D day.

Our baby girl is here!

It has been a blur since we have gotten home from the hospital (mainly because of lack of sleep) but we love are little Brynn so so much!

She is just over a week old now and has been a great baby.

I delivered Brynn Ashley Sorensen on

October 26th, 2011 at 1:02pm.

Russ and I decided to get her induced early (a few days before her due date) because our doctor was going to be out of town on her due date and over the weekend and I did not want to go OVER my due date. I was READY for her to come! So for first time moms it is standard procedure that they will admit you to the hospital the night before (to labor through the night and deliver the next day) since it usually take first time moms longer to labor and give birth. So on Tues (October 25th) we checked into the hospital at 9:00pm.

We got a room and settled in. Since I was dilated to a 4 on my own when I came into the hospital they didn't want to start the induction until a little later. My family came to see me before we started the induction. It was nice to see them all so excited for me!

So Russ and I got to sit and relax. I tried to sleep but with all the excitement, nervousness, anxiety and everything it was hard for me to sleep at all so I just watched a little TV. At 2:30am the nurse came in (my FAVORITE NURSE) and she started my pitocin at a low dose to start the induction process. My nervousness started to fade and my excitement started to grow!

Now it was a waiting game.

We sat for a few hours and I started to feel the contractions around 4:30am. Russ stared at the monitor and saw when I started having a contraction. He would see my face and my body tense up, look over at the monitor and say "looks like your having a contraction....oh, your at your peak now...breath, just breath!"

Easy for him to say huh?

The contractions were bad enough that I could not talk through them but I don't think they were as intense as I know they could be. I discussed with my nurse about when I should get my epidural. She told me that there was a shift change in anesthesiologist at 7 so I would either get it at 5:30am or 8am. She told me to remember that it takes about 40 minutes for it to kick in too.

So without hesitation I chose to get my epidural at 5:30.

The anesthesiologist came in and did his thing. Since Russ has a fear of needles (and we didn't want him to pass out) he remained in front of me so he could not see the needle. He gave me a numbing shot first and that wasn't too bad but it was uncomfortable and did hurt. But after that I did not feel anything back there. I only felt contractions for about an hour and a half and then my legs went numb and in went the catheter.

It was great, didn't feel a thing.

Russ and I took a nap and rested until 7:30. At that time the doctor came in and broke my water.

I was getting excited!

I didn't feel any pain and it really made the whole experience so much more enjoyable! I could see when I was having contractions (now about 2 minutes apart) and I felt incredible. =-) From 7:30 to 10:30 I only dilated from a 5 to a 6. So I called my family and told them it was taking longer than expected so we may have her in the evening.

The nurse came in and rolled me onto my side, grabbed a "peanut ball" and stuck it in between my legs to open up my pelvis.

The peanut ball was amazing!

From 10:30-12:00 I dilated from a 6 to a 9.5!!!

I called my family again and said it was going to be sooooooon! At this time the nurse noticed that at every contraction the baby heart rate was dropping because her umbilical cord was getting squished somewhere. She tried to change my position to fix it but her heart rate still dropped. Once she "dropped" a bit more her heart rate wasn't dipping as much, so we were happy she was ok.

Doctor Erickson was in another delivery so my nurse told me that we were going to do a few pushes to get her past my cervix. I pushed through 4 contractions with her and then she says "Whoa, I think we better stop or I will be delivering your baby! Be glad you have an epidural right now...." She turned to Russ and said "Want to see the head?"

So Doctor Erickson came in about 12:30 to deliver our baby Brynn. the nurse told him

"She is going to have this baby

out in one push!"

Doctor Erickson said, "Really? What does she have abs of steal?!" Then the contraction came and I pushed, out came her head. One more half push came her shoulders and then the rest of her body.

That was it?! That was great!

What was I so worried about!? I felt nothing, and she came fast.

I was laughing when I saw her, pure joy. She came out screaming and (the doctor said) "with a quiver lip" Russ was taking pictures and when she came out he froze in his tracks just starring in amazement (it happend so fast!) I turned to him and said "Take some pictures!" haha. ( By the way, he did a great job documenting the whole event. I am very proud!) They placed her on my stomach and I just could not believe that she was just in my tummy a second ago and now here she is! It's such a crazy feeling! SO many emotions, joy, relief, excitement, peace, love........She was so beautiful.

She was 6lbs and 8 oz and 20 in long.

She was so petite and tiny! She had skinny little legs and huge ands and feet with dark hair.

My family came to see me and hold there new addition tot he family! We all adore her!

Are first night in the

hospital was pretty rough.

She had a hard time eating (latching on) and I was getting the hang of breast feeding her. As new clueless parents we took full advantage of the nurse "help" call button. We ended up staying one more night so we could get the hang of it and have one more night of free help. =-) Those nights were a blur. We constantly had nurses popping in and out, doctors and hospital staff.

You don't get much sleep while you are there that is for sure.

She was a little jaundice but not enough to be kept at the hospital. So we packed up the room and put her in her car seat and off we went.

We had a baby! WHOA!

Now we were on our own. The nights at home were much better than the nights in the hospital. But we are still sleep deprived and trying to figure out "schedule" and trying to get her to sleep in her bassinet (not our bed). So much to learn and do but we are so excited about our new life with Brynn! We love her so much and she is such a blessing!

She is a great baby (doesn't cry too much) and loves to snuggle with mom and dad. She loves driving in the car, her swing, and her swaddle. Domino doesn't know what to do with her yet but he is very gentle around her.

We love our little Brynn!