Birth Story

Okay, I'm writing this for journaling purposes, so feel free to read on only if you're interested! :)

On Monday, December 13th, I woke up having contractions. I was sure they were just Braxton Hicks because I have had them so much so I wasn't too concerned. Deric kept grinning and saying, "today might be the day". I would quickly shove the thought aside thinking "no way-I want it too much". So I wasn't too concerned when I left the house for my regular checkup and dropped Kyler off at my cousin's house. Usually my appointments only take like 30 minutes tops so I was figuring on being home within an hour. I had plans to go clean Deric's parent's house for them and decorate Aisha's room cause she was coming home after having surgery on her neck. I remember showing off my gigantuous feet to Angela when I was dropping Kyler off. They looked like this the night before....yep, that's my husband's fingerprint indented into my foot.

So I check in and I'm STILL having contractions and they were starting to get painful. By the time my doctor came in, I had had like 4 contractions in a 10 minute time frame and my blood pressure was a little high (not scary high though). So my doctor checked me and I was still at a 4 but my contractions were definitely real so he sent me over to OB.

I hobbled over, barely able to walk with how severe my contractions were. I was sure they would send me home and that the contractions were Braxton Hicks so I didn't stress calling Deric yet or anyone else for that matter. I shot Angela a text saying that I might be a little longer, but that was it.

They monitored me for a bit and I didn't dilate anymore so they told me to go walk around and come back in 45 minutes. By this point, I had sent Deric a text telling him that they were monitoring me and he stopped by the hospital. He was in taking his Math final when I originally got admitted so he thought he was just stopping by before heading to work (ha! Little did he know...)I also wasn't sure if I wanted him to come because my LAST final for the semester was scheduled for Tuesday, the next day. It was also my math final which has been the hardest class for me. Anyway...

At noon, they broke my water and the contractions started coming even stronger. At about 2 I told the nurses I needed something for the pain so they gave me something in my IV but it didn't work. Apparently, it's a medicine that is very individualized meaning that some people's bodies will take it and others won't. Well mine won't. After trying to breathe through contractions, I asked them for an epidural. They informed me that the doctor (can't spell the real word-haha) had just went into a surgery but they would send him over when he got out. so we waited a little longer.

At about 3:30 he came in to give me an epidural and wow did it NOT work! He couldn't get the needle in the right place! So here I am, bending over, trying to get an epidural in and this nurse is literally having to SHOVE my head and shoulders with all her weight down so that he could get a bigger working area on my back. He kept wiggling the needle around and pulling it out, trying it again but still NOTHING was working. I was dying! (this was definitely the most painful part). I was trying to breathe through contractions but it was hard because the nurse was shoving me down and um... hello.... I have this HUGE belly in my way, I can only bend over so far! So basically I couldn't breathe very well as it was let alone through a contraction. Suddenly I got a contraction that wouldn't go away and the nurse said, " I need to check her NOW!" Low and behold... this baby was coming and he was coming RIGHT NOW! So the doctor quickly gave me a spinal and my OB doctor (Dr. Williams) was literally shoving him out of the room so he could deliver Bryson. I whipped around, just as the spinal kicked in, pushed 3 times and Bryson was here! The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, but they quickly got that fixed. He came out face up.

At first, I was freaked out because he wasn't crying.. I remember saying "shouldn't he be crying? Why isn't he crying?" and Dr. Williams told me everything was fine, they were just cleaning him off but that because he came out face up, he was struggling to get oxygen. Deric got to cut the umbilical cord (which he didn't get to do with Kyler) and I couldn't be happier. I was SO glad he was here! He was born at 4:18 p.m. and weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. I was surprised because he came 12 days early.

Bryson had to be on oxygen that first night because he couldn't maintain a high enough level of oxygen on his own. I wasn't able to see him yet but Deric could go see him in the nursery although he couldn't hold or touch him. FINALLY around 11:30 that night, I got wheeled in a wheelchair down to the nursery and was able to hold Bryson. He was the biggest baby in the nursery and was so so precious. Might I add that when we first got there, there were NO babies in the nursery but 6 were born that day!

It was pretty crazy, that night, my 2 nurses were people from my home town area. haha of all the nurses available, I got the 2 that I already knew. I must say though, it was kinda interesting. They were great, but it was weird having someone i know being my nurse (anyone who has had a baby understands why) but it was still pretty cool nonetheless!

Bryson picked up nursing really well (which Kyler did NOT) and that was super nice! Deric was able to work from the hospital and be there with me which was a big help and we were so blessed to having willing friends and family who could keep Kyler for us. We left the hospital on Wednesday evening around 4 with an appointment to come back the next day to have Bryson's Bilirubin checked.

We came back Thursday, not expecting anything to change, just a regular checkup but little did we know that Bryson's bilirubin levels were SKY HIGH! He was at an 18.5 and at a 20 they do a blood transfusion. We had no clue that the doctor was even concerned about him! He had also lost a lot of weight (all babies lose weight after being born, but he lost a lot). He was down to 7 lbs 5 oz which put him in the 9% for weight loss. So we got to come home with a bili bed and Bryson got to tan as much as possible (basically 24 hours a day except for feedings). THANK GOODNESS my mother was here and willing to take shifts watching him! He had to be completely monitored because otherwise he would pull the goggles and shield down. We had another appointment to go back Friday and get his levels checked again. We expected to be having the bed for at least a few days since his levels were so high, but to our amazement-we didn't! Bryson went clear down at a 13 which put him at a moderate risk instead of high! YAY! He also went up 4 oz in weight from the previous day putting him at 7lbs 9 oz. We were so thrilled! That was a LONG night!

My mom was able to stay for a few days and we were so grateful! She helped alot even if it was just to play with Kyler while we got adjusted to having 2 kids. We had lots of people bring us food which was great! THANK YOU so much to everyone that has helped!!!

Here are a few more pictures, just cause I think he's cute! :)