Braylee Joy Fairbanks; My Joy in this Crazy 2020 Year!

 Well, hello all. Once again, its been awhile since I last posted. Life just keeps me busy and on my toes. And well, the last time I posted I announced I was pregnant and was around 14 1/2 weeks along. And now, my baby girl is here! Braylee Joy Fairbanks was born on Sunday, November 22, 2020 at 9:39am, weighing 4lbs 13oz and 17 inches long. I was induced the day prior, at exactly 37 weeks along. And I will explain everything in this post!

So, to start, I went in for an ultrasound over at Maternal Fetal Medicine when I was 22 weeks pregnant. At that ultrasound, they discovered a couple of things. First off, they found that I had what is called a succenturiate lobe to my placenta. Meaning, that my placenta was in 2 pieces. I had the main part of my placenta that was anterior and connected to the baby, but then there was a second part to my placenta that was posterior, and connected to the other part of my placenta by some vessels. And along with that discovery, it was found that my baby was running small, which was most likely caused by that placenta. So from that appointment on, I went in for regular ultrasound growth checks on her to monitor her growth to make sure it kept trending upwards in the way it was suppose to. Overall, she kept running small, but her growth continued to trend nicely. On top of that, starting at 32 weeks, I began going in for Non-Stress Tests on her to monitor her heart rate and make sure she was continuing to tolerate things well inside of me. All her NST's kept coming back fine. And everything overall was fine until I went in for my final growth ultrasound on Friday, November 20th.

So, I had an ultrasound 2 weeks prior that showed baby girl was approximately 4lbs 5oz. And by this stage I was going in every 2 weeks for growth checks. She had been continuing to show good growth, even though still running small. But on Friday, November 20th, that ultrasound only estimated her to be around 4lbs 11oz. Which was not much growth in 2 weeks. It was only 6oz, and they would have preferred to see more around a pound of growth in that time span. And so when we talked to the doctor after the ultrasound, he explained that because her growth had pretty much stalled out and she wasn't growing a lot anymore on the inside, it was better to get her delivered and start making her grow on the outside. And the very next day is when I would hit 37 weeks, and he said because I would be 37 weeks and considered more "full term" to go ahead and get set up to be induced that next day. And the reasoning her growth most likely stalled is because my messed up placenta was probably starting to not function at its full capacity anymore, making another reason it was best for her to just be delivered.

So, that very next day, Saturday, November 21 at 5pm is when we went into Zeeland Community Hospital to go be induced.

Upon arrival, my husband and I were brought to my room and I was given my hospital gown and just told to go ahead and change and make myself comfortable. Once changed, and our belongings put away and we were comfortable, the nurse returned to begin getting us all fully checked in. We had a bunch of paperwork to sign since we didn't get to do any of our pre-registration, I had to have a COVID test done as a precaution, plus some other lab work, and she got my IV line put in and ready to go. After that the nurse started off my checking me to see if I was dilated or effaced at all. I was 1cm dilated, and my cervix was kind of soft, but still really high up. So, to begin the whole induction process, the nurse put a pill into my cervix to help get it to soften and hopefully get things moving and started. And I would say it was within an hour or two, I began to feel some mild contractions, as in I felt like kind of crampy almost like I was having annoying period cramps. They did have me on monitors to monitor baby's heartbeat and also monitor to see if I was having contractions at all. And I was, definitely, beginning to contract, even though they were mild. I tried to kind of get some rest while the contractions were mild and not too much of a bother. But they were coming pretty close together. My nurse actually came in at one point and started me on fluids, because they were wanting to give me another dose of the pill for my cervix, but because the contractions were already coming like 2-3 minutes apart, they couldn't give it to me. So they wanted to start me on some fluids in hopes to space the contractions out enough to be able to give me another dose of the pill.

The contractions did space out some, but still not enough that they were able to give me that second dose. And, it was around 1:30am that my water actually broke. It was kind of a weird feeling because it didn't happen in a gush, it was more of a leak or trickle. I felt like I had peed myself a little bit, and at first I wasn't sure if my water broke or if I peed myself. But, every time I got a contraction, I would leak a little bit more. So I paged my nurse, and she came in to check, and sure enough, my water had broken. But good news is that the fluid was clear and looked great. And after my water broke, my contractions became more uncomfortable. I tried to rest as much as I could in between them, but they were coming between 2-4 minutes apart and every time I would start to fall asleep a little, I would get another contraction and it would wake me up. And the worst part is my lower back and butt were what was really hurting and I was definitely having back labor. Once it got to be a little later in the morning, probably around 5ish, my nurse came back in and recommended to me that I maybe get out of bed and try walking to help shift the baby's position and maybe get me progressing a little more. Especially because she had checked me and I still wasn't progressing a whole lot. So, Matt and I got up and began walking the hallways. Which actually felt kind of good, it helped take some of the pressure off of my back and felt good to just not be on my butt anymore. I did have to stop and lean over the railings and breathe through every contractions, because they were beginning to feel more intense.

