Brynlee Colette: Birth Story Part 1

(38 weeks on the dot- last belly shot)

I had always wondered what my second pregnancy, labor and delivery would be like. Would it play along like Emery's story? Would I have another perfect pregnancy? Pretty much symptomless free and easy going? Would the labor be just as quick to where I couldn't have time to gather myself to prepare for the birth of my own child? Would it be surreal again? Would I go early or late? Would I be able to handle the pain like I did my first time?

 Could I even love another child as much as I love Emery? After all, to be honest, I hadn't really felt a connection to baby girl like I did with Emery. I blamed it on the fact that Emmy kept me so busy that I didn't have much time to bond during my pregnancy like I could have.

So many thoughts and questions bubbled inside me as Brynlee grew and got closer to her due date.

My pregnancy with Brynlee wasn't like my pregnancy with Emery. They say that second time pregnancies tend to be much easier and faster. Well...they were wrong in my case.

I never had morning sickness with Emery. Not once.

When I found out I was pregnant this time, I felt great. I found out pretty early at about 3 weeks and some days. I knew to take pregnancy tests early because Matt and I had planned this. I felt nothing during week 4 and I was like, YES! No morning sickness!

I jinxed myself because by week 5 I ate some bad meat and ended up getting food poisoning. At first I thought it was horrible morning sickness. Every 10 minutes on the dot I was up puking my guts out and even though I knew anything that went down my throat ended up coming back up, I chugged water so I wouldn't dehydrate.

My dad, who had also ate the meat as well, was up puking 6 hours after me so thats when I knew it was just food poisoning.

Luckily (depending on how you see it), it only lasted 3 days in my case. After it was all said and done, I didn't feel any nausea. Again, I thought I had escaped it.

Week 6 hit me fast and hard one morning when I took my prenatal pill and I barely made it to the bathroom before I had my first bout of morning sickness.

ah..so thats what it feels like.

My morning sickness stayed with me until about 16 weeks off and on but it wasn't completely terrible. I only vomited a handful of times but I couldn't take my prenatal vitamins anymore.

I started my healthy eating and exercise routine around 26 weeks and even though that is a whole blog update in itself, it was the longest I had stayed committed to something like it.

I lasted until about 32 weeks and when I fell down the stairs and had a very long hospital stay to monitor me and baby girl, I told myself that I wouldn't do anything more but rest and just continue to eat clean.

I felt much more tired and worn down with the second pregnancy and maybe that had to do with a wild toddler and my busy social life. Play dates every week or two, working out 4-6 days a week, keeping the house clean and kept up while Matt was away...just overall busy. 

I found out that Matt had an out of town training trips for two weeks a month before my due date. I started to worry just a bit because Emery came a week early and really fast. I did hear that second time moms go even earlier and their labors are normally even quicker.

I remember part of me hoped that she would stay put until after Matt and my mom made it town but another part of me secretly wished she would just come out already and pray that Matt could make it in time.

I was over pregnancy after my little fall down the stairs at 32 weeks. I just wanted to get my body back to normal, sleep laying on my stomach and most of all just hold my new baby.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I was going anytime soon.

I swelled up during pregnancy; something that never happened to me, other than my feet, while pregnant with Emery. 

At my 37 week doctor appointment, I was 1 cm 70% effaced and baby's head was at a -3 station in my pelvis. Pretty much nothing to really think I was going anytime soon.

Matt got home July 1st from his trip and I felt so relieved that he was back and now I could go into labor anytime and not have to worry about him missing the birth.

We went for a walk with Emery around our neighborhood that night, put her to bed, spent some time together and then my cousin came over for a little while.

She and I joked about me going into labor on her birthday, July 2nd, but I told her that now I wanted baby to wait until my mom came later that week.

My cousin asked me if I felt any different and I told her no. I did have one strong contraction around 11:30 at night and I remember it being a bit achy and stronger than my normal braxton hicks contractions but I didn't think anything of it because I didn't have any others to time.

I went to bed and around 2 am I started waking up every hour to some cramping. Thinking back on it now it should have seemed so obvious but then I only thought it was my bladder being full. So I got up to go to the bathroom every hour until I woke up to intensified cramping around 4:30 am.

