Thursday, April 28, 2011

The LONG Labor



We finally got to deliver our baby girl!

My mom came up on Tuesday night to help out with Braelynn, and Kent and I headed to the hospital for our 5:30 appointment on Wednesday morning. I told Kent that this must be what being on Death Row feels like...there was no surprise and I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. I was really dragging my feet!

When I told the nurse at the desk that I was there to be induced she gave me this look and asked, "have they even checked to see if you are dilated?" Yep- I was really excited to be delivering at Chandler Regional again!

So when we got past Lil Miss Attitude at the gate, I got hooked up to the Pitocin at 6:30...not only was I dilated, I had gone from a 2 to a 3 since the previous morning :) Right on! I knew I was in for a LONG day.
The 1st half of the day was incredibly boring. I watched Food Network and Kent napped. Around 11 though things started to pick up their pace and intensity. At 12 noon I had to brace myself for the contractions...Kent and I also had a discussion at this point that I didn't find it appropriate that he was negotiating a deal via text messages at this time. Seriously. So, he went and got some ice cream. He's lucky he can still walk...

At 12:50, I was in the throws of alotta contractions- the nurses weren't going to check me again until 1:30 though. For the next 40 minutes I talked myself through each contraction that were about a minute apart. I knew I could make it to 1:30, but at that point I wasn't sure if I would take the Epi or be able to make it through again.

Bad news. I was only at a 7. WTF?! I asked nurse Carla (do you remember her? She was my most amazing and fabulous nurse when Braelynn was born. I GOT HER AGAIN!!!), what she thought the timeline was. If anyone was gonna talk me outta the Epi, it was gonna be her! She smiled and said it would probably be about 2 more hours. She then said she would call Dr. Lei for the Epi :) This is why I love her! She can read my innermost thoughts.

I sat up and they prepped me for the Epi. They told me that it would kick-in in about 3-4 contractions and that my feet would tingle to start. Nope. It didn't get any better and I could still feel my feet. I don't know who was more frustrated, me or the nurses. I didn't get any relief :(

At this point Dr. Karabinas came in (love her too!) and the whole team of nurses. The baby's heart rate was dropping and so was my blood pressure. They gave me the good ol' Oxygen and broke my water. They also checked me and I was ready to go! The nurses think that just the movement from me getting the Epi must've been enough to finish things off. Still no explanation why it didn't kick in...but it was decided that I get credit for natural birth still :)

So, 2 good pushes later she was out! She looked a lot bigger than I was bracing myself for, but even better, she was perfect! There was nothing wrong with her. She got to stay there with me. What more could I have asked for?
We had been kicking around a few different names: Brooke, Brielle, and Bethany. We had 2 nurses named Brooke, which kinda sealed the deal. I've always loved the name Renee and I thought it fit with Brooke just beautifully. We had also been considering Nicole and Elise.

There was no contest from either of the nurses :)

She weighed in at 5 lbs. 15 oz...about a pound bigger than what was estimated the week prior to. She is 19 inches, and was born at 2:45 pm on 4/26/11. She has straight brown hair on the sides, and some blonde curlies on the top. My favorite feature is the little patch of straight brown hair on the top that sticks straight up! She looks like a little bird.

She is just a sweetheart of a baby. She sleeps A LOT, doesn't cry, and just has this sweet disposition. This may sound rEALlY wEiRd, but the little voice in my head for her is Buddy the elf, from "Elf." She just has this look on her face that everything is so exciting. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you gotta watch "Elf"!

Braelynn loves to pat her head and throw away her diapers. She carries around this mantle of big-sisterhood like it is her biggest duty. She takes it very responsibly. She wanted nothing to do with me for a few days, but has come around.

We are loving being a family of 4 and this week has just been so wonderful! We are looking forward to the new adventures that await us...hopefully colic is not one of them!


4 comments:

Cattaya said...

my epi. never kicked in with Andrew either! And he was my first so I didn't know what to expect!! congrats guys!

Unknown said...

Beautiful story Carly! We're so glad your long wait is over and that it ended so perfect. Brooke looks really sweet - I predict that your two daughters will be great buddies! Love the photo of Kent with the baby - you have a wonderful family!

Tonia said...

Congratulations guys!! I was so excited to see the post! Best wishes to you guys!

Lanae said...

Congrats again on your sweet baby girl. What a little angel.