She's Here!!!!

Brooklyn Reese Walker

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WOW!! I don't even know how to describe what the past few days have been like and the overwhelming emotion of meeting our little girl!

I will just start at the beginning.... (get ready for a long post....I wanted to try and remember every detail for our sake....ya'll can just skim read if you want...HA!)

I wrote last on Friday, July 23 after our appointment with the doctor. Saturday I felt pretty good all day and we had dinner Saturday night over at Kathy's house for Blake's birthday. After we ate I started to not feel good. It was more like a headache and stuffy nose and I just didn't feel very well all over. We left and I went straight to bed. Sunday I woke up still not feeling well and decided not to go to church. I told Brad to go and that I would be fine and to just keep his phone with him just in case. Throughout all of Sunday I just laid around and was feeling what I thought was Braxton Hicks all afternoon. I still was feeling about the same Sunday night and again told Brad to go to church. I REALLY didn't think anything of how I was feeling or the Braxton Hicks...I have been having them since about the 5th month. I still had a headache and just didn't feel well...I told Brad I thought I was coming down with a cold or the flu. So off he went and told me he had his phone and to call if I needed anything. By the time he made it home from church I was having a lot of Braxton Hick and they were quite frequent but not painful...again....I didn't think they were contractions b/c they didn't hurt. I remember telling Brad how they were happening ALOT, but didn't think much of it at the time.

We ended up staying up until midnight talking that night. When I think back I couldn't believe we did that because lately we never stayed up that late and of course of all nights not to go to bed early....HAHA! It was funny because at one point we started talking about what we wanted to happen at the hospital (stuff on our birth plan) but I was too tired and told Brad I wanted to talk about it tomorrow. He said, "Well what if she comes tonight?!" My response....She Won't! HA! We enjoyed talking though and headed to bed around 12 am...little did we know what was to come :)

Another funny things is all this time I was thinking she was going to be born on the full moon which I thought was July 23rd for some reason. Well the 23rd came and went, but I found out that I was wrong the whole time and the full moon was actually the night/morning of the 25th/26th! It was so weird that my water broke the morning of the 26th...Kathy ended up taking a picture of the full moon that morning!

Well I had just made my 2nd nightly trip to the bathroom (still drinking my water like a good girl) and was just falling back to sleep when I felt my water break. I knew what had happened right away! This was no trickle!! I woke Brad up before I could even jump or I guess I should say roll out of bed. His first words were "Are you sure!" I said yes!! and once he saw the bed he knew...HAHA!

So the next hour is kinda a blur. I think it was a combination of a major adrenaline rush and anticipation of what was about to happen. I literally walked around our room, bathroom, and house not sure what to do! I looked at Brad and he was packing his suitcase quite quickly...getting that thrill he wanted :) but I just couldn't think straight. I basically did nothing for the next 30 minutes! Once he was done packing he helped me get focused and I got dressed and started to call our family. I was surprised that I was not in any pain and was just kinda waiting and waiting thinking that any minute I was going to start hurting...but nothing happened! We called the doctor and she said to come in right away. Well we kinda took our time....I think it was partly because I was not feeling anything and I didn't want to be strapped to the bed. I felt if I could keep walking around until I started to feel something that would be better and maybe I would make some progress on my own. But we also knew that we should get there b/c I didn't want to risk infection with my water breaking OR have her in the car. So from the time my water broke to the time we left it was about an hour and 1/2. Brad even had time to run the sheets in the wash and do the dishes!

Once we got in the car I started to realize how HUNGRY I was. I thought to myself, "I really should eat something...I might need the energy later." I wasn't thinking that maybe I shouldn't and we ended up stopping at the only place that we knew was opened at 3:30 in the morning...McDonald's. I got a yogurt and a biscuit. I remember wanting to tell (just out of pure excitement) the lady giving us our food that my water broke and we were headed to the hospital!!!...but i figured she might be kinda weirded out by that so I just smiled :) Later at the hospital I discovered I should NOT have eaten anything incase I had to have an emergency C-Section, but it worked out in the end. Note to self though ;)

So we made it to the hospital and I was all checked in by around 4:30 am! I was still in no pain! We had an awesome nurse named Laci who got us all settled. She hooked me up to the monitor and that is when I learned I WAS having REAL contractions! I told her that what I was feeling now was what I was feeling ALL day Sunday. She said they were definitely contractions, but I was hardly having any pain yet. I WAS READY FOR SOME PAIN!! A quick check revealed I was only at 1 cm so we began to patiently wait.

