Bryce Cullen Murphy

I've been trying to take the time to write out Bryce's birth story and I keep putting it off, but I really want to write it before I forget.

Thursday, June 6th 

10 am: I started having some mild cramping around 10 am.  The cramping was similar to menstrual cramping but was pretty consistent. 

10:14 am: Texted Sean to let him know that I was really crampy and to keep his phone nearby just in case.

11:30 am: I decided to download an app for my phone to track contractions. Cramping (contractions) were 3.5-6.5 minutes apart lasting 40-60 seconds each. 

1:00 pm: Went home to finish packing my hospital bag just in case this was the real deal.  I also texted my good friend to see if she could come watch Kieran and stay the night if needed.

2:00 pm:  I am definitely having contractions and they are getting pretty intense.  Seem to be about 5 minutes apart lasting about 30 seconds.  I'm almost to the point that I need to take an extra breath during contractions.  I'm still at work wondering if I'm an idiot for staying.

2:30 pm: Trying to bargain with myself to stay at the office as long as possible.  Thinking I'll leave at 4:00 and then changing my mind that I'll leave at 3:30.

2:45 pm:  Told Sean to figure out dinner and make his Friday lunch for Kieran so our friend wouldn't have to.  This is getting real!!!

2:52 pm:  Decided to just stay until 3:00.  I can't concentrate at work anymore.

3:05 pm:  Left the office and on the way to pick Kieran up call my doctor's office.  They ask if I can come in and get checked.  My OB office is 5 minutes away so I head over, luckily I hadn't picked Kieran up.

3:30 pm:  Left the doctor's office.  I am 3-4 cm and 80% effaced.  I was 3 cm and 50% effaced the Friday  before, so some progress has been made but not a ton.  The doctor basically told me nothing.  He said I could go in when I wanted and that if I was contracting consistently then it would probably happen eventually.  I thought he would put me on a monitor or something, but nothing.

3:45 pm: Picked Kieran up at school.  His teacher commented about how I was out of work early today.  I didn't say much, it was hard to talk during contractions.

4:10 pm: Arrived home, gathered everything and waited for my friend to arrive.

4:15 pm:  My friend arrived Kieran asked where we were going and wasn't happy about us leaving.  We bribed him with the iPad and he seemed ok.

4:39 pm: Driving to the hospital, contractions hurt really bad.

5:00 pm:  Arrived at the hospital checked into triage.  I was a full 4 cm dilated and basically fully effaced.  They hooked me up to a monitor and watched my contractions.

 

  

6:00 pm:  They finally got me a room.  Apparently the maternity ward was pretty packed.  Tropical Storm Andrea was putting everyone into labor.

6:30 pm:  Doctor Keller came in and checked me.  I was a "stretchy" 5.  I told them that it was my plan to labor as long as possible without intervention and I may change my mind later.  Sean and I walked around the floor trying to get things moving.  I had to stop during contractions, breath through them and I definitely couldn't talk through them.

7:45 pm:  Tried to have a pep talk with myself and told Sean I wasn't going to last much longer and that I was probably going to ask for an epidural soon.  Sean told me he'd be supportive no matter what I decided.  I told him let's do one more loop and then we'd find the nurse.

8:00 pm:  Sean went to find our nurse and I told her that I had changed my mind and that I wanted an epidural.  She said she'd have to check me to make sure and then I would have to monitored for 30 minutes before.  Since it takes about 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist to come up anyways she said she could monitor me while they waited.  She checked my cervix and I was now 6 cm!!

8:45 pm:  The anesthesiologist has come up and placed my epidural.  I recognize the women from the Bike Beat bike ride.  Of course she didn't recognize me but it was neat to see a familiar face.  I was able to sit still but had to really concentrate during contractions. 

9:00 pm:  After my epidural is in place the nurse places a foley.  The nurse said an empty bladder will give the baby's head more room.  After the foley she decides to check me since she's down there.  I'm now a 7!!!  Of course now that I have an epidural I'm stuck to the bed.  I know things are bound to slow down since that's what happens when you aren't walking and moving.

