Brody is here!!

Before having a baby, everyone always told me "It is the most amazing love you'll ever experience" and "It'll be different when it's your own". Can I just say...You were all RIGHT! Who knew you could love something or someone so much? The love and overwhelming need to nurture, protect, and provide for my little Brody Bear was instantaneous with his delivery.... Here's his birth story:

At week 38 I went to my regular weekly OB check up. I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. Story of my life since week 35. How discouraging!! To top it off, I was told that Brody was posterior meaning he was facing my belly button instead of my spine. Little bugger!

The following week, after miles of walking, Evening Primrose Oil gelcaps, and spicy food dinners, I went to my OB appointment with high hopes for some progress! I was miserable by this time...My back hurt, my legs hurt, I was tired and the ever so present pregnancy hormones were in overdrive. So, I waddle in to see the OB with the hopes that they would strip my membranes (separate the amniotic sac from the uteran wall to stimulate contractions and *hopefully* induce natural labor). The doctor checks me...1cm dilated and 50% effaced still. And to top it off, she can't strip membranes because the baby is still posterior. CRAP.

On Monday the 1st of February I had my 40 week appointment. My due date was Tuesday the 2nd. They offered to induce on Friday the 5th, Monday the 8th, or Tuesday the 9th. There was NO way I was going to wait until Monday so I opted for Friday.

Bright and early Friday morning I called St. Pete's to make sure they had an open bed. I was SO nervous when they said I could head in. So my mom and Bo & I headed to the hospital and got checked in. My nurse, Lori, was absolutely AMAZING! I'd met her at a previous hospital visit for pre-term contractions. They started my Pitocin drip at around 8:30am and we started the waiting game.

I started having irregular contractions pretty much instantly. A couple hours into it I was having fairly regular contractions and the nurse upped my Pitocin a notch to get things really kicking. Around noon I was checked and was at 3cm. Not exactly what I wanted to hear as I thought I had progressed much more since I was in so much pain.

At 2:30, the doctor came in and broke my water to speed things along. I was still only 3cm dilated and only 50% effaced but about an hour after that I started really feeling things so requested the epidural. The epidural worked for a couple of hours but I was soon in a lot of pain!! My new nurse, Chenelle, said I could get more drugs OR i could labor through the pain and see if I progressed faster. I chose to labor through the pain.

Chenelle had me sit completely upright with my legs crossed indian style. She said she'd be back in about an hour to check on me. This was at about 10:30pm. As I sat there with my mom, Jodonna, Patty, Kali, Ali, and Bo my contractions started coming harder and faster. I was having to breathe through them. Kali suggested I call Chenelle back in to up my pain medication and I said I'd wait it out but it was getting really hard!!

Right before Chenelle came back in I started shaking. She cleared the room and checked me and I was 9.5cm dilated and fully effaced!! This was at around 11:45. In less than an hour and a half I had progressed from a 4 to almost complete. I started bawling my eyes out for no apparent reason (really...I couldn't control it and had no idea why I was crying!) and Chenelle said I was ready to push.

I'll skip all the gory details of me pushing, and will fast forward to 2am when Dr. Gage came in. After 3 hours of pushing I was exhausted. She said I could push him out naturally if I tried for a while longer or she could help me out. I took the help! She used the vacuum to get his head past my pelvic bone and after that I pushed him all the way out on my own.

Brodrick James Oeltjen (nickname Brody) was born at 2:15am on February 6, 2010 at a healthy 7lbs 15.3oz and 20 inches long. He is the absolute love of my life. My greatest accomplishment and my proudest moment. I couldn't ask for anything more!! He is perfect.

The love and support we've received from our family and friends has been absolutely amazing. THANK YOU EVERYONE!! Brody is so loved and already the most spoiled child we know! Every day I look at him and realize that I am truly blessed that God has trusted Bo & I with this wonderful little miracle.

More photos can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Angican/Brody?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6P_52etMDNvAE&feat=directlink 

Pregnancy Update - 39 Weeks

So, I haven't been very good at keeping up on this whole Blog thing. I promise I will try to get better!

So many of you know that we kept the baby's name a secret for a long time, but a lot of you probably DON'T know that I totally spilled the beans to Jodonna (Bo's mom). She came over one Saturday morning (the week before Thanksgiving) to help paint the nursery (which turned out amazing!! I'll post pics...) Anyway - we got in the car to go to Lowes to get paint and supplies and I am just jibbering jabbering away and say "I'm wearing a pair of regular pants today and Brody doesn't like it. He keeps kicking me along my pantline...." and I suddenly realize that I just gave away the baby's name!! She was just going to let me keep talking like I never even said it! She was grinning from ear to ear. So then I had to tell her the full name - Brodrick James - and the significance behind it. Needless to say, her and Rick are thrilled that we have honored Rick by including his name in our son's name. The rest of the family found out at my baby shower.

I am so thankful to have had 2 amazing baby showers! The first one was thrown by my sister and my moms (MIL, Mom, & Step-Mom). It was mostly family and it was so good to see my Aunts and Cousin that I haven't seen in a long time. My 2nd shower was a work shower and WOW was there a lot of people there! I work with some truly amazing people. I'm pretty sure between both showers we got everything we need for Brody to be comfortable. Yes, truly I am blessed!

I am 39 weeks along today and today is my first day of Maternity Leave. It feels SO good to be home relaxing instead of sitting at work and uncomfortable. I've had a fairly uneventful pregnancy - 35 week Labor & Delivery trip due to contractions and a 37 week L&D trip due to a fall I took. All checked out ok at both visits and now we're just waiting for Brody to make his appearance!

Well, keep your fingers crossed that I get at least one full day to myself before Brody decides to make his appearance. I'll be sure to update once he's here. Love you all!