Brady Birth Story Final Chapter

 Brady's Birth story parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were told throughout the past few weeks, and here is the final chapter of his Birth Story... just in time for his first birthday next week.

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The next contraction, with Chris beside me, positioned half in/half out of the bathtub (remember, on my knees in the tub but leaving my arms over the back ledge of the tub) with no warning to my surrounding people, I began to push the baby out (approximately 3:44am).

When Chris saw what was happening I heard him yell (with a tone of panic I’d never heard from him before) for the doctor. No, he did not use the call button she so nicely pointed out to him. 

Brady took longer than most of my babies to actually enter the world once I started pushing. They teach you in childbirth classes to push through several contractions to push out the baby. Easier said than done when the baby is half-born. Both my twins, Lee Lee, and Hunter, each were born in about 2 pushes or less. 

Because of my position in the tub, and the fact no medical staff was in the room when I started pushing, I actually waited and pushed through several contractions (which was not fun) before he fully entered the world.  I do remember at one point telling the Dr. to pull the baby out, and she told me she couldn’t so that - I had to push.  So, like all birthing Mothers since the Eve from Genesis, I gathered my strength and pushed my final baby into the world.

Once he was born… there were some logistics to handle because of the position I was in – in the bathtub, on all fours, with the baby now delivered… the doctor holding the baby behind my rear end, umbilical cord still attached.  Of course the birth plan (and best practice) dictated that the baby would be placed immediately on my chest for skin-to-skin contact… but first I had to get off my knees and out of the bathtub and somehow get the baby to the front of my body.

As everyone in the room paused and took a breath when the baby emerged, I remember yelling to remind everyone not to tell me the gender yet, “Don’t tell me the gender!  DON’T SAY THE GENDER!!”

As an aside, you may remember that Hubby’s job is to announce the gender of our babies after they are born. Coming in to this birth, I had asked him to wait a moment or so after the baby was born before he told me - and to prepare me before he announced it.  With Hunter, I remember I was still in some shock of having just delivered a baby, standing over a toilet to fully absorb the joy that Hubby was telling me we had a baby boy.  I had talked to Chris about this prior to this birth, and asked him to say to me, “Are you ready?” before he told me the gender - and to expect that it was going to be a minute after the birth before I was ready to hear.

This is a PERFECT example of a situation where I was not ready to hear the gender quite yet. 

I was still in the tub on hands and knees… and my baby was born—behind me. We were still attached by the umbilical cord, and the cord wasn’t supposed to be cut until the baby had come to my chest and the cord blood had flowed into the baby. But getting the baby to my chest wasn’t an option the way we currently were positioned. 

The doctor told me how I was going to get out of the tub (a benefit of no epidural is that I have always been able to freely move around immediately following the births of my babies) — I carefully stepped out of the tub and they brought the baby up in front of me and we awkwardly hobbled from the bathtub to the bed. 

As I was starting to position myself on the bed, I got nervous that I would accidentally feel if the baby was a boy or a girl because by then, I was cradling the baby’s rear as we were trying to get in the bed. 

Based on what I felt, I thought we had had a girl and I wanted Hubby to tell me before I was sure of the gender based on what I was feeling.  So I told Hubby I was ready to hear the gender.

And he told me the news:

“WE GOT OUR BRADY BUNCH!”

To which I responded, “It’s a Boy?!?!”

I couldn’t believe it. 

Brady Christopher Miller 

Born May 19, 2021

3:48am

7 lbs, 15.9oz —Chris makes sure everyone knows he was 8 pounds. I make sure everyone knows he was less than 8 pounds. 

20 inches long

Brady and I settled in bed for a few minutes before the rest of the day began. 

I took a quick shower, Brady and I switched rooms, and Hubby hustled home to get our oldest out the door for school. He told the children that the baby was born, but didn’t tell them the gender yet. 

And with five kids at home, even with my parents there, Hubby did not come back to the hospital except with the kids and my parents for the gender reveal. 

With Brady born at 3:48am, I really wanted them to let us go home that afternoon, but they insisted Brady get a check at 24-hours old and said I could leave first then Thursday morning, which I did. I loaded the car myself after discharge and drove Brady and myself home. 

For as miserable as the labor was, and how long it took to push Brady out, I do feel this was my easiest postpartum recovery following a birth, which was such a blessing given the crew I keep up with at home. 

