My due date with Brady was just a few days after Father's Day, June 20th, 2010. I thought it would be extra special if Dan became a father for the first time on Father's Day. Unfortunately, Father's Day came and went with no indication that Brady was on his way. I was a little disappointed, but I knew it was a long shot. 5 minutes after Father's Day ended, no exaggeration, I woke up. I headed to the bathroom, because that's what you do every 10 minutes when you're 39 weeks pregnant, and thought something felt different. Sure enough, my water broke as soon as I got to the bathroom. I could not have been more surprised. I gently woke up Dan to let him know it was time. Since we had only been asleep for about an hour, he was totally out of it and had trouble grasping the concept. We spent about an hour calmly gathering our things and preparing to leave the house for the last time before becoming parents.
We arrived at the hospital at about 1:30 am on the 21st. We were there for a few hours when they decided to start giving me Pitocin because I still wasn't having significant contractions. It worked. OUCH! Now I knew I was in labor and wanted that epidural ASAP. The nurse promised me that if I was dilated to 3 cm I could have one. I was never so happy to hear the number 3 in all my life. The anesthesiologist was available and arrived quickly. I had been nervous about the epidural, but knew I was not going to pass it up. The AMAZING anesthesiologist was super efficient and had me feeling fabulous in no time. The rest of labor was pretty uneventful, except that we finally settled on Brady's name. I was even up for visitors. Dan's mom and my sister, Kathryn, stopped by. I was happy for the distraction since I was actually getting a little bored.
At about 10 pm I was told I was finally ready to push. I was so excited thinking about seeing our son for the first time. The process of pushing was much harder than I thought and took far longer than I imagined possible. However, I felt strangely calm the entire time, even as I felt my tailbone pop. Both Brady and I tolerated everything well so there was never a threat of c-section. Dan did a great job of cheering me on, but I could tell he was getting really tired. After all, we had only had one hour of sleep before labor began and we had been awake for 24 hours at that point. I know from experience that sleeping in a hospital is not easy, but sleeping in a hospital while attached to various IVs and monitors and awaiting the arrival of your firstborn is impossible. After over 3 hours of pushing the Dr. decided we needed to step up our efforts to get our baby boy delivered...time for the vacuum. I was nervous about this, but trusted my doctor and was eager to see my boy. I gave the go ahead and at 1:24 am on June 22nd, 2010 Braden Carter Harrison Whitaker entered the world weighing 6 lbs 15 oz and measuring 19 3/4 inches. I held my breath for what seemed like an eternity waiting to hear his cry. He finally let loose and so did I. I am not a crier, especially in public, but there was no controlling these emotions. I covered my face with the washcloth that had taken up residence on my forehead and went with it. After Brady got checked out and bundled up like a burrito they placed him on my chest. I went from feeling like an uncontrollable sobbing mess to 100% calm in a heartbeat. Best feeling ever. As we were leaving the labor and delivery department, and heading to my hospital room, Dan and I both noticed something. It felt like we had been in that room for weeks when in reality it was slightly longer than a day. But what a day it had been. We entered that room as a couple and left as a family.
Can't wait to experience this again.
I can't wait to see your girl!! I used to think boys were the best, but now I know girls are just as good :)
ReplyDelete