So contractions were 28 minutes apart. I was so exhausted that I kept falling asleep on the table. Dr. Bill didn't believe in stirrups, so my friend Niki and my mom held my legs in the birthing position. It was tiring for them as well, even more tiring for me, cause I recognized that at being 6'2" tall, that half my weight was carried in my legs; so I was struggling to keep my center of balance, and not let them take all my weight. This was caught on soon enough, and my doctor got out the stirrups.
I was told in birthing class that the maximum amount of hours most women on the table giving birth would be 2.5 hours, tops. No, that didn't help me at all, as I was watching the clock.
Started full labor at 8:26am, hard contractions, pushing, yelling, holding my breath. Yup, I was holding my breath. You know that feeling when you stub your toe on something hard? You normally say a loud cussing word, and hold your breath...that was me minus the cursing. Niki, my mom, my doctor and the nurses all realized I was turning this slight odd bluish color. So they focused in more so, and realized while I was pushing, I wasn't breathing. Taking a deep breath in and holding it. I was demanded to breathe. I couldn't...the pain was just so unbearable...I had...to...hold...my...breath.
Niki said if I didn't breathe she was going to bite me. Well who the heck bites you when your in labor? Niki is the one that bites a pregnant lady in labor! She bit my arm and drew blood. I screamed, why the hell did you do that for. She grinned and said, "you're breathing again, aren't you."
It hurt...I had some choice words for her, it made everyone laugh - funny for everyone else, but they weren't the ones sitting on that table, in major pain and to top it off, teeth marks on your arm. I still have a scar to this day! It did relieve some tension though!
Just passed 2.5 hours. Contractions still only 28 minutes a part. Unbelievable! I then thought back to the birth classes and thought of my instructor. Liar is all that came to mind! lol
Three hours went by...Dr. Bill felt for the baby, he was close. Sunnyside up, and stuck. I thought, huh, what? How does a baby get stuck up there? All that goo, shouldn't he slide right out? I mean really, how far are they coming, like maybe 12 inches at the most?
He wasn't in distress...so I kept pushing, and Dr. Bill kept rotating him. This went on for hours! I was given some oxygen at 11:30am for an asthma attack that I had on the table. That helped...I fell asleep for a little bit. My mom brought me a warm hospital blanket. I was slightly chilly.
My mom went for another blanket, and I woke up, and this wave of more pain came on so fast and furious. But my mom wasn't in the room, I panicked. My step- mother jumped in to help. My dad had arrived with Dorothy. My brother would have helped, but first off, he's a guy - my little brother, and he was behind the video camera. I will have to find that video and upload it, cause if you get a chance to see it, there's a spot on the video where he obviously saw too much. LOL. It was one of those, "oooh too much information." He didn't want to see all that...he was just trying to film the birth.
My mom came back in the room and literally bumped my step mom out of the way. They don't get along too well. (They have had to share wedding, graduations, special occasions, but come hell or high water, my mom wasn't going to share the birth of her first grandchild.) hehehehe
The last major push, out came his head, I could feel it, literally could, cause I reached down! Then his shoulders, and out he slid! He was here! He cried right away! They put him on my stomach - he was so little! 12:48pm. Braedyn had arrived. It only took 4 hours and 22 minutes for him to arrive after I started pushing. (So folks never believe the birthing class instructor!)
They whisked him away to do the stats. He was dis-colored. His skin cracked and bleeding. He was purplish. He was 4 pounds 12 ounces. He was tiny. But he was healthy!
Dr. Bill said that my placenta came out in 8 pieces. So when I had false contractions in November of 2001, I should have had him. He was over cooked. I knew I was pregnant sooner than what was detected. Doctors figured he would have been just over 6 pounds, had I delivered sooner. He was under weight, cause his food supply had been deteriorating.
I started to cry...I was emotionally spent, exhausted, and elated at the same time. (Wanna know something? - My step mom told me to suck it up, the nerve of her! Can you say RUDE?)
I had my son, he was beautiful. He was mine. He was my baby. Only mine. i was a single mom, so all I had to share him with was family and friends. My son Braedyn was born. The most beautiful little boy to walk the earth!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Leading up to the birth of Braedyn
So it was a cold and dark stormy day back on Wednesday December 5th in 2001, I woke up with this weird feeling, was it indigestion? Nope. Was it braxton hicks? Nope. Could this be...labor?
So my best friend Niki took me to the hospital, and the nurses just stood there dumbfounded looking at me, cause my belly was so small. (Let me just say for those that do not know, I am a 6'2" tall woman. I knew I wasn't very big, but my doctor told me I was carrying mostly in the back.) The nurses were very rude and told me I wouldn't be having this baby till February! At which point I said, "well I know I am small, but there is no way I could be pregnant for 12 months, I am not a cow."
So they checked me, told me I was only 1 cm dilated, said I'd be a few weeks yet and sent me on my way.
