Brianna Joyce is here!

Yay! The wait is over! We welcomed Brianna Joyce to our family this past week. I want to record her birth story, and invite you to read it and know it as well. 

On the morning of July 17th, I started having consistent contractions. I started timing them at 4 AM and by 6 AM they had been 3 minutes apart for about 90 minutes. I told Ryan not to plan on going to work that day. And then.... the contractions got much more sporadic. Still relatively painful, but more like 4 - 8 minutes apart. I called my doctor and she said to get everything ready to go, take a hot shower and go for a walk, and then they could start back up again. So we did that, and nothing happened. My mom also came to the house to watch Maya when we needed to go to the hospital. 

But the day went by and my contractions never got closer together. I had an OB appointment at 4 PM, so Ryan and I put the hospital bag in the car and went to the appointment together. Just in case!

The doctor came in and she said, "Chantal! You were supposed to be admitted already - I even changed clothes for you!" She was obviously joking, but we were all surprised that nothing had progressed throughout the day.

When she checked me I was dilated to 4 cm and 70% effaced. So clearly something was happening, just rather slowly. She swept my membranes (not fun) to try to jump start the labor back into gear. Then she told us to hang out in the area until we needed to come back.

So we did! We went to TJ Maxx and got a couple of items to give Maya and then had dinner at Chili's. By that point my contractions were back and coming every 3 - 5 minutes. After we had dinner I wanted to walk around for a little while, but not where I could be seen by a lot of people. I didn't want to make anybody uncomfortable since it was obvious I was in labor.

We drove back to the hospital and walked around the building for an hour. After that hour my contractions were consistently 3 minutes apart and I couldn't walk through them anymore. We called the doctor again and she said, "It's time! Go, go go!" I was glad we were already at the hospital. :)

We were put into triage at about 7:30 PM. At this point I could still talk considerably well during contractions, but they were getting harder every time. I was told to labor in triage for an hour and then I would get checked again to make sure things were progressing enough to be admitted. (I was at 4.5 cm now.) Triage is my least favorite part. Because DUH something is happening. Why can't I just get admitted when the other option is to send me home when I feel like I'm dying?! 

Anyway, we waited for an hour. We watched Big Bang Theory, which was kind of fun because that's what we watched when I labored in triage with Maya. I rolled my hips around on a ball and had Ryan pressing his palms into my lower back when I had a contraction. By the time that 1 hour was up I was in a lot of pain.

The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 5 cm. (Halfway! Yay!) She said we needed to get me going on antibiotics for my Group B Strep ASAP because they like to get 2 doses in and there has to be 4 hours between doses. I was thinking that would be no big deal since my labor with Maya was so long, so I didn't feel panicked at all.

We got admitted and were in our room at 10 PM. Mr. Wonderful Epidural Administrator was in the room by 10:15 and I was soon feeling much more comfortable, despite all of the tubes I was attached to.

Then it was time to try to sleep. I totally thought I could do it this time around since I "knew" what was going to happen. But earlier in the night Ryan and I realized that we really hadn't come up with a name that we completely loved and felt comfortable with. So of course I was up thinking about that. And I could not get comfortable enough to sleep anyway.

At midnight the nurse came in to check me again and I was at a 6. I was kind of glad for that, because that meant it would be long enough to get the rest of the antibiotics in before the baby was born.

But not long after that, maybe at 1:30 AM, I called the nurse back in because I could feel the contractions considerably well and was not too happy about that since my pain level should have been at a 0 with the epidural. She came in and checked me and I was at a 9. Well, no wonder I could feel them. They had gotten a lot stronger! I was given another dose of the epidural and was told that they would keep me pregnant for as long as possible so that at least the second dose of antibiotics could get started.

The doctor came in at about 2:20 AM to check me and break my water. I was at a 10 - it was time! This did not surprise me at all because I had been feeling a lot of pressure and knew that the baby's head was really low. I think I had been at a 10 for a while, so baby had time to labor down.

I pushed through one and a half contractions and our new little girl was born. She came out with an amazingly full head of dark brown hair. I held her on my chest for about an hour and they took her away after her first feeding. She caught on to nursing right away, which I am so grateful for.

Brianna Joyce Koenig became a member of our family on July 18th at 2:33 AM. She weighed in at 6 lbs 8 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. 

In the afternoon of the 18th my mom brought Maya to the hospital to meet Brianna. I was feeling very emotional about it, and started bawling as soon as Maya came in the room. I was kind of embarrassed, but whatever. I had just given birth. I would like to say I was crying because I was so happy to have them together, but it was actually because I felt incredibly guilty, like I was somehow betraying Maya. It was an awful feeling. Ryan put Maya on the bed with me and we hugged for a long time. Then Maya pushed me away and only wanted Ryan. I was completely inconsolable, but tried my best to get my composure because it wasn't helping the situation at all. 

When I was finally able to calm down, Maya wanted to come to me again. She must have just thought I was being really weird and freaky with all the crying!! And I don't blame her. :) When Brianna needed to nurse, we said, "Maya, look, the baby needs to eat. Mommy gives baby her milk." While I was nursing, Maya curled up next to us and hugged my arm. She would point at the baby when we asked where her sister was, and she was completely sweet with her. My prayers had been answered! 

That day we were visited by my mom, Holly and Garrett, and my dad. We were able to bring Brianna home from the hospital on the afternoon of July 19th, after having David, Ashley, and their kids come visit us. We were worried about having to stay until the 20th, so we were pretty thrilled when the pediatrician discharged Brianna.

When we got home Maya was napping, which I was glad for so that I could get her up. Shortly after she woke up and we were downstairs just hanging out, she reached for Brianna. I asked Maya if she wanted to hold her sister, and she nodded "yes" and got excited. We quickly grabbed the camera and set her up with a couple of pillows. Maya's interaction with Brianna was adorable. I am so completely thrilled that she has accepted the new member of our family.

And now to explain Brianna's name. That is not the name that we had chosen for her. We went back and forth among Perri, Farrah, Brynn, and Aria. We had ultimately decided to name her Farrah. When we would tell people what we were naming her, we always felt a little unsure about it, but we never came up with anything better. The night before she was born, we asked each other if that's what we really wanted to name her. We just weren't sure! We prayed together (in the months before her birth) and separately (at the hospital) about the name. A few hours after the baby was born, Ryan and I were sitting on the hospital bed together and he looked at me and said, "What about Brianna?" I loved the name and it felt "right" immediately. Ryan said that the name came to him the night before while he was eating a snack. I suggested using Joyce as the middle name, after my grandma Joycelyn. We both felt at peace with the name and so it was decided! 

We are so in love with our new little girl already. It is incredible how quickly that happens. We are so blessed to have two sweet girls to raise.