Brooklyn Dawn

What a week it's been! Our precious baby girl arrived 9 days ago on December 12. She was born at 8:00 AM, weighed 8 pounds/9 ounces, and measured 20 inches in length. Here's how it all went down (or out, rather):

Friday, December 11:

6:30 PM- After running errands, Jeremy, Jack and I decided to hit up Culver's for dinner. Ironically, Jack was also born after eating at Culver's...makes me wonder what's in those butterburgers! I'd been having irregular contractions for weeks, but was starting to casually notice the time between them and take note of their intensity.

7:00 PM- Jeremy was still working on his dinner when I told him he needed to hurry up; I was kind of feeling like this baby was coming soon! Contractions were 7-10 minutes apart.

8:30 PM- We decided to take Jack to Nana & Papa's house to spend the night, just in case we headed to the hospital in the middle of the night. And Nana is a NICU nurse and knows a thing or two about labor & delivery so we figured she could help us decide when we should go. Contractions were 5 minutes apart, but I was still able to talk and laugh through them, so it didn't seem all that urgent. Sue (Nana) suggested I walk on the treadmill to see if it changed the contractions at all. (If they went away, probably false labor; if they stayed or intensified, probably real labor). After nearly 30 minutes of walking, contractions were getting stronger, and we were getting very hopeful.

11:00 PM- We called the hospital to see if we should come in. Although I could still talk & laugh through the contractions, they were stronger and also in my back, so we decided to head in. On the way, I reminded Jeremy that I REALLY wanted to go drug-free again.

Saturday, December 12

12:45 AM- After we get situated in our room at the hospital, the midwife tells me I'm 7 cm dilated. Whoa! Glad we didn't wait any longer to come in! The labor nurse guesses that I will definitely be holding our baby by 3 AM.

5:00 AM- I am NOT holding my baby in my arms and have only dilated 1 more cm. The midwife breaks my water, and we hope that things move quickly from here. Contractions hit HARD, and I suddenly remembered all that I had forgotten about labor after Jack was born. And this time I had strong back labor because our baby was posterior, which was also slowing down the process. So the labor nurse & midwife had me trying different labor positions to get our little girl to turn around. I had an awesome support of Jeremy, my mom, and Jeremy's mom in the room with me. They each took turns rubbing my back and putting cold washcloths on my neck & back. My mom kept saying "I think I'm going to rub a hole in her back!" to which I said, "Please don't stop!!" I knew how hard it was for my family to see me in such pain, so I tried to crack jokes to let them know I was going to be ok.

7:45 AM- After trying several positions, throwing up several times, and telling Jeremy, "ok, your turn now!" I had to push. The moment was finally here! We were going to meet our baby girl!

8:00 AM- Brooklyn Dawn Jennings entered the world! Our midwife let me take hold of our daughter and pull her out and into my arms. What an AMAZING experience! In that moment, there's the greatest relief, excitement, and rush of love that I can imagine.

8:10 AM (approx.)- My mom cut the cord, Jeremy helped weigh and measure her, and Sue checked her vital signs. The next few hours are somewhat of a blur, but I'll never forget watching Jeremy bonding with his brand new baby girl. The way he held her, looked at her, and talked to her, as though there was no one else in the room. Brooklyn is blessed to have a Daddy who loves her so much. And I am blessed beyond words to have this family.