I thought....is this it?

I couldn't sleep because they were coming every couple minutes and on a pain scale they were about a 3 so I decided to hop in the shower and keep timing them. I quickly realized that they were 2 minutes apart and I could feel them in my stomach...something I didn't feel with Emery.

I got out of the shower and woke Matt. I told him I was going to go downstairs and do my hair to pass the time and count the contractions to see if they stay before I called Labor and Delivery.

I don't think he really knew what was happening but he nodded and went back to sleep.

With Emery, I tried to put on a little bit of makeup but I barely managed before I headed to the hospital. This time I just rocked my hips during each contraction and curled my hair as I did.

I wanted pretty pictures, damn it. I wanted to look pretty and not like death after delivering like I did with Emery haha.

I tried calling my cousin a million times around 5:45 am but she wasn't picking up. Of course that would happen. I tried calling her husband since I knew that he would have to be up for work soon but he also wasn't picking up.

They were supposed to watch Emery while Matt and I headed to the hospital and I couldn't get a hold of them.

Around 6 am I called my mom to tell her what was going on and she was sad that she was going to miss it since we figured that this was really it. The contractions were still 2 mins apart consistently and were getting more painful.

6:15 am my cousin, Destiny, finally called back and she was going to wake her two boys up and head over.

I finished curling my hair by the time she got to my house and I decided that the contractions were too painful to put any make up on. I'd just have to do it when I had time after my epidural.

(No makeup. In pain. Just admitted into my labor room)

I went upstairs to pack the last few things of my hospital bag, snapped my last pregnancy picture and joked with Destiny about how her wish came true...I was going to have a baby on her birthday.

We left for the hospital about 6:45 am and of course hit traffic on the way. During each contraction I would place my hands on the ceiling of Matt's truck and push hard so that my hips would dig into the seat to try to help the pain.

Once again, breathing through each one and staying quiet helped me through it just like it did with Emery.

It felt like the longest car ride even though it really only took about twenty minutes.

Matt dropped me off at the front of the hospital and took off to go park. I literally ran whenever the contraction would pass and then would stop and breathe when it would come again. I'm sure a few people passing knew that I was in labor at this point.

When I got into L&D and was signing in, a man pushing his wife in a wheel chair who was obviously in labor as well but not handling it well, came in after me. The poor woman was beet red, eyes blood shot and face tear streaked. She was moaning loud and clinging to the wheel chair with her dear life.

It made me think how different everyone handles labor. Here she was loud as can be and thats how she dealt with her pain.

I, on the other hand, couldn't even fathom moaning out loud to ease my pain. It took every bit of energy in me not to hold my breath let alone cry out. Not even when I was 8 cm with Emery and my body was pushing on its own did I cry out. 

I suppose you can say I'm the silent type. I seriously think I could give Scientology a run for its money. Move over, Katie Holmes.

The woman at the front desk felt so bad for the woman behind me that she asked if I'd mind letting her see the nurse first.

I looked at the woman in pain and she looked at me with pleading eyes. I wanted to say no because I was in pain too but me being me, nodded and told her to go ahead.

When the triage nurse finally showed me to my room, my midwife throughout both my pregnancies had opened up a door as I passed and we both stared at each other in shock.

She must have just got back from her Africa trip and here I was at the hospital 2 weeks early ready to have a baby.

Suddenly I felt so much better that Brynlee had chosen today because I loved my midwife.

Unfortunately she told me that shifts just switched and she was now off work.

She was kind enough to stay with me and at least check me before she left to decide whether or not I would stay. She knew my history of going fast with delivery.

Matt had made it by this point and he was texting my family and his family to let them know what was going on but we decided not to let anyone else know. It's not that I really wanted it to be secret but I just didn't feel like saying anything yet just incase I was sent home for not being dilated enough.

It was about 8 am when my midwife checked me and she told me I was 4 cm, 90% effaced and baby's head was at 0 station.

I believe in the Naval hospital they want you to be past 4 cm before they admit you. When she told me 4 cm, I looked up at her and said, please.

She knew what I was talking about, sighed but smiled and said that she was going to admit me due to my quick dilation with my first.

Praise the lord. I was having a baby today.

To be continued....