A brith story...

After almost three months Sam and I have finally written Brylee's birth story.

November 15th, 2012

Leaving for the hospital with an empty car seat and a belly

Sam:

We got to the hospital just after midnight at Saint Anthony Hospital for Mary to be induced. Things seemed to have gone pretty normal for the first couple hours. After Mary had the epidural they started noticing that baby’s heartbeat was beginning to drop with each of the contractions. The nurses and the doctors weren’t too concerned at first and just had Mary lie in different positions hoping that it was simply a positional issue. As this continued the baby’s heartbeat progressively became lower with each of the contractions. The doctors then got a little more aggressive with their interventions including using medications. With the amount of duress the baby had already been under, and the amount of labor time left before delivery, Dr. Lane decided that it was not safe to wait a few more hours of labor. It was the best and safest idea to deliver the baby via caesarian section. They took Mary into the operating room to prep her for the surgery while I waited in our room.

By the time they let me into the room, the surgery had already begun. I got to sit at the head of the table next to Mary while the medical team did their part. It didn’t take long before I could tell that they had delivered the baby; and just after that we heard a tiny little cry. When the nurse brought our little baby to us, and we got to see her for the first time, it was the most special and happiest moment of our lives.  Mary and I both had tears in our eyes and we just smiled and looked at each other. It was so exciting and wonderful to see our little Brylee for the first time. And because Mary still had to deliver the placenta and be sown back up, I got to hold Brylee first. She was without question the most beautiful little baby I had ever seen. I was generous though and a couple times I held Brylee over by her mom so that she could get a closer look.

It was a very surreal day, and at the same time was so fun to actually be a dad. Once Brylee and I were in the recovery room , Dr. Lane described to me that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her foot two times. With each contraction the cord would further cut off the circulation to Brylee. It was most definitely a good thing that they performed a C-section and averted a possible disaster. Mary was a little bummed she didn’t get to deliver the old fashioned way, but we are both so happy our little girl came, and is healthy and beautiful.   

Mary:

Going into surgery I was so nervous.  They took me in first and a little while later they brought Sam in.  Sam sat behind me and held my hand.  I was completely numb and couldn’t move my lower body but I could still feel them pulling and tugging.  Just a few minutes into surgery I heard this little noise.  I remember thinking what is that.  I heard Sam saying cry Brylee, cry. His voice sounded so nervous, I’d never heard that fear in his voice before.  I then realized that little cry was my baby, and it sounded so pitiful.  I’ve never been more scared in my life, but just a few seconds later we heard a very loud and healthy cry.  Our little angel was finally here. The nurse brought her around the corner and we saw our baby girl for the first time.  It was such a beautiful moment.  Sam and I both had tears in our eyes as we looked at each other overwhelmed with love for our little girl. Brylee had her dad wrapped around her finger since the day she was born.  She was absolutely perfect. . It was the first time in the entire time I’ve known Sam that I had ever seen him cry. I don’t know if any feeling in the world can compare to the feeling of seeing your baby for the first time, and how instantaneously you can love someone you’ve just met.  

Brylee was born at 10:31 am weighing 7lbs 7oz and was 19 and half inches long.  She was absolutely beautiful with lots of dark hair. 

The nurse took her to get cleaned up and Sam went to take her very first pictures.  I looked back at them from the operating table, wishing so badly I could hold her.  After she was cleaned up sam was able to hold and brought her over for me to see.  Sam carried Brylee into the recovery room while they finished stitching me up. They brought me into the room but I still couldn’t hold my little girl, I was shaking too bad..  Sam laid next me on the bed and we just stared at her.  Finally, after I was feeling better I got to hold her.  She was so precious.  

Those first nights with our sweet little girl were incredible.  Brylee had lots of personality right from the start. The nurse told us to make sure that she ate every two to three hours, and we’d probably have to wake her up to eat.  Boy was she wrong.  Brylee barely slept the first couple nights.  We were always awake at feeding time.  We spent a total of three nights in the hospital and between those three nights we’d only gotten five hours of sleep total, none the first night.  I couldn’t believe we were still functioning. Sam and I decided it’s that feeling when you first fall in love: you hardly get any sleep because you want to spend every waking moment with that person. 

We feel so blessed that we are able to be her parents, and so thankful for our little girl.