Also, I’m so glad this was my final birth experience because, like with Lee Lee’s and Hunter’s, I learned how completely miserable it is to labor at the hospital, but how quickly I can go from 5 or 6 cm to birthing the baby.

I truly admire the women who can go to the hospital with false labor on or after their due date and decide to head back home because the labor wasn’t the real thing yet. You ladies are my heros. 

When it’s my due date and I’m at the hospital … the baby is going to be born.

Sometimes I still am in shock that our sixth child is a baby boy.  I was sure we were having a girl – we were going to end with four girls and two boys.  I’m sure much of that comes from that fact that we had three girls so quickly - Tracey, Caroline, Lee Lee in three pregnancies back to back.  Howard was outnumbered for all those years before Hunter arrived, I figured Hubby made more girls then boys.

That said, Hubby and I had a lot of discussions before adding Hunter and Brady to our family.  Hubby would have been very content with a family of six – four children and two parents.  I wanted a larger family – I wanted six children, and Hubby’s love for me led him to agree to and become excited about babies five and six.  I truly believe that God gave my Hubby two more boys as a reward for Hubby giving me two more children.  Hubby is going to have so much fun with those three sons throughout life, and each of our girls have a brother for a pair, and I have three wonderful daughters, and three wonderful sons.

On May 19, 2021, our family was made complete when Brady Christopher entered the world.

Brady Birth Story Part 5

  This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here and Part 3 here and Part 4 here.

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Remember my previous births — they broke my water with the twins, and they were born within an hour. They broke my water with Lee Lee and she was born within about an hour. My water broke naturally with Hunter and he was born in less than a minute. So, I really had delusions that they would break my water, around 9:00pm, and I’d be holding my baby by 9:15 or so. Really, you’d think this was my first labor by how wrong I was. 

My labor went on for hours — very similar to my birth with Lee Lee.  I remember asking the doctor to check my progress around midnight and she said I was dilated to 4cm, and I wanted to kill her.  I had no patience with this labor. I had no position that was bringing relief (even mental relief). 

Our nurse was wonderful and it turned out  that I had met her husband and we teach at the same school (one of my schools) and their last name is Miller and our last name is Miller and we have kids the same age and all our kids go to the same school… that part was great except I didn’t want to make new friends right then. I wanted to have a baby — preferably not in front of a new friend. 

After midnight, I just couldn’t believe every hour that passed. 1:00 am still no baby. 2:00am still no baby — and the doctor checked my progress again and said I was measuring at “4+cm”… that time I really could have killed her. 3:00am still no baby. 

Finally about 3:30, I asked the doctor to check again and she said I might be at 5cm now and I just pleaded with her about what to do. I was exhausted and I was not progressing (at least not as fast as I had come to expect from my body). 

I remember looking at her and saying, “Whatever you tell me to do, I will do. If you tell me to stand on my head, I will stand on my head. If you tell me to get an epidural, I will get an epidural. If you tell me to have a C-Section, I will have a C-Section. Please tell me what to do.“ 

Now, it is worth noting that I did not want a C-Section, and my doctor knew this. Also, I did not want an epidural, and my doctor knew this. 

This physician had been my primary OB for all my pregnancies and so far, all of my babies had been born naturally without an epidural and no C-Sections (INCLUDING my twins) and that was largely due to my rapport and relationship with this OB. 

She suggested I get in the bathtub. 

I had not gotten in the bathtub before this point for several specific reasons — some are valid and some are silly.

First, the hospital tub is a standard bathtub and not particularly comfortable to move around to different labor positions. I labored in the tub during my labors with Tracey, and Lee Lee, both for hours.  I knew that the water felt good, but the dimensions of the tub did not. 

Less important was the fact that I had makeup on and my hair curled and I didn’t want to ruin in appearance in the bathtub. 

I Know. STUPID!

But, in all of my first pictures with my babies, I had looked like I had had a rough day. Makeup running, hair wet, exhausted — I looked like I had a baby. All except Hunter. Hunter’s birth was so quick and no bath tub was involved, and I looked great in those pictures after he was born. I wanted that again so I was avoiding the bathtub. 

But, my OB advised getting in the tub, and I had vowed my allegiance to whatever she said. I got settled in the bathtub as comfortably as possible.  This time, I kneeled in the tub with my back to the spout and shower, facing the back of the tub, which has a little ledge where I could rest my arms.  This allowed me to kneel in the tub in between contractions, and during contractions, I could lean forward and lay my arms on the ledge of the tub which put me in a modified all-fours/hands and knees position kind of half-in/half-out of the tub.

