Brantley's Birth Story...

So Brantley definitely is our miracle baby from start to finish of his conception through his delivery. The week leading up to his delivery was pretty normal like all the previous weeks of my pregnancy. We saw our OB on Monday like normal and he estimated me to be dilated only a fingertip (and he said he was being generous at that). Since I was full-term,  we had decided it was time to start playing with the old wives tales and see if I could get myself to dilate and progress more. That Monday I started really bouncing on the exercise ball and then Tuesday I upped my workout at the gym. I did a strenuous walk on the treadmill until I felt my contractions becoming really strong and closer together. That evening we started our late night walks around the neighborhood. Wednesday after working/teaching all day and having stronger contractions, we again went for our late night walk. Luck loved this since he got to go for a walk around the neighborhood. Thursday I woke up and got organized for work. All day I was feeling pretty good (the "calm before the storm", I guess). I left work all prepped for my last day and 2 classes on Friday morning. Since I had an early day on Fridays, we just ate dinner and went to bed. I slept through the night and felt good; only waking up once for a potty break. Friday morning the alarm went off at 6:20am and as I got up to hit the bathroom and start getting ready, I felt a slight rush and by the time I made it to the bathroom, my water had broken. We showered, called the OB and finished packing our bags. We also called our moms so they could finish packing and start their 8 hour drives to us and hopefully be here for baby's birth. My water was leaking out pretty bad, but we made the drive to the hospital, parked like normal people (since I didn't really feel any contractions or urgency). We got into L & D and were greeted by the nurses and placed in a room. The room was nice and roomy and things seemed to be going well. Husby had a view of the parking lot and in the distance the Lagoon, so scenic view to keep us relaxed. Our nurse, Megan, came in and started prepping me. She got my IV started and then started penicillan (antibiotic) since I had tested positive on the early Strep test but negative on the later test (precautionary; especially since my water had broken). When she did her intial check, she verified the water breaking, but then found I was only 1cm dilated. Since my water broke, the OB decided to start me on Pitocin to spark my contractions and cause me to dilate further. Husby and I settled in and got comfy and began working through my contractions...I think he got a kick out of watching the monitor and watching Brantley's heartbeat and my contractions register.

Around noon, Megan checked me again and found I was now 2-3cm dilated, so our OB authorized an uppage of the Pitocin to help me further. Now the contractions were getting really strong and even closer together and unbearable. Since my OB would not authorize the epidural until I was 4-5cm, I was still going at it normally. I had planned to avoid all medications up until the epidural, but as the Pitocin level increased, so did the pain of the contractions. I finally caved and allowed them to administer a half dose of the Stadol through the IV to take the edge off the pain. After that was administered, I was able to catch some short catnaps between the large contractions and we again waited for the next check. Finally around 3 or 4, our OB authorized the epidural when my check came back at 4cm. Due to my medical condition of needles, I had to get the epidural laying sideways, but it went smoothly and pretty quickly. I started feeling great after the epidural was in and Husby and I again settled in watching TV and chatting to pass the time.

A little after 6, our moms arrived from their homes and I got checked again and was only 5cm dilated but pretty much completely thinned. A little after that, the OB came in and checked me himself and informed us Brantley was stuck in my pelvic region above my pelvis and he was starting to show some coning. He was going to monitor it some and then make a decision in a few more hours. So since I was stable, I sent the moms and Husby to get food. They stalled a bit and then finally around 8pm, they ran down to get food. Around 8:45pm the OB came back to check me again and informed me I was still at 5cm dilated and the coning was starting to get to an alarming point and we needed to start talking about our "options"...meaning a C-section. Since that was definitely not our plan or goal, he said he would stall a bit and grab some food with his family (they came up to visit him). Thankfully the L & D wing was very busy and there were already 2 other moms in front of me for a C/S, so he told me he would re-check me around 11. If I had not progressed to 10, he was electing the C/S way. The technician came in to draw an extra vial or 2 of blood should I go to a C/S and then the anesthesiologist came to discuss the medicine change I would have if we went to a C/S.

