Grayson's Birth Story

11.11.11

Our sweet little Grayson joined our family. Here is how he got here.

I had gone to see my doctor on Thursday morning for a regular check up. I was still 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced, the same I had been for the past week. She asked me if I wanted to have her strip my membranes. I  was a little afraid of doing that because I have heard it is very painful and doesn't always help things along. After she checked me she said my membranes had already started separating on their own and she could just help them along a little bit. She said doing this either works or it doesn't, but it was worth a shot. It only took a second, and it didn't actually hurt very bad. I didn't start noticing any cramping or contractions right away. I went about my day, stopped for groceries, played with Camden a bunch, and cleaned the house. That evening I started to feel some painful contractions, they were not close together, but they hurt. I didn't think anything of it because I ALWAYS have contractions. I didn't eat much for dinner that night because I wasn't feeling very good. Wes and I had a good night just hanging out after Camden went to bed, however, I was tired and went to bed earlier than normal. My contractions were starting to come around 10 minutes apart. I didn't really want to time them because like I said, I always had contractions. These were a LOT more painful than anything I have had before, but I tried to ignore them. We went to sleep, but I couldn't sleep for long. I kept waking up with the pain of my contractions and they would always make me have to use the bathroom. I was up all night, but still didn't think I could be in labor. Around 4am the pain was getting so bad in my back, so I got up and took a really hot shower. It felt really good to have the water on my back during my contractions. After my shower I got back in bed and tried to sleep more. Wes had to leave for work at 6 and since I wasn't feeling very good I texted my mom to come help with Camden. I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't in labor because I have so much preterm labor I didn't want to get my hopes up. {Which is why I let Wes go to work even when I was having BAD contractions 4-6 minutes a part.}

After my Mom came over, she took one look at me and knew this was it. She said, "This is the real thing, you probably should call Wes". So I called Wes and told him to hurry home, it was time to go to the hospital. He was all the way down in Mesa, so he hurried back as soon as he could. I got all my stuff together and as soon as Wes got home we loaded up and left. My parents took Camden and dropped him off at Wesley's cousins house.

We got to the hospital at 8am and all I could think was that they were going to send me home and tell me I wasn't in labor. That was my fear. They took me back right away to a triage room and checked me first thing. The nurse said, wow you are already to a 6!! I couldn't believe it! I think I started crying because I was so excited it was real labor. Wes hurried and texted my mom and his and told them they better get here! Then they asked if I wanted the epidural. I have gone back and forth so much on whether or not I wanted one. I decided I did want one, so she said they needed to get an IV started. No biggie, I thought. I have a good pain tolerance, and IV's have never been a problem. Well today was different. The first nurse blew one of my veins, then she tried again in a different spot and couldn't get it. The pain of them digging needles into my skin was worse than my contractions. They were having issues because each time I had a contraction my veins would constrict and they couldn't get the needle in. After 4 tries and 3 nurses later, the IV was in and I could finally relax. I couldn't believe how painful the IV was. I almost just told them to stop and let me labor naturally because the IV was worse than labor. After the IV trauma they took me to a labor room and said the anesthesiologist would be in to give me my epidural after he finished in the surgery he was in. I thought it would be no biggie so I just relaxed and was breathing through my contractions. After about an hour they said he was finally on his way in. My doctor showed up right before the anesthesiologist and was going to check to see how dilated I was. She could tell I was uncomfortable so she said, let's get your epi in, then I will check you. So around 9:15 I got my epidural, it started working around 9:30. My doctor checked me at 9:30 and said I was at a 9 and she expected me to start feeling like pushing very soon! WHAT?! I almost made it the entire way without the epidural?! I was almost a little mad I didn't have her check me before I got my epi. If she had told me I was already at an 8 or a 9 I would have just said to forget the epi and let's just finish this thing. She broke my water at 9:30 when she checked me, and about 30 minutes later I was ready to push. After 10 minutes {3 contractions} of pushing, little Grayson Brooks came into the world. 

Grayson Brooks was born at 10:17 on 11.11.11

7lbs 12 oz, 21.5" long

He came out and cried right away. He turned pink instantly. They put him right onto my chest and I just held him and snuggled for as long as I wanted. They asked me if I wanted to have him weighed so I passed him off to get his measurements. They said he scored a 9 on his APGAR because he was doing so great and crying so good. 

After all settled down, they wrapped him up and gave him back to me. He was starting his little grunting noise and that concerned the nurses. I didn't think much of it, I tried to nurse him and he latched for a few seconds but didn't really nurse. They said because of the grunting it may take him some time to relax and be able to nurse. They took us into our recovery room and we were left alone to snuggle and have some skin on skin time with him. 

The nurse would come in periodically and check on him. They became pretty worried when his grunting didn't stop. They brought down a few nurses from the NICU to check on him. They felt that he needed further monitoring and he would need to be brought up to the NICU. So 2 hours after he was born, they wheeled him away from me. That hurt!! I immediately got up, got dressed, and we walked up to the NICU to be with him. That is when everything became a whirlwind. 

I was so thankful for my quick and easy delivery. It was such a blip in the timeline of what happened while we were at the hospital. We spent 2 hours at the hospital delivering Grayson, but 11 days of our life in the NICU with him. I have recovered so quickly from labor. I barely tore, I healed very quick, and basically have lost almost all of my pregnancy weight from all the emotional stress.

We are now home as a family of 4 and Grayson is doing perfect. He healed so quickly and we are so thankful to have him home with us. He is 2 weeks old now and already changing so quickly. We just love this little guy and feel so blessed to be his parents.