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8.20.2012

Labor & Delivery



To say that these last 8 weeks have been so amazing and completely life changing is a huge understatement. I have been meaning to write this so I wouldn't forget but look at this face...


spending time with baby Bentley has been my top priority :)  

I have been savoring these first 8 weeks and am finding myself in denial that Bentley is getting bigger and bigger every day. I am learning first hand that it's true... "Babies don't keep". It makes me sad that every moment will just be a memory and I wish I could stop time and keep him little forever. Yet I am so excited for the future to see him grow, crawl, walk and talk. But for now... I am holding tightly onto the baby that he is. I am so grateful that I have been able to give him all of my time and love spending every second with this little guy... he is so so incredible! I had many people tell me that you will love them more than you could ever imagine and it is beyond true. I didn't know my heart could love so much.

I am loving these quotes right now and they are both so true


The weeks have been flying by and gosh.. there is so much that has happened. Where do I even begin!? 
From the begininning I guess!! :)

Brady and I had made the decision that it would be best for me to stay home once Bentley arrived. My last day was on June 21st. It was bitter sweet to say goodbye to everyone at work and all of our patients but now having Bentley here... I could ever go back. 

To be completely honest I had no idea what to do with myself on my first day off. The only thing I had planned was my Dr's appointment which was very normal. I was 100% effaced and dilated to a 2-2 1/2 still. Our Dr. could tell that we were so ready to get Bentley here and asked if we wanted her to induce me on July 1st (a week before my due date) which we gladly took her up on. We were so excited to finally have the end in sight and know that in just over a week, we would be holding our sweet little boy. Now that I really didn't have anything to keep me busy, I took advantage of walking the 5 times a day for 30 minutes each (with at least 15 minute breaks in between) that my Dr. had given me the okay to do, which equaled out to 7 miles.

Brady and I spent the remainder of the weekend relaxing as much as possible... and of course walking myself to death!! Even though we had the inducement scheduled I really wanted to try and do as much as I could to try and get him out naturally and on my own. I walked 7 miles on Saturday and Sunday as well.

From what I had read about your water breaking it can either be a gush or a trickle and on Monday morning I had noticed what I thought might be that. We went over to the hospital to have them check and it wasn't. I was still dilated to a 2- 2 1/2. We were bummed out but within a few hours my plug came out. I was still feeling completely normal and we were praying that it would happen soon! With hopes that it would make a difference, I walked 7 miles on Monday as well. Needless to say by the time we were going to bed on Monday I was beat. My body was so exausted!!
I woke up the morning of Tuesday June 26th around 3:30 noticing that I was having contractions. Nothing serious or super painful. Nothing even out of the ordinary since I was already having so many Braxton Hicks. I decided to get online and use a contractions calculator while I was lying in bed and they were just under 15 minutes apart but I was so tired I wasn't keeping good track. I must have dozed off when I feel a really strong contraction and all of a sudden a huge gush of water! There was no mistaking that my water had just broke!!! It was now 4:30 and I wake Brady up frantically. Finally... it's go time! After my water broke there was no immediate pain like my Mom had (thank goodness!!!) and this time we are prepared with all of our bags packed ;). My friend Sara had made sure to warn me to "stuff my face" before going to the hospital so I wouold have enough energy if my labor was forever long since you can't eat once you check into the hospital. I grabbed the easiest things available, a banana and some bread.

We got to the hospital around 5:00 and I was dilated to a 3-3 1/2 and by 6:00 we were checked into our Labor and Delivery room. By this time, Brady and I were so ready for this little guy to get here and were both surprisingly calm. The first few hours were very easy and the contractions were hardly painful. It was actually very pleasant.


Brady letting everyone know that little guy is on his way!


One thing I had not been anticipating was what our nurse called the "Baby Shakes" which she said was normal as your body prepares for labor which hit around 9:00. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably. I remember Brady trying to hold my hands and they were all over the place. At 9:45 they checked me again and I was dilated to a 6.

The contractions were starting to get more painful but not unbearable and we decided that now would be a good time for the epidural. I thought I would be so relieved to get the epidural but instead I was so nervous! I never thought I would have been as nervous as I was just to get an epidural. At 10:00 the Anesthesiologist Dr. Smith came in. I was hoping they would let Brady stay in the room with me but they asked him to leave which made it even worse. To my relief, he was actually very funny and tried to keep my mind off of what he was doing. They positioned me so I was sitting on the edge of the bed and my nurse came and held onto my arms as he gave me the epidural. He did it while I was in a contraction which was nice as I was focused more on the contraction than the actual shot. To be honest, I should have been more worried about getting the IV in my hand than the Epidural.. it hurt way more! It took about 15 minutes to feel the full effect of the Epidural and what a slice of heaven! I am SO glad I got one. I wanted it to be strong enough to take the edge off of the contractions but not enough that I didn't have any feeling at all so I knew when I was close. It was perfect. I still had some control over my legs and could move them still but could not feel the contractions at all.

My mom and Mitch arrived at the hospital shortly after around 10:30 and now it was just the waiting game. Brady and my mom tried to keep me preoccupied. Mostly with discussion about what color Bentley's hair would be which was of much speculation. Everyone was teasing Brady that his hair would be red :)


They checked me again around 12:30 and I was at a 9.


The shakes continued to get worse and around 1:45 they checked and I was crowning! The nurses told me to not "sneaze or laugh" as we were still waiting for my doctor to arrive. At this point I was starting to feel more pain and could tell the epidural was starting to wear off. I asked if the anesthesiologist could come back in and give me a booster just in case I was pushing forever. I had heard about so many girls having to push for hours and hours and I was so scared that I was going to have to as well. Thank goodness I didn't have to! My doctor arrived around 2:00 and we were ready to go! After 20 minutes of pushing through 2 contractions our sweet Bentley was finally here. I remember when his head came out my mom saying "Oh baby, he's got brown hair!". I remember thinking when I saw him, "Gosh, he's got curly hair?!" Haha no he doesn't have curly hair but boy does he have a ton of it!!

After his umbilical cord was cut he was taken over to the "heating station" where they checked to make sure he was okay. After that he was weighed in at 7.3 pounds and 20 inches long. He was so calm! He didn't cry at all after he came out.


First time Brady held his son :)


The nurses gave him his first bath and he did so good! Not one cry. Our little champ!


Holding my baby


I am so grateful for such an easy delivery. Thinking back I was so worried about the whole labor process but it went better than I ever could have hoped for. I feel like I went into it expecting it to be so horrible... and I was pleasantly surprised! To be completely honest I would do it over in a heartbeat. There are no words to describe seeing your baby for the first time... so unbelievably incredible. The moment our family went from 2 to 3.

A moment that I will cherish forever.

6 comments:

  1. He is so precious! I'm glad that your delivery went smoothly. I feel like no matter how hard mine felt at the time, it doesn't even matter once I held London in my arms. Babies are a little slice of heaven. Enjoy every single minute!

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  2. This was so fun to read. How great that everything went so well! He's such a cutie! I see a lot of Brady in him. Congratulations to you guys!!

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  3. You are the sweetest little mom! Was there ever a baby who was more loved?

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  4. Jamie, I am so happy for you and Brady. He is a adorable little man. Thanks for sharing your sweet story. I am so glad you get to stay home and enjoy every second of his life, you will be so glad you did. I love you so much and I am so proud of you. I can't wait for the next post.

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  5. This is so precious. I had to come back and read it :) You are a beautiful family, and I loved this story- you are easy my fears of (future) births.

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