God is so good! We are happy to announce the arrival of Tristan Thomas Bryan, born on July 4th, 2011 at 1:22am!
Tristan’s birth story really starts at my last OB visit, on Thursday morning June 30th. I was 38 weeks and 5 days at that moment, and had not had any contractions. The doctor checked me, and I was still fully closed, and hardly effaced. Even 2 mile walks in sunny 95F would not bring up a single contraction. This lead us to believe that it was safe to go up to Laramie for the 4th of July weekend as Tom and Marilyn had a big party planned at their house on Saturday the 2nd. Partly as a joke though, we do decide to bring my hospital bag and the infant car seat.
The party was a big success and I was on my feet all day. We went to bed tired at about 10:30pm, sleeping in the camper. Around midnight I woke up and noticed contractions! They were about 15 minutes apart, but not very painful, just cramping. They remained regular until morning, when some of them even came at 10 minutes apart. Sunday afternoon we decided to go to an LVC picnic to catch up with friends. I was still having contractions, but in a denial that it could be actual labor as for one, nothing was happening yet the weeks before, two, I had not lost my mucous plug or anything, and three, the contractions just didn’t seem that painful yet! I had Andi’s labor and delivery in my mind, and those contractions had been severely painful for quite some time.
At 3pm we do decide to take off for the 2.5 hr drive home, and I keep having contractions about every 10 minutes. We get home and I go about the normal routine, unpacking after the weekend away, and fixing some dinner. I go to bed early at 9pm because I was exhausted from the night before staying up with regular contractions. Still in denial that I could actually be in labor! I mean, it wasn’t time yet, right, a full week early, and I needed a good night sleep first ;). Never did fall asleep though as contractions became stronger and stronger, and closer together, and finally at 10:30 pm I came downstairs to Ben telling him about the situation. We decide to call the hospital, and they say it might not be a bad idea to come by. We call Marilyn at this point, who is a 3 hr drive away, as we had planned that she come over when I go into labor to watch Andi. But, we just give her a heads up, telling her not to leave yet, as I am still thinking we’ll be sent home at the hospital because I have no other signs of labor starting.
We pack our bags, and have no choice but to wake up Andi and take her with us to the hospital. It’s about a 20 minute drive, and during this drive the contractions get stronger, so we decide to call Marilyn back and tell her to come drive out!
We get to the hospital, and I walk in with just my purse, hoping to forgo the embarrassment of taking in all our bags etc., and then get sent home with false labor. We check in just before midnight, walk up to the labor and delivery floor (“no, I don’t need a wheelchair, I’m fine!”), and I buzz in, saying “uhm, I think I might be in labor?”. I get settled on the bed, and after a first round of questions the nurse checks me … her face turns quite surprised, and she tells the other nurses that I’m at 8 cms already, my bag of waters is bulging, and to call the doctor RIGHT away, and get the room ready for a little baby! At this point we definitely know that Marilyn won’t be here in time to watch Andi, so we call Ben’s brother Grant, who is staying with family in Westminster, about 45 minutes away.
I was feeling very overwhelmed at this point! Ben was in the corner of the room trying to entertain Andi, while my contractions are getting stronger, and stronger, and closer and closer together. They sure are painful now! I try to focus on a picture on the wall with a mountain landscape, but the thought of having to go through the whole process without Ben (who is showing Andi movie clips on his phone so she doesn’t really see what’s going on with mom) gets to me at this point, and I freak out a little….this wasn’t how I had imagined things! Ben stayed very calm though, and he said Wiesje, look at our room number, you KNOW what you need to focus on. We were in room 316. He mentioned that in reference to our old church LVC, which is on interstate exit 316, and they always say how fun it is that it refers to the gospel, John 3:16. This readjusts my attitude, and focusing on God calms me down as I pray through each of the following contractions. The doctor comes in and gives me the option to break my water or not, which I choose to do, because I want to make an end to this pain and get delivery over with! She breaks my water and leaves the room to check on someone else and soon I start feeling the urge to push. The nurse checks me again, and I’m fully dilated so she tells me that I can start pushing with her help if I want. Ben is now really trying his best to keep Andi from all that’s going on in the room. I go through about 3 or 4 rounds of pushing when Grant shows up and can take Andi. What a relief and praise, just in time! I see Ben and Grant standing in the hall way as I push…kind of odd. Unlike with Andi, it takes me quite a little while to find a good position to push, as I’m just not feeling like the pushes are being very fruitful. Finally Ben is able to come help, and he holds one of my legs as I’ve finally found the right pushing position. After a couple more pushes later the doctor says “look at that full head of dark hair!” I couldn’t believe it (as Andi was pretty much bald/blonde), so I lean over to see, and I’ll be, a little head of dark hair! I guess heartburn does mean you have a hairy baby! After two more rounds of pushes Tristan Thomas Bryan is finally born at 1:22am, and they put him on my belly immediately. Ben cuts the cord, and I get to nurse and hold Tristan for about an hour before they take and weigh him.
He is a healthy little boy, who weighed in at 6 lbs 15.4 ounces and is 19 ¼ inches tall.
Andi meeting her little brother.
We are a family of four! :) :)
More pictures here.