :) And we can't wait to see what else our little miracle has in store for us!
Now, I will finally post some pictures...
God Bless,
The Weinzapfels
