The Hollingsworth Family: Braden's Birth Story

Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post, but we've been pretty busy since Braden's arrival! For those of you who haven't heard his story ... here is the story of Braden's "Birth -Day!"

I woke up last Saturday morning, July 25th, 2009 around 7:30am with severe "period like" cramping and my lower back ached. I had cramping/back aches the last couple weeks, but not this bad. Shortly after eating breakfast the contractions started. They were uncomfortable and sparatic; anywhere from 4-9 minutes apart. This pattern continued throughout the day. It was a rainy day and we just hung out watching movies with Mason, waiting to see if the contractions would get closer together. Around 3:30pm I told Keith we should probably think about eating an early dinner because I think we may end up at the hospital sometime this evening. By that point contractions were consistantly around 5-6 minutes apart and getting a little more painful. So what do the Hollingsworths do?? Order a pizza! We ordered the pizza a little after 4pm. By the time Keith got back with the pizza my contractions were 3 minutes apart and painful. I had called the "on call" doc, Dr. Sayat, to make him aware of what was going on and that we would be headed to the hospital shortly. We inhaled our pizza (me in between contractions) and then headed to my parent's house to drop off Mason.

This was interesting in itself because my mom was already watching Colton and my dad had knee surgery the day before! And now we were dropping off Mason, plus I wanted my mom at the hospital for the birth! The plan was for us to get to the hospital and evaluate my status. My mom was putting Colton to bed at 8pm and then depending on our phone call would come to the hospital, and Grandpa (again who just had knee surgery), would take care of Mason and put him to bed! If you know my dad, you are cracking up at this whold scenario!

So we finally get to the hospital around 6:30pm. When the nurse checks me I'm close to 7cm dilated and 90% effaced! Holy cow I was not expecting that! She asked me if I wanted an epidural then. She told me once they broke my water and as strong as my contractions were, things should move rather quickly. Around 7:35pm we were settled in our room and I was getting my epidural. The nurse checked me at 7:45pm and said, "Oh, I better go call the doctor." He needed a 15 minute heads up to get to the hospital and I was dilated to 9cm! It was all moving so fast! Which don't get me wrong ... was very nice! I started thinking however that my mom wasn't going to make it to the hospital in time. Dr. Sayat arrived and checked me at 8:10pm and I was still at 9cm and 95% effaced. They had me lay on my left side so that Braden's head would settle against the cervix wall and thin it out. At 8:35pm my mom arrived! Yay! After being checked again I had to switch and lay on my right side to do the same thing. My mom said that was God's doing so that she was able to make it to the hospital in time. Around 9:15pm I felt the pressure and asked for the nurse. I was ready to push! I started getting nervous! With only a couple pushes Braden was born at 9:36pm. He weighed 7lbs. 10oz. and was 20 inches long, with a full head of hair! It was truely amazing! I had a wonderful pregnancy, an awesome and quick birth experience (at the hospital at 6:30pm and gave birth at 9:30pm, can't beat that).

Sending my "Status Updates"