Brooklyn's Birth Story

On Thursday May 24th I lost my mucous plug (that word is so gross).  I didn't think too much about it cause I had heard that it could be weeks after you lose it that you deliver.  But I talked to my sister Bea and she said with her first she went into labor the night after.  I texted my mom to let her know what was going on too.  She had been worried about not making it from Yakima to Boise in time (a 6 hour drive) so she decided to just go ahead and come down Thursday evening.
My mom arrived at our apartment at 1am.  I was already asleep but woke up at 3am from contractions.  I went out in the living room and bounced on our exercise ball and paced around and took a couple of warm baths.  I was able to sleep for about 30 minutes on the couch.  That night we hadn't been able to sleep til around 11pm because some college students across the street were playing there music super loud.  I called the police but I think they turned it off before the police arrived.
I wanted to let my mom and Thomas sleep til as late as possible.  They got up at 8am and we all got ready and ate breakfast and then went to the hospital.  At 3am Thomas had downloaded a contraction timer on his phone and I had used it all night to keep track.  They were anywhere from 4 to 2 minutes apart and lasted about 40-60 seconds.  The general rule is to go to the hospital when your contractions are 5 minutes apart, lasting for one minute, and when this continues for an hour.  This rule didn't work in my case.

 When we got to the OB/GYN triage they checked me and I was only dilated to 1cm and 80% effaced.  So I had not dilated since my appointment on Tuesday and had effaced 30%.  When the nurse asked my pain scale on a 1-10 I measured it at a four.  They told me to just go home and walk and that I was in pre-labor.
I was pretty disappointed but there were a few things we wanted to do anyways around town so we took advantage of that.  First, we stopped at IHOP for breakfast then headed to Michael's to return some supplies and buy some supplies for some closed hangers I am making for the baby's room.  Then we headed to Cabella's to get some running shirts for my mom and then we walked around them mall just browsing.  By the time we were about to leave the mall the contractions we so strong I needed to stop and lean against something or sway back and forth to get through the contractions.  Nobody really seemed to notice til we were just about to exit the mail and I had a strong contraction and this one lady passed and then did a double take and then pointed me out to the other people in her group.  Haha.
After the mall we made one last stop at Deseret Book and then got dinner at Subway.  We then headed back to the hospital.  This time I was 1 1/2 cm and 90%.  I was very disappointed.  They told me I could sit in the jacuzzi tub for an hour to see if things would progress.  The tub felt so good even though the contractions at this point were getting stronger and stronger.  When I would have one I would say things like "Ow, ow, ow! Make it stop PLEASE!"  at that point there was no just breathing through it.  I was feeling a lot of it in my back and being in the tub took some of the weight off.  Thomas sat in a chair next to the tub and when I would let him he would rub my hand or leg.  My mom was on a chair outside the bathroom.  They both were really great support people.  They let me just work through the pain and were sympathetic when I needed it.
After an hour (9:15 pm) they checked me again , this time a different nurse, and I was 2cm and 80%. Now my pain was a nine on a scale of 1-10. The nurse called the doctor and they allowed me to stay another hour in the jacuzzi.  I was so thankful because I would have been so discouraged to go home again.  I just couldn't imagine hurting that bad at home and not having the reassurance that I could get some medicine to help ASAP.  I couldn't believe that with the amount of pain I was in that I wasn't further along.  They kept asking me if I had had some procedure on my cervix that might have caused scar tissue, because that could be why I wasn't progressing faster. The nurse let me know that I needed to be at a 3 before they would admit me. So back into the tub I went.  I told my mom, Thomas, and the nurse to all pray I got to a three in the next hour.  My mom sent out a mass text asking for prayers :)

After another hour and a half or so in the tub (10:45pm)  in the tub I was checked and the nurse said I was 2.5 cm.  I said "NO!!!" and she said "Okay I'll give you a three." That made me so happy! She immediately asked me when I wanted the epidural and I said right away.  So they got me hooked to an IV to get some fluid in me so my blood pressure wouldn't drop.  The nurse at this time was super annoying to me.  During a contraction when I would be moaning and just trying to get through it would keep saying over and over "Breathe, breathe, breathe."  I wanted her to shut up big time.  Haha
But luckily they took my right to labor and delivery and after about 30 minutes I got the epidural (12:15am).  I thought I would be more scared but at that point I just wanted the pain to end.  I knew there was no way I would be able to endure the pain any longer.  The nurse anesthesist was super nice and assured me that if I had a contraction while he was doing the procedure we would work through it.  I only felt a little pinch when he numbed the area and then a couple times a slight cramp in the middle of my back.  Afterwards was HEAVEN!!! I was able to talk and laugh with my mom and Thomas and we were even able to nap a bit.  At around 1am I was 5cm dilated.

At around 3am while we were all about passed out, a few nurses came in and wanted me to get on my hands and knees and gave me some oxygen because the baby's heart rate had dropped apparently because of her position and my blood pressure was pretty low.  The put some ephedrine in the I.V. to increase my blood pressure and after 5 minutes on my hands and knees it was all good.  Which by the way it is pretty weird being on your hands and knees when you can't feel your legs.  haha.  After all of that they checked me and I was 9.5cm dilated.  The nurse I had for the labor and delivery part was named Amy and she was super good.  She said she could feel my bag of waters and it was bulging and I was about ready to push so she went to call the doctor on call while Thomas went to fill up my water bottle.  While they were gone my mom commented "Well the doctor might not even be here before your water breaks." And write as she said that there was a big splash like a huge water balloon broke and I jumped.  My water had broken.  We both just laughed and I told her she had jinxed me.

Thomas and the nurse came in and I was shaking a bit not because I was cold but because I was in transition.  My mom again commented "well at least you haven't thrown up".  And right after she said that I asked for a bucket and proceeded to throw up.  I told her she needed to say something positive and jinx me that way :)
At 3:45am I started pushing.  I couldn't really feel much when I was just flat on my back so I would push in sets of three, three times on each side and on my back.  On my sides I could feel more pressure so I felt more effective.  The doctor arrived about 20 minutes before she was born.  Dr. Carter isn't my OB/GYN but I had seen him a couple times when my doctor, Dr. Grissom, had been out of the office.

Towards the end when she started to crown it was really awesome to see my mom and Thomas' faces as they saw her head.  Thomas just had this look of amazement on his face and they both would just encourage me to push a little harder.  For the hour and a half I was pushing I felt just fine and the time flew by.
When my water had broken there was a tiny bit of meconium so they had the NICU team there to monitor her right away.  But when the doctor delivered her he waved them away and said she was fine and I was able to hold her right away.

It was so unreal to have this little baby be put on my chest and to think that she was half me, half Thomas.  We both agree that it took about an hour for it to settle in that this was our daughter! Brooklyn Brielle Giles was born at 5:09 am Saturday, May 26th, 2012. She was 7lbs 8oz and 20 inches. She has the most beautiful smooth skin, chubby cheeks, but a long slim body.  Her eyes remind me of her daddy's and she for sure has his lips.  She has dark brown hair and so far dark blue eyes.

Brooklyn is such a good baby.  One of the things I was most scared of about having a baby was lack of sleep.  But I feel really good.  She eats every 3-4 hours and then normally goes right back to sleep.  Thomas and I will put her in her bassinet to sleep but more than half the time we end up just having her sleep with us because we love having her next to us. 
I feel like I just couldn't be any happier.  It's amazing the happiness this little girl has brought me.  I mean I felt happy before but this is just an extra level of happiness. All of the sickness of pregnancy and aches and pains of labor were SO worth it.