Straight From the Horse's Mouth

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It’s A Girl!

August2

I’m not pregnant anymore! She FINALLY came out!! I have so many things to say so to avoid rambling on and on incoherently, I’ll start at the beginning and just recount what took place.

As I’m sure of you already know I was due on April 23. That’s also the same day that Bryan’s parents arrived to spend exactly one week. Well, not only did my due date come and go so did the entire week, and Bryan’s parents got back on a plane to NYC. And there was no baby. That night CrossFit Cedar Park reserved a bunch of tables at Common Interest so our community could celebrate the end of The CrossFit Games Open. I had never done karaoke, and while I definitely didn’t sign up to make my solo debut, I did get up a couple of times with the group to sing some songs. 🙂 It was a lot of fun. The best part was getting my big pregnant self on the stage with the gang for our rendition of Baby Got Back. Well, they didn’t have one called Baby Got Front! 😛

Check out the pictures from that night:

carson n wladi

cfcp ladies

friends in low places

baby got back

Pretty soon my pregnant self was feeling very pregnant and hungry and ready to be at home. We got home and it was already really late. Then midnight hit and with it the 1st day of my 41st week which I’ve heard is the average length for first time moms. The contractions started 4-5 minutes apart which was a lot closer than I thought that early labor would be. The birthing center had said call them if they were 4 minutes apart lasting for a minute each for an hour. I waited, however, until closer to 6 AM to call. I was pretty sure I was in labor, but I wanted to make sure that the contractions didn’t taper off. When we talked to the mid-wife, I asked if I could come in for an internal. I just had to know if things were finally moving along. So we met with her closer to 7, and she verified that I was 3 cm. Yay! I can’t tell you how happy I was to know that progress was being made and this child was finally on it’s way out! I was able to smile and talk through contractions which meant I was nowhere close to being ready to come labor at the birthing center so I was sent home. But even before we got home, the contractions were much harder. I think the internal exam really set things off. Within an 1-1.5 hours of being home, I wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact, I was in some serious pain, crying, and begging Bryan to call the midwife back. He did, and I decided to try to make it one more hour at home. I can’t really recall, but I don’t think I made it the entire hour before yet again begging Bryan to call her back.

Finally, we were on our way to the birthing center, and this time it was for good. The midwife on call that morning was Charlotte. We’d only met her once, and I was very apprehensive about her delivering the baby. However, sometimes things are just meant to be, and I truly believe this was. Charlotte was amazing!! She made me feel totally comfortable (well, you know, as comfortable as a laboring woman can be). She knew when to let us be and when to step in to help. She got us everything we needed, and made sure that I was always doing what was best to keep the labor moving smoothly. A little while after laboring, Jean, the owner, came in and stayed around to assist with Brenna’s birth. She is equally as amazing. She’s been doing this for 32 years, and it shows. She really knew exactly what to say to me to get me to the place I needed to be mentally. But back to the story…

After I arrived, Charlotte confirmed I was 4 cm dilated. Things were definitely moving along. I labored for hours and made steady progress. I also had several bouts of extreme doubt. This is by far the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. I recall telling Bryan on many occasions that I couldn’t do this. But Bryan was an amazing coach and said all the right things. I could not have done this without his constant support. He said all the right things and kept me as comfortable as possible.

Finally after what seemed like forever, Charlotte said I could try pushing. Eek! I didn’t even know how, but I tried. At first it was odd and felt like it was accomplishing nothing. I didn’t really want to push, but quickly it became necessary. It also felt better to push than not to. It wasn’t long before I learned how to push. I pushed for about 1.5-2 hours in the tub, on the toilet, and finally on the bed. It didn’t seem to be doing much to me, but finally Charlotte said she could see the head. Wow! I was so ready to be done. Most of this time was a blur of pushing, pain, and screaming. But eventually I arrived at the ring of fire, and did it burn. But even though I was exhausted and had been through more pain than I could ever imagine I could tolerate, I knew I was nearing the end. I pushed as hard as I could for as long as I could (thanks CrossFit!).

Finally her head was out though we still didn’t know it was a girl. Bryan, Charlotte, and Jean were all helping me and anxiously looking at the progress. I thought of little else but getting to the end. And finally with a big whoosh she kinda just flew out. Instantly I felt so much better. That’s when Bryan told me it was a girl! Though it was funny because he exclaimed it with such shock. We really believed it was a boy.

They put this 8.3 pound baby on me, and I instantly knew her name was Brenna even though we’d already decided that. And I was also instantly in love. They cut her cord and gave her back. Soon we nursed, and life was perfect. Well, not for long. This is when everything went wrong, but I’ll save that for another post.

Brenna’s delivery was perfect…everything I wanted and imagined. I was able to do it the way we’d planned. I’m still happy to have given her the best start to life. When she arrived alert and calm, I knew it was all worth it. I’ll always hold Charlotte, Jean, and the birthing center in a special place in my life. They were amazing. I’m so happy with our decision to switch over to them. I can’t recommend them enough.

Brenna Ann Goldstein
May 1, 2011
8.3 lbs, 21 in long
tons of dark hair and blue eyes

Here is her birth and pictures since – Brenna

And here is a video I made of my belly progression while pregnant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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