Broxton's Birth Story

Better late then never... right?!

Some might say that I just really didn't want to teach Relief Society that day:)  Honestly I had the same thought... Maybe I'm so nervous to teach that I am going into some sort of false labor because of it...

Early that Sunday morning (like 1 AM) I started to have contractions and really bad back pain. I just thought it was false labor so I didn't wake Brock up or anything. I just kept getting up and would try different things to try and calm my contractions down. I tried taking a bath, tried to fall back asleep (like 50 times), tried walking around, etc. Nothing was working and my 7 minute apart contractions started to get closer and closer together and they were pretty darn uncomfortable. So finally after a couple hours of contractions that were 4-5 minutes apart Brock convinced me that I was not going to be teaching a lesson that day and I was going to go to the hospital.

**Now this was all crazy because I wasn't supposed to have this baby for another 5 weeks! And I had convinced myself he was going to be coming late on top of that... so needless to say I was NOT prepared for this at all!!

So we called the doctor and she had said that I needed to get to the hospital and it was OK if I went and I wasn't actually in labor... they would at least just make sure i was hydrated and they would check me to see if I was progressing or not...

** another note... Brock just recently had his ob/gyn rotation and would tell me all the time about how annoying it was to the nurses and doctors when people would come in and they weren't in actual labor yet.. so i was TERRIFIED i was going to be one of those people:)

We then called some of our friends and they took our kiddos to church and Brock and I were off to the hospital. We got there at about 9:30 am

We got all checked in and everything and my contractions were still 5 ish minutes apart. They checked me and I was at a 2 and Broxton was still floating way high up. The first thing they did was get me on an IV... They wanted to see if hydrating me would stop my contractions... After A LOT of fluids and still consistent contractions they decided that wasn't the problem (its about 11:30). So then they gave me this crazy medication to help stop the contractions... The medication was HORRIBLE! It make my heart race like crazy and it made me feel like i was suffocating! The nurse said it feels like what people on a caffein or coffee high feel like... I DO NOT KNOW WHY ANYONE would EVER drink coffee if THAT is what it makes you feel like... after the first dose my contractions slowed down for about ten minutes and then they picked back up again... They then gave me a second (of a possible three) dose. It again slowed my contractions down for a few minutes but once the terrible side effects of the medicine wore off the contractions picked right back up.

They then again checked me and I hadn't made a lot of progress BUT they did say there was a small amount of change. So at that point they had decided I was going to have the baby so they moved me up to a labor and delivery room. (about 1pm)

Once I got up there they had told me that they were going to try and break my water and get labor to progress a little faster.

** during this whole process I am kinda freaking out cause he was so early but then at the same time kind of crazy excited to meet him! It was a crazy roller coaster of emotions!

So the doctor finally got there to break my water and she couldn't... SOOO the last thing they decided to try was morphine... This was kinda crazy and a last ditch effort to stop my contractions... Apparently they used to do this for women in my case, after sleeping for a while the lady would either wake up with no more labor or they would wake up in full force labor... Well i was the later:)

Brock said I was sleeping for a few hours and then after a while I started to moan and cry in my sleep... I guess my labor started up in full force and I would get very uncomfortable when my contractions would come... So they decided they would check me again and I had made a lot of progress... I was at a 6

They then decided the baby was for sure really coming... I was still quite out of it... I even let a resident do my epidural (which he tried for a good 45 minutes and never did get it in... another doctor ended up having to do it and got it in in like 5 min:) ) To his defense i was still so out of it they had me do it on my side... AND whenever he would ask me questions I wouldn't respond:/ (I couldn't with how the morphine was still effecting me)

** after this was all over i remember thinking I was so rude... cause the nurses and doctors would ask me questions and I would register them in my mind but then I wouldn't respond... but it was because I was so out of it... once I thought i was back with it i kept apologizing to the nurse cause i felt so bad... Now that I think about it I really don't think i was even with it at that point:) haha...

So after the epidural was in they checked me (7) and then broke my water... They then said that they would be back in about an hour or so to check me again...

Then literally like a minute after everyone left the room the nurse came back and was like... I think you are ready...

I was like WHAT?!?! you said I had an hour before you even checked me again...

She then told me she had been doing this for a very long time and she knew that i was ready cause of Brox's heart tones...

So she checked me and holy cow I was already at a ten and ready... Like she could see Brox's head ready...

So the doctors were all called... They had NICU docs in there as well cause Brox was considered premature and they always have them in there just in case. (unfortunately they needed to be there... But that will be all in my next post) So they got me all prepped and told me NOT to push just yet.. Once everyone and everything was all ready they told me to go ahead and start pushing once my next contraction came...

Two or three pushes later Broxton was here...

He didn't cry and actually didn't cry for a while... It was very very frightening for me... I don't think i really ever understood how much a mother needs to hear their little baby cry for the first time... cause it is a scary thing when they don't...

After a little coaxing.. ok a lot of coaxing he started to cry and breath... They let me hold him for a minute before taking him off to the NICU to observe and watch him...

He was 5lbs 14.75 oz and 18.5 inches long... Not TOO small for a premie!

I will continue this story in my next post! Broxton has been an amazing adventure in our lives so far! Lots of twists and turns BUT he has been such an amazing blessing! He is such a sweet wonderful baby! We are so lucky to have him in our family!!