Briggs' Birth Story

Just like with Wells and Grayer (their birth stories are HERE and HERE), I wanted to make sure to write down the events surrounding Briggs' birth.

I had my 37 week appointment on Monday, May 21st. I had not dilated at all, which was no surprise. I did not dilate with either of the other boys until I went into labor. I found at at this appointment that my lab work from the week before showed that I tested positive for Group B Strep. I did not test positive for this for either other pregnancy, so I really had no idea what that meant. I was told that I would be put on an antibiotic via IV during labor to ensure that the baby did not contract it. The only issue? You have to be on the antibiotic for at least 4 hours before giving birth. Since Grayer was born only 45 minutes after checking in to L&D, I was told to get to the hospital as soon as I started contracting this time to ensure the medicine would have time to get into my system.

That Saturday, May 26th, we threw Wells' 4th birthday party. Since the baby was due only 2 days before Wells' actual birthday, we wanted to make sure to have the party a few weeks early. It was a fun but tiring day. I was on my feet a LOT and was feeling exhausted. On Sunday we met up with family after church to have lunch and then walked around at the outlets some. More walking = more tired!

I woke up on Monday, May 28th (Memorial Day), with contractions. They weren't painful, but they were regular. I had been having Braxton Hicks for months, so I wanted to make sure these were the real deal. I got up and made pancakes, and the contractions continued to come. I told Eric to go ahead and pack his bag (I had just packed mine 3 days earlier!) and gave my mom a call. My contractions were still not painful (but were regular enough that I was pretty sure today was the day), but because I needed to be on antibiotics hours prior to delivering, I wanted to make sure that we got to the hospital in enough time. 

We headed to my mom's and dropped off the boys. My mom wanted us to call her and let her know when to head to the hospital. Since Wells was a 30+ hour labor and Grayer was a super quick labor, we had no idea what to expect this time around. We said goodbye to Wells & Grayer and headed to the hospital. Side note: Eric almost turned into the wrong hospital. Even though this is our third child. #facepalm

We got to the hospital and checked in around maybe 12:30pm. Another girl was being wheeled up to L&D alongside us, and she looked like she was in a lot of pain. I felt like an idiot for being there so early and feeling pretty good still, but i knew it was important for the baby's health to be there early enough for antibiotics. Once we got into the exam room, they hooked me up to the monitors. The contractions were getting a little stronger but still not too bad. They checked me and I was at about 4cm. We were in the exam room for about an hour, and the doctor admitted us. We moved rooms around 2pm I guess. Once we were there, my mom, dad, sister, nephew, and the boys headed up to the hospital. Things didn't seem to be progressing as fast as I'd hoped, and all the boys headed to the waiting room to let the boys watch their tablets and then they headed to the McDonald's right around the corner.

Ready to get the show on the road!

When your husband taunts you with food but all you can eat is ice.

My mom and sister stayed with me. My sister painted my nails and did my hair, and my mom made fun of me for diffusing my essential oils in the room. :) By this point, I was hooked up to IVs with the antibiotic and fluids. Because they wanted to monitor the baby's heart, I was not able to walk around, which I was kind of upset about. But I was able to sit on a birthing ball right next to the bed. The contractions were getting much stronger by now and were taking some considerable concentration to get through. I did much better this time around focusing on my breathing and remaining calm. 

