Went to bed a little after midnight. Woke up at 2:30 AM with a lot of back pain and abdominal cramps. After a few minutes I realized this was very different from anything else I have experienced so far and wondered if this was the real deal. I got up and tried to time the contractions but it was so hard to tell when a contraction started and stopped. At 3 AM I decided to take a shower to see if that would make the pain go away or contractions get stronger. After the shower, I finally was able to start timing the contractions. They were 10-12 minutes apart, then 5, then 10, etc. It didn't make any sense to me. At 4 AM John woke up and I told him today was the day. He got in the shower while I finished getting ready. I was told (or read somewhere) the contractions needed to be about 5 minutes apart for an hour before going to the hospital, so I just kept waiting. Then the contractions seemed to be spaced farther apart, so I was getting frustrated.
Finally around 5:15 I decided the contractions were enough and we called John's mom to come over and stay with Brynlee. We left for the hospital at 5:30.
Last pregnancy picture. Taken between contractions before we left for the hospital.
It was about 6:30 before I was checked, but I was dilated to a 5 by then. It seemed to take forever to get an IV in (2 tries), then IV fluids before they could put the epidural in. I was so ready for it! I remember last time having only 1 contraction while the epidural was put in, which was completely miserable and so painful to have pain from a needle in your back, plus contractions in the front. This time the doctor seemed to take forever and ever to get it in and had 3 contractions. Of course I wondered if it was in right or if there was something wrong, but the doctor never said anything about it. It seemed to take a lot longer for it to start working and even when it was working I could still wiggle my toes and move my legs a little.
I was allowed to rest for a while with the epidural in and tried to sleep, but couldn't. It was nice to just rest and relax for a little while though. By this time it was late enough in the morning that we had updated family and friends about what was going on, so John and I both spent a lot of time on our phones texting or calling with updates.
Before the epidural my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, and after the epidural they slowed down to about every 5-6 minutes (which is normal after an epidural). So they decided to start some Pitocin to speed up the labor a bit. After a little while Dr. Ott came to check on me and broke my water. There was a little bit of meconium stool in the water. Dr. Ott said it was just a tiny bit and he wasn't worried at all. But I was super worried because that means the baby is in distress. I started crying because I didn't want the delivery to turn into the same as Brynlee's with tons of people in the chaotic room and me not getting to see the baby for hours because he has to go to the NICU. Obviously there was nothing that could be done at that point but wait and hope for the best.
I was feeling pressure with each contraction and not liking it much. It wasn't pain, but hard to describe. I got an extra dose of the epidural medication, but that didn't help. I was really worried that it would hurt when I started pushing, so I was hoping they could fix it. But it wasn't much longer that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. Dr. Ott came in and I pushed for 3 contractions and he was out. I was right- it did hurt when I pushing him out. But at least it only lasted a few minutes and obviously the pain would have been much worse if I didn't have an epidural at all.
Bentley Jonathan Miller was born at 1152 AM. He weighed 8 lbs exactly and was 20 inches long. He had a little bit of dark hair. Just like Brynlee- he has big chubby cheeks and a perfectly proportioned head and face. Since they don't spend too much time in the birth canal, they don't get weird heads. The doctor must have suctioned out his airway while I was still pushing, but I didn't see any of that. As soon as he was out he was crying and they sent the NICU team away. I was so relieved but also a little nervous there might still be something wrong. I didn't tear at all or need an episiotomy, so that was nice.
The nurse told me in the first few hours after birth is when babies are most alert, so enjoy that time with him. I never got to experience that with Brynlee and have been sad about it since then. He was awake for a little while so got to enjoy that with John.
I was allowed to rest for a while with the epidural in and tried to sleep, but couldn't. It was nice to just rest and relax for a little while though. By this time it was late enough in the morning that we had updated family and friends about what was going on, so John and I both spent a lot of time on our phones texting or calling with updates.
Before the epidural my contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, and after the epidural they slowed down to about every 5-6 minutes (which is normal after an epidural). So they decided to start some Pitocin to speed up the labor a bit. After a little while Dr. Ott came to check on me and broke my water. There was a little bit of meconium stool in the water. Dr. Ott said it was just a tiny bit and he wasn't worried at all. But I was super worried because that means the baby is in distress. I started crying because I didn't want the delivery to turn into the same as Brynlee's with tons of people in the chaotic room and me not getting to see the baby for hours because he has to go to the NICU. Obviously there was nothing that could be done at that point but wait and hope for the best.
I was feeling pressure with each contraction and not liking it much. It wasn't pain, but hard to describe. I got an extra dose of the epidural medication, but that didn't help. I was really worried that it would hurt when I started pushing, so I was hoping they could fix it. But it wasn't much longer that I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. Dr. Ott came in and I pushed for 3 contractions and he was out. I was right- it did hurt when I pushing him out. But at least it only lasted a few minutes and obviously the pain would have been much worse if I didn't have an epidural at all.
Wide awake right after birth. My first time holding Bentley.
Bentley Jonathan Miller was born at 1152 AM. He weighed 8 lbs exactly and was 20 inches long. He had a little bit of dark hair. Just like Brynlee- he has big chubby cheeks and a perfectly proportioned head and face. Since they don't spend too much time in the birth canal, they don't get weird heads. The doctor must have suctioned out his airway while I was still pushing, but I didn't see any of that. As soon as he was out he was crying and they sent the NICU team away. I was so relieved but also a little nervous there might still be something wrong. I didn't tear at all or need an episiotomy, so that was nice.
The nurse told me in the first few hours after birth is when babies are most alert, so enjoy that time with him. I never got to experience that with Brynlee and have been sad about it since then. He was awake for a little while so got to enjoy that with John.
John and I were just so happy to have Bentley with us and know that everything is all right. When you have waited so long for something to happen, it is hard to believe it when the time has finally come.
About 1-2 hours after he was born, my mom came and brought Brynlee. She was fascinated of course and actually walked right past me without even a hello. She just wanted to see the baby so bad! She was in awe with how cute he was and was so happy to tell everyone about him. She still says he is her baby (not mommy's baby). We were taken to the mom/baby unit shortly after. I was soo tired from labor and only having 2 hours of sleep the night before. I also had a headache from lack of sleep and food. We had tons of visitors the rest of the day, so never even got a real nap. Anytime someone wasn't talking to me my eyes would start to close.
About 1-2 hours after he was born, my mom came and brought Brynlee. She was fascinated of course and actually walked right past me without even a hello. She just wanted to see the baby so bad! She was in awe with how cute he was and was so happy to tell everyone about him. She still says he is her baby (not mommy's baby). We were taken to the mom/baby unit shortly after. I was soo tired from labor and only having 2 hours of sleep the night before. I also had a headache from lack of sleep and food. We had tons of visitors the rest of the day, so never even got a real nap. Anytime someone wasn't talking to me my eyes would start to close.
Everyone talks about how big his cheeks are! Just like Brynlee's....
His fingernails were so long that he scratched his face many times before we got home and cut them.
That night we sent him to the nursery and we each got a few hours of sleep. The next day was more visitors and a little more sleep. We went home from the hospital Friday night around 8 PM. We picked up Brynlee and went home.
We are so grateful to have amazing family in town that could take care of Brynlee for several days.
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