Thompson Times: Brynn Lee Thompson

I had our new little girl on the 17th! It was such an awesome experience. I wanted to record my thoughts while things are still fresh in my mind. My water broke at home around 10:30 a.m. I wasn't really having contractions so I got the kids and myself ready and told Greg to come home because we were going to have a baby! Thankfully, he had finished his final that day. The week before I told Greg that whenever I went into labor I wanted to eat a hamburger before going to the hospital, so the first thing he asked when he got home was where I wanted to go eat :) So we dropped the kids off at Cindy's and went to Five Guys, of course! It was really yummy! I finally called my midwife and she said to come to her office before being admitted to the hospital. I did and I was only dilated to 3.5 cm. While I was there she stripped my membranes and said we would see how things went. Water got everywhere. I feel bad for whoever had to clean up that mess! She guessed I would have the baby around dinner time. I was hopeful, but wasn't convinced because I was still feeling great and wasn't really having contractions. I was admitted and hooked up the the monitor to see how things were going. The midwife came and visited me once I was settled in. She brought a telemetry monitor so I was able to get up and move around to try to get contractions started. Greg was so funny. He played ACDC for me while I was moving around. A nurse came in and said she had never heard that kind of music playing in that setting, haha. I started feeling contractions around 2:30 p.m. and the midwife offered to let me get in the jacuzzi. I didn't really want to because I wanted to wait until I was really hurting, but she said she thought I would have the baby pretty fast, so if I didn't use the tub right then, then I might not be able to at all. She checked me before I got in and I was at a 5. I hung out in the tub for a while, and it was really nice!! It totally changed the way my contractions felt. I was even worried it was slowing my labor down because I felt so much relief. I now understand why women want water births!I started feeling more crampy so I asked the midwife when she thought I should get out. She said whenever I felt like I needed to push. So I waited a few minutes and I told her I didn't really feel like I needed to push, but I thought I could feel the baby moving down. So she told me to get out and go pee. Haha, I was like... okay? So I sat on the toilet, and told her I couldn't pee, but that she should probably check me. She checked me right there, on the toilet and all, and asked if I wanted to feel the baby's head! I did and it was kinda cool. I walked over to the bed and laid on my side and after a few pushes the baby was out! It was the strangest thing because I never felt that "urge to push". My contractions seemed like they were further apart than normal and after a couple of them the midwife told me to just push whenever I had one. They brought the mirror so I could see and I think that helped a lot since I never felt like I needed to push. I appreciated not feeling rushed. With V and Mattix I felt like there was some kind of time limit to how long I could labor. It was totally different this time and a lot more enjoyable. While I was pushing everyone in the room was making guesses at how big the baby would be. Greg was the closest at 6 lbs 2 oz. Everyone else guessed in the 4 and 5 lb range, haha. Greg knows better...I have mega babies! She was born at 4:13 p.m. weighing in at 6 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long! Brynn was born screaming away, so I was able to delay the cord clamping. I got the natural birth I wanted. It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced, and better than how I ever imagined it! Everything went really smoothly and pretty fast once things got going. Delivering the placenta was a different story. Oh man, it was awful! After Brynn was born it felt like I stopped contracting totally. The midwife gave me a decent amount of time before pushing on my tummy to help the placenta come out. Once it came out I was bleeding a ton, so I got a shot of something and a bag of pitocin to help. I had to hang out in the delivery room for a few hours afterward. Brynn was on a nasal cannula to help her breathe for less than a day and has been doing really really well!! All she needs to do is get up on eating. She is sleepy, so it's hard sometimes to feed her. She does really well with nursing, but she has a hard time finishing the amount she needs to eat, so she is gavage fed the rest of her food. She makes the cutest high pitch noises! She is really sweet and I think we will be able to bring her home soon. I am pretty tired from going back and forth to the hospital. I am back and forth every hour and a half. They will bottle feed for me, but she doesn't always eat as well so they want me to me there. It's rough. I feel bad for Greg. He has really been taking care of everything with the kids and the house, and I am so grateful. I can hardly wait until she is home and we are back on a schedule. I think Greg will appreciate that, too!!