Wordless Wednesday

The arrival of Briley Anne Williams! :)

On the morning of 1/8/14, I could not sleep.. I woke up tossing and turning and thinking about all kinds of things. I had planned Jonathan's "surprise" 30th birthday dinner for the upcoming weekend (1/11/14) because of Briley being due the day before his 30th birthday. I laid in bed thinking out all the details and trying to decide whether to take Tucker with us (and the other 28 people that had rsvp'd) OR if I was going to get a babysitter..........not knowing that this dinner was going to get postponed anyway, I laid there and laid there. This insomnia had not really been a problem for me the rest of the pregnancy (not to the point that it was with Tucker) - I guess because I was so worn out every night after chasing after my crazy toddler! Anyway.. so Jonathan had to go back to work that morning so he got on up and went. Tucker woke up around 7:00 and I went ahead and started giving him a bath to get ready for preschool. When I went to the restroom I had a little tinge of blood in my underwear (I know, TMI) ... but I had been cramping a tiny tiny bit so I thought .. hmmm I wonder if this is what it's like to see the beginning stages of labor?? I immediately texted my mom and Jonathan just to let them know and to be on standby. I already had an appointment at 10:20 so I was just going to ask her about it when I got there. Well ... I went on to take Tucker to preschool and drove straight to the doctor's office in Cary. I saw Dr. Richardson (one of my favorites). I told her what I had experienced that morning and she said "well ... that could mean that labor is either coming pretty soon or it could be another two weeks." She asked if I was having any contractions and, at that point, I really wasn't.. so she didn't even check to see if I was dilated. Once I left the doctor, I was on the phone with Ms. Debbie - it was 10:59 - and I had my first big contraction. There was no doubt this was a contraction..I told her I almost had to pull off the road. I knew it didn't mean anything until they were 5 minutes apart so ... I just went back to my mom's house to get some work done while I waited for Tucker to get out of preschool. As I worked, I started to tie up some loose ends because I just "felt like" labor was beginning. My next contraction was 40 minutes later. I started texting Jonathan every time I had a contraction just so we could both keep up with how far apart they were. When it was time to go pick Tucker up from preschool (which was 1:00 because he had "lunch bunch" this particular day), I was in pain.. the contractions were 15 minutes apart and then started getting closer and closer... 10 minutes, 7 minutes, etc. Once I got him home and got him down for a nap, Jonathan was calling asking if he needed to come on home. Of course, I was thinking so but, at the same time, I didn't want to go and be sent home. I told him to come on home. In the meantime, my mom said she could come over and keep Tucker until we found out if I was truly in labor. So ... about 2:55-3:00, I called the DR and they told me to go on over to the Raleigh office so they could check to see if I was dilating (instead of going to the Cary office so we wouldn't be so far away from the hospital). So ... off we went! Now, let me just say... I had eaten Bojangle's and Moe's and some other snacks throughout the day because I did NOT want to get caught in the middle of labor again (like I did with Tucker) and not be able to eat. I had also taken a shower immediately when I got out of bed because, again, I did not want to be caught without a shower. These were the two things that happened with Tucker :) I learned my lesson! Anyway ... so we get to the DR's office and Dr. Buckley checked to see if I was dilated about 3:45. When he did, he said "yep, you're in labor..you're already 4 cm's dilated.. head on to labor and delivery!" OMG!! :) So ... we did as he said. We got over there and they hooked me up and contractions started to get closer and closer. By this time, Jonathan had let everyone know (my mom, dad, his mom, Todd & Laine, close friends etc) to be praying because we were going to be having a baby sometime soon. At first, I didn't ask for the epidural (even though I knew I wanted it) just because I thought I had a while longer, but the closer and closer the contractions got, the more painful they were.. so about 5:00 or 5:30 or so I got the epidural. It hurt SO bad.. I didn't remember it hurting that bad when I had Tucker. It may have been worse because I kept having major contractions while they were putting it in. Anyway - withing about 15 minutes, I was feeling lots better. There was one side that was still feeling contractions so she added more epidural. Well .......... if I had done my research I would've never let her do that.. but I'll get to that in a minute. So ... my mom, dad, and Ms. Debbie came to visit. As they were visiting (about 6:20), I said "uh oh" ... my water had broken. At this point, they had not checked my progress yet (since we had left the dr office) so ... she checked me and I was at 10cm!! About 6:25 we started pushing. I probably pushed for 15-20 minutes and gave out...........I felt like I was going to fall asleep and just didn't feel good at all. They had to lay me on my side. My blood pressure had dropped. What we figured out was that I had too much epidural in me .. they put ice way right under my boobs and I was numb there (and you're not supposed to be) so ... they backed some of the epidural out. By this time, it was shift change so I was getting a new nurse. The new nurse that came in was AWESOME. Her name was Annette and she was a midwife in London/England for years. She was so encouraging and just said we would take as long as we needed to get my blood pressure right before we started pushing again. After about 30-45 minutes of laying there and not pushing, I started to feel better. My blood pressure was finally back to normal. About 7:35 we started pushing again and Briley Anne made her arrival at 7:57!! It was the most AMAZING thing - just like with Tucker. What a GIFT from GOD!! I am so much more in love with my husband for being such an awesome encourager and being right there with me every single second and now so much in love with both of my children as well. Now ... where was Tucker?! Tucker was WELL taken care of by Ben, Toni, BJ, and Samantha. I never had to worry one second because he LOVES them so I knew he was having fun. Ms. Debbie went home a little later and relieved Toni and stayed with Tucker that night. It was actually so nice to have her at night because we were able to have time - just the 3 of us - me, Jonathan, and Tucker - just to gaze at her and love on her before we introduced her to Tucker and the rest of the family/friends the next day. I am SO SO thankful to God for my blessings - Jonathan, Tucker, and Briley. Briley is doing great and adjusting so well here at home. Tucker has been such an AWESOME big brother. I was so worried about him being "rough" (because he is such a boy!) but he "just knows". He is so gentle with her and kisses her on the forehead every single chance that he gets. He is so protective of her already and wants to be around her all the time. I am so proud of him as a big brother. Now I'm sure there will be plenty of days where they will get on each others nerves and bicker and fight but, for now, I am enjoying him loving on her. GOD IS SOO GOOD!!