The birth story of Caylee Erika Brown:
At 5 AM, Thursday, April 29, 2010 I woke up with a light stomach pain. I went to the bathroom and saw a tiny amount of blood on the toilet paper. I woke Tyler up and told him I thought I might be starting labor. He suggested that I lay down and see how things go and time the pains I was having. They were coming at different intervals - 12 minutes, 9 minutes, 7 minutes, 9 minutes, 7 minutes, 7 minutes, 7 minutes, 3 minutes, 7 minutes, etc. I decided to go ahead an call the doctor on call to see if they wanted me to go ahead an come in since I had already been at 4 cm the Friday before. The doctor suggested I go ahead an come in and get checked out.
It took us a couple hours to get out the door and to the hospital since we had to get Ryan up and ready and load the car. We dropped Ryan off at my inlaw's house and headed the remainder of the way to the hospital. The drive to the hospital is approximately 20 minutes, and I only had ONE contraction while in the car, and it wasn't very painful. I was beginning to worry that labor might be dying off.
We went ahead and unloaded the car and went up to labor and delivery. As we walk up to the desk we see this poor girl, eyes swollen almost shut from crying since she was being sent home because she wasn't progressing. I was practically still pain free and strolled up to the desk, though I was contracting more regularly when I was walking (with contractions maybe 3 minutes apart while moving, but still very light). The lady asked if she could help me and I told her I thought I was in labor. Noticing the difference between how I was acting and this other lady, I am sure they were totally expecting to be sending me home very shortly. They sent me back to triage to be checked.
I put on a hospital robe and they hooked me up to the monitor. In the 15 or 20 minutes I was in triage, of course I only had one contraction. The nurse asked me what my pain scale for my contractions were on a scale of 1-10. I told her, "Maybe a 3?" At this point she checks me for dilation, again I am sure assuming I'm going to be sent home. Much to her, and my surprise, I was 6-7 cm dilated!
So, to a labor and delivery room we went. IV was put in, and I was asked if I wanted an epidural. I felt silly to say yes, but who knows what was ahead, and I prefer no pain if possible. So, I said yes, but it was going to be awhile until I could get one because they had to do lab work first. I had blood drawn and waited. It was probably an hour and a half or two hours before the anesthesiologist came in, and during that time my contractions continued to be super light and were probably about 4 or 5 minutes apart. They never got past 3 on my pain scale of 1-10. I could easily talk through every single one. In fact, we all found it quite humorous that it was going so well, and I was laughing and joking as it was all happening. The nurse was in complete shock saying, "This is NOT normal!"
At about 10:15 AM or so when the anesthesiologist came in I was 7 cm. I remember saying to him, "I feel really stupid to get an epidural when I'm not really even in pain." to which he responded by saying, "Well, it will pick up. Do you normally have pretty fast labors?" I answered him by saying, "Well, I'm already at 7 cm." He was floored, wondering how I was so calm.
He got everything set up and administered the epidural. I had one contraction during it, but it lasted only about 10 or 15 seconds and was very light. When I told him I was having a contraction he said, "Just breath through it." To which I responded, "Oh! I'm okay! It doesn't really hurt that bad." Again the nurse is saying, "This is crazy! Not normal at all!"
Epidural works like it should and within about 15 minutes I'm numb all the way. My blood pressure dropped shortly after it was administered, causing my temperature to rise and me to get sick, but a medicine was added to my IV that corrected the issue within seconds. The doctor comes in 30 minutes or so later and breaks my water. Shortly thereafter they check and I'm 8 cm. The next time they check me, about 45 minutes or an hour later, I'm 9.5 cm, with just a tiny lip on my cervix that they think will move with a contraction.
They set up for pushing and we start. It's about 12:10 or 12:12 PM. I push through 3 contractions with 3 pushes per contraction. During the 3rd contraction, after 1 push her head comes out. With the next push she is out all the way! Approximately 5 minutes into pushing Caylee Erika Brown was born!
She weighed 7 pounds 0.7 ounces, is 20.5 inches long, and has a head full of beautiful brown hair! She is absolutely perfect!!
I could have NEVER asked for and easier or quicker labor!! I was so blessed!! We love our beautiful princess!!!
For more pictures click on the following link:
Charity McGarrah Brown's Photos - Caylee Erika Brown | Facebook
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