Birth Story: Brock John Tenkely

His due date was Saturday, April 29 but since Brodie took his sweet time (40 weeks & 6 days) entering the world I didn't anticipate much happening this weekend.

Work has been pretty hectic and stressful so I was looking forward to a weekend full of catch up laundry, time to finally put all the baby stuff away and get the newborn clothes down from the attic (waiting on daddy ;) and get the house clean the whole time thinking how much I really just didn't want to go back to work. I was pretty irritable and uncomfortable on Saturday but thought it was just from the long work week. Daddy and Brodie went ice skating late Saturday night while I laid belly down in my inner-tube on the bed watching tv having accomplished none of the above mentioned tasks. Brodie came home exhausted from his skate trip and laid in bed telling me about hockey taking his ice away and telling daddy to go faster!

I was curled up in bed with Brodie lodged in the middle between Daddy and I when I felt a small water balloon pop from between my legs. My water didn't break with Brodie so it was a little surprising to wake up to. I reached over Brodie and shook daddy awake as I said, "ummm, I think my water is breaking." I felt a few more gushes of water between my legs but was too afraid to move. Daddy got up and asked if I wanted towels then just stood there. I reminded him that yes I did in fact need towels and he groggily wandered off to go grab some. He must have been searching the internet on his way to and from towels because he came back and told me to get in the bathtub while he called the Dr. I sat in about two inches of water while he talked to the dr office (it's about 2:30 ish in the morning) then wandered away and came back telling me it was time to get out of the tub. We had time to get to the hospital but not hours. He called Grandma to come and watch Brodie and we fumbled around trying to pack our bags. Yup, no hospital bags had been packed thinking we had at least a few more days. Grandma arrived in a record 15 minutes sans shoes and I waddled into the car to get going.

We checked into triage around 3 a.m. and started the vitals, poking, prodding and waiting until we were moved to labor and delivery around 6 a.m. I was only dilated to 4 cm when we checked in so again assumed we would be around for a while. Contractions basically stopped around 8 a.m. so we wandered the hospital hallways for a while until the nurse could check again. I was up to 6 cm but contractions were either super ineffective or non-existent. My mom joined us in labor and delivery around 11 and casually inquired about the epidural. I didn't want to get it too soon but thought by the time the doctor came back around I didn't want to miss my window so we got it ordered. Apparently none too soon because as soon as Paula, the labor and delivery nurse, said he was on his way the next contraction was a doozy. The epidural started in the midst of a few painful contractions but then I settled in. The left leg was feeling the effects more than the right leg and since she was pushing pitocin my contractions were consistently three minutes apart. She was afraid it wasn't setting in time so called the doctor back to give me a boost. The boost took effect immediately and rendered me pretty numb from the waist down. It was go time and a little scary since I couldn't feel the need to push. I had checked the baby monitor and noticed it was dropping around the same time I started to feel pretty woozy and out of it. Thomas was trying to explain whatever I thought about baby's heart rate was fine when I told him I didn't feel well and almost passed out. He finally took the hint and grabbed Paula.

Dr. Vizari was ready in action along with a beefy paramedic student that I was grateful to have on the end of one tree trunk of a leg. Way better than the scrawny medical student the first time around. I gave a practice round of pushes, two more rounds of pushing to get him crowning and then another round or two to get him out. Definitely felt that giant head of his and then he was out, with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Dr. Vazari swiftly unwrapped it and handed baby off to NICU. Apparently it was an unusually long cord so he was good to go after a few scary minutes of nurses having to breathe for him. Daddy stood with baby while Nana tended to mama.

Dr. Vizari was elbow deep in my uterus trying to remove my placenta. Apparently it was stuck somewhere in the back of a small pocket since my uterus was tipped back. He tried to pull it by the cord but that separated. Then he tried to just pull it and managed to get it out in several pieces. He had to work at it since Paula and I noticed a small bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. Another pull landed his glasses on his nose which Paula helped re-secure.  Thankfully Nana was with me so I wasn't left alone.

Brock John Tenkely was born on April 30, 2017 at 1:25 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 7 oz., 22 inches long with a 14 in head and a 13 3/4 inch chest. Seemingly perfect, he latched for a little bit then closed his eyes. We left a little while later to get checked into our room.