Brighton Libby Main

It’s been well over a year since I’ve updated this blog. It’s not for lack of interesting things going on in our lives, but lack of blogging enthusiasm on my part. I admire you diehard moms who blog once a week.  I have been grateful to have Melody’s birth story on here for documentation, and can’t miss including Brighton’s.

Before I go into her story I will update you on our life right now. David graduated from Physical Therapy school in May (yay!) and accepted a job in Colorado Springs. We did not originally think we would end up here, but the job was a good opportunity, and after visiting the area, we really liked it. We bought a house and closed in July. It has been a lot of fun decorating our home knowing that we will be here for a while. Up until now in our married life, David and I had never lived in one place for longer than a year, so it’s a nice feeling to finally be settled. 

Brighton was due August 15^th. My pregnancy was very similar to Melody’s, except I got bigger a lot faster this time around. When we decided to get pregnant again, I didn’t consider the fact that I would be huge and pregnant in the middle of summer, and I definitely won’t make that mistake again. The swelling was way worse this time around, and sleeping in the heat wasn’t awesome either. Needless to say, I was ready for baby to come as soon as she was ready.  In my family it is rare to have the baby before your due date, so I wasn’t counting on an early delivery. At my 38 week appointment I was told I was dilated to 3 and 60% effaced. This initially got us really excited that she may be coming early, but as the days went by and no signs of labor, I made peace with the fact that she would probably come on or after her due date. At my 39 week appointment, I had made little progress (3.5cm, 60% effaced). My doctor was on call at the hospital that weekend and offered to schedule an induction on Aug 11th. They were sure the baby would be big, and based on how far along I already was with dilating, he felt that I would be a good candidate for induction. I was induced with Melody, and I really wanted to go into labor naturally this time around, so I declined the offer.  That Saturday (the 11^th), we went into home decorating mode and bought all the curtains for our house, sewed five valences, and ironed and hung everything. I remember telling David if all the activity I had done that day didn’t put me into labor, nothing was going to do it. We collapsed into bed around midnight, exhausted from the day.

At 1:05am I woke up with what I thought was a contraction. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions constantly for weeks, but they didn’t hurt like this did. I waited until I had three contractions to wake up David. At this point it was about 1:15 am. I used David’s phone app that tracks contractions and found I was having them about every three minutes and they were getting progressively worse. It was time to go to the hospital! We called a few people in our ward to come sit in the house while Melody slept, but couldn’t get a hold of anyone so we grabbed her out of bed and took her with us. We were packed up and in the car to the hospital at 1:55am.  I was very happy in that moment that we only live about three minutes from the hospital, and was very much looking forward to an epidural. We rushed into labor and delivery and at that point the pain was so bad I couldn’t walk. It was about 2:05am, now, only an hour from when I woke with my first contraction. I literally felt like the baby was falling out. They put us in a small room to track contractions and verify that I was in active labor and could be admitted. Hello! I was in labor! It felt like forever before a nurse came in and calmly hooked me up to monitors and checked my cervix. I was shocked as she checked and announced that I was fully dilated and ready to deliver the baby. My first response was, do we have time for an epidural? I couldn’t wrap my head around doing this without any pain medication. It was not a part of my plan and I was not ready for it. She confirmed that there most certainly was not time for an epidural and quickly carted me to a delivery room. As I switched beds in the delivery room I knew it was time to push, but my doctor wasn’t there yet. I couldn’t hold it in and began to push. Immediately my water broke. At that moment the doctor ran in and instructed me to push. I was in panic mode, and was still trying to process that I was having the baby right now. Two pushes later the head was out, and with another push she was here, all 9lbs, 8oz of her! Brighton was born at 2:32 am, only an hour and a half after my first contraction. I was in complete shock. It took a while to process all that had happened. Miss Melody had been along for the ride and got to experience it with us. David said at one point during the delivery she put her blanket over her head and covered her ears…I’m hoping because it was the middle of the night, the memory will fade quickly.

  

Recovery has been surprisingly quick compared to Melody. Because it all happened so fast they didn’t have time to put in an IV, and I didn’t have the epidural pain in my back like last time. I tore, but only a small amount, and have not experienced much pain from my stitches. I guess it’s a reward for the traumatic delivery experience. I was spoiled to have David and my mom at home the first week after she was born. My mom stocked our fridge for the next month, making sure there is no way this baby weight is coming off fast. Brighton has been a great baby thus far. She looks much more like her Mommy than Melody with my nose and fairer skin, but still no red hair. Maybe next time:). She has been an awesome sleeper, and is just starting to wake up a little bit. I can already tell her demeanor is different than Melody. Even this early in life you can get a feel for their personality. Melody was much more social while Brighton is more reserved. We’ll see how that changes as she gets older. We are so excited and blessed to have her in our home!