The 4th B

Introducing...

Brayden James Guerisoli

born December 18th, 2010 at 12:44 p.m.

5 lbs. 4 oz. 18 1/2 inches

Our sweet baby boy thankfully came exactly 4 weeks early and it turns out having a baby right before Christmas is the best Christmas present this momma could have asked for.

We had just finished a very busy week and things on the home front were a little behind. Think: dishes in sink, piles of laundry, Christmas wrapping and some shopping to do, etc. It was Saturday morning and Brent and I were delaying getting out of bed as long as possible. Around 8:30 a.m., I was laying there and felt a little trickle (K, that is a gross word). I wondered, "did I really just pee my pants?!" And then more came and fast! I knew my water had broke because I had no control. Of course, I call my Mom to ask her if that's what really had happened, only to hear her say, "uhhh, how am I supposed to know that?" HA. I called the OB to leave a message so the on call doctor would call back. At this point I was feeling so many emotions because I knew a baby was coming in the next 24 hours.

Brent immediately got in the shower with Brooke and I walked around the house aimlessly staring at the messes waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the doctor to call back. I hoped to high heaven for a vbac and wanted a contraction to start. NOTHING. UGh! She finally called and said a repeat c-section was most likely inevitable because there were no contractions and that she would meet me at the hospital. Again, a surge of every emotion you could think of enveloped me. I could not believe I was about to have a baby and the thing that was making me absolutely crazy??? It was the day to wash my hair so I was going to the hospital to have this babe with dirty hair. I know, it is ridiculous. We dropped Brooke off at a friends house and off we went, while Brent began to pressure and worry what his name would be as we spent the whole pregnancy never really agreeing. We got checked in, hooked up to an IV, and they checked to see if I was dilated at all. NOTHING. C-section it was. I began to cry because I wanted that vbac so so badly. The nurses were all freaking out that I was so emotional. Brent just had to say, "this is how my wife is. She's really okay." HA! He told me he was going to surprise me on Christmas with a babymoon to a bed and breakfast for the next week, and that we would no longer be doing that. He also gave me a priesthood blessing and the nervousness dissipated. I had realized this was such an answer to prayer. My body and joints have taken such a hit the whole pregnancy that to skip out on the last month was a huge blessing and I knew that my water breaking 4 weeks early had to have been part of that.

The annoyance of the house being in complete disarray, all of the baby clothes being in a huge, unorganized pile, my terrible dirty hair, and car seat (most likely covered in cobwebs) up in the attic just did not matter anymore (at least until I thought about it all again about 48 hours later).
This c-section I did not feel nearly as much tugging and pulling as with Brooke, and I felt less nauseas. The surgery went by very fast and when the moment came that I heard my baby crying, tears just started flowing. Gratitude and pure happiness was all I could feel. It is amazing to give birth and feel the love from that child immediately. You cannot help but love them in return tenfold.

The rest of the time in the hospital is really a blur for me which is just the nature of c-sections. It was determined in the nursery that he needed to be monitored in the NICU because his oxygen level was just barely under 90. He ended up being there for a total of 36 hours hooked up to an IV and it was really difficult not having him in the room with me and seeing him hooked up to so many tubes. I was pumping immediately and every 2 hours during that time and Brent delivered the milk and helped the nurses feed him because I wasn't able to get out of bed yet. When they finally wheeled him into my room on Monday morning, we had a celebration! It finally felt like I had had a baby and that he was actually mine.
So far, he is a great baby. Sleeps beautifully, and eats very well. He was 4 lbs., 15 oz. when we left the hospital and as of yesterday was 5 lbs., 5 oz. I actually love how tiny he is and I don't want him to get any bigger. I want to savor every moment we have while he is a newborn. He is so yummy and cute and sweet and.... Yes, this momma who was absolutely positively terrified to have a little boy is totally and completely... in la la love.