Welcome, Brady Wayne Eddins! {Brady’s Birth Story}

I can’t believe that it’s only been 2 weeks since our little man has been living life outside my tummy with our family!  While we’re definitely getting used to living with 2 little ones and being sleep deprived, I feel like he’s been with our family for far longer than just 2 weeks!  For my memory’s sake and anyone else who may be interested, here is the brief rundown on his arrival as well as his newborn pictures from the hospital.

About to head out the door to the hospital.

Brady’s birth was a scheduled induction, just as was his big sister Savannah’s birth.  I don’t know what is standard for women who have lost a baby at full term, but all of my doctor’s have agreed that it is probably best for us to not go past the 38 week mark, which is when we found out Andrew had gone to be with Jesus.  Andrew’s autopsy results showed a likely cord accident, but it was not 100% conclusive so there is no way to know for sure exactly what had happened.  We chose to schedule the induction when I was 38 weeks 2 days, putting us at Monday, October 8th.

Someone was sleepy!

Can’t head in without a kiss from my girl!

I arrived on Monday morning at 8am for registration and got settled into my labor and delivery room shortly after.  I was really surprised they didn’t need me to be there earlier in the morning, but it was nice to not have to rush.

9:30am – My OB checks me and I am still only 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced (this is where I was the previous Thursday at my last appt).  She decides to insert some sort of “balloon” which would hopefully help me dilate some more and possibly encourage my body to get started on its own.  My blood work comes back and shows that my platelets are too low for an epidural (surprise surprise).  Side note:  The Thursday and Friday before the induction, I spent the entire day in a chair getting an intravenous medication that was supposed to help raise my platelets.  My gut told me it was a waste of time, but I opted to have it done just in case.  Oh well, we tried!   

10:30am – My OB checks me again and I am now 3cm dilated.  She breaks my water and starts Pitocin, hoping that I won’t need much of it to get me going.

11:00am – I walk the halls of the hospital with my sister, hoping we can get things going without too much Pitocin.  

4 cm – So far, so good!

12:00-1:00pm – I start feeling some contractions, but they are not bad.  I describe them more or less like pressure.  I hesitated to even call them contractions.  I tell Kevin and my sister they better get lunch before things decide to pick up.  My nurses keep increasing my Pitocin as its clear I am not going into labor on my own!

2:00-4:00pm – Contractions pick up and we try lots of different positions to help relieve my pain.  The birthing ball becomes less effective and I spend a lot of time on my hands and knees in the bed or standing leaned over on the bed.  Kevin and my sister are very helpful with massaging my back.  I start to get very tired, not knowing how much longer I can handle the pain.  I distinctly remember feeling that way with Savannah and recall being able to push shortly thereafter.  I tell the nurse to please get my OB because I think he’s coming soon.  I also ask the nurse to check me because I really think it could be soon!  I am 8-9cm dilated and within minutes, I am told I can push.  Some of the last 30 minutes is a blur because I was so exhausted.  Fortunately, within 2 pushes, Brady was here! 

4:23pm – Brady Wayne is born weighing 7 lbs. 9 ozs. and measuring 21 inches long.  We fell in love instantly!  I was told he was born face up, which explains my back pain!



Be still my heart!