We walked the halls for about an hour and then went back into our room, where the nurse then suggested I maybe try using the birth ball and sitting on that to help bring baby down and continue to change her position. And let me tell you, that birth ball felt AMAZING. It took all the pressure off my back and butt and I just rocked and bounced on it, and would just lean over the bed when I got a contraction and would breathe through it. And it was shortly before the shift change and my day nurse returned, that I was actually started on the pitocin to help boost my labor more. And I could definitely feel when the pitocin started to kick in, because it made the contractions even more painful. And my legs began to start to feel sore from sitting in that squatted position for so long, so I stood up, and put the ball on the bed and I would lean over the birth when I had a contraction and would breathe through it. I continued this until my doctor came around 9am. He came in to check me to see how far dilated I was, because I was really beginning to want my epidural. He checked me and I was 100% effaced and 5cm dilated. So I was told now was definitely the time for the epidural if I wanted it.

They called for the anesthesiologist to come, but because it was a Sunday, he was not on site at the hospital, so he had to come from home. And after my doctor checked me, the contractions really picked up in intensity and I began moan as I would breathe through the contractions, and because I was back in bed, I would roll onto my side and grip the railing of the bed. The pain was really getting intense and Matt stayed by my side that whole time. And my nurse, also, did not leave my room or my side. And then at one point with one of the contractions is must have sounded like I was pushing a little bit because my nurse asked me if I felt like I needed to push. I just said "I don't know" because all I knew is it hurt a lot. And then it was the very next contraction I had, I could literally feel my baby drop down and then I said to my nurse, "I feel like I need to push." She coached me through the contraction and then when it ended, she checked me again, I was 7cm dilated, but there really was only just a little bit of cervix in the way. And I remember my nurse saying, "Tori, you're going to have your baby!" And at that moment I realized I was not going to get my epidural and I remember having a moment of complete fear over the pain I was about to feel. And I remember Matt asking the nurse "So she isn't going to get her epidural?" and she just said, nope there is no time. And Matt said that I apparently turned to him and said "no" and was shaking my head, but I have no memory of that. My doctor was paged into my room, my legs were thrown up into the stirrups, and the very next contraction I had, I began pushing. They did bring in the nitrous for me to use, but other than maybe giving me a slight high and relaxing me a big, it did nothing for the pain.

And let me just say, when that baby begins to come, your body literally just goes into "auto-pilot" and you literally have absolutely no control over anything you say or do in that time. I just pushed with my body, my body probably doing more than I actually was. And, yes, I screamed, again, I had zero control, the sound just came out. And, within like 4 big pushes, my baby girl was born! It was the most intense, crazy, sensation I have ever felt or gone through.

But my sweet Braylee Joy Fairbanks was born at 9:39am, weighing 4lbs 13oz and 17 inches long and was placed directly onto my chest for skin-to-skin. And I remember my first words I said were "Oh my god, oh my god, my baby!" Matt got to cut her cord and I literally just held her tight against me, so thankful it was over, and that it was fast. My placenta came out just moments after she did. I did have a 2nd degree tear, and needed 5 stitches. After I was stitched up, they cleaned me up and got me settled in the bed comfortably. I just continued to hold my baby, and the nurse even helped me nurse her for the first time. And after while, the nurse took her to weigh her, measure her, and do her footprints and give her her first shots and the gel for her eyes. She also put a diaper and little gown on her, along with her hospital bracelets. And then she was wrapped up and bundled and Matt got to hold her for the first time and the nurse did a few things with me. And then we began to call our family and let them know that Braylee had arrived.

2020 has been an insane year, but Braylee has been my biggest joy throughout it. From finding out I was pregnant with her, to going through my pregnancy with her, and even delivering her and getting to meet her for the first time. She has brought me nothing but joy. And the feeling of seeing her for the first time, nothing can top it, nothing. It was just magical and amazing, probably even more so given the fact I had her completely naturally. And even still now, she is bringing me so much joy while being kind of stuck at home cause of COVID. I love my sweet girl so very much, and my whole experience, while crazy, was so worth it. And now, I just look forward to continuing to see her grow and develop and become the little girl God is calling her to be. And I am so excited to be on this journey with Matt at my side. God is good, and I am so happy!