My Natural Birth Story

So my freaking out about just having to schedule an induction date must have seriously done the trick to help coax Brynlee into entering the world!

Her due date was scheduled for December 18th and when that day came and went I was needless to say more than slightly irritated.  I know, I know, it's an estimate, it's not set in stone, and usually your first child takes longer anyways.  Well none of these seemed to set into my mind my entire pregnancy haha so I thought that she would either come early or right on time.  Well she get's one thing certainly from her Dad ;) she likes to be fashionably late!  All I had been thinking about for 9 months was seeing that sweet little baby and bringing her into the world, I was no longer patient.  I took a ton of good long walks (well, as many as my swollen feet would allow me to) and tried to just pass the time by studying for finals, cleaning, and doing some fun crafts..I pretty much did all of my early labor projects within 2 days haha

December 20th came and we got to spend some time with Rich and Jess Jensen (Ben's family) and went out to dinner with them.  We went to Applebee's and usually I really can't eat that much but for some reason I was absolutely starving! I ate all my spinach and chicken ravioli and probably a good portion of the spinach dip that we had as an appetizer too! It was quite a bit of food for someone who was 9 months pregnant.  Well after we said goodbye and Jess tried to convince Brynlee that it was time to come out, we parted ways and me and Ben just hung out.  We went to bed around 11pm and at around 2 am I woke up feeling sick to my stomach.  I chalked it all up to me being a super pig and eating WAY to much.  I'll spare you from the graphic details but I had to make a mad waddle to the bathroom to throw up everything that I ate.  Then the cramping started...Oh boy...

I still didn't really think that I was in labor but maybe pre-labor, but that can take anywhere from a couple of hours to days.  So I didn't want to get to excited yet, and it could have just been a stomach ache because of me being a little porker and all.  Well all my stomach pains just kept on getting worse and worse and I couldn't believe it! There was no doubt in my mind that I was in labor, so we waited about an hour and than started timing them.  They ranged from lasting for over a minute at two minutes in between all the way to last only for 40 seconds with 5 minutes in between! They were sporadic for quite a bit. I was completely unsure about what to do so we called in to talk to the midwife on call and she said that it definitely sounded like I was in labor and that it was completely up to my discretion about when to go into the hospital.  Well we had planned on laboring at home as much as possible so that we could both be more comfortable and avoid any unneeded intervention and monitoring.  So the contractions were getting so strong I hopped in the shower and it felt so good just to bend over and have the water hitting on my back.  I had terrible back labor!! Than my birth ball became my best friend and saving grace

Our child birth instructor Katy had said that you can kind of tell what type of person you are going to be like when you are in labor by your reaction to when you stub your toe.  Well I apparently turned into a sailor! I'm so glad that our neighbors above us weren't home to hear me and our neighbors next door had moved out that day! I'll never forget Ben's face when a certain word came out of my mouth during a really painful and what felt like forever contraction.

At around 5:30 a.m. I decided that it was time for us to go to the hospital I have no idea how close my contractions were at the time.  I was just trying to manage through the pain! By the time we got to the hospital and got checked into a labor and delivery room I was really feeling the pain.  The nurse there was so nice though because she worked around me because I refused to sit down on the bed haha I only wanted to sit on my birth ball and bounce! It really did hurt ten times more when I sat down on the bed. So they did the required fetal monitoring and as soon as they had finished the 20 minutes she took it right off of me

My midwife Helene got to the hospital at around 6:30 am and she checked to see how far dilated I was.  I was  9 1/2, so almost complete! They said that I probably came just in the nick of time!  By then I was really feeling the need to push and the nice thing about the midwives is that they really let you do whatever you want when you are in labor! So I began to push down with every contraction like I was going to the bathroom.  It was pretty intense and there I am moaning like someone who hadn't pooped in like 10 years.  Sorry, but that's really what it felt like! I know TMI, but seriously your reading a birth story what did you expect?! :)

I had already planned on not wanting to give birth lying down, but rather work with gravity.  So instead of lying down I was bent over on the side of the bed using my forearms to prop me up standing right in front of my midwife.  Ben was amazing and got me a cold wash cloth and using my headband we were able to hold it there hands free! He was super supportive and was holding my hands on the other side of the bed.  The urge to push was getting stronger and stronger and I definitely didn't fight it.  I'll never forget when my midwife was sitting behind me and all of a sudden she started seeing the babys head, she goes "Oh and there's the baby" She was so surprised it all happened so fast! My water than broke all over the floor haha oops! And than it felt like only a few minutes and I was pushing her out! Yes, I gave birth standing up...for some reason people keep finding this very odd, but it makes sense to me.

It was the most amazing experience of my life and I will never be able to forget it! Apparently it's not that common, but I lucked out because I was only in labor for 5 hours total, and around 1 hour of that was actually spent in the hospital.  It still blows my mind how fast it went by!

Unfortunately I tore.  Like a ton! A partial 4th degree perineal tear which is the highest you can go.  After I delivered the placenta and I was sitting down with Brynlee on my chest skin to skin, a doctor came in and stitched me right up.  They gave me a pain killer, tylenol, and a stool softener that I have to take every 6 hours.  Surprisingly I really don't feel any pain at all! I know I'm really blessed. There is some discomfort when I sit up and down but it doesn't hurt.  When I think about it I really did get everything that I wanted.  I did it all natural (they didn't even offer me and epidural, she just asked on a scale of 1-10 what level was my pain).  Delayed cord clamping for sure, and I lucked out and didn't really need any intervention, and got skin to skin with the sweetest baby girl that was ever born

Brynlee Theresa Stanly came into the world at 7:27 am weighing in at 8 lbs 6 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long at Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg, Idaho

I'm not going to lie, I loved child birth...seriously! It was so hard but I felt empowered and I know it was because I was prepared and committed to what I wanted.  It hurt like crazy at times but one thing that I'll never forget was when my midwife told me that she could see her head and I just smiled as I was standing up bent over the edge of the bed and knew 1. this was almost over (haha), 2. I'm really doing this! and 3.  I can't wait to hold her.  I felt so much love and excitement for this little girl that I was able to block out some of the pain.

Me and Ben could not love this little girl any more! She is absolutely the biggest little blessing

At the hospital her jaundice level was a little high so we brought her into her pediatrician this morning and they tested her again and everything seems to be just normal.  They updated her weight and she lost a little she's now 7 lbs and 12 oz and 21 inches long.  She loves to snuggle on her momma and eats every few hours. Brynlee's favorite thing to do is sleep on our chests in just her diaper with a warm blanket over her.  I've never seen a happier baby :) We are one lucky family!