**Warning this is a very LONG post!**
I wanted to write it all down somewhere so I didn't forget the details! Can you blame me :)
So it has been forever since I posted. Life has been crazy busy, but I wanted to take a few minutes to write my story out of Bradley's pregnancy. Enjoy reading of God's faithfulness!!
I had a very eventful pregnancy this time around. There were several occasions for me to fully rely on God by giving up my agenda and learning to trust His perfect Will. The first trimester I was horribly sick. I had to resort to taking medication every 4 hours just so I could pull myself off the couch and be a Wife, Mom and Teacher. Once that ended in my second trimester I had about 2 weeks of feeling "normal" and then I was put on complete bedrest because I was having too many contractions. More medication was prescribed and I was on the couch for 2 1/2 weeks. I had help all day, people coming and cleaning, cooking and caring for me and Norah. That was a very humbling time for sure, but I am so grateful for the friends and family who sacrificed so much. I was taken off complete bedrest and had to be very careful I also couldn't do anything that made me have to concentrate or think - that was fun! I was put back on bedrest 2 more times during the remainder of my pregnancy. Many stories of God's faithfulness in those times, but I won't get into that.
The other fun thing I had to learn to give totally to God was Bradley's breech presentation. He was butt first my entire pregnancy. We tried so many crazy things to try and get him to flip. I was doing everything from swimming, handstands in the water, inverting my body on the floor, crawling, moxabustion (burning my toes), webster technique (chiropractor) and anything and everything they said "worked". None of these things worked and for reasons we will never know Bradley never flipped on his own. I had to go see Dr. Edwards - who isn't exactly the friendliest person, but he is a good Doctor. It came down to being scheduled for a c-section and right before the procedure the Dr. tried one last resort. An old technique that is not even taught anymore called external cephalic version.
So we had this ECV scheduled for July 24th at 7:30am. If it didn't work I would have a c-section right away - if it worked we would wait for the meds to wear off and I would leave the hospital and induce naturally and deliver in a birthing center. It was so weird going around for 2 weeks knowing that I would be meeting my baby boy on July 24th. Seth and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and proceeded to the labor and delivery floor. It was weird being there again (the last time was when I had Norah) and it was weird being there knowing I wasn't in labor but potentially having a baby there that day. They took us to the pre-op room and started hooking me up to all sorts of things, poking me with all kinds of needles. This was totally opposite of what I wanted for a labor! We were hoping to deliver with a midwife in a birthing center. We didn't want hospitals, needles, medication and all the fuss. This is what God had in store for me - he was again teaching me that I need to trust him and that our ways are not our own. I wasn't in control, I couldn't be in control. I had to fully trust God that my baby boy would arrive when and how God designed and no other way. I am actually surprised to say that I was totally at peace with the idea of a c-section and I was ready and excited to meet Bradley no matter how he decided to come into the world.
The Nurse Anethesist came in right at 7:30am and started my epidural. I was surprised at how it wasn't painful at all and especially surprised at how much I enjoyed the feeling of feeling nothing. All the nurses kept telling me that I was crazy because we told them that if the ECV worked we wanted the epidural taken out and we wanted to leave and go deliver at a birthing center. :) They tried to talk me out of it so many times! The Dr. came in and did a quick ultrasound to check his position and then started the procedure. All I can say is it was extremely uncomfortable and pretty painful - even with a good dose of epidural. I closed my eyes to try and relax as he dug his hands all deep into my skin and started to move Bradley. Seth said it was amazing to watch and the Dr. used all his strength - and it sure felt like it. He had him turned within 90 seconds!
It seemed that labor started naturally right away. I had to stay laying down until the epidural faded and by the time I could get up to walk I had already dilated 2 cm (making me 3cm) and was 85% effaced. Labor definitely seemed to come on hard and strong and I was starting to wonder why I didn't keep the epidural in :) I had doubts of leaving the hospital. The Dr. told me he would break my water and get things moving - all the nurses were trying to get us to stay. I was worried of him flipping again if I left and wondered if this was a good thing to be leaving. I had to call my midwife (Diane) an she told us to pray about it and we talked about what I really wanted (doing it naturally) and shortly after I felt at peace about leaving. After some more comments from the nurses about being crazy for leaving seeing that I was in labor - we walked out of the hospital at 12:00pm. My contractions were every 5 minutes at this point so we headed over to see my midwife. She did some "fun stuff" to move things on faster and sent me to go have lunch and take a shower. I was exhausted because I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink since 11:45pm the night before. We didn't want to drive all the way home because things seemed to be moving quickly so we decided to go to my parents house. We agreed to meet Diane at the birthing center in 2 hours.
The drive to my parents house was the WORST drive in my entire life. I think Seth was driving 10 miles an hour and I was still yelling at him that he was driving too fast. We got there and my contractions quickly jumped to 1 - 2 minutes apart. So we called Diane and just as soon as I walked into my parents house I had to get back into the car. Oh brother, let me tell you the birthing center is in Winter Park and they have the worst brick roads in the world! It was a horrible place to put a birthing center. :) We got there a little after 1pm and I wasn't feeling so hot.
I had back labor the entire time - that wasn't fun. The only thing that made it feel better was a bath, but that slowed my contractions. I wanted to get Bradley out quick so Seth, my Mom, Noelle and Emily were all there helping me by massaging or pushing on my back. Nothing took it away, but it helped some. Thanks guys :)
To make a long story somewhat shorter, my contractions were weird. They would pick up and be at 1-2 minutes for awhile and then they would slow back down to every 5-7 minutes. I don't think they ever really were consistent. Around 9pm, I think, I was so so so tired and didn't think I would even be able to push. Diane checked me and I was 9cm. YAY! My water still had not broken so she broke it at this point. I had this unusually peaceful moment of sleep right after she broke my water - which was much needed. I kept thinking to myself, great my labor stopped and now he isn't going to come anymore :) And then I woke up, probably 5 minutes later, and was ready to push. I still wasn't fully dilated so she "helped" me dilated while I pushed it out to 10. YIKES! That hurt. It seemed like an eternity of pushing, I don't know how long it really was - probably only a few minutes.
After I was fully dilated I pushed for 3 minutes and he was out. Seth was able to be right there to help catch him. It was so awesome!! I was so aware of my surroundings - with Norah I was in another world - even though this time it felt so much more painful because I wasn't "in the zone" I can now look back and remember so many details and I love it. We sat around and took tons of pictures, I ate a chicken sandwich and a full Chinese meal (I was super hungry!), took a shower and then we left to come home exactly 4 hours after he was born. Now that is awesome!
As I look back over the past 9 months I am amazed at God's faithfulness in his plan for Bradley's arrival. If Bradley had not been breech I most likely would have gone into labor very early and would have potentially had a pre-mature baby. He taught me so much during this time. Yes, I hated it at times. Yes, I questioned God's goodness. Yes, I had several bad attitudes. But in the end, His plan was perfect and I would do it all again. I became closer to God and Seth during this time. I learned that I cannot do it on my own, I need help. I absolutely loved Diane and the staff at All Bright Beginnings. I am so grateful I switched to them instead of my Doctor. They were so good I am excited to get pregnant again so I can go back :) But not any time too soon....
