Making Up For Lost Time

*It will take you longer to read this post, than the amount of time I spent in Labor and Delivery*

I remember as a kid the following line...Our family would be running late for something and my mom would be on my dad about slowing the car down. My dad's reply was always, "Just trying to make up for lost time..."



So here we are WAITING for little miss Braelynn to show up, as she was running late...about 2 days late.

On Sunday night we had our friends Brian and Christine over for dinner and we played games into the evening. They headed out at about 9:30 and Christine suggested that I could try Jumping Jacks to help move the process along.

Kent and I decided to go for another walk and he teased me about the Jumping Jacks. I agreed to do 3 and felt like an absolute fool...9 months pregnant, 10 o'clock, and Jumping Jacks in the middle of the road. We had a good laugh, headed home and went to bed.

About an hour later I realized that this "I gotta go pee" feeling was a little rhythmic, so I started counting the time. Each sensation lasted about a minute and there was about 7-8 minutes in between each one. Hmmm...could these be contractions? I start poking Kent and say "I think I'm having contractions." He's a little dazed, but gives a smile. I then feel a little trickle, so I add in "And I think my water just broke!"

We start packing things up and I call my mom to let her know that we are heading to the hospital and to stay tuned. Kent made me some macaronni and cheese and I once again attempted to time the contractions. I started second guessing myself because one was 5 minutes apart and then another was 1.5, and then 3....it made no sense. I did know that they were quite strong though!

We pack the car full like we'll be gone for a week and head to Chandler Regional. We get into the hospital and let them know that we think we're going into labor. I'm still trying my pain management strategy of "it only lasts a minute and then you get a break. Suck it up and grin and bear it." The admission staff was quite impressed...that or they thought I was another faker.

We go into Triage and they hook me up to everything. The nurse still hasn't guaranteed that we would be admitted though, because she still needs to check my dilation. I'm at 5 1/2, so she says that we will be admitted, and that it usually takes about an hour/centimeter and then another 1-3 hours of pushing for first-timers. It was about 2 a.m., so I brace myself for a LONG morning.



At this point, I'm looking forward to the relief of my latest contraction, but no such luck! I immediately begin another contraction before the current one ends. This pattern continues and I start thinking, "okay, if there's no break between the contractions then I might want to go ahead with the Epidural. There's no way that I can handle this for a few hours before I even start pushing." I started to understand what the word, "hard" meant.

They take me to Labor and Delivery and I feel like I gotta push as they roll me into the room. I tell the nurses and they tell me that pushing time comes later. One nurse says, "you know, she's having a lot of contractions. We may just want to check her dilation."

Wouldn't you know it...I was at a 9! In 20 minutes I had gone from 5.5 to 9! The nurses then start moving a little more quickly and tell me if I feel like I have to push to go ahead and push.

They page the on-call Doctor and let me know that if I get an Epidural it would take about 15-20 minutes to get into my system OR I could have a baby in 15-20 minutes. I honestly had a hard time deciding and that's when my nurse pipes in "you don't want one and it's only going to make this last longer. You will have your baby in the next 15 minutes I promise." Okay then...here we go!



I give a practice push and on my gosh, there's the head! They then tell me to really dig deep and give another push. I wanted to watch in the mirror, but as I'm watching this I'm saying "there's no freaking way I can do this." The nurses are saying "yes you can!" The doctor puts on her coat, sits down, I give 3 more pushes...and out pops our baby girl!

I still cannot believe how fast it all went. I was a celebrity there that day. I had nurses coming to my recovery room because, "they had to see who this girl was...!"

So, to tie it all together...Braelynn certainly made up for lost time!



Here are her stats:

Braelynn Michelle Burton

Birthday: September 21st, 2009 3:35 am
Hair: Black
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
Length: 19 inches








"She's short and she's skinny - but she's strong" (comment and video upload courtesy of Kent)