A Brady Story

I know Brady is 6 weeks old now but I wanted to write up his birth story for me and for anyone who cares. Brady's due date was June 25th but as we came into June I was feeling like he might come sooner. I kind of had a feeling. I had a Dr's appointment on June 5th and I was dilated 2 1/2. I had been having false labor contractions for the last few weeks as well. My friend Sarah got me a pre-natal massage as a present and I had that on Wednesday the 6th in the evening. That night around 10pm I started noticing that I was having contractions at pretty regular intervals. I started timing them and they were around 10 minutes apart but the contraction itself was only about 30 seconds long. They stayed like that for two hours and I asked Ike if he thought we should go to the Hospital. We both decided to call the Hospital and see what a nurse said. The nurse advised us to stay home until my contractions were about a minute long and they were coming every 5 minutes. So we kept waiting at home. I took a bath and put some lavender essential oil in it. I think that helped keep me very calm and also worked as a form of pain relief. I really was not feeling pain as much as I was feeling pressure and tightness. Finally around 4am when my contractions were hovering between 5 and seven minutes apart we decided to take Jackson to a neighbors house and then drive to the Hospital. We live 25-30 minutes from Albion, where I was delivering. It took us about an hour to get the car loaded up and get Jackson dropped off then to the Hospital. I am glad we decided to leave when we did because by the time we parked and pulled up my contractions were 2 minutes apart and lasting a little over a minute. They checked me and I was at a 6 but still not feeling much pain. Discomfort, yes. P reassure, yes. But not a lot of pain. Ike and I played cards for a while and I walked the halls. Between 7am and 8am I went from a 6 to a 10. It wasn't really until I was around a 9 that I started to really feel the contractions. My water still had not broken on it's own so My Dr. broke it and that helped move things along a little. I had Ike push on either side of my hips every time I had a contraction and that helped a lot. So around 8:30am I was fully dilated and fully effaced but Brady was at a -2 position still. My Dr. suggested that I start pushing to see if we could get Brady's head to slide under my pubic bone and then more into the birth canal. So we started pushing. Up until this point I can honestly say that my pain level was not that bad. On a scale of 1-10, I was probably around a 6. I wasn't screaming or anything. I was able to breath my way through my contractions and it I felt OK. But once I started pushing my pain tripled. I think what made it painful was that I did not feel like I HAD to push. Brady was still so high up that I wasn't feeling any pressure to push. So for 35 minutes I pushed and it hurt. But then finally Brady slipped under my pubic bone and moved down and BAM! I finally felt the URGE to push and in two pushes he was out. One push for the head and one for the rest of his body. He was a beast. Everyone was surprised at how big he was because he was technically two and a half weeks early. The nurses were convinced that his due date was wrong. Me dilated to a 9 (note the fingers) and still feeling good. Birthing balls= AWESOME. Remember the ultrasound picture we had of Brady? Definitely the same baby! In the end I was in labor about 11 hours with the last 40 minutes pushing. I went through the entire delivery naturally and I did not need an episiotomy(HALLELUJAH!!!!)Over all my recovery with this birth was 100 times better than my recovery with Jackson. I tore a little with Brady but with Jackson I tore a lot (picture hamburger meat...or don't. ewww) and I had an episiotomy. Most important thing: COULD HAVE NOT DONE THIS WITHOUT IKE!!! He was my number 1 cheerleader the entire time and I don't think I could have had Brady the way I did without him. He is amazing and I love him soooo much.

Remembering My Grandfather

I found out last night that my Grandfather passed away this week. He died in his bed and I am hoping he just slipped off while he was asleep. He was old but I really was not expecting it. Ike had talked to me in the past about how I might handle one of my Grandparent's passing away because up until this week, they were all living. The sadness I feel is not necessarily for his passing because he had such a wonderful long life and I really feel that he is happy right now, but it is that I did not do more while he was alive. Why did I take three weeks to answer his last letter? Why didn't I send more pictures of Brady? Why didn't Ike and I visit more. The last time we were able to see him was when Jackson was 6 months old. Couldn't we have found the time and money to go to Vermont at least one other time since then? I guess what I feel the most is guilt over things that are in the past and that I can't change. I know my Grandpa knew I loved him and I know he loved me but I still can't help but think I could do more. I feel so blessed to have had such an amazing Grandfather. The week after Brady was born I got a phone call from him. I was really surprised because he really never calls. He was a letter writer and that was how we did most of our communication. When I asked what his reason for calling was he said it was because he could not remember the last time he had heard my voice. I will cherish that memory forever. My Grandfather came to visit my family every summer for as long as I can remember. I can't remember a birthday where I didn't receive a hand made card with $5 dollars in it. I remember when I lost the check he gave me for graduation and when he re-wrote it, he deducted one cent as a lesson to me about the importance of hanging on to my money and not losing things. I can't think of a more remarkable man. He loved his family so much and we all loved him back. I remember when I was in high school and I was dating a guy and my Grandpa took me in our sun room and gave me a talk about realizing that there are lots of other guys out there and not getting too serious with this one. He was right :) I am going to miss my Grandpa and I think when I go to the mailbox I am still going to expect to see a letter from him. I am so blessed that I had him in my life. I know that I will see him again. I am so grateful for that. Until that time I know he is at peace and hopefully enjoying watching his great-grandchildren grow up.

1 Month

Brady 101: Favorite Food: Breast Milk...yum! Favorite Object: His pacifier. Greatest Achievement: Sleeping 5 hours straight in the night! Woo Hoo! Goals he is Working on: Not pooping on Mommy during diaper changes. Favorite Time of Day: Bath Time! Favorite People: His family, of course. Ambition in life: Someday catch the foot ball that Jackson keeps throwing at his head. Way to go Brady! You made it through your first month!

Scrub A Dub Dub!

Brady loves the tub! I remember when Jackson was a baby we would get him in and out of the tub as quickly as possible because he hated it so much! Brady is the opposite. He likes the spa treatment and has fallen asleep in the tub a few times because he is so relaxed. Note to self: Clean my tub mat.

New Family Pictures!

I love love love pictures! We had some pictures taken by a friend in honor of Brady coming to our family. Jackson was a little less than enthusiastic about this shoot so I did not get as many cute ones of him as I wanted but over all I really can't complain. They are so wonderful!. Special thanks to Laura Sabata for taking these gorgeous shots.

A Visit From Mom and Rachel!

My mom and sister Rachel stayed with us for a week after Brady was born and it was amazing! We didn't go too many places or do anything very exciting. Wal-Mart was about the most exciting place we went. But just having them here at the house was awesome. Rachel was kind enough to hold Brady pretty much the whole week so I could actually get some things done and my mom gave Jackson some much needed play time. By the end of the week he was even calling both of them by name...sort of. Rachel was "Rachoi" and my mom was "Stepa". It was so nice having them here and then when they left I felt completely overwhelmed again because all the sudden I had to hold Brady AND play with Jackson. Now that Brady is almost a month old I feel like I am slowly getting a grip on my life. Two kids is definitely harder than one. I think it is also definitely better too.