As I got in to the tub, the doctor made sure that Chris knew where the call buttons were in the restroom, and our wonderful nurse told me she was going to use the restroom and grab a sandwich and would be back to check on us in a bit. 

As I said, our nurse was wonderful… and remains a good friend of ours to this day.

But… her telling me that she was going to use the restroom and grab a bite to eat made me so angry.

It infuriated me that my OB was going back to sleep and my nurse was getting dinner because they both thought I was going to be in labor for who knows how many more hours.  They left about 3:40. I had about 3 contractions and I kept telling Chris that I couldn’t do this anymore. I also told him that I was going to push this baby out the moment I had the chance — which he completely supported. As he saw with Hunter, when my body is ready to have the baby, I’m having the baby.  He encouraged me the entire time.

The next contraction, with Chris beside me, positioned half in/half out of the bathtub (remember, on my knees in the tub but leaving my arms over the back ledge of the tub) with no warning to my surrounding people, I began to push the baby out (approximately 3:44am).

When Chris saw what was happening, I heard him yell (with a tone of panic I’d never heard from him before) for the doctor. No, he did not use the call button she so nicely pointed out to him. 

To Be Continued...

Brady's Birth Story Part 4

   This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Hubby and I made the decision about 4 o’clock that I should head to the hospital.

With Hunter‘s birth story in my head, I fully hoped that we would be calling the children before their 7:00pm bedtime to tell them the baby had arrived. 

That is not what happened.

My labor slowed on our drive to the hospital, and practically stopped by the time I had checked in, got settled in a room, had my IV Lockport put in, and talked to our doctor.

Knowing it was my sixth baby, and I was dialated to about 3.5cm (so much for the progress I thought I was making by mowing the lawn, and walking the kids to the park)... everyone agreed that I should be monitored a few hours before we would decide if I would stay or go home.

About 9 o’clock at night, my labor had completely stopped.

So... we discussed the situation... should I stay or should I go?

I could have gone home and waited for labor to start again - maybe a few hours later, maybe a few days later... maybe a week later.

Or, I could stay and have the baby.

A few hours away from my due date, I was ready to have this baby, and I did not want the continued yo-yo of “Am I in labor yet?” ”Will the highway be open?” “ What if we don’t make it to the hospital?”

The doctor and I agreed that she would break my water. I was not going home, and the baby would be coming.

Once again, remember my previous births — they broke my water with the twins, and they were born within an hour. They broke my water with Lee Lee and she was born within about an hour. My water broke naturally with Hunter and he was born in less than a minute. So, I really had delusions that they would break my water, around 9:00pm, and I’d be holding my baby by 9:15 or so. Really, you’d think this was my first labor by how wrong I was. 

To Be Continued...

Brady's Birth Story Part 3

  This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

So we all headed to bed Sunday night with my parents in Vail, the kids and Hubby ready for school the next day, and my labor completely stopped.

That Monday, May 17, I was already on my maternity leave, so I did not need to teach or work, and I really felt like I had one thing on my to-do list — go into labor. My due date was Wednesday, and I was ready!

Tracey had a field day coming up on Thursday of that week that I wanted to attend, and we were less than one month away from our travel plans to Washington state to see my brother. I wanted to have this baby ASAP in order to begin the postpartum process to prepare for that trip.  Maybe these were not things that should have been on my mind at the end of my pregnancy, but they were.

With Tracey Ann, my maternity leave was spent almost entirely at home, getting to know my new baby, learning how to nurse, and adjusting to the new demands of motherhood. Now, expecting number six, I knew firsthand that life was going to go on, like normal (at a fast pace), with the newborn at home. My "maternity leave" for this baby, was only from my job not teaching over the summer months, and my large family still needed as much as I could give them while recovering and supporting my new baby. There is no "maternity leave" from mothering my older five children (ages 7, 5, 5, 3, and 1).

That said, on that Monday, two days prior t my due date, I was hesitant to fully try all ways of inducing labor because my parents were still in Vail. So, by Monday afternoon, I asked my parents to return to Rifle because we were now nearly one day away from my due date, and I wanted to be able to try various home remedies to try to encourage labor knowing they were in-house and ready to help if and when labor began.

With my parents now settled in our guestroom, my Tuesday was spent actively trying to naturally induce labor.  I had an appointment with a midwife, and requested that she strip my membranes (this does not break the water but encourages the body to begin labor if its ready). The midwife said I was about 3cm dilated so I went home ready to increase that number and encourage contractions.  I mowed our grass using our push lawnmower, and then, my parents and the children and I went for a long walk to our nearby park.

