Wednesday, November 25

B & C: Birth Story


Slideshow: Breeland & Camille Birth - Slideshow



September 4th was my 38 week mark and the day I was being induced!  After being on bed rest for 5 weeks prior due to pre-term labor and pre-eclamsia, I was more than ready.

The girls had different plans though and decided that we would get things started on the 3rd, right before we were to go and have a Sushi date for my "last meal."

My in-laws had just come into town and we were about to leave to go pick up Jamison when my water broke.  It was one of those moments where you just weren't sure if you were peeing your pants or something else.  Not going to lie, I had peed my pants plenty of times during this pregnancy and after it happening two more times after, I knew it was my water.

Off to the hospital we went.  I was pretty bummed about not getting my sushi but was really excited to be meeting our girls sooner than we thought.  J was beyond pumped.  He immediately got his Go Pro out and was filming us as I was getting last minute things together and we were walking out of the door.  Like a kid in a candy store that guy!

We get to the hospital and they get us in pretty quickly.  They immediately tested me to make sure that I was in fact leaking amniotic fluid.  Seeing as I was 38 weeks and being induced the next day they weren't going to be turning us away this time.  During this time, they checked my dilation and started monitoring the babies and my contractions.  I wasn't feeling any at this point but looking at the machine, I was definitely having them. 

I'm a little fuzzy at exact times but I think around 9ish is when they started the pitocin and gave me the epidural  At this point, I was a 4cm dilated.  With Jamison, I was really feeling the contractions before the epidural and I ended up puking before they even put it in.  This time around, I just bawled my eyes out.  I didn't remember the insertion being so painful.  Thankfully J was right there in front of me, holding my hand and reassuring me that everything would be okay.


Around 11pm I was at an 8.5.  This is about the time too that I started to really feel the contractions.  I don't know why but they did not fix my epidural even though I was feeling everything.  I vaguely remember the nurse telling me that they wanted me to feel something so that I would be able to tell them if I felt any pressure.  Which actually came in handy a few hours later.  I cried a lot during this time.  I've never felt pain like that and it was intense.  It took all I could to focus on breathing and just get through the 30+ seconds of agonizing pain I felt every 1-2 minutes.


Once I finally reached 10cm, I was 100% effaced and at a 0 station.  The "station" refers to where the baby is positioned.  The goal was to have Baby A (Breeland) at a +2 station for me to begin pushing.  The nurse had me lay on my right side with my left leg in a stir-up for 30 minutes.  This apparently was going to help her move into position.  I then switched to my left side, right leg in the stir-up.  After only 10 minutes of this I started to feel a lot of pressure.  We called the nurse in, she checked me and immediately told me "Do not push."  What the what!??!!  Apparently we were now in position and Breeland was crowning.  They got me ready to be pushed to the OR while J stayed back to get his scrubs on.  This literally felt like hours.  Hours and hours and hours of pain, feeling her head and scared shitless that I would accidentally sneeze or cough and that would cause a push which would then cause Breeland to come flying out!  Of course in all reality, it was only about 10 minutes from the time they wheeled me to the OR to when it was go time.  And thankfully during that time, my epidural was fixed and I was pain free at last.


Our little ladies were born, 7 minutes apart and with only one push each.  By far, way easier than my delivery with Jamison.  They were the most beautiful little girls and so alert right when they came out!  J was of course in love the second he saw them both and I was as well.  I got to hold them both, one at a time and then together.  I was shaking so bad though from the Pitocin and epidural that I couldn't hold them for very long while I was still in the OR.  By the time we got back to recovery though, it was starting to settle a bit.


Our hospital stay was great.  The nurses were all fantastic and I actually knew one of the nurses that was taking care of the girls that evening.  That was really nice to see a familiar face. 


We are so lucky to have had one of our best friends, the kids Godmother, Brittany to be there with us and take pictures (she did the slideshow).  She did the same with Jamison's labor and delivery and those are memories that I can watch forever.  We had known throughout most of my pregnancy that I was going to have to deliver in the OR and that Brittany would not be able to be in there.  I understood, but it made me incredibly sad to know that we possibly wouldn't have those first moment pictures of the girls.  While in labor, I was talking to the anesthesiologist about it and she told me that if I had the girls before 7am (when her shift ended) that she would allow Brittany to be in the OR with us.  Because we should be able to have those photos and those memories.  Happy Happy Happy!!!  So, thank you Brittany!  You again, have captured one of the most important moments in our lives and I honestly can't even express to you how much that means to us!


Breeland Marie Mahaffey
September 4, 2015
1:16am
5lbs, 1oz
18" long


Camille Ryan Mahaffey
September 4, 2015
1:23am
5lbs, 9oz
18" long

1 comment :

  1. Love doesn't seem like a strong enough word to express how much I LOVE this! Great job Brittany at capturing the heart of the Mahaffey party of 5 that we all love and care about so much! God has gifted Bree and Cami into one amazing little (not so little anymore) family! I can't wait to watch you all grow together. Love you!!!

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