Meanwhile, the moms and Mike returned and we started all talking to Brantley telling him to drop below my pelvis and my body to progress. In addition to Brantley being stuck above my pelvis, he also turned his head so he was trying to enter the world sideways instead of chin-tucked like the normal baby. Around 11, the nurse checked me and then quickly left the room to get our OB and looked really confused (which had us all alarmed). When he returned and checked me, he verified her suspicions...I had progressed to 10 and we could start pushing! The moms went to hangout in the waiting area since Husby and I decided we wanted to start our family as just the 3 of us and the doctors.

Then I started pushing...it was me, Husby & our night nurse, Johannah and occasionally the technician. It was soon eivdent I was not really getting good pushes and it was realized I was so numb from the awesome epidural that we again had a decision to make....keep the epidural and most likely end up at a C-section or turn the epidural off and try pushing through the pain and contractions. Of course, we chose option 2. So off went the epidural and here came the contractions about 30 minutes later. At this point, Husby was holding 1 leg and Johannah had the other leg and we were still counting and pushing...I was even telling them when I was going to push since I could feel my contractions. At one point, I told Johannah I was going to push for a 4th time during a contraction and she was amazed and agreed to let me do it. About 11:45-11:55pm, the OB came to check me and see if he could assist in the delivery. We were still pushing and when he checked, he noticed he could vacuum Brantley out and help me with the delivery. So we again discussed it and agreed to go with it. There was no issue since his head was already coned a bit, so we kept pushing and whenever he could, the OB vacuumed. Because Brantley's head was sideways, the vacuum slipped at one point causing Brantley to get a hematoma on the side of his head.

Since we had gotten this far, the OB was not giving up and forcing us to a C/S, so he and Husby made another decision without me knowing (thankfully) and he made a small incision since I was too small for Brantley to be delivered head-sideways. Husby kept a very straight face throughout the incision and kept me very calm ( I couldn't feel it) and focused on pushing. We had discussed incisions and agreed if that was needed we were ok with it. During the last push, unfortunately,  the OB had to cut me deeper since Brantley's head still was not progressing out of me and they could not turn him still inside me. The incision is not a typical episiotomy (runs V to A), instead he cut along the side.

After Brantley was delivered, he was checked out by everyone and because he was being vacuumed the respiratory department had to evaluate him upon delivery. Our delivery room was packed with me, Husby holding my 1 leg, Johannah (our nurse) by my face coaching me through the contractions and pushes, our tech holding my other leg, the lead nurse on the other side of me behind Husby in case he passed out during the incisions (which he did not), a baby nurse and 2 respiratory nurses. Then we found out our Moms had snuck back into the wing and were able to hear B's first cry from the hallway (on the otherside of the curtain to our room). This was both touching for us and memorable for them. Brantley was cleaned a bit while the OB finished cleaning me up and sewing me up. After everything was settled, Husby got to hold B while I finished getting sewn and distracted me (since I still did not know I was cut open). Once everything was settled, the Moms came back in to see me and meet B.

Sadly, Brantley's delivery fun was not over yet.  Brantley went on to the nursery with Husby and I got time to collect myself and talked to our moms while we waited for B to return. Meanwhile on the floor, another Mom coded and the nurses were in a mass frenzy scrambling to her rescue. This left Husby alone in the nursery with 1 nurse and 16 newborn babies. What should have taken 30 minutes, turned into a 2 hour ordeal in the nursery for Husby & Brantley. After she was settled and the mom and baby were no longer at risk, Johannah returned. After letting me rest a bit more, she got me up to finish getting cleaned up before transferring me to my temporary postpartum room for the night. We finally got into our new room around 3am and they took Brantley for his bath (since it had finally quieted down) while Husby and I caught some ZZZ's.

Amazing birth and he was strong throughout...just really stubborn.