December 6th.
Again woke up with pain. Phoned my mom to come into town with my dad who was studying at the University of Victoria. They lived in Shawnigan Lake. She arrived around 7:30am. I was having contractions, but they were coming in hours apart from one another. I phoned my doctor, and he told me to go for a bunch of little walks throughout the day.
Contractions sped up later on in the day coming in every hour. Till around 10pm, contractions were half an hour apart, and coming on strong. Not a single one of my female friends ever told me that contractions were like menstrual cramps time 1000! And apparently that is why! They didn't want to scare me!!!
I went for another walk around 11:30pm with Niki and my brother and his dog Kailey. Just after Kailey hunted and tracked a rat, the wave of pain hit me so ever hard, and I had to bend down to all fours and wait for the wave of pain to pass. I went home...but the waves of pain only stayed 1/2 an hour apart. My doctor told me to go to the hospital.
December 7th.
I got to VGH at 12:30am. Wouldn't you know it was the same nurses that were there on the Wednesday before! They just shook their heads at me and asked why I was back, and mumbled something under their breaths something to the effect of 'new moms.'
I explained I was having contractions and that my doctor knew and was the one who told me to come in. I also said I had been having these pains since the Wednesday. They checked me and I was 4 cm dilated, and 40% effaced. My contractions were powerful and painful still coming in 1/2 an hour from one another. I was hooked up to the baby heart beat monitor and that other machine that measured how strong my pain was.
Niki was exhausted cause she had pretty much had been up with me since December 5th, yet she too had a baby at home...my God-daughter who had just turned 2 years old. I recognized she was tired, so I let her sleep in the parent chair. I kept having painful contractions, but she needed sleep, so I bit my tongue and didn't breathe one utter moan so she could rest. Niki was some mad at me, when she woke up at 6am! I let her sleep for almost 4 hours!
The nurses had shift change and someone came into check me at 7am. The nurse then told me I wasn't having this baby today, and that I will have to wait for my doctor to arrive before I could be discharged...that's where IT hit me...I started to bawl, I was a blubbering mess. I kept crying, "there is no way you expect me to go through this pain anymore, this is horrible."
I was in the worst pain I had ever experienced in my whole entire life.
My doctor came in at 8:30am. He asked why I was so upset, so I told him that the nurse said I wasn't having the baby today, and I told him I was in the worst pain I have ever experienced in my whole entire life. He asked me if I had anything for the pain throughout the night, and I explained I got a Tylenol for a headache around 3:30am, but that was all cause the nurses were scared to give me anything do to the fact that I have allergies to a lot of medication. he walked out of the room at that moment, and all I could hear was him giving the nurses heck!
I was slightly happy.
Dr. Schoichet came back into my room and said he wanted to check me. He started to laugh, and all I could think at that moment was 'Not you too.' I was crying so hard! He stood up with a huge grin on his face and said, "Quit your blubbering Brandi, you are 80% effaced, and 9 centimeters dilated, you are having this baby today sweetie!"
I had transitioned.
He was a good doctor, I called him Dr. Bill. I think he had a soft spot for me, as I was a single mom since about 3 months pregnant. I could say I had the best doctor...
Dr. Bill told me to get up and walk and said when I felt the need to have a bowel movement it would be time. So I was half way down the hall, and it hit me...excruciating pain, wave of nauseousness, and back pain. (I still have nightmares to this day about that pain. I have decided since that day, yup, I could be hit with a bullet and it wouldn't hurt that much!) Niki went to rub my back (cause apparently that helps...?), and I just turned like the girl from the Exorcist, and said "Don't @&^*%&* touch me!"
Boy oh boy did she drop her hand to her side oh so very quickly!
It was time!
However, my contractions were still half an hour apart. Dr. Bill put me on Petocin to speed up the contractions. Oh they sped up alright...coming in now 28 minutes apart. Yeah that helped so good. So much better...yeah!
I was falling asleep on the table in between contractions...
So my best friend Niki took me to the hospital, and the nurses just stood there dumbfounded looking at me, cause my belly was so small. (Let me just say for those that do not know, I am a 6'2" tall woman. I knew I wasn't very big, but my doctor told me I was carrying mostly in the back.) The nurses were very rude and told me I wouldn't be having this baby till February! At which point I said, "well I know I am small, but there is no way I could be pregnant for 12 months, I am not a cow."
So they checked me, told me I was only 1 cm dilated, said I'd be a few weeks yet and sent me on my way.
December 6th.
Again woke up with pain. Phoned my mom to come into town with my dad who was studying at the University of Victoria. They lived in Shawnigan Lake. She arrived around 7:30am. I was having contractions, but they were coming in hours apart from one another. I phoned my doctor, and he told me to go for a bunch of little walks throughout the day.
