My Birth Story of baby Brady
Ok, so now at 3 weeks after I've had him, I'm finally well enough to even post my birth story of my 3rd baby. I've been to hell and back I tell you! I should've known that I would've gotten PPD again, what was I thinking to not try another anti depressant when Zoloft didn't work in the last trimester of my pregnancy??!! Oh well, can't go back now. Let's just say the first week after I had Brady was pure happiness and I was doing great. But the 9th day after I had him, it HIT me like a load of bricks... anxiety, depression- the works! I ended up at the ER with a panick attack one day, had to stop breastfeeding my baby (because of the meds I got on), and am currently on an anti-depressant (Lexapro) and an anti-anxiety drug (Remron, it's actually a sedative too) to calm my nerves. I have gone through mental hell the past week and thought I was going to go cra-z-y! Thank goodness for DRUGS I tell you or I'd be a looney lady still! I'm glad to be feeling better though and thank the Lord and family members for standing by me through this hell!
So anyways, we went to Olive Garden on Friday night on April 2nd and I had ravioli with a marinara sauce. I was so uncomfortable that night and was dreading waiting out Saturday and the night sleep I was going to get that night anticipating my induction. So we went to bed Friday night and I woke up at 1'ish to use the bathroom like I always did during the night for the past few months. I then woke up at 4:45 am with some really bad pain and knew it was a braxton hick contraction. Once it was over, I went to use the bathroom and came back to lay down. I then had another one like 15 minutes later and timed it, it was like 60-90 seconds long. I was doing this because we had been into Labor and Delivery at Jordan Valley hospital that Monday before and they said to not come back unless my contractions lasted 60-90 seconds and were 3-5 minutes apart. I went in Monday night around 7:30 pm and stayed till 9:30 and they sent me home. I was just having pretty good BH contractions but not in labor then. So I was thinking this was the same thing that I was going through again that morning.
So I'm timing my contractions now and am on my left side, grabbing the edge of the mattress each time the pain came and keeping track of each time they came at. Finally after about 4 of these and about 30 minutes later, I woke Andy up and told him to go get a paper and pen and to write the times down. He wrote the times down and then told me that these were coming more frequently and they were lasting what contractions were supposed to be more like. The times were 5:11, 5:24, 5:30, 5:36, 5:45, 5:51, 5:54, and 6:05. He wanted to call the hospital and when he did, they said to have me take a warm bath, take some tylenol, and drink a lot of water. They said if I still wasn't better, then to come in. So Andy got me in a warm bath at around 6:15 am, but I went in and peed just before that and it was pretty clear, so I wasn't sure if that was my water breaking or not. I sat in the bath and had a contraction but it did calm me down some and I got out after about 10 minutes in there. I then took some Tylenol and drank a lot of water. But now they were coming more frequently and I was laying there in a lot of pain on the bed.
Andy was begining to get worried and told me he was going to call his sister, Colleen, to come over to watch the kids so we could go to the hospital. I was so worried this was false labor again and we'd get sent home, but part of me was feeling some pressure and figured maybe this might be for real this time. After all, I had gone natural with my last birth and recoginzed that pressure from before. So he called his sister and she took only about 10 minutes to get there from the time we called, but forever for me because I was in so much pain! We had the kids up and they were opening up their Easter baskets and I was standing by the garage door in so much pain. They kept coming up to me and saying "look what the Easter Bunny brought me!" and I'd look and nod and couldn't really enjoy it because I was so uncomfortable. We thought we'd do it that day on saturday for their Easter baskets, so we wouldn't be rushed the next day when we went in for the induction at 7:30 am.
I was ready to die and told Andy we needed to go, I almost wanted to call our neighbor to come over until Colleen got there. Andy told me to go sit in the car and I did and Colleen finally came just a minute after I got in the car. I saw her come in the garage but had my hand up to my face because I was having another contraction again. I then wrote that one down in the notebook we were taking with us to the hospital. At this time, they were now 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each time. So we rushed off to the hospital and Andy told me later that he got up to 85 mph going on Bangerter Highway!! We parked in the "Mothers in Active Labor" parking spot and I started having another contraction when we were walking up to Labor and Delivery and was in a lot of pain. We finally got up to where we needed to be and I saw a couple standing at the desk for an induction and I had to lean on the railing at the wall because I was in so much pain. Andy went up to the desk and told them my contractions were 5 minutes apart and they immediately went to me instead of that other couple. The nurse told us later that she told her other nurses "that lady is ready to drop a baby on the floor", take her first instead of that couple!
