Bryson's Birth Story

A Birth Story.....Bryson Kenneth.
My sister and her husband came down from Anchorage the first week of December to wait for the arrival of our little one. We had walked a few miles hoping to get some contractions started, had a Dr. appointment were I was 1 centimeter dilated and had the membranes stripped.... Nothing happened... I wasn't to desperate to drink any castor oil or do any crazy hot spicy foods, I wasn't ready to suffer for no reason if he was content in my belly.
December 7th 2012, This was my estimated due date. That morning I woke up with contractions starting more frequent and slow creeping back pain. B was at work so I called to let him know I thought things were progressing and I would keep him informed. He replied "Could you wait till after 11:00 so I can get everything done at work?...."  Ahhahaha LOL what a dork! Ahuh sure thing babe ;) We laughed. I got things around the house straighten up just trying to keep moving as the contractions became more intense throughout the day. By the end of the day the contractions were 3-5min apart and I had to walk through them as the back labor was very intense. By midnight I called Labor and Delivery letting them know what was happening. We then headed to the hospital to get things checked out and see if I was in labor or just progressing. When we arrived I was hooked up to the monitors and sure enough 3-5min apart contractions and baby looked good. The nurse checked to see how far I was dilated.... "your about 1.5 centimeters dilated." THAT'S IT?!?!!? We stayed for an hour to see if anything would progress. The cervix was soft and we were effacing well my body just didn't want to dilate. This baby was very happy were he was. We headed home about 3am with nothing but contractions and some Benadryl. Which didn't help by the way.
Going on day 2 with no sleep and constant contractions I tried to keep busy but the back & pelvic pain kept me on and off the couch with heating pads and hot showers and still no sleep. Midnight came and went and I was pacing around the house as I couldn't even sit down anymore. I keep debating in my head to go back to the hospital and get checked out one... more... time.... I was concerned that the roads were really icy and it was a Saturday night almost time for the bars to close. I wanted to let B sleep since we just did it the night before. I was to concerned for everything else. By 3:00AM I woke B up and said we need to go get checked again. I couldn't take the sleepless nights but also didn't want to be at home to long if the urge to push came along. Once again I was hooked up to monitors the baby looked great and I was still having contractions 3-5min apart. I'm thinking ok this is it I have to had made some progress with this much pain and a whole other day. The nurse... "Your dilated to a 2"..... Ugg what!?!? I just don't get it!!! I was so frustrated but most of all already exhausted and haven't even made it to the real deal yet. By the time we got home it was 5am and I was miserable.
Dec. 9th, 2012  by 9:00am I found myself picking up the phone calling the nurse at the hospital in tears telling her I couldn't do another day/night of this. I was drained, in so much pain, but most of all exhausted like I have never been in my life. The nurse said to come on in and we will go from there. The tears fallowed all the way to town and poor B could only put his hand on my leg and fell helpless.
One more time I put the gown on, climbed into the bed, put the monitors on and felt hopeless of any change. I was ready for anything, something to change. By this time a c-section was sounding great! Still contracting, baby still comfortable in there. The nurse "Your dilated to a 4 and we can admit you." I think for those 5seconds after her saying a "4" I felt like I won the lottery... And then a contraction started again....
After being admitted I was given a shot of Morphine to help me get a little rest. It made my contractions 10min apart which was amazing! Laying around trying to get some sleep 5 o'clock came around and I was checked again to see if I made any progress. Eight hours with a progress of.... still a 4!!!! COME ON!!! By 5:30pm my water was broke and contractions starting within minutes VERY strong. At 6:00pm I got an Intrathecal and had the best hour you could imagine! No pain, an amazing hour of rest. At 7:15pm the contractions were strong and the nurse wanted to check me to see if I made any progress. After her first check she had a funny look on her face and asked another nurse to check me. I went from 4 centimeters dilated at 5:00pm to 7:15pm and the nurses couldn't even feel my cervix. The baby dropped down so fast with in those few hours the nurses were shocked and started getting things ready for a baby. My family was on their way to the hospital and B and I just watched as the nursing staff prepared for our little ones arrival. I was still pretty numb from the Intrathecal so once the pushing started around 9:15pm it took a good 45min for me to really get a good system down and know what my body needed to help get this baby out. It took about an hour and forty five minute of pushing before we had our little handsome man in our arms. I was put on oxygen to help Bryson because of the stress from the contractions and the length of pushing he was getting worn out. 11:04pm Bryson Kenneth was born into a room full of family and friends.  B and I, My two sisters, parents and best friend were there for the support and arrival of the first grand baby on my side of the family. Bryson weighed 8lbs 14oz and a whopping 21.5" long! The midwife laid him on my chest while we waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing before B cut it. He was beautiful!
Bryson was having a hard time breathing so the nurses took him and put him on oxygen and had to monitor him in the nursery. B went with him and I stayed and got taken care of by the midwife.
About 2:15am I was moved to another room and got to see my son. There we were the three of us... a family. I was so exhausted and so light headed from lots of blood loss it took a good day to get back to feeling balanced. Those two days in the hospital were a blur. We had loved ones come visit and Drs. and staff but the whole time I felt like it was one big blur.
Its been two weeks since Bryson was born and its still taking some time to get a routine down. It takes forever to get ready to go anywhere and a shower still feels amazing! I still miss my sleep but everything is worth it. He is handsome, adorable, cuddly but most of all ours.