Bridgey's a little busy right now because we have a girl that is very hungry so she asked me to step in!
It all started on Thursday morning when Bridgette woke up at about 2:30am with some irregular contractions. At first she wasn't sure if they were real or just false labor, so she went out to the living room with a watch and began timing them. At about 5:00 am they started becoming more regular and a bit more intense, so she woke me up.
Since they were still pretty far apart we decided I would go into work and she would go to the doctor as soon as they opened (about 9:00am) to see if she was in false labor or if this was the real deal. As a result I went to work and wasn't able to focus on anything until I received a call from Bridgette at about 9:15 saying that her doctor sent her down to the hospital and that she thought it was the real thing. Then she called her mom and told her that if she wanted to see the birth of her first granddaughter she better get on the next plane to Salt Lake City. So Jackie got to the airport all lickity split and moved her flight from 9/16 to 1:00pm on 9/10.
In the mean time I drove far too fast to the hospital and found Bridgette to see how things were going. Because she didn't think she was really in labor she did not take along our hospital bag and Gretal items so once again I hopped in the truck and drove very fast to the house and back. By this time it was about 11:00 and her contractions were starting to get intense and she was dialated to a 4+.
Over the next couple of hours we tried to eat when we could, relax whenever possible, and just let the contractions get closer and closer together. We paced up and down the halls, bounced on the pilates ball, and rocked in the rocking chair to see what positions were most comfy. During this time Aunt Janene, and cousin Emily also came to help support her. Jackie ran into the hospital room at about 5:00pm and was very grateful that Gretal hadn't come out to meet everyone yet.
At this point Bridgette was in a lot of pain and my hand hurt a bit as well. Her contractions were coming at about 2 minutes apart and lasted 45-60 seconds. She was dialated to a 6 now and was starting to hate life :). Her nurse Katy though was very supportive and encouraged Bridgette to stay calm and keep breathing through the contractions because she was doing so fantabuluous!
Another hour passed and contractions started to fall one right after another and Bridgette started to scare the people in the neighboring birthing rooms :). At this point the nurse said she was at about a 7+ and we would still likely have another 3 hours before Bridgette could start pushing. Bridgette and I decided to go with an epidural at this point because we both wanted to be able to enjoy the birth expereience, not have nightmares about it. After the y put in the epidural it was like hitting a light switch and the pain began to go away.
After about another hour the nurse said Bridgette was at a 9+ because she got to relax and process sped up signficantly. At this point because we were about ready for pushing the doctor, Dr. Loewen, wanted to check the position of Gretal to make sure she was ready to go. Come to find out during the labor process Gretal rotated around so that Bridgette was in back labor, which apparently is pretty painful. If you'd like more details on the pain I'm sure Bridgette would be willing to elaborate :). Because it was back labor, the nurse and doctor were pretty impressed that Bridgette made it all the way to 7 without any medication.
After the epidural the labor went fairly quick. Bridgette was able to relax enough to have the energy to push. When pushing time came Gretal's heart rate fell everytime Bridgette would push so the doctor thought that maybe the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Bridgette would push through one contraction and then wait for a few to give Gretal a break and thankfully it helped. Finally at 10:30 pm Gretal made her way into the world at 6lbs 9 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. The cord was wrapped around her neck but because the doctor knew that it was they cut it right away and she was fine. I was happy too because I got to cut the cord after the doctor.
We are so proud, happy, excited and a little tired :) I love being a dad and I know Bridgette loves being a mom, this is what she always wanted to do.
