"What Happened?" - That seems to be the most asked question about Brady's birth. He was an entire month early. Well, I went into labor. It started on Sunday, Oct 24, I was 35 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I woke up that Sunday and was having cramps, that felt like menstrual cramps. I didn't think they were contractions. They went on all day long. Around 3 I called the doctor and they said to take 2 Benadryl, 2 Tylenol, eat something, drink some water and lay down for an hour, then call them back. I did this, when I woke up from my nap, the contractions were closer together. The doctor decided I needed to head to the hospital to be checked out. I packed Eamon a bag, packed myself a bag (deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, contact solution, contact case, an extra shirt and an extra pair of underwear) and we headed to meet my parents. My dad took Eamon home with him and my mom went to the hospital with us. Aunt Jen went to my parents house to help watch Eamon that night.
We got to the hospital and I was sure that they were not going to keep me. I kept telling my mom that she didn't need to be there because I wasn't in labor and they were going to send me home. When we got there around 6 my contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart. I was also 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. They decided to go ahead and admit me to watch and see if I was going to continue further into labor or if the contractions would stop. I was admitted and they began giving me demoral to help with the pain and also some anti-nausea meds. The contractions kept up and stayed around 5 minutes apart all night. I didn't get much sleep because every time I had a contraction I would wake up. My doctor came in and checked me the next morning and I hadn't dilated any more. She said she would be back in to check on me in a few hours. When she came back around 11, I was dilated to 5 cm. I was really in labor! This also meant that I could get an epidural.
Now, I was scheduled to have a repeat C-Section and that was my plan. But since I was in labor I had a decision to me. After talking to the doctor, I decided that I would go ahead and let my labor progress and if I continued to progress that I would try to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). She said that I could change my mind at any time. She said that the baby would be small since he was a month earlier and it would make labor easier. I got my epidural around noon and promptly went to sleep. The nurse woke me up around 3:30 so she could check to see if I dilated anymore. She said "He's right here, I'm going to call your doctor."
My doctor came right over and I started pushing around 4:00. Since Brady was a month early they had to call in a team of pediatricians and nurses from the Newborn ICU. They did that around 4:20 and at 4:28 Brady was born. He weighed 6 lbs, 8 oz. Yes, he was a normal sized baby, but he is still considered a preemie.
Brady was having trouble breathing, they said he was grunting and he was a little floppy, so they took him to the ICU. I took that time to rest. Not long after the delivery I was able to get up and walk to the bathroom, with help from my nurse. She then rolled me up to the postpartum unit.
Later on, I was able to be wheeled down to the NICU to see Brady. Eamon had arrived at that time and he was able to ride in the wheelchair with me to see Brady.
My recovery from this delivery was so much easier that the recovery with Eamon. I highly recommend a VBAC if possible. That night I was able to take a shower by myself and even walked back down to the NICU to hold Brady.