10:00 pm:  I'm still a 7 although I thought my water had broken so I called the nurse.  She comes to check and it was a false alarm, although apparently I was having a bloody show. I decide to relax since we don't know when we'll be able to relax later on.  The nurse and I discuss having the doctor break my water eventually.  Originally I didn't want her to break it but that was because I knew the contractions would be worse once it was broken.  Since I already had an epidural in place I wasn't worried about the intense contractions.  The doctor was currently busy with other laboring moms so they decided to hold off on breaking my water.

11:00 pm:  The nurse comes to check on me, I'm about a 7-8.  Baby is really low.  Not a ton of change.  The doctor is still busy with other moms.  There is a ton of pressure and I'm so thankful I got the epidural because I can still feel all the pressure and that alone is uncomfortable enough.  I can't imagine having both the pain and the pressure.


Friday, June 7th  (I guess I'm not have a 6/6 baby)


1:00 am:  The doctor finally got around to giving me a turn!  She broke my water with her hand, she didn't even need a tool since it was so ready to break on it's own.  My body was ready!!  I was still having very regular contractions every few minutes.  They were very strong and I had lots of pressure.

1:25 am:  The nurse decides to come check on me since I was progressing so quickly before.  She had also told me to let her know if I felt any different.  I told her I had a lot of pressure and a feeling like I had to poop.  I was 9-9.5 cm and probably would be fully dilated if it wasn't for my "lip" that I remembered was a topic of conversation during Kieran's birth.  The nurse and doctor said they could probably just hold the lip back and I could start pushing soon.  They took the foley out.

1:30 am:  Started pushing.  This time around I remembered that you're supposed to push like you are pooping so I made the effort to push with all my might during each contraction.  I was told to push for 10 seconds at a time, I couldn't make it the full 10 seconds each time, but I tried my best.  I was tired, but I wasn't in any pain, the epidural was amazing!!  At one point the nurse said "Your baby has hair!!"  They could see the baby's head this meant it was getting close and so it really meant I was close.  At one point I felt a bit of pain, I'm assuming it was the "ring of fire" as the baby was crowing.

1:55 am:  Our baby is born.  Sean says "Kieran has a brother!!"  We have another son, Bryce Cullen Murphy!!  He was breathing but didn't let out a big cry so they suctioned out his mouth and finally he cried and they let me hold him.  He was grunting and they wanted to monitor him a little more so they took him to the warming table to evaluate him a little more.

 

As they were checking out Bryce my doctor apologized and said I had a slight tear.  She asked if I had torn with Kieran.  I hadn't.  She felt bad.  But then they put Bryce on the scale and she saw that he weighed in at 8 lb 13.2 oz.  This was 4 pounds larger then Kieran.  She said she didn't feel so bad anymore.  This weight made him an LGA baby, "large for gestational age".  Crazy to go from such a little baby to such a big baby!!

 
I was so happy my son was finally here.  My family is now officially complete!!

After checking him out a little more they wrapped him up and gave him back to me. 

 

They were concerned about his sugar level since large babies sometimes have issues keeping their sugar level up.  Their first reading was in the 70's.  They told us anything about 45 was good.  Well the second reading went down to 46.  It was a huge drop and we were told we would have to supplement to get some sugar in his  body immediately.  I really didn't want him to have any formula but I also didn't know anything about sugar levels so I wasn't going to argue.  We had to feed him 10 mL via a syringe. When they checked his level the next time it had gone down to 43.  They mentioned that if he was using too much energy it could make his level go down as well.  So they wanted me to stop having him try and breast feed and they wanted to keep him wrapped up tight so he would stay warm.  They eventually took him into the nursery for a few hours to monitor him and circumcise him.  I was frustrated with the nursery staff since they wouldn't let us go back with them because there were too many babies, but I was also exhausted so I didn't fight it.  I used this time to rest up and get some sleep. 

Sean ended up going home in the morning to release our friend and bring Kieran to school.  We decided to wait until after nap to bring Kieran to meet Bryce.  This ended up working out well since Bryce would have probably still been in the nursery if they had stopped on their way to school.  Sean picked Kieran up from school and they got to the hospital around 4:00.  Kieran was VERY interested in meeting his new brother.

I love my family!! I seriously can't believe how cooperative and excited Kieran was and has been ever since meeting his brother.

Brotherly love at his finest.  Kieran wants to constantly love or and give Bryce as many kisses as possible.

Luckily we didn't have to stay at the hospital too long.  We were able to leave Saturday morning around 11 am.  I was ready to get home and be with my entire family.