At around 7 am our sweet nurse Laci had to leave :( We were sad because we really liked her and had enjoyed talking to her! She told us that when she came back that night at 7 she would request me if I was still here. HA I thought there is no way!! We laughed and she said she hoped I wasn't for my sake but if I was she would be back :)

Fast forward to 8:30 am...I was still only at a 1 so they started Pitocin to help things move along.

From 8:30 am to about 4:00 pm we waited and waited. I enjoyed some visit from family and friends who had come. It was a nice distraction and I was so glad they were all there! Grammy, Poppa, Nana, and B-Pa were VERY excited to meet their granddaughter! I was checked at 4 pm and only had progressed to a 2. I was told that at 8:30 pm if I had not made much progress then we might have to start thinking C-Section. They told me that if the Pitocin was not working after 12 hours it probably wouldn't.

Up until 4:00 pm I really had not been in a lot of pain. I was started to feel the contractions, but nothing I couldn't handle. From about 4:00 to 6:00 things got VERY painful VERY quickly. I thought surly I was progressing and I really didn't know how much more I could take. I was getting very tired!! They checked again and I had not progressed. I decided to go ahead and get an epidural. I figured I would need it anyway if I had a cesarian which I seemed to be heading in that direction. In the end I think it helped move things along and helped me to relax.

At 7 pm on the dot Laci came into the room with a BIG smile on her face! It was so good to see her and Brad and I were glad she was going to be there for her birth!! Laci came right as I was about to get the epidural. I was so scared, but she just walked me through it and let me have a death grip on her too ;)

At 8:30 Dr. Ball came in and check me and I had progressed to a 3!! I was excited but also thought for sure I would have been farther along b/c of how painful things were getting. She told me that getting to a 3 was enough progress for her and she wanted to wait some more :) YEA!!! She said she would come back at midnight to check me again!

So now we waited again (this time I was painfree!) and Brad and I realized that we most likely would meet Brooklyn on the 27th not the 26th. We were a little bummed because it was Brad's brother's birthday, the 26th, and we all thought she was coming then, but I guess she wanted her own day...HAHA!

During this time I told Brad to take a nap...I could tell he was so tired from the long day. I decided to listen to some music and try to rest. It was hard to sleep though because I was itching all over from the epidural, but I tried. The music really helped me to relax and enjoy what was happing and about to happen :)

Around 11:30 pm Dr. Ball came in from delivering a baby next door. She decided to go ahead and check me then. When she did she said, "So are you ready to push?!? You are at a 10 girl!!!" AHHHHHH this was music to my ears. I woke Brad up and the first thing he heard me say was, "It's time to PUSH!!" He was a little disortied but quickly realized what was happening and was just as ready as I was.

Dr. Ball told me that this part could take a while. I began pushing and within 20 minutes she said it was time!!! Brad was AWESOME and helped me and encouraged me through each push! Throughout the pushes her and Laci kept looking at each other and telling me what a good pusher I was....HA! I was just READY to meet this little girl!!!! So when she said it was time everything happened so fast!!

A bunch of people came into the room and Dr. Ball got all ready. I started to have a contraction and Brooklyn came into this world at 12:10 am on July 27th. She placed her on my belly. Brad and I cried and just looked and held her with our hearts overflowing with joy and love. It brings tears to my eyes as I remember it...it is a moment we will never forget! Can't really describe in words. She was so beautiful, healthy, and very alert! God answered all our prayers about that day and we couldn't help but be in awe of Him as we thanked Him for this blessing.

Our little girl is here and we are so in LOVE!