Seth Lucas Bryson

  Introducing...

Seth Lucas Bryson

born August 25, 2015

5:23pm

7 lbs 7 oz

19 inches

I had a pretty easy pregnancy, I really can't complain. I had a bit of morning sickness at the beginning and I was extremely emotional. I've always been an emotional person, but I felt like I was crying all the time or feeling anxious and worried about everything. :) And of course, that last month of pregnancy was pretty uncomfortable, but it could've been so much worse, so I'm pretty grateful for my easy pregnancies.

For some reason I was expecting this baby to come early. I was hoping he'd be at least a week early so his birthday would be between Claire's and Everett's. So when he didn't arrive until four days late, I felt like I was being given a huge lesson on patience. :)

Seth's birth story starts at 11:45 on Tuesday the 25th of August. I had a prenatal appointment and the doctor stripped my membranes for the 4th time (they were stripped at my previous 3 appointments). I was told it was done pretty "aggressively" this time, and the doctor was optimistic I would be in labor by that night.
12:30 - I drove home feeling pretty normal. I don't remember even feeling very many Braxton hicks contractions.
12:45 - I made lunch and ate with the kids and sent them to their quiet time.
1:30 - I messaged my mom and told her about the induction date they had set up for Thursday (in case I still hadn't gone into labor on my own). It was around that time that I started feeling stronger contractions, but I didn't think much of them yet because they were pretty normal after getting my membranes stripped and I was almost sure they'd dissipate. I felt like I was destined to always having to be induced.

2:00 - Scott dropped Claire and me off at the elementary school for her Kindergarten open house. He then left for work. He has about an hour commute to work. I was still feeling the stronger contractions, but they didn't hurt. Because of what we had experienced in the past (labor lasting all day), we also had talked about waiting a little longer before heading to the hospital, so I let Scott go to work and told him I'd give him a call if they got worse. I was still assuming they'd stop soon.
Claire and I walked around her future classroom and picked up papers, all the while I kept getting stronger contractions. I actually "joked" about maybe being in labor right then with her teacher.
2:30 - Claire and I started walking home. We walked pretty slow and I had to stop occasionally when a contraction came. At this point I was realizing they weren't going away, but I also knew I didn't want to go to the hospital too soon again. They still didn't hurt that bad, I thought I had plenty of time.

3:00 - We got home and I sent Claire back to quiet time so I could take a quick shower. I sent a text to Scott saying it was a difficult walk home, but we still probably had time before he needed to come home. 

3:30 -After my shower I put on a show and tried to relax a little. Instead of relaxing though, I was beginning to realize how painful the contractions had gotten. I wasn't able to concentrate on the show.

4:00 - After a lot of debating in my mind (I still wondered if it might be too soon to go to the hospital), I finally decided to call Scott. He headed home right away and called his brother to come pick up our kids. About that same time Claire and Everett came out of their rooms.

4:15 - Scott called me back and asked me to pack a bag for the kids. I packed in between contractions. The pain was to the point that I kept grimacing and saying "ouch" a lot during each contraction. At some point Claire asked "what's hurting you?" and Everett asked "when are you going to stop doing that?". I felt bad I wasn't hiding it better.

4:30 - Sherry (my sister-in-law) and her daughter Tasha arrived to pick up the kids for us. I was crouched on the ground, leaning against the couch in pain. The contractions were getting more painful very quickly. I never really timed the contractions, but they were starting to come closer together. Sherry looked at me and asked if I wanted her to take me to the hospital instead of waiting for Scott. I responded with a "maybe, yeah".
4:35 - Sherry helped me to the car and we headed to the hospital. Tasha stayed with the kids. I am very grateful we live so close to a hospital.
4:45 - We drove up to the valet parking in front of the hospital and a random man not wearing a shirt asked if we needed help. He ran inside to get a wheelchair and Sherry wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery.

4:50 (my timing might be a little off through the rest of this story) - I had to answer a bunch of questions and sign a paper or two (which made me wonder what the purpose of pre registering was for) and then they wheeled me into a room and handed me a gown. I put the gown on quickly in between contractions. Contractions were coming so close together by then. I got up on the bed on my hands and knees to get through another strong painful contraction. Sherry pushed on pressure points in my hips to help relieve some pain.
4:55 - The nurse told me to lay down so she could check my progress but before I was able to, another contraction hit me. Sherry was helping again to push on the pressure points and this time, in the middle of the contraction, we both heard a "pop". My water broke. The nurse then sounded a little more forceful when she told me again to lay down cuz she REALLY needed to check me. She checked quickly and said I was about 8cm dilated. As soon as I heard that, I knew that meant "no epidural" and inside I freaked out just a little. 

5:00 - After checking me, I heard the nurse calling for a code WHITE (later I found out that meant they needed a doctor right away). My room filled up quickly with medical personnel that began setting the room up for the baby and hooking me up to the IV. I felt like EVERYONE in the room was telling me how to breathe. I knew I was breathing fast and I was trying to slow it down as best I could, but I hadn't been planning on labor this way. I wasn't prepared and knowledgeable about breathing techniques. :) I was also starting to worry that Scott wasn't going to make it.

5:10 - Scott finally arrived so Sherry left to get her camera from the car. Scott arrived just about the same time as our doctor. Doctor Bennett checked me and said I was about 9cm dilated.
5:15 - I felt like pushing and asked her if I should. During the next contraction, she told me to go for it, so I pushed. Sooo much pain. I was aware of the fact that I was screaming pretty loud, but I couldn't help it. Scott saw a side to me he hadn't seen before. The doctor then gave me some instructions, to which I told her "I didn't get any of that". She repeated herself, basically she just told me that instead of screaming, to hold it in and push really hard. 

5:23 - I did as she instructed and Seth arrived, all 7 cute pounds of him. :) It's amazing to me the instant relief from the contractions. They placed Seth on my chest. He looked a little purple and he was pretty quiet but he was so good. He didn't need to go to the NICU at all, so he got to stay with us the whole time. I delivered the placenta which wasn't as big a deal as I thought and then she had to do some stitches. I had one small tear. That stung quite a bit and then finally, after the nurse pushed on my belly a bit, we were able to relax and enjoy him.

Sherry left to get Claire and Everett. She brought them back to the hospital to meet Seth and I loved seeing their excitement, especially Claire's. :)

I have now had three very different birth stories. This one was fast and unexpected and I'm still amazed sometimes that I did it, but I'm happy with how it worked out. I think Seth was just trying to make up for being overdue. :)

I'm so grateful for my little family of five now. :)