When I got home, I was having mild contractions with some consistency.  We also had rain in the forecast, so Chris was concerned about highway closures.

Hubby and I made the decision about 4 o’clock that I should head to the hospital.

To Be Continued...

Which Years?

 There's a reel on social media circulating that caught my attention and I thought I would be fun to participate.

One year at a time, a woman indicates how many years she has been pregnant -- obviously not the entire year, but has she been pregnant during that calendar year?

My results are in...

I have been pregnant in the following years...

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2019

2020

2021

I have not been pregnant in the following years...

2018

2022... so far.

Brady's Birth Story Part 2

 This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here.

We left off with Hubby and me on our Baby Moon in Grand Junction.

I woke up the next morning having consistent contractions and not wanting to go to breakfast. For our baby moon weekend, it was abnormal for me to pass up a breakfast out. Both Chris and I agreed that we should head home with the thought that we might be going to the hospital soon.

I experienced consistent contractions about 3 to 5 minutes apart our entire drive from Grand Junction to Rifle. When we got to Rifle, I suggested that we not head to the hospital yet, but go catch up with my parents and our children at the local bike rodeo about a mile from our house.  My parents had been watching our five little ones, and they were brave enough to take our crew to the local bike rodeo put on by the local police station.  I knew my parents could use our help.  Also, it was an outdoor event, and I thought walking around with the kids might help my labor progress, and we were now closer to our hospital and could leave whenever we needed to. 

Walking around at the bike rodeo, and spending time with our children, completely stopped my labor.  We all came back home, and I took a bath and a nap, hoping my labor would pick back up.  It did not.  While my contractions had slowed considerably, our whole household was on high alert knowing that things could change at any time… and maybe progress rather quickly.  Adding to the overall tension of anticipation that evening, a mudslide between our house and our hospital closing down the interstate.

This was all happening on Saturday (my due date was not until Wednesday), and so amidst the false labor, and mudslides, my parents were also considering if they could go up to Vail to gather some items from their condo before returning to our home for the duration of their visit.  They did not want to drive up to Vail only to find out Chris had rushed to the hospital and they were not here to help with the children.

The decision was made that afternoon that Chris and I would not go to the hospital, but my parents would not go up to Vail.  Everyone just hunkered down at home with all eyes on me waiting for labor to begin.  Okay, not really, but that’s certainly how it felt.

By Sunday morning, all signs of labor had disappeared, so I sent my parents up to Vail and prepared Hubby and the older kids to go to school on Monday (the younger ones were home last year due to covid and virtual teaching).  So we all headed to bed Sunday night with my parents in Vail, the kids and Hubby ready for school the next day, and my labor completely stopped.

To Be Continued...

Brady's Birthday Story Part 1

 Brady's Birth Story Part 1

 Before I begin telling about Brady‘s birth story, it’s important to understand that every single birth experience I have impacts the next birth experience.  Tracey‘s birth, and the twins births, are kind of their own stand-alone experiences. Tracey‘s birth being the first time I gave birth, and the twins being the only time I’ve given birth to twins. But my experience having Lee Lee, dictated how I handled my labor with Hunter. And, my experience having Hunter dictated how I handled my labor with Brady. I am entirely grateful that Brady is our final baby, because I know my experience birthing Brady would impact the next birth experience... and, frankly, I don't want to have any more.

When Addallee Marigold was born, I went to the hospital shortly after midnight on my due date because I had been timing contractions for a few hours, and things seemed to be picking up. I was still in early labor, but, everyone told me after having twins, my single baby would be born very quickly. They were wrong!  I labored at the hospital for nearly 8 hours before Lee Lee was born.

So with Hunter, I was determined to delay going to the hospital as long as possible because laboring at the hospital is no fun. Laboring away from the hospital is not fun either... but one is better than the other. As a result, when my husband finally insisted on taking me to the hospital after I had been in active labor with Hunter for most of the day, Hunter was born less than 90 minutes after I walked through the hospital doors.  He was actually born within about 5 minutes of my husband arriving at the hospital.

And while laboring at the hospital with Hunter, I went from 6 cm, to delivering him in about 15 minutes.  In many ways, Hunter’s birth was an ideal hospital birth scenario for me. I basically arrived to have the baby.  The downside was, there was of course the fear, what if I hadn’t made it to the hospital.