Eventually the nurse checked me and I was only at 5cm! I had only dilated a cm more than the last exam which was several hours before. The doctor came in and asked if I wanted to have her break my water to see if that would speed things up. I definitely wanted to speed it up. But she also wanted to know if I wanted an epidural. I was really torn. I didn't have an epidural with Grayer (because he came too fast), so I knew I could do it. But this labor seemed to be taking a lot longer. The doctor also said that the anesthesiologist was on the floor at that time and that she could not guarantee that he could get there quickly later. I was really stressed about what to do, and Eric practically begged me to get the epidural (apparently, the screaming I did without the epidural the last time scarred him for life! haha just kidding! #butseriously). I decided to have my water broken and hold off for a little bit on the epidural. Almost immediately after she broke my water, the contractions got much, much worse. I was checked a few minutes later and was at 7cm. Still not sure how long labor was going to take this time, I went ahead and asked for the epidural. The contractions were awful once the anesthesiologist got in the room, and my mom and the nurse helped me through the contractions so that I could be still enough for him to administer the epidural. For whatever reason, it took two or three tries to get it in right. Not fun. At this point, it was almost 8pm, and my mom decided to go ahead and take the boys back to her house to put them down to bed. She would come back up by herself after that. The epidural did not seem to be kicking in all the way. The contractions were a little better, but I started feeling intense pain in one targeted area. My left side was in excruciating pain every time a contraction would come (which was almost continuously at this point). I was writhing in pain, and Eric decided to call the nurse. She checked me and I was at 10cm. I could tell by her phone call asking for assistance that the baby was close. She never said it, but I would guess that he was crowning or close to it because I'm pretty sure I heard her tell whoever was on the other end to hurry because the baby would probably be out in one push. 

The doctor (the same one who delivered Wells almost 4 years earlier) came in and we were ready to roll. I pushed through one last contraction, and Briggs Alexander was here at 9:13pm!

They put him on my chest immediately. Just a few minutes later, one of the nurses noticed that he was apparently making a strange noise when breathing. I'll always be thankful for her noticing that. They took him from me, put him on the warming table, and discovered that he wasn't breathing quite like he should. He was breathing on his own but not at the level he should have been. They put an oxygen mask on him, but when they took it off, his numbers would drop every time. Eric and I were really scared, and they told us that they were going to need to take him to the NICU. I was a mess. Before they put him in the incubator on the rolling cart, they took his measurements. He was 7lbs 7oz and 19in long. He was our smallest baby (but if he had been born on his due date two full weeks later, he probably would have been our biggest!). My mom walked in and was able to see him before they left for the NICU. 

We moved rooms and were finally able to go visit Briggs around midnight. We weren't able to hold him. He had an oxygen tube and was hooked up to all kinds of machines. I cried the whole time we were there. The doctor came to let us know that he likely had breathed in amniotic fluid. He said that this happens a lot and that some babies are able to work it out themselves and that some need to stay in the NICU a little longer. We were told that they would make a decision around 4am as to whether he would stay in the NICU or if he could come back to us. My mom headed home, and Eric and I headed back to our room. Eric had grabbed me a little something to eat from the cafeteria (I hadn't eaten since breakfast), and I cried the whole time I ate. Eric prayed for Briggs, and by the time we got in bed, it was 2am. I was up and pumping by probably 3:30am (since I hadn't been able to nurse Briggs right away due to his complications). At 4:00, I called the NICU to ask if we could come see him and hold him and also to see what they had decided. When we got there, I held him and was able to breastfeed. Then Eric got to hold him. He was off of all oxygen and was breathing perfectly. They decided that he could move to the step-down unit.

Exhausted from no sleep & nonstop crying,but so happy to hold my boy!

Daddy & Briggs

 We headed back to the room and I was able to sleep for about 45 minutes. I headed to the step-down nursery to feed Briggs again. His new nurse let me know that as long as his blood sugar tests were good after each feed, he could come to our room that afternoon. So all that morning and early afternoon, I would nurse him and then feed him a few milliliters of formula to ensure his tests would be good. It was in this nursery that Wells got to meet Briggs for the first time (Grayer was not old enough to visit this area), and he was so excited. He held him and picked out a book for him from the little library they have there. 

Briggs' nurse in the step-down unit was was awesome and got him discharged even earlier than she promised. I was so happy to have baby Briggs with me again. Grayer got to meet him that afternoon. For the next day and a half, I got to spend lots of snuggle time with my new boy. We ended up having to stay until Thursday morning (he had to have antibiotics for 48 hours because of the Group B Strep), so we were beyond ready to be home! So thankful that God took care of our boy and that he has been healthy ever since.