Brooklyn's Birth Story

October 16, 2013: I began the day getting ready for my 37 week OB appointment. The week before I was 50% effaced and 3-4 cm dilated! I was anxious to see if I had progressed anymore!! As the days grew closer and closer to meeting sweet little Brooklyn, my heart began to stress because I didn't want a hospital experience like I did with Brantley. I wanted a healthy baby with NO lung problems and NO NICU stay!! Because this was weighing heavy on my mind, my blood pressure was elevated. They decided they would let the doctor check me and then they would recheck my blood pressure. Dr. Mestemacher came in and checked me. I was now 5 cm and 50% effaced!! However when they checked my blood pressure again it was still high. Since I was technically full term and had had steroid shots to help with lung development, she decided that today would be Brooklyn's birthday!! I could go home and get my stuff but had to be back at the hospital in 1 1/2 hr. As soon as I left I called John and told him to come straight home with the two younger boys because it was going to be baby day!! Before heading to the house I had to make a quick stop at Toys R Us to get Jackson's present. I have always gotten the older siblings presents on the day their younger sibling was born. I had Colton and Brantley's but didn't have Jackson's. I could not go without getting his present first! The doctor had ruptured my membranes while in the office and I was starting to have contractions. Of course I get the checker who has only been there 1 day!! In my head I was like please hurry up, I am about to have a baby!! Once we got home we had enought time to get our bags and get loaded up. Janet, John's sister, met us up at Baptist Women's to take the boys to eat and let us get settled without all the commotion! By the time I got registered and hooked up on the monitors, it was around 1:30 pm. 

The nurse started me on pitocin and my contractions were coming pretty regularly. I had always said if I ever had another baby I was going to go "all natural" with NO pain meds. It was something on my Bucket List that I wanted to achieve for myself. So I went in with that plan. I knew I wouldn't have the baby until she came and broke my water. My water had never broken on its own!! At 5:35 the doctor came in to break my water. I was 7 cm at the time and still about 50 % effaced. It took her 3 try's to break my water. We had to stop every time I began to have another contraction. After breaking my water, Dr. Mestemacher left to go check on another patient at Methodist Germantown. Not 2-3 minutes later I was telling the nurse that I needed to push!! I don't think she believed me, but when I kept insisting she decided to check me. I don't think she expected to see what she saw!! Frantically she started pushing the emergency call button for help!! She said "I need someone in here STAT!!" I was in intense pain at this point and I remember saying, "I can't do this!" But my loving husband looked at me and said, "Yes, you can!" At that point there was no turning back anyways. Whether I wanted to or not I was having this baby with no pain medication!! My aunt and sister were in the room but had decided to leave since they could tell I was hurting pretty bad. But they never made it out the door!! 6 minutes after the doctor broke my water, Brooklyn made her grand entrance into the world with 1 push!! There was no doctor, no breaking the bed apart, no time to get the camera, no nothing!! She just came out and flopped on the hospital bed! In that instance I felt so much relief, it is indescribable!!

(My sister started the stopwatch on her phone as a joke just to see how long it would take to have baby Brooklyn! We had no idea it would happen this fast!)

I look up and see my aunt and my sister both crying. I was so glad that they were both in there to experience the miracle of birth!! Here is a description of what my sister experienced in her own words:

Despite the pain, it was all worth it to have sweet little Brooklyn in my arms!! It doesn't matter how many times you give birth, it is just as amazing as the first time!! A perfect little being came from nothing, grew inside you, and just came out of you for you to forever love and take care of!! Every time I see my sweet babies for the first time, I can't help but think about what an amazing God we have!! 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV)