Happy Birthday, Brandon!

Today my boy is five years old! I am amazed at how quickly 5 years has gone by and the joy Brandon has brought to our family. We love him so much. I had wanted to post pictures from his birth all the way up to now, but since the move I don’t know where all of my scrapbooks are (I didn’t have a digital camera until Brandon was about one year old!) and I don’t have the energy to search and gather pictures, so that will be a project for another day. But I did want to post his birth “story”.

Brandon’s Birth Story:

It was a cold, rainy night when we were admitted to the hospital. Tuesday, March 18, 2003. My blood pressure had been higher at my OB appointment that morning, and Dr. Rappleye didn’t want to take any chances of my developing preclampsia, so he decided to induce me that night. At 6:30 pm they gave me the Cervidil medication to start my labor. Jaden and I watched the crappy little TV and the movie “The Three Amigos” to pass the time until we could go to sleep. After a little while, the contractions started coming. Our families came to visit us, and Jaden gave me a beautiful blessing. It was a blessing of peace and safety and comfort, and I knew that no matter what happened, that the baby and I would be okay.

Around 11:15 pm the nurses let me walk around the halls of the unit with our parents. It felt good to get out of the bed! The contractions were coming closer and closer and they were very painful. After we returned to our room and our parents went home, we tried to get some sleep to prepare for the long labor ahead of us. Around 2:00 am I could not sleep due to the pain so the nurse gave me a Morphine shot. It didn’t really help so she gave me some IV fentanyl. That also didn’t touch the pain, so around 3:30 am I received an epidural. HEAVEN! I couldn’t feel a thing, and could finally relax and anticipate the arrival of our new baby!!

A little while later we became concerned because the baby’s heart rate was dropping with the contractions, as they were very strong and very close together. The nurse called Dr. Rappleye in after 4 am and they watched the monitors. He broke my water and applied an internal monitor to the baby’s head to more closely watch his heart rate. At around 4:45 am Dr. Rappleye came back into the room and told us that we needed to have a Cesarean section to get the baby out quickly as his heart rate had dropped to 80 beats/min. I was very calm and knew that everything would be okay. I wasn’t nervous about the C-section because I just wanted the baby to be safe. Within minutes I was wheeled into the OR, prepped, and surgery began. It happened so quickly, that Jaden was left behind to change into scrubs and he didn’t know where they had taken me! But he found his way to the OR and was right by my side the entire time. What a strange and surreal experience–I could not feel anything at all. I didn’t even know when they had taken Brandon out of my uterus.

Suddenly Jaden stood up and then I realized that I couldn’t hear the baby crying yet. But before I could worry, there Jaden was, standing next to me, holding a small bundle. Brandon was here!!!! The emotions were strong and I couldn’t hold back the tears as I saw my precious little one for the very first time. Jaden and I held hands and looked at each other with tears in our eyes. It was an incredible spiritual moment for our new little family.

It turns out that the cord had been wrapped around Brandon’s body, which probably accounted for the dropping heart rate. Also, my placenta had started to tear away from the uterine wall, so I had a partial abruption which also was a factor in the low heart rate. Brandon wasn’t breathing when they took him out, but as they carried him to the warmer he proceeded to pee all over Dr. Rappleye! So before he even was breathing, he was going to the bathroom! With oxygen and some medication, Brandon perked right up and was just fine. He weighed in at 6 pounds 7 ounces, 21 inches long, born at 5:27 am on Wednesday, March 19, 2003. Soon he was in the arms of his excited, exhausted and emotional parents!! We got to spend a lot of time with Brandon in the recovery room, and both sets of new grandparents arrived in time to greet us!!

*A few memories from the hospital:
The nurses would bring him into my room through the night for feedings, and he’d be bundled up tight, “burrito style” as Jaden called it, and all I could see was his tiny round head and his huge eyes wide awake, and his mouth opening like a little bird looking for the worm!! His neck would stick out like a turtle!

Brandon was so alert from his very first hours of life. His eyes were trying to take in everything around him. He stayed awake almost the whole first day. All of the other babies in the nursery were either screaming or sound asleep, exhausted from the events of delivery. But not our boy! Brandon was kicking his legs (those same legs that kicked like crazy inside of me!) and staring wide-eyed around the room. I guess he didn’t want to miss a thing! Finally that evening he zonked out. . .