After my extremely easy pregnancy, based upon all I had read and heard I was certain when the time came to go into labor, we would have an equally easy entrance into the world for our little guy. We had been told so many different things from doctors (more on that in later posts) from the need for a c-section, to no need for a c-section, to a need for an induction, to no need for an induction and we were FRUSTRATED, to say the least. I was at 38 1/2 weeks and had been promised a 39 week induction when I was at work mid week and just did not feel right. I ended up heading home, and at the urging of a doctor I was told to relax for a couple of days until my Friday appointment.

The Friday appointment came with a new doctor who was anti-induction and anti-c-section and had encouraged me to go back to work and be active. At this point I feared being called crazy for going back to work and also was just scared of being a ticking time bomb come Monday at work. I decided to be positive and ramped up my activity that Friday and Saturday (I had been very active throughout the pregnancy, walking and doing Yoga and just moving a lot) and ended up doing some cleaning and shopping with hubby. Walking the dog, I had a bit of gooey fluid and called the doctor who told me it was likely the mucous plug and to stay active. On Saturday evening, baby was so active I figured that he wasn’t coming any time soon and headed off to bed.

Cut to a bit of insomnia from 3am to 6am-ish when I got up to pee. As I made my way back to the bed I suddenly felt a trickle and RAN back into the bathroom just in time for the GUSH-my water broke! I had closed the bedroom door and was calling for hubby when our little sneaky Bella ran into the bedroom door and opened it (good kitty!) and I continued to yell for hubby who was apparently in the deepest sleep of his life. I managed to get up and went in the room, gently woke him and told him it was go time. As he got ready, took the dog out etc, I took a moment to freshen up as I waited for the doctor to call me back-how cute I thought putting makeup on was important-boy did I not realize what was ahead!

We arrived at the hospital around 7am and the doctor examined me. Baby was coming today, she confirmed-in about 6-7 hours. Great! This whole labor thing will be a breeze! We got admitted and ordered breakfast as I figured I would need the energy.

As the hours passed, relatives arrived, we got to order lunch and dinner, and my contractions were non-existent. I walked the halls with hubby and my mom over and over, when finally I was given a pill to speed things up. Hours later, another of these pills-still no pitocin, still no contractions. The clock brought us into the wee hours of a new day and the pitocin was administered. A few hours later, I was in some pretty bad pain but not ready for the epidural yet, so I was given some pretty effective medicine to knock my out a few hours.

As the contractions got a bit more frequent finally, I was examined around 4am and was dilated enough for the epidural. “Hallelujah!” I thought-here we go! The excitement was premature, however, as I still was not progressing much. We were now admitted for over 24 hours from my water breaking, no baby and no pattern to the contractions. Every hour they bumped up the pitocin and the contractions and pain became worse. I did manage to sleep but then felt absolutely terrible-I had a fever and they were getting worried as we were approaching over 30 hours with no baby.

Cut to around 4pm when the fever started to go down a bit and they decided to have me try to push. After about 15 minutes with no progress they said, lets try in another hour. Another hour in this agony! More pitocin, more pain. I was pretty out of it, telling hubby and my mom that I just wanted to leave-ha! Around 5:15 I insisted we try to push again. Let me tell you that all the things you have to do during this process are tough! Pull your legs back, put your head to your chin, hold your breath and push. They had me turning all around and I was getting frustrated! There was a woman across the hall also in labor and with my exhaustion and confusion the midwife did not think I was progressing enough and asked to get the doctor in to consult. I got scared of being forced into a c-section after all of that and finally got focused. I just wanted to do things my way (as always!). Finally I told the nurses that I wanted to be on my back, I wanted stirrups and I wanted to push-NOW.

Hubby was an absolutely amazing coach and my mom was so supportive. The nursing staff raved about how great hubby was-breathing with me and counting for me. I knew I only had a few minutes until the doctor arrived and I needed to do the best I could. Cut to around 6:40pm and I gave it my all. I heard them call for a pediatric nurse and I pulled myself together for an extra last push and there he came! 6:44pm and baby arrived!

The nurses put him on my chest and I was in a daze. “You are so cute!” is all I could muster to say to this little creature who I admittedly was kind of cursing out hours before. Hubby sensed a little bit of strangeness with me and wanted to keep me focused and in the moment. “What is his name?” he asked. I replied with the name we had chosen months before but wanted to wait to see him to be sure, “Brayden”, I said.

And there you have it. Brayden Thomas (in honor of St. Thomas where we were married and where I took a special girls trip with my mom last summer in Brayden’s first week of gestation) was now a part of our lives forever.