Announcing Broderick George Kaiser

Birth Story of Broderick George Kaiser

After my due date, Nov 25th, had come and gone and I had spent many days and nights in false labor we scheduled an induction.  We were to report to the hospital November 28th at 7:30 AM for the birth of our child.  The night before Dave and I went to our favorite sushi restaurant and came home and watched a movie.  I was unable to really watch the end of the movie because my contractions were becoming intense  and were picking up in frequency.  I was hopeful I would go into labor on my own that night, however I had done this many times before so I didn't get my hopes up.  Luckily I was able to get some sleep despite the contractions and we reported to the hospital that morning ready to get the show on the road.

When we arrived we went through the typical admit procedures, and my Pitocin drip was started.  Our first hiccup in the plan was my IV, which took 3 sticks to get, and then I endured 2 more sticks in efforts to move it because its location was so painful.  As a medical provider I felt so silly complaining about the IV but the IV infusion (not the stick) caused me so much more pain than any contractions I was feeling.  Unfortunately they were unable to get another IV, so I decided to just deal with it.

Around 1 PM my water broke on its own, which I later learned was rare for an induction.  I knew that once my water broke that the contractions would quickly pick up in intensity so even though I really was not that uncomfortable I asked for my epidural.  I received my epidural around 1:30 and was surprised that I was really uneasy about the numbness.  Don't get me wrong I was happy to not be uncomfortable anymore but did  not like feeling that I had no control of the lower half of my body.  Once my epidural was placed they checked me and I was 5 cm dilated.  I felt pretty accomplished getting all the way to 5 with not to much discomfort.  The nurses said I had a high pain tolerance.  I made sure Dave heard them say that. 

Shift change had come and gone and I was blessed beyond belief with the most wonderful labor nurse (Kristen) I could have ever asked for.  She was so attentive, thorough, kind, funny and so much more.  Kristen came in and turned me, fluffed my pillows and somehow knew exactly where I needed pillows placed.  With in 10min of her turning me I felt it would be a good idea for her to check me.  When she did she said our baby was right there, and we would be pushing just as soon as she got set up.  Hearing this immediately got me nervous.  The thought that Dave and I would soon be parents really freaked me out and instead of getting really excited I felt like running for the hills.

Once Kristen got everything ready and we sent my parents and Dave's mom to the waiting room I started pushing.  I was so nervous that I wouldn't know how or wouldn't be able to push effectively, however Kristin was a great coach and reassured me the whole time.  In between contractions Kristin, Dave and I were having such a great time.  We talked about so many different things and were laughing the whole time.  I even had a few contractions where my pushing was not optimal because I was laughing a lot.  Despite our good time, I began to get frustrated because although I continued to make progress it was taking such a long time.  Our baby decided to give me my first challenge by being in the wrong orientation (sunny side up).  Dave was right by my side the entire time, and periodically would text our parents for an update.  To my surprise I was never nasty to Dave and despite the pain that was in I never snapped at him.  He was perfect, he rubbed my head, held my hand, encouraged me when I needed it and  was quite when I needed him to be.  About 2.5 hours into pushing I could feel the numbness from the epidural starting to go away from the top down.  I unfortunatly knew that this meant the catheter had probably migrated out of my epidural space and that I was no longer getting medication where I needed to in order to stay numb.  This gave me extra incentive to push harder to get our baby out quick!!!  I pushed for another half and hour and finally our child was crowning.  At this point we had to wait for the midwife to finish another delivery before she could assist in delivering our baby.  For the next 20 min of contractions I was not allowed to push and the pain was getting intense.  With Dave and Kristen's help I stayed focused.  I knew if I lost control of my emotions it would be so much worse.  Once the midwife got there I was so scared to push because I knew how bad it was going to hurt.  At this point I still had some numbness but was feeling much more than I would have liked.  I pushed for another 10 min or so and finally heard Dave proclaim very loud, proud and happy that it was a BOY!!!!  All along I had thought we were having a girl, and despite not caring myself what gender our child was I secretly wanted a boy for Dave.  So needless to say we were both so happy!!!

 Dave went with Brody as they checked him out and I watched his O2 sats from afar climb from 77 to 99%.  Once I knew he was breathing alright, despite his + meconium, I went back to focusing on the pain I was feeling.  The pain I must say was pretty severe and despite 8mg of Morphine I still hurt bad and now also felt nauseated.  Dave took Brody to the NICU for a short observation stay and while the nurses were preparing me to go to the postpartum floor he took our parents to see him.  Once they all layed eyes on our new little man they came to see me. We all finished packing up our labor room and the nurse took Dave and I to Brody.  It was great to finally see him and check him out but the memory of that moment is a little foggy.  I remember that at that moment I did start to feel attached to him.  Immediately after his birth I think I was in so much pain that all I could focus on was the pain, although I distinctively remember watching his O2 sats climb so I know I was concerned for him.  Once we left the NICU Dave and I went to our new room on the postpartum floor, we said goodbye to our parents for the night and ate a little something while we waited for the nurses to bring Brody to our room.

Brody got to our room at around 4AM and both sat there and admired him.  We both agreed he was the cutest baby ever and despite how tired we were we just couldn't stop staring at him.  We both finally layed him in his bassinet beside us and got a few hours of sleep.

In the morning Dave left to go take care of Roxie and I layed in bed just snuggling with Brody.  By this time I had fallen so in love with him.  That day and the next day in the hospital we spent time just the three of us.  It was so nice to have this time alone to be a family of three.  We were discharged from the hospital on Friday morning and we couldn't wait to get out of there.  We were both looking forward to having Brody home with us surrounded by our things, and just settling in.