The Birth Story

Oh boy! I know you have all been DYING to hear about this haha. I'm gonna tell you about the labor and delivery! Yay! But, I'll try to leave out the gory details. ;).

It was pretty crazy, I went in for my 40 week appointment and I went in fists up ready to fight for an induction if I went 1 week overdue. My OBGYN doesn't usually induce until you're 2 weeks overdue unless you have a medical reason. But I wasn't going a week overdue. I was uncomfortable, huge, and my family was going to be in town to see Emma and they were going to miss it all if I didn't go into labor on my own. Dr. Larsen checked me and told me that I was 2 centimeters dilated and 60% effaced! Yay! That was good news! He checked my blood pressure which had been fluctuating for 3 weeks and saw that it was high again. He had me lay on my side and it went back down so he said there was no reason to worry at the moment. What came out of his mouth next totally shocked me though. "Well, since your blood pressure keeps shooting up and your cervix is ready and the baby is definitely cooked when would you like to have this baby? Tomorrow or Thursday?" UM, WHAT?! Lol. I went in there totally ready to fight for it but then when he told me without me saying a word, "Let's do it!" I was not ready! I immediately said Thursday so that I could have a day to process what was about to happen. Dallas and I were about to have our baby girl in our arms! I actually can't stay pregnant forever, the baby really does have to come out and I have to be the one to get her out! Holy Crap! I went into a panic Wednesday night worrying about everything that could go wrong, because I am a freak like that. Dallas had a nice talk with me and gave me a blessing and calmed me down a lot.

We got there Thursday morning at about 7:30 am and Dr. Larsen arrived at 8:00 am to break my water and start me on pitocin. They started off slow so I didn't feel anything at first, except for the big gush of water which was really weird! After a little while I started to feel the contractions and they







felt a lot like my period cramps, at first. Then they got stronger and closer together, whew! They hurt! I picked a focal point and just breathed while I squeezed the crap out of Dallas's hand. Poor guy haha but he was so patient. I decided after a couple of hours I was over the pain and decided to get the epidural. The worst part about that was just the numbing shot that they give before the actual epidural. Well, unfortunately the epidural didn't take very well so that was frustrating. I could still feel the pain from my contractions even though the edge was off and I swear it took me FOREVER to progress! It was so frustrating when they'd come in and say, "You're a 4." two hours later, "You're still a 4." COME ON! Then they started noticing meconium in the water. Yup, Emma had pooped in the womb. She took after her daddy on that one. So of course I became a nervous wreck because she could inhale it and have to go to the NICU and she could get pneumonia. To make matters worse I started getting a fever so they put me on an antibiotic so that they could stop a possible infection. I was getting really anxious at this point and just wanted to get Emma out safe and healthy. Finally they came and told me I was a 10 and it was time to try and start pushing. It was actual going to
happen! She was coming and we were so excited at this point! It's amazing how your mindset
completely changes when the time comes. You go from total fear to determination. Dallas was on my right trying to coach me through it but I finally just yelled, "Everyone shut up!" Haha. I really needed to focus and I couldn't do it with all of these people in my ear. After an hour and a half of pushing she was finally here! I heard her little cry and I just lost it! I couldn't believe we had a daughter! She finally made it! After a year of trying and 9 months of carrying her, she was finally here! They put her on my chest immediately and she was absolutely perfect! They kept yelling, "She's huge!" I didn't get to hold her very long cause they had to check her lungs to make sure she didn't inhale her poop. They checked our temperatures and we both had a fever of 104. Yikes! Hers was just because of being inside of my hot belly for so long but they gave her an antibiotic to be safe. I was so focused on her that I almost didn't noticed that they shoved two shots in my leg. My uterus didn't clamp down and I was hemorrhaging but thankfully those shots got it to do what it needed to do. They finally got her weight and measurements and when they said she was 10 lbs everyone in the room yelled, "WHAT?!" And I had only torn to a 2! She was huge and I was shocked that I pushed that big baby out of me! An hour after I had her I threw up which is always pleasant and the nurse decided I needed to try to go to the bathroom. Which, no offense to her cause she was a great nurse, probably wasn't
the best idea. She helped me walk in there and I told my mom I was going to throw up again cause the nurse left the room. I started feeling this pressure in my ears and the room started spinning and the last thing I remember was saying, "I'm gonna passed out." When I came to I had 3 nurses and Dallas yelling, "Breanna" in my face. I was so out of body and I started laughing cause I was so embarrassed.  Later on they found out Emma had some blood sugar problems so they had to put her on a drip to regulate it so we were there for 3 days. Me for my blood loss and her for that. I was an emotional wreck. I also had a new appreciation for water and food! I didn't get to eat or full on gulp anything during my 13 and half hours of labor cause of the epidural and pitocin! And thanks to the IV my face was so swollen that I was unrecognizable for days. It was horrendous but thankfully I am back to normal for the most part! I do have 5 lbs left to lose before I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight! Thank you breastfeeding! But I still plan on losing even more weight once I'm past recovery!

This little girl, despite the fact that she is my daughter, has a very special spirit about her. I felt it the moment they put her in my arms. She's going to be an amazing woman and even though I don't want her to grow up too fast, I can't wait to see what she will accomplish as she grows. She's beautiful and may I just say absolutely perfect. I love her so much. I could not believe the unconditional love I felt for her from the beginning. Dallas and I were so overwhelmed with emotions that we were crying wrecks for 3 days haha. Motherhood is hard and I am no expert at it, that's for sure. But my maternal instincts have definitely kicked in. It's such an amazing experience and I would not trade it for the world! It took us a year to get pregnant with her and that trial was well worth it! It was perfect timing for the perfect girl.

Here are some pictures I wanted to share from her birth up until now!





















Emma Grace Reynolds 
Born June 27th, 2013 at 11:33 P.M.
Weight 10 lbs
Length 21.5 inches 





3 comments:

Rylee McKelvey said...

She's adorable Breanna - you cooked a cute one!! Congratulations!

Christina said...

Congrats! So glad to see your new addition! She is beautiful!

Heather said...

Hi Breanna! Emma is beautiful! Thank you for sharing your story :-) My name is Heather and I was hoping you could answer my question I have about your blog! My email is Lifesabanquet1(at)gmail(dot)com