We'd like to introduce the newest member of our family: Brigham Douglas, born 5:13 a.m. August 24th, 2010. He weighed 5 lbs 14 oz and was 20 1/4 " long.
Last week at my doctors appt. we found out that our little guy was just not growing as much as he should be. Since the last 2 sonograms pointed this out, our doctor told us that may indicate something wasn't right with the placenta. So, on Mon. the 23rd, we went and talked to our doctor and told her we were on board for going in Tues. evening and getting prepped for induction on Wed. morning. Later on that evening, I decided I had better pamper myself and went to get a pedicure (with bright green toenails). 10 minutes after I got back home my water broke- 6:45pm. When that happened, I was a little nervous because Ted wasn't home. He was riding around town trying his new bike tire out. I knew once the water breaks labor is inevitable. So I finished packing up my suitcase, and pretty soon he walked in the door and I told him the news.
We got to the hospital around 7:45pm and I was only dilated 2 cm. By 10-ish I was still at a 2, so they went ahead and hooked me up to potocin. A half hour passed and I still hadn't really felt any bad contractions so I though I would try and sleep. Then out of the blue, I started having vision problems and my tounge, lips, and teeth went numb. So they unhooked me from the potocin while I recovered a bit. They said the monitor showed my blood pressure drop super low for some reason. It must have been just a freak thing that happened, so I told them to go ahead and try it again. This time an hour passed-it was a little after midnight- and I felt fine, contractions started coming but not bad yet. Ted fell asleep on the rock-hard couch thing with cylinder pillows, and I stayed awake watching HGTV b/c I was still a little scared to fall asleep.
As the contractions slowly got stronger and more intense, I went back and forth between laying in the bed, rolling around on the birthing ball, and having to pee like ALL the time. Ted woke up and went to grab some food. By the time he got back, it was around 3am. and I was in pretty bad shape. I had dilated to 4cm and feeling extremely uncomfortable. From 4a.m. on, I was having contractions every one or 2 minutes apart, and they were the worst feeling ever. In fact, I was kind of living in a different world at that point. I really thought I was going to die from the pain, but Ted and the nurse kept pep talking me through it. Since I wanted to deliver without using any pain meds I don't know if I could have done it without them, they were both really great! I went from a 4 to a full 10 in 45 minutes. I didn't think Dr. Kimuri would ever get there, but finally she did and after about 4 or 5 pushes our miracle was here! It was the most painful, awesome, fullfilling experience I have ever been through!
Over the last 2 days we were at the hospital getting to know Brigham, learning how to breastfeed, and trying to rest as much as possible. Grandma (Shirley), Great-aunt Bev, and Great Grandma Adam came to visit Wednesday, and so did Aunt Tess and Uncle Jared. We got a few other friends from church come visit us too. Today we came home and are trying to adjust to this new lifestyle. He is such an alert baby with big eyes when he's awake, has done awesome with feeding, and sleeps so peaceful. We just love him:)