Contractions sped up later on in the day coming in every hour. Till around 10pm, contractions were half an hour apart, and coming on strong. Not a single one of my female friends ever told me that contractions were like menstrual cramps time 1000! And apparently that is why! They didn't want to scare me!!!
I went for another walk around 11:30pm with Niki and my brother and his dog Kailey. Just after Kailey hunted and tracked a rat, the wave of pain hit me so ever hard, and I had to bend down to all fours and wait for the wave of pain to pass. I went home...but the waves of pain only stayed 1/2 an hour apart. My doctor told me to go to the hospital.
December 7th.
I got to VGH at 12:30am. Wouldn't you know it was the same nurses that were there on the Wednesday before! They just shook their heads at me and asked why I was back, and mumbled something under their breaths something to the effect of 'new moms.'
I explained I was having contractions and that my doctor knew and was the one who told me to come in. I also said I had been having these pains since the Wednesday. They checked me and I was 4 cm dilated, and 40% effaced. My contractions were powerful and painful still coming in 1/2 an hour from one another. I was hooked up to the baby heart beat monitor and that other machine that measured how strong my pain was.
Niki was exhausted cause she had pretty much had been up with me since December 5th, yet she too had a baby at home...my God-daughter who had just turned 2 years old. I recognized she was tired, so I let her sleep in the parent chair. I kept having painful contractions, but she needed sleep, so I bit my tongue and didn't breathe one utter moan so she could rest. Niki was some mad at me, when she woke up at 6am! I let her sleep for almost 4 hours!
The nurses had shift change and someone came into check me at 7am. The nurse then told me I wasn't having this baby today, and that I will have to wait for my doctor to arrive before I could be discharged...that's where IT hit me...I started to bawl, I was a blubbering mess. I kept crying, "there is no way you expect me to go through this pain anymore, this is horrible."
I was in the worst pain I had ever experienced in my whole entire life.
My doctor came in at 8:30am. He asked why I was so upset, so I told him that the nurse said I wasn't having the baby today, and I told him I was in the worst pain I have ever experienced in my whole entire life. He asked me if I had anything for the pain throughout the night, and I explained I got a Tylenol for a headache around 3:30am, but that was all cause the nurses were scared to give me anything do to the fact that I have allergies to a lot of medication. he walked out of the room at that moment, and all I could hear was him giving the nurses heck!
I was slightly happy.
Dr. Schoichet came back into my room and said he wanted to check me. He started to laugh, and all I could think at that moment was 'Not you too.' I was crying so hard! He stood up with a huge grin on his face and said, "Quit your blubbering Brandi, you are 80% effaced, and 9 centimeters dilated, you are having this baby today sweetie!"
I had transitioned.
He was a good doctor, I called him Dr. Bill. I think he had a soft spot for me, as I was a single mom since about 3 months pregnant. I could say I had the best doctor...
Dr. Bill told me to get up and walk and said when I felt the need to have a bowel movement it would be time. So I was half way down the hall, and it hit me...excruciating pain, wave of nauseousness, and back pain. (I still have nightmares to this day about that pain. I have decided since that day, yup, I could be hit with a bullet and it wouldn't hurt that much!) Niki went to rub my back (cause apparently that helps...?), and I just turned like the girl from the Exorcist, and said "Don't @&^*%&* touch me!"
Boy oh boy did she drop her hand to her side oh so very quickly!
It was time!
However, my contractions were still half an hour apart. Dr. Bill put me on Petocin to speed up the contractions. Oh they sped up alright...coming in now 28 minutes apart. Yeah that helped so good. So much better...yeah!
I was falling asleep on the table in between contractions...
Sunday, May 2, 2010
A Day in the life of Braedyn
Let's start by saying, I have the most wonderful child on the planet! I know all parents could say the same thing! My son Braedyn is a typical child living with Down Syndrome.
Braedyn is a very active boy who also has ADHD, OCD, and ODD (oppositional defiance disorder.)
Let me just say, I love the fact that my son has Down Syndrome, I really do not like the labels, but we do live with it! One day, he might grow out of the labels. Braedyn is a super high functioning child, has great language, and has wonderful athletic skills. He plays baseball and is really good at throwing, catching, and batting. He can throw better than me, and I am a grown woman!
The school reports he is awesome on the field, and plays every sport enthusiastically...Special Olympics look out in a couple of years, Braedyn will knock the socks of all his competitors!
Braedyn is a very active boy who also has ADHD, OCD, and ODD (oppositional defiance disorder.)
Let me just say, I love the fact that my son has Down Syndrome, I really do not like the labels, but we do live with it! One day, he might grow out of the labels. Braedyn is a super high functioning child, has great language, and has wonderful athletic skills. He plays baseball and is really good at throwing, catching, and batting. He can throw better than me, and I am a grown woman!
The school reports he is awesome on the field, and plays every sport enthusiastically...Special Olympics look out in a couple of years, Braedyn will knock the socks of all his competitors!
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