Our sweet Charles Coleman Branch ("Charlie") was born Sunday, September 2nd, 2012 at 8:22 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. He is absolutely perfect!
His birth story is definitely a good one. That Sunday morning I woke up and got ready for church, but had to get back in the bed because I was having horrible upper stomach pain. It almost felt like the reflux pain I had in the middle of my pregnancy, but more severe. I also felt very nauseous, so Kurt got up with Jack so I could rest. We obviously stayed home from church that morning.
After about an hour, I started having back pain as well as the stomach pain, so I had a slight idea that this could be labor pains. The two days prior, Friday and Saturday, I'd had semi-regular contractions, as well as lower stomach cramping, but the contractions would stop after a couple of hours, so I knew that wasn't the real thing. However, Sunday was a different story. I've been praying this whole pregnancy, especially toward the end, that God would allow me to really know when I was in labor and not just having false contractions. This definitely felt different to me than the other contractions I'd felt recently.
Around 10:20 I felt my stomach really contract during the stomach and back pain, so I knew that was a real contraction and I started timing them. They were 7 minutes apart for an hour, and I knew that the doctor said to call when they are 10 minutes apart in an hour, so I was getting a little excited, but didn't want to call right away. I started to pick up around the house, plus give Jack a bath (to get my mind on something else), plus I wanted the house to look nice if this was indeed the real thing! After an hour and a half of them being 7 minutes apart, I told Kurt I really felt like I needed to call the on-call doctor just to see if he thought this was it and I needed to come in. When I called, Dr. Ross was on-call and he said that since I was already progressed to 3 cm just 3 days before, I should probably come in just to get checked out and monitored. So... over the next 20 minutes Kurt got ready and I finished packing (even though I was already prepared and had most of our stuff packed in the car), and we made sure Jack was packed, and got in the car. We called Mama Becky and Daddy Mer and asked if they would mind keeping Jack for the afternoon so we could go to the hospital hoping we were having a baby that day! They met us on 280 and then Kurt and I were on our way! By this point, my contractions were 6 minutes apart and pretty painful, so I was getting more confident this was the real thing and the day I could meet Charlie!
Once we were admitted at 1:30, they put the monitor on Charlie and on my contractions, and for 30 minutes they weren't picking up the strong contractions that I was feeling. They were still 6 minutes apart, and I definitely knew they were strong, but I didn't have proof on the computer! :-( The nurses checked me too and even after all my contractions the last few days, I hadn't progressed at all past 3 cm! I was so discouraged and started crying thinking this was again false contractions and they would have to send me home. Sweet Dr. Ross came in though and said I could stay until 3:00 when they would check me again to see if I had progressed further. I'm not sure I've ever prayed so hard in my life that hour and a half! I was sure God knew the desires of my heart were to have Charlie that day, and I was praying even for the slightest sign of progression so the doctor would realize what I'd felt all day that Charlie was coming soon! So, here came 3:00 and I was nervous and also very anxious, and as soon as Dr. Ross was done checking me, he said he had good news! I was close to 5 cm! Wow, that is a lot in just an hour and a half! Praise the Lord! He then said we would have a baby that day, so I became so giddy and excited! I knew I was in labor and I'm so glad I was right!
They then moved us to a real Labor and Delivery room where they started my IV and gave me my epidural. I was so happy I didn't have to have Pitocin this time because that drug is of the devil! I had progressed enough on my own that I didn't need it, so praise the Lord about that too! Once I had my epidural, Dr. Ross came back in at 5:00 and I was already at 7 cm, but since my water hadn't broken yet, he decided to break it to keep things moving along. He came back at 7:00 and I was 9 cm, so he only waited one more hour to come back, and I was fully 10 cm by 8:00! I couldn't believe how fast and easy things were going, and it was finally time to push! I started pushing at 8:06, and after just 8 more contractions, Charlie made his appearance at 8:22! He was perfect and I was so excited he was finally here!
It was such a memorable day and I'm so grateful to God there were no problems or complications! God is so good, and now Kurt and I have 2 amazing and beautiful boys!
No comments:
Post a Comment