Induction & delivery

Well,  I'm happy to say that the baby is here and healthy! Before we start on that,  here's how it went down.

As I mentioned before, I was originally set for induction at 9pm on 10/13. We got phone call a few hours before hand telling us to call at 9 to see how full they were.  We did and they said to head down there. I was freaking out inside.  Felt like I could poop my pants. That didn't happen- no worries!  We were already out and about for my sister in laws birthday party around 9. So I decided to participate in bowling since I was suppose to be induced anyway.  I must say,  I didn't feel it have any effect on my body. I guess that could be a good thing!  When we got to the hospital,  we had to re-preregister because when I did it online, it hadn't uploaded yet. So that took a few minutes and then we were sent to our room. She started by having me get in the gown and did some ending of information on the computer. Our nurse ended up being someone that Adam knew her husband from highschool.  Small world. I was able to receive a priesthood blessing from Adam, too - which I am super grateful for. The IV application was heck. My veins are bad and I told them that. The first person to attempt to find a vein that works was our nurse.  That one ended up hurting the most.. not sure why.  It was in my arm close to my wrist, but not on it. So after that,  some other "legit" vein finding nurse came to try. Same spot on the other arm. I tried telling them every time that my veins suck,  but that the top of my hands work best. No one wanted to try. So the second attempt failed. They then called some other legit guy to come in with an ultrasounds machine to locate and pick the best vein. He had to leave because he was on call for high risk patients or something.  So that added another 30 minutes of delay.  When he got back, he did find a vein. It ended up being on my arm and close to where the other attempt was made, but closer to the elbow. So ya, that's the IV fun.  After that, they did some more computer stuff and checked my cervix. The last time it was checked was the 6th at the OB appointment and it was at a 1.. not sure of effacement. This time,  1.5 and 50% effaced. So,  the pitocin was given around 10:45pm. I didn't feel much of an effect until around 1am. The contractions were regular. By that,  I mean about 5 minutes apart. They gradually got stronger/more painful as the night went on. The contractions were similar to pains I've felt before. Specifically, it reminded me of the nice pain that I had in my back which we weren't sure what it was.. but this time in my lower stomach and back. So I refuse to believe that initial back pain from a week ago wasn't a contraction. I AM NOT A WUSS. Haha. Anyway, so I didn't sleep that night. I went in with hopes that the pains would be mild enough to get a decent nights rest.  Ha, what a joke! Every time my body would relax, on came a contraction. I heard from other people that the pitocin makes contractions feel worse, but then I also heard the other end of the stick. You just never know till you're there experiencing whatever your body decides to do. I told the nurse that as far as pain goes..on a scale of 1-10, i would like to only tolerate up to a 4. By 3am, I kept going back and forth about asking for the epidural. Every contraction, I'd mentally be like.. ok, this is the last one and then I'm pushing the nurses button. Then as soon as it stopped, I would think, ok.. I  can do one more. Haha it was a battle. I also expected the nurse to ask me what number I'm at while shes helping me get to the bathroom or whatever, but she didn't until several visits. She looked at me surprised that I already felt that level of pain. It kind of made me feel dumb or like a wuss by her reaction. I don't think she meant to at all.. but I was going on no sleep, crazy hormones,  and pain. So at 7am is when I  could order breakfast. I had that thought  in mind the whole night because I wouldn't be allowed to eat after the epidural. So after that point came, it was the end of my nurses shift and so she was introducing the new nurse and I just broke down in tears because I was in all the pain and super sleep deprived. What a good first impression for the new nurse! I had held it together for so long so when it came out, it REALLY came out. It was like that gasping for air type cry where you can't talk because you can't even breathe. I had like no appetite and the room service takes like 45 minutes to deliver so I just settled for the nurse getting me some toast. So after I finally caught my breath, we got the epidural request in. We checked the cervix and it made it to a 3 at that point.. 100% effaced. So maybe a half hour later the epidural guy came in. After hearing horror stories about the epidural, I was a little bit scared of the unknown. Plus, with me being already worked up from the pain and no sleep, it was just overwhelming. I was shaking from it all. Mostly in fear, but I'm sure other things took a toll also. The numbness took effect on my legs kind of weirdly. They both eventually went numb, but my left leg was first and more numb. There's no feeling like having half of your body numb like that. I wasn't a huge fan,  but it beat contractions by a landslide. I received the epidural around 7:35am. And from there,  I was trying to sleep as much as I could, but I honestly probably only slept for like 30 minutes over a couple hour period. I was so out of it and my body was exhausted. I was shaking even more than when I received the epidural..and continuously. We started pushing (with the nurses help) around 12:30pm.. maybe like 3 sets of 3 pushes or so. Then when the doctor arrived, we pushed a few more times, got an episiotomy, and there he was!  It was kind if weird sitting there while she was stitching me back together. I could feel my skin pulling, but no pain. Another thing that was super weird was pulling my legs up into position to push because I couldn't feel my legs so it was like lifting a dead person! I had like 3 people helping to lift my legs into place. It's a pretty helpless feeling. He was born weighing 7lbs 14oz at 1:34pm.

2 days after delivery..

Height- 20.25in (74%)
Weight-7lb 7oz (46%)
Head Circumference-35cm (61%)

5 days after delivery..

Height- not recorded
Weight-7lb 10oz (44%)
Head Circumference-not recorded


That is less than I weighed when I was born and actually close to Adams birth weight. So the ultrasounds were wrong in saying that he would be closer to 9lbs. NOT complaining.  And yes,  I was only pushing for about an hour. From the time of the pitocin till he was delivered was about 13 hours.. or 6 hours from the time I received the epidural.  The actual pushing part of the delivery was the easiest part.  With how well it went,  I can see myself doing that a few times easily. I was worried that because I had such an easy pregnancy that I would be punished with a hard delivery.  Ya, the contractions suck, but you get to choose when you get the epidural!  It's up to YOU how much you want to feel! I'm so grateful for the help and support we have had preparing for his arrival. Without further adieu...

Damon Isaac Brown!