Brynna's birth story

I finally have a moment to get on the computer without feeling like I am neglecting something. I guess I didn't realize just how much work it can be, caring for a newborn. I am enjoying every minute of it though!

Short version: Brynna MaeLynn Walker was born at 1:39pm on October 21, 2009. She was 7 lbs 13oz

and 19.5 inches long with Apgars of 8 and 9.


Long(er) version:
As you all know, Tuesday my doc informed me that we needed to induce Wednesday morning bright and early since amniotic fluid level was to low. Batman and I did all the last minute things we needed to get done, had our last lunch just the two of us, and did everything we could think of to get labor started before Wednesday morning (DTD, nipple stimulation, more spicy food, red raspberry leaf tea, etc... I refused to go as far as Castor oil though... that's a little too far for me) ;-)

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early as we had to be at the hospital at 7am for admit. We checked in on time, waited for our room to be ready and finally got settled around 7:30. Our nurse, Lori went through all our paperwork with us, including our birth plan (which they were so good about following as closely as possible) and finally got IV'd up and got pit started around 8:15. My doc decided he wanted to get things moving as quickly as possible so about 8:30 he came in and broke my water. Thankfully, no meconium in the fluid, which he was a little worried about since she was a week overdue.


I didn't really feel any contractions, other than tightening like BH so about every 20-30 min they turned up my pit dosage. My IL came in for a visit around 10ish and I was still feeling really good. Contractions were regular at 1 min apart, but I still barely felt them. My parents came in around 11 (they drove in from Seattle) and we had the "party room" for a little while ;-)

Around 12:30 my doc came back in to check my progress and it turned out I was at a 5 already (I came in still at a 2). I was excited there had been some progress, even though I still wasn't feeling much. That's when things started to change.
Batman ran out for a couple min with his parents. They were running some last minute errands for us and needed a little instruction. I was starting to feel the contractions a little stronger. I was still able to talk through them, but they did take my breath away a little. My mom was helping me breathe through them until Batman got back and then I started to feel sick. I ended up losing all the jello they had let me eat that morning (lol I guess it serves me right for eating 3 bowls full... couldn't help it though. I was HUNGRY!) This was about 1:15ish (I think). I was really feeling uncomfortable now and thought it might help to sit on the toilet so Batman wheeled my IV friend in after me. As soon as I sat down I felt like I was going to be sick again (thankfully everything stayed down this time... gotta love the zofran kicking in) and ended up getting on all fours on the floor of the bathroom. (EEK!) All the sudden I felt the incredible urge to push. Batman quickly got our nurse and the two of them helped me get back to the bed so she could do a quick check. Turns out I was at an 8! Yipes! At this point I was having a hard time concentrating on breathing, but between Batman and Lori, they got me back on track. The pushing urge got a LOT stronger in the next couple minutes and she decided to check me one more time at my insistence. I was at 9.5. They had me turn on my side, which was nearly impossible with my contractions being right on top of each other. Lori called my doc and let him know things were moving fast and to head over, to which I overheard her say something about "in 15." In my pained delirious state I thought she meant it would be another 15 minutes before I could do anything, but she responded with "no room 15, dear." LOL silly me!
She had me start pushing and the doc, while it seemed to me to take him FOREVER to walk over (his office is adjacent to the hospital), got there in a few minutes. As soon as he walked in the door, I knew things were happening fast because he was first strolling in casually and then he took one look at my vag and got a very surprised look on his face. Batman said it was pretty priceless. He rushed into his gown and about 4 pushes later I had Brynna's head out, a couple more and she was officially born. They placed her on my tummy and it was instantly love at first sight! I had waited so long to meet my baby girl and she was so beautiful!!


I did have a small tear that required 2 stitches, but they haven't been too bad. Batman got to cut the cord too!




It's so amazing how quickly life can change and how in love you can be with someone you just met ;-) Things have been pretty crazy since we've been home and it seems like I never have a free minute to hop online. (I'm trying though) ;-) I may not comment as much, but I will be reading!!

BFing has been a work in progress, but we are committed to making it work. Brynna has a couple bad latch habits that we are working through, but overall it's going well. She is a hungry little monkey ;-)
She refuses to poop more than once every few days. Her ped isn't too worried since she is gaining weight, staying hydrated and is overall healthy, but of course I kind of freak out when we go more than a day or two (aka- out comes the rectal therm to stimulate some movement!!)