Here's the drama...

Brady's Story

We decided that I would be induced, Brady was measuring really large and we needed to make sure that there wasn't too much Heparin in my system at the time of birth. Heparin is the blood thinner I switched to from Lovenox about a week ago.

We headed to the hospital on Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 5:00 AM. By about 7:00 AM I was hooked up to an IV and the Pitocin was started to bring on the contractions. At about 9:00 AM a Foley Bulb was inserted above my cervix and then the bulb was filled with saline, once the bulb fell out I should have been about 4 centimeters dilated.

Things were going great and the bulb had fallen out and when the mid-wife on call, Ginger, came to check me at about 3:00 PM, she said that I was about 3 centimeters, but she couldn't feel the baby's head anymore. He had always been really high, but she was concerned so she brought in the ultrasound machine. And sure enough, Brady had turned breech. I was devastated. I started sobbing...for lots of reasons. 1. How does a 9 pound, 4 ounce (we didn't know he was that big yet) baby turn breech? Apparently if you just had twins 18 months prior, it makes for a lot of room for one. 2. I was upset about all the work I had been through for the past 8-9 hours and it was all for nothing. 3. The most upsetting part: I have two babies at home and no family that lives nearby, a two-story house and there was no way possible that I could recover from C-section and take care of three BABIES.

Ginger made the decision to STOP EVERYTHING. I was taken off the Pitocin and given a few different options. 1. I could wait for my doctor, Dr. Garcia, to get there that night and try an External Version, where they manipulate your belly to try to turn the baby, if the baby gets into any type of distress they give you an emergency C-Section. (Side-note: I know a lady who lost a baby doing this, it was done in a Dr's office and then she went home and the baby died because the cord become pinched--so needless to say this was NOT an exciting option for me. They only do them in New Mexico in a hospital, for that very reason.) 2. I could go in for a C-section.

Everyone left the room and David and I had a heart-to-heart, we discussed all the possibilities, I hadn't cried like that in years. I was just so devastated, my heart ached. David said a really sweet prayer and asked Heavenly Father if Brady would turn back on his own. We decided not to tell our families what was going on at the time. We didn't want everyone to worry and we really felt more peaceful about the whole situation.

The five and a half hours it took for my doctor to get there took forever. The nurses were all so kind and loving, they said that everyone on the floor was buzzing about what was going on and everyone was hoping for the best for us. I sat there pleading with Heavenly Father in my heart to let Brady turn. I know Heavenly Father loves me, hears my prayers, is aware of small details in my life and I know He knew the great desire of my heart. By the time my doctor got there, I was pretty sure he had turned back around, but I was afraid to say it out loud, not even to David. If I was wrong I didn't want to get every one's hopes up. When she got there I told her that I think that he flipped again, I think she didn't believe me, but she got the ultrasound machine and sure enough he was back in position. When everyone left the room, again David offered a super sweet prayer thanking Heavenly Father for our huge miracle...I know, I know, David does a lot of praying, I just could even speak to try to utter a word, my heart would have exploded.

We started everything over again, but he had now turned twice and there was no guarantee he wouldn't turn again. The doctor suggested that I stayed in a more upright position to try to keep him where he needed to be. So needless to say it was a long night and I had major anxiety all night long. Writing this now, I still don't think I've recovered.

I was put on Pitocin again and the contractions and dilating started again. At about 3:00 am I was dilated to a 5 and they decided to break my water bag, so it would give Brady a tougher time if he decided he wanted to turn again. Soon after I was given the epidural. I reminded the anesthesiologist that last time it wore off multiple times and even after three tries I don't think it ever took. She assured me that it wouldn't happen again. SHE WAS WRONG.

At about 9:30 AM I could feel that I was regaining feeling in my feet and legs and the contractions were feeling more and more painful. It was manageable so i didn't say much. At about 10:00 AM I was screaming in pain and the nurse said she'd get the anesthesiologist--she never made it. I was screaming and hitting the bed with my fist by now and told David to go get someone. Before I knew it the midwife on call, Donna, and my nurse were back in the room. She said I was dilated to 10 but that the baby, still head down, was very high. She told me that I needed to push him through the contractions into the birth canal....most babies are already in there by now.

She had David hold one leg, the nurse the other and she starting coaching me through the most horrific pain I have ever felt...I was still screaming, crying and hitting the bed.

All of the sudden I hear Donna say, "He's passed out, someone get in here," and then David drops my leg and he falls to the bench just a foot behind him. Yes, my poor husband passed out. As we talk about it now, there was no blood, no needles, no gruesomeness, he seriously was so affected by seeing me like that, that he lost it...the baby hadn't even crowned yet. As a side note I would like to say that he was able to watch the births of both the twins just fine and had handled all the needles and blood drawing all day, with ease. I feel bad for him now, but at the time I was so mad. All of the sudden there are people attending to him, giving him oxygen and I'm thinking, "Who cares about him, someone take away this pain." I do remember asking if he was breathing and they assured me he was. I guess as long as he was breathing, I felt like he'd be okay.

David wasn't out too long, I remember him sitting up and watching the rest of the agony. Before I knew it the room was full of people and I continued my thrashing and screaming. Brady made it safely into this world at 10:27 AM and I can honestly say that it was all worth it. I still get shivers thinking about it though, I'm sure I always will. But check out this mug, I'd do it 100 times more if it meant I got to be his mama.