Brielle's Birth Announcement

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Where to Start??

So much has happened over the past couple of weeks!!  Last Sunday night I woke up with excruciating pain in my uterus and ended up in the ER Monday morning.  I started having horrible labor contractions that came every 5 minutes or so.  They were giving me narcotics, but they were not helping at all.  It was crazy.  I have never been in so much pain in my life.  They had done an ultrasound and said that there might be some retained products of conception (aka placenta) in my uterus that are trying to be passed.  I was admitted into the hospital and about 30 minutes later after having these horrible contractions, I went into the bathroom.  When I was about to sit down, literally a bucket of blood poured out of me along with a cantaloupe-sized clot.  I immediately felt complete relief!!  It was crazy!  My husband about lost it because before I could say "I feel so much better!", he thought I was dying and all of my insides just came out!  Later, a midwife told me that the labor pains were a bazillion times more painful for me than natural labor because I had the C-section incision in my uterus that hasn't completely healed yet and I had a massive infection.  I never want to feel that kind of pain again.  You could have stuck me in my eye and it might have felt better.  : )

I had another one of these episodes another hour later.  They were giving me rounds of IV antibiotics for infection and did a CAT scan on Tuesday which uncovered more masses that still needed to be delivered.  Seriously??  So, we scheduled a D&C for the next morning.  The doctor was a little leery to do a D&C since I had just had a Cesarean and because he didn't want to be scraping a uterus that was infected.  So, we waited an extra day.  My hematocrit was also super low and he wanted me to have 2 units of blood to get stabilized.  We had the D&C on Wednesday morning.  They said that there was definitely a piece of the placenta left in my uterus.  WHAT?  Supposedly, it is super rare with a C-section since the doctor can see everything right there.  I don't know what happened.  After the D&C, I ended up needing 2 more units of blood before I could get discharged.  We finally left around 9pm on Wednesday night.

The big bummer in all of this (well, one of them!) was that Sadie's birthday was on Tuesday.  I absolutely hated not being home for her birthday.  Jeff brought the girls to the hospital for 30 minutes that night to have cake and open presents, but it wasn't the same.  It was really hard to be away from the girls again after just being away for several days with the C-section.

Brielle, fortunately, was able to stay with me at the hospital so that I could continue to breastfeed.  And, honestly, it is a miracle that I was able to.  Somehow the Lord allowed her feeding schedule to sync up with when I wasn't in so much pain.  I had to pump a couple of times, but that was it.  It was also against hospital policy to allow her to stay overnight since she hadn't just been delivered and wasn't a patient.  After much debate, they decided to make an exception for us with the knowledge that she didn't have a security band on and they weren't liable for anything that would happen to her.  I was so very grateful!!

I have been recouping well minus a trip back to the ER on Friday due to weakness, lethargy and dizziness.  They gave me a couple bags of fluid and I was on my way.  My body just doesn't bounce back the way it used to.  Plus the demands of breastfeeding make it more of a challenge probably.  I am feeling much, much better this week!

More update on Brielle for my next post.  She is my absolute dream baby!!!  So super easy compared to my other two : )  Love her!!!

Pictures!

Still don't have time for a formal update, but thought I'd at least post a few pictures of our new love! She is an amazingly easy baby - is eating great, no breastfeeding issues like we had with Keller, and is already giving us 5 hour stretches at night. Love her!

Keller loves her new sister!

My mom with our sleepy baby! 

Our chunky monkey : )

All 3 sisters!

Welcome to the World, Brielle!

Brielle Isabel arrived yesterday at 3:41pm weighing a whopping 9lbs 11oz and measuring 21 inches. She is beautiful and we are in love!

Update...

Well..... today has been very uneventful.  Brielle is just loving her cozy home and does not want to come out!!  The Cervadil didn't do much for my cervix last night.  It softened it more and moved me to 80% effaced, but my cervix was still not dilated any more than a fingertip as of this morning.  So, we then started Pitocin at a very low dose.  Their intention is just to nudge me into natural labor - not bring on the big guns or force labor.  The most Pitocin we used today was a level of 6.  To put this into context for you, most hospitals when they induce labor, start at like 6-10 and go up to 30+.  The contractions have all been very bearable and I haven't gotten into a regular pattern of labor yet.  So, we wait.  They will take me off the Pitocin in about an hour.  We will do another Cervadil tonight and then be a little more aggressive with the Pitocin tomorrow.  If nothing happens tomorrow and Brielle is still looking really good as she has been today, I will go home for a day and pray, pray, pray that labor starts on its own.  If not, then we will try again probably Monday with the same thing.  If nothing, then a cesarean. What a lesson in patience and letting go!!  The midwife is telling me that she isn't concerned at all about the size of the baby, but is more concerned about my age and letting me go too long.  However, Brielle looks fabulous and she feels totally comfortable with this game plan.  Did I mention this midwife is almost 70 years old?  She has 40+ years experience.  Talk about being in good hands!  She sat with me for about an hour today and told me her whole midwifery story.  She has been such a change agent in the midwifery field.

