Chris and Natalie: Our Beautiful Baby Girl!

Warning: This is very long and detailed because I don't want to forget it... I wont be offended if you skip ahead to the pics :)

Before I get to the birth, I will start at exactly one week prior. On Wednesday, January 19 I went to the doctor for my weekly appointment and my blood pressure was WAY too high. Not a good thing, especially when you are pregnant!! The good news was I was 2 cm dilated and about 60% effaced. The doctor did a non-stress test (I laid in a chair and he monitored baby's heartrate for 20 minutes) and we passed with flying colors! Since baby looked great, we went home with orders to take it easy and to come back on Friday for an ultrasound. On Friday my blood pressure was still way too high, but baby still looked great. I didn't have pre-eclampsia, but according to my doctor it was imminent, so he wanted to induce. Chris and I talked and decided on Wednesday, January 26 (the latest date he offered). Chris flew in on Saturday and we spent a few days together before the induction. Monday I had to the doctor one last time to make sure I hadn't developed pre-eclampsia and that everything was still a go for Wednesday.

38 Weeks 4 Days... D-Day!

Wednesday morning we had to be at the hospital at 6:30! Naturally a few minuted before we left the house it started snowing, so that made the drive a little more interesting. We finally got checked in and into our room around 7:30. The nurse started me on pitocin (after several failed attempts to start an IV!) and my doctor came in around 8:00 to break my water. I was 3 cm dilated and already having (painless) contractions 4-6 minutes apart. My contractions started getting closer together and more painful. By around 12:30-1:00 I had decided to get the epidural because my contractions were so unpredictable and were coming back to back with practically no breaks. When I got the epidural I was 5 cm. Unfortunately the epidural didn't really help! I was numb starting just below where my contractions were!! The anesthesiologist gave me the max amount of drugs and it still wasn't helping. The nurse gave me the option of leaving it the way it was or having him try again. I decided to stick it out as long as I could. A little while later I was having contractions that were lasting three or more minutes (still with no relief from the epidural) and still coming back to back, so I told Chris that I wanted to have the epidural re-done. He got the nurse, she checked me before she called the anesthesiologist back and I was a 10! No more need for him!! The nurse wanted me to push a little before she called my doctor. After half a push she made me stop! Apparently I'm a good pusher, haha!! My doctor got there in about 12 minutes (he had made that drive so many times he knew exactly how long it would take!) and started to get ready. He was making small talk and the nurse politely told him he needed to hurry, ha! I pushed through 2-3 contractions and little miss Brynne was here!!

Brynne Christine