Brooklyn's Birth

On Monday, February 10th, Sterling, Brynleigh and I flew to California. My dad was diagnosed with lung cancer in October, and he was rapidly declining over the previous few days. On Sunday, we found out he only had a couple of days left, at the most, so we booked a flight for early Monday morning. We were in Sacramento at the airport when he passed.

Friday morning, the 14th, I woke up around 3:30am to Brynleigh crying so I brought her into bed with us. I was having an achy lower back and hips, but that's nothing unusual. I dozed off a little here and there, but was mostly awake til morning. Around 6:30 or 7, my pains got a little worse. Sterling and Brynnie were awake so I told him about how I was feeling. I still wasn't very concerned. I just kept switching positions and going to the bathroom, hoping to feel better. Eventually, I checked my cervix and felt something very strange....I'm still not sure what it was, but I knew something was off.

I woke my mom up, as my pains were getting worse and coming and going, and I wanted her opinion. She was very worried and immediately called my cousin, who is an RN at the local hospital. My cousin told me to go to the ER to be checked out, so I threw on some clothes and my mom drove Sterling and I to the hospital.

At this point, I still wasn't convinced I was having contractions. Honestly, I thought they were gas pains. When I was in labor with Brynleigh, I had a hyperstimulated uterus, so I never actually felt a real contraction, I just had constant, intense pains. About halfway to the hospital, I realized I was in labor. I was having really intense, immobilizing pains that came every minute or two. I yelled at my mom for trying to ask me questions while I was in the middle of one of the pains, and that was when I realized these were contractions.

The hospital is close to 30 minutes from my parent's house, so it was a hellish ride. I didn't know if I was going to make it there, and I was terrified. Finally, we pulled up to the ER doors. They admitted me immediately. I tried changing into a gown when I realized I was bleeding a lot. They took me into a room and started asking all these questions, hooking me up to monitors and sticking me with IVs.

I was in the worst, most unbelievable pain. I was screaming and begging the nurses to get me something for the pain. Different people kept coming in and asking if this was my first pregnancy. That was the most frustrating thing--I went through about 17 or so hours of unmedicated labor with a hyperstimulated uterus with Brynleigh....I know labor hurts. This time was so much different and worse, and I probably sounded like some addict pleading for a fix, but I felt like nobody was paying attention to my pain. 

Finally, the on-call OB came in. He checked me and said I was complete--this baby was coming right now. They took me to the OR and prepped me for an emergency c-section and put me under. As they were prepping me, my water broke during a contraction.