So with Brady, both of those birth experiences impacted how we handled my labor.

Hubby and I went away for a Babymoon getaway the weekend before my due date. My due date was Wednesday, May 19, so we headed to Grand Junction on Friday, May 14 for an overnight. We planed to return home the next day, on Saturday, May 15. We had pedicures, enjoyed going to dinner, and I started having regular contractions as the night went on. I could talk through them, and we were not panicking, but we thought there was a good chance that I would wake up in active labor.  

We made it through the night without incident, but I woke up the next morning having consistent contractions and not wanting to go to breakfast -- I just wanted to get home. For our baby moon weekend, it was abnormal for me to pass up a breakfast out. Both Chris and I agreed that we should head home with the thought that we might be going to the hospital later that day, if not sooner.

To Be Continued...

Introducing...

 Introducing...

Brady Christopher Miller

Born Wednesday, May 19, 2021 in Glenwood Spring, CO at 3:48 am.

Measuring 7 lbs, 15 oz. and 19.6 inches long.

The Marathon

 I saw this ad on Facebook the other day and I LOVED it -- the marathon that never ends.  It just left out that its the marathon that you also never want to end -- the best journey of all time.

Preggers VI: 39 Weeks

How far along?  

39 weeks, 2 days

    

Comparisons:

 

 38 Weeks with Tracey... because she was born 38 weeks, 6 days

 
35 Weeks with the Twins... because they were born at 36 weeks 1 day, and I never took a 36 week picture.

Lee Lee at 39 weeks

Hunter at 39 weeks

How I am feeling?  

I'm actually feel very well.  I mean -- I'm large, I'm very pregnant, I'm uncomfortable at times, but really, I am cherishing these final days of pregnancy because this is it.  I don't plan to ever be pregnant again.  Also, I am feeling some relief and accomplishment because as of this afternoon my maternity leave begins.  The baby can come as soon as he or she wants... or he or she can take his or her sweet time because I am DONE working for the year!  PRAISE GOD!

How big is the baby?  

The size of a pumpkin (hopefully a small pumpkin) -- 19.9 inches long, 7.23 pounds

 

Sleep:  

I'm still sleeping really well as long as I can fall back to sleep.  Most nights I get up several times and go right back to sleep... occasionally, I wake up during the night and then I'm awake for about 2 hours.  That's not fun.

Boy/Girl Predictions:  

Nope but I'm getting excited to find out... and I'm getting VERY excited to come home with the new baby and tell our other children if they got a brother or a sister.

Baby Nicknames: 

"Baby" 

  Best moment this week:  

So far the best moment of this week has been Mother's Day, and finishing work.  Also, the kiddos have learned that if they offer to rub my feet and my back before they go to bed, they usually get to watch a little extra tv.  So that has been incredibly sweet and special.  I've ended several days this week with Tracey and Caroline each rubbing one of my feet, Howard rubbing my back, and Lee Lee rubbing my belly.

 

Food cravings:  

I'm eating ice cream at while I'm writing this blog, and that tastes AMAZING! 

 

Missing:  

At the moment... nothing.  I'm really happy to be where I am in this pregnancy, and so happy to have finished my work and be on maternity leave.

Movements:  

Yes, and I really enjoy them... they are definitely less frequent now that the baby is bigger... but still moving around.

Labor Signs:  

Yes... but just getting my body ready.  Nothing that has made us head to the hospital yet... but labor is coming eventually, no doubt.

 

General Attitude:   

Really calm and peaceful at the moment.  I feel like I've gotten a really good sense of how my body heads into labor with my last two childbirth experiences and so I am able to just chill when I'm having contracts and not get overly excited about anything yet.

Both Hunter and Lee Lee arrived within 24 hours of their due date, so I am expecting the baby will arrive sometime this next week... but time will tell.  I am just so excited to be done working, and ALL I have ahead of me this week, so spending time with my children, focusing on being a Mama, and preparing for the baby.

 

 What I am looking forward to this week:  

Hubby and I are headed off for a 24 hour baby-moon, and I am excited for that.  We have done a one-night getaway before every one of our babies has arrived, and it feels very special to be doing it before this last baby arrives.  And then, I'm excited to not work heading into next week!    

 

Milestones: 

\I've now carried this baby longer than I carried Tracey or the twins... and I've reached the week when Hunter and Lee Lee were both born... so we're expecting this baby sooner rather than later.