Brigham's Birth

Our newest addition, Brigham Scott Weston, finally arrived! 

On Monday night my mom and I were busy making curtains, when my water broke at about 10:40 p.m. I've never had it break before labor started before, so I wasn't positive that's what it was at first. Maybe I had just suddenly lost all bladder control? I didn't say anything at first, just went upstairs and changed. But I quickly figured out that's what it was. Contractions started, but not very intense and certainly not consistent. I called my midwife a little over an hour afterwards just to give her a heads up, then we waited. Kenny pulled out his phone so he could time them, but I told him to forget about it and get some rest while he could. While he slept, I just sat in my rocking chair and listened to my hypno birthing CD which is always so relaxing. Everything was good and I was still very calm and in control. We went in to the birthing center at 3 a.m. She checked me and said I was a 6 or 7. They gave me and IV and a dose of antibiotics since I had tested positive for group B strep. After a little bit I got in the tub, and labor continued to progress well. I always really hate it when I get to that last 30-60 minutes. I ask myself why in the world I chose to do it and wonder if there's any way I can just not go through it. Childbirth is so intense and so painful. I was so grateful for Kenny's support. I know he really wishes I would just go to a hospital and get an epidural, but he still supports and sustains me, literally and figuratively. He always pulls me through to the end. I was especially glad he was holding me from behind when I was pushing, because I blacked out for a second right at the end. I did it with Kelsey too, I'm not sure why. I think it's because I'm pushing so hard and not breathing for a little bit and so I sort of black out for 1-2 seconds. I remember thinking, okay this is it I'm pushing out his body, and then the next thing I knew he was laying on my chest when I came to and I wondered how much time had passed. Kenny said he felt me go limp and started like shaking my arms because they were handing him to me. But they didn't even notice so it couldn't have been more than second. 

He was born at 4:54 a.m., about 2 hours after we got there. He has so much dark hair and is by far the biggest baby we've had! He weighed 9 pounds, 8 ounces and was 22 inches long. Head and chest were 15 inches. (Our next biggest baby was Kelsey, who was 8 po. 1 oz.) He is perfectly healthy and handsome. He has some bruising on his face, and a popped blood vessel in his left eye from a speedy birth. I think he looks like Tyler when he was born, only with chubbier cheeks. Once the baby's born you only have to stay for 3 hours, so we were home by 8 a.m. right after all the kids woke up. They were SO excited to meet their new little brother. I hadn't slept the entire night, and Kenny didn't get much sleep either. So we were both so exhausted, obviously. I was so grateful my mom was still there so I could just hide in my room and sleep for several hours, waking only to feed him. 

We were the very first ones to have a baby in this new birthing center, since it's a brand new facility and they had just barely gotten certified from the state the day before! We were joking that Briggs was just waiting for that so he didn't have to be born in the other birthing center that neither of us liked. It also meant they gave us a big gift basket with a whole lot of expensive things which we would have never bought! :) It was really nice. My mom and Sarah were tremendously helpful that day, but had to fly home that night. I was so sad to see them go, but I was also very grateful for the time I did have with them, and that Brigham came before they left so she at least got to see him! 

Another nurse, Mary, was also there and she took it upon herself to take a lot of pictures and gave us a CD of them. I was so glad because we don't normally have pictures of such a big event! Hopefully these aren't too much to post on here. I know I'm a hot mess, but this is it, raw and real.

We are overwhelmed with gratitude and love for this new baby in our family. I love, love newborns and the special spirit they carry with them. We're all still recovering, but so happy he's here.

The fabulous Elrod's, who own and run Integrated Women's Wellness. They're a husband and wife team, he's a Dr. and she's a midwife. I love them and would recommend this practice to anyone!! They are bringing us a yummy Ihop breakfast in bed :). I'm pretty sure I scarfed that meal down in less than 2 minutes!

Ready to go home!