Prayers appreciated!!!  Hoping Brielle decides to come tomorrow!  October 12th would be a good day for her birthday : )

At the hospital!

We went in for another ultrasound on Wednesday morning and Brielle was measuring 10.5 lbs.  Oh my!  We really don't think she gained 2 lbs in a week and a half, but not sure exactly how big she really is!  So, it was determined that the best shot for a VBAC would be to try to induce me slowly.  My cervix was still posterior and closed on Wednesday.  Fortunately, my practice is so big on natural birthing that when they do have to induce, they do so incredibly slowly with a lot of patience and with a very low dose of pitocin.  They hope that they can wean me off the pitocin once my body kicks into labor.

I was admitted last night and given cervadil to ripen my cervix overnight.  The midwife on call last night was the one who started the midwifery practice we are with.  She has such an amazing reputation here in Atlanta with over 35 years of experience.  She is very "old school" and I really trust her explicitly.  She felt my abdomen and said that she didn't think she was a 10lb baby and then also checked out my pelvis and said that even if she was 10lbs, she didn't think I would have any issues pushing her out.  What encouragement!  They should be in soon to check what kind of progress was made last night.  I can say that I am having very regular contractions this morning, so I am hoping this is a good sign!  Brielle is slightly posterior, so we need to get her to move to a better birthing position and will be doing lunges and other positional exercises to encourage her to move today.

This morning I just enjoyed spending an extended time with the Lord reading His Word, listening to Watermark (love them!), and praying.  What a luxury when you have small kids up early in the morning.  I am loving my morning so far!  Getting my mind renewed and ready for the events of the day! : )

Still Waiting!

We had another u/s on Monday to make sure that baby Brielle was still doing well in my womb and that everything was going ok.  Afterwards, I met with a couple of midwives who gave me a bunch of options for Brielle's grand entrance.  They offered me another repeat c-section due to me being 44, overdue, and having a large baby.  They also said I could wait to see if I would go into labor naturally with some help with homeopathics and other labor inducing tricks.  We decided to go that route for this week while also going into get another u/s tomorrow to check on size and to (again) make sure she is doing well in my womb.

They checked me while I was there and while Brielle is SUPER low, my cervix was still posterior and only a fingertip dilated.  I was 50% effaced.  I was SO surprised to hear this when I have been having so many intense contractions.  I was 2cm and 100 effaced at 38 weeks with Keller without even feeling any contractions!  Crazy.  My practice doesn't really want to induce me since I am a VBAC, but we will be discussing all of that tomorrow once we get more information with the u/s.

Please pray for us!  I would so love to avoid another c-section.  I hate thinking of the recovery period.  Ugh.  But, overall, we want a healthy baby for sure!!

On another note... We got to meet Jennifer and Brielle's genetic siblings yesterday too!!  It was so great to meet them face to face.  It was only for a very short time because my appointment at the midwives took 3 1/2 hours (don't even ask!!!) and I was running super super late, but I was so glad that Jennifer persevered and came by anyway.  They gave Brielle the BEST gift too!  Seriously, a God thing for me.  They bought her an Angel Dear lovey with her name on it.  Keller has an Angel Dear lovey with her name on it and I just hadn't gotten around to buying one for Brielle yet.  It was literally the last thing on my list!  Check!!  I slept with it last night - I needed a lovey after hearing all of the bad news over at Intown Midwifery.  : )  The sad news is that we totally forgot to take a picture with the kids and Jenn!  Where is my head??!  I also had a really small shower with friends for Brielle several weeks ago and we forgot to take pictures there too!!  I am starting to worry about myself.  Ha.  Here is a picture of Keller's VERY worn out lovey along with the new bunny lovey from Jenn and the kids.  Thanks again, Jennifer!!  We love it.

Thanks for the prayers!