Brayden's Birth Story
Posted
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 12:45 PM
"Right then, a new sense of love came over me—I could feel
it in every cell in my body."
A false start
My water broke on October 11 when I was 35 weeks pregnant. We
hurried to the hospital, but since I wasn’t having contractions, the doctors told
me to go home and get a good night’s sleep (well, as good as I could get at
nine months pregnant!). They said they would induce labor the next evening. That
night was surreal. My boyfriend, Ratha, and I talked about how our son would
look and act. Would he be shy like his father? Creative like me? We promised
that no matter where our lives brought us, our baby would always be our number-one
priority.
I had the entire day to prepare. But of course, I was tired
and ended up watching The Twilight Saga
on the couch. My mother begged me to walk around to get labor moving, but waddling
was the last thing I wanted to do. As we drove to the hospital later that day,
I still didn’t feel any signs of labor. It was hard to believe that the next
time I’d be home, there would be a baby in my arms!
The real thing
After getting started with IVs, heart monitors and a pill to
soften my cervix, I realized that nothing would be happening that night. My
mom, boyfriend and I all fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning, they
were preparing me for Pitocin when I heard a loud pop, followed by a huge gush of water. Apparently, the water that
had broken two days before was just because of a tear. My first thought was, Thank God my water didn’t break when I was at
work! Now I knew that my labor had really begun.
Brayden arrives!
I was given Pitocin and immediately started feeling
contractions. That was the worst feeling ever! I wanted an epidural right away,
but the doctors told me to wait 20 more minutes and then decide. I tried
waiting 10 minutes, but just couldn’t take it! Once I was given the epidural,
everything was a breeze. I started pushing at 8:30 p.m., but because I was so
numb, the nurse needed to tell me when it was time to push. My boyfriend and mom
were guessing how long my delivery would take and how big the baby would be—they
were guessing two hours. I couldn’t imagine pushing for that long!
Thankfully, Brayden was born only an hour later at
9:50 p.m. on October 13, weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring 21.5
inches long. He was so quiet when he was born. They put him on me, and he
looked so confused. Right then, a new sense of love came over me—I could feel
it in every cell in my body. My son was absolutely perfect, and if I could live
in that moment forever, I would.
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