I went into a room and got a gown on. I layed down and had a nurse check me. She was in there pretty good and I was maybe thinking that she'd say I was at a 7 or something and then she says um, I think you are complete!! She later checked me and said I was more like a really good 9 (I was a 3 the last time I was checked at the hospital) and I was like what?! and like OH NOOOO and started bawling hysterically. I had these thoughts of Brooklyn's birth where I had no epidural and how much pain I was in. I had been induced with her and went from a 3 to a 10 in an hour, so I know now my body goes quick when I want to get these babies out! I also knew I needed an IV of antibiotics because I had the Strep B and couldn't have the baby before I got that. I also needed an episiotomy and Dr Hansen wasn't even there (that I knew of) to assist with the birth yet! Andy saw me crying and tried to calm me down and saying it was going to be ok. By this time, my legs were shaking uncontrollably because I was in the worst pain of my LIFE and I thought I wouldn't be able to get an epidural. They told me I could get a spinal block for the pain and I was all for that. But they were still trying to get an IV in me and the nurse had already poked me twice on the left arm with no luck. So then she goes to the right arm and no luck with one poke there. So then she asks the anesthesiologist to try on my poor left arm again and he got it.
He then has me lay on my right side to begin to do the spinal block. And laying on my side made the pain a little more bearable, but I still remember laying there and moaning "oowwwwwwwww" over and over again. He was having a hard time getting it right and finally had me arch my back more (like in the fetal position) and finally got it. I felt my right leg start to tingle and like it was going numb, so I knew it was working and was so happy. The pain started going away and in like 5 minutes, I was in no pain and couldn't feel the lower half of my body at all. I mean I couldn't even lift my leg, butt or anything! Dr Hansen then came in and broke my water and I didn't even feel the fluids gushing out, from how numb I was down there.
So then they tell me to relax and that I could probably push in the next 20 minutes or so. So Andy and I just sat there and talked for a minute and I was able to finally relax after all that pain. I realized how tired I was and also that I got to the hospital just in time. If I would've stayed at home, I would've been in so much pain with no help at all for relief! So then we see Dr Hansen come in and he says I can start pushing. Andy and a nurse had to hold my legs up because I couldn't feel them at all. I started pushing and something funny happened after a few minutes. I had taken a stool softener the day before because as a lot of you pregnant women know, especially at the end of your pregnancy, you can get constipated or have a hard time "going". So as I was pushing and was very numb down there, something else came out (lol) and my husband is VERY sensitive to smells. I had no idea of what was going on but Andy asked the nurse to take care of that and she did, but then he smelled it and had to leave to use the bathroom. So then another nurse came to hold my leg and we hear Andy dry heaving in the bathroom for like 5-7 minutes. So here I am, pushing a baby down the birth canal and my husband is in the bathroom dry heaving... me, the nurses, and the doctor were all laughing and telling him he better hurry up and come back or he'll miss the birth of his son!
So he finally came back and helped me push. I told them that when I saw Andy start crying that I knew the head was crowning, so I jus****ched him to see when the big moment came. I was only pushing for like 10-15 minutes and then saw Andy start to cry. They had to use the vacuum pump to turn Brady around because he was facing face down and they like to have them face up when they come out. I saw Andy start to cry and knew it was almost here. I asked him if Brady had hair and he said yes, lots of it and it was dark. I then did like 2-3 more pushes and he was out! Dr Hansen cleaned him off and then handed him to me on my chest and I was bawling and hugging Brady and telling him I was so glad to finally meet him! They then had Andy cut the cord and then took him over to be cleaned and weighed. He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long and had the most precious little cry. I had to lay there and be stitched up for about 20 minutes (which I was used to) and had a 3rd degree tear this time. It wasn't as bad as last time when I had a 4th degree tear, but still kind of bad. Dr Hansen said he did 2 layers of stitches to build up my tissue down there because it was weak from the other deliveries and he wanted to build it up- just in case I had another baby and just to make it thicker down there.
We had a lot of family members come to visit at the hospital and the next day was Easter sunday and also General Conference (for church). I ended up going back to the hospital a few days after I had Brady to have a blood patch done, to get rid of a spinal headache I had. It resulted from the spinal block I had done at my delivery and the spinal fluid was leaking, causing a really bad headache for me. It was fine when I was laying down, but when I sat up or was upright, my head hurt so bad. So I had to have an epidural again and then they drew blood out of my right arm, to do a blood patch to clot up the leak in my spine. The doctor that did it had me lay down for a few minutes and then I got up to walk around for a few minutes and it was gone- yay!
We're so glad to have Brady here and glad he's a part of our family!
Hit goal weight of 140 at 13 months out from RNY!! 130 pounds GONE! 
Super proud mommy to Dylan, Owen and Sophia Brianne!
Hit goal weight of 140 at 13 months out from RNY!! 130 pounds GONE!
