Labor and Delivery

I had an appointment on December 6th and I got checked for the first time for any progression. I was 1 1/2 dialated, minus 1 station (baby was very low already!) and 60% effaced. She said that she didn't think I would make it to the due date. I had another appointment on December 13th and I was 2 centimeters, still minus 1 station and about 70% effaced. Then I went back on December 18th. My mom was telling me that I should talk to her about inducing because the contractions were so constant and getting hard to deal with after 2 straight weeks, but I didn't want to push anything - I wanted to let Baby come when Baby was ready :)

When our doctor came in she was telling me that she could strip my membranes and I told her to go for it! She checked me and I was 2 1/2, 0 station, and 80% effaced, she said my bag of water was right there and could easily be broken if needed - then she stripped my membranes which she warned me could be pretty painful but I actually barely felt it. Pretty much as soon as she did that contractions started, but I didn't think too much of it since I'd been having contractions for weeks. After the appt we went to lunch and contractions were still there but not too much worse than they had been - but it was the middle of the day and they usually got worse at night so I told Kevin I had a feeling something was going to happen that night. We ate dinner around 7 and then I was really feeling them and told Kevin I was going to sleep because that usually worked to make me feel better - I'd wake up several times during the night with bad ones every now and then but I could always fall asleep - not this time! I layed in bed for 2 hours counting contractions until finally I couldn't take it anymore - I was mostly annoyed that I couldn't fall asleep and felt like I needed to do something. I went downstairs and woke up Kevin (who fell asleep on the couch) and told him I couldn't get to sleep because they were so bad, but didn't want to jump the gun again so I was very hesistant to go to the hospital. I called the doctor after a while of debating what to do and the on call dr called me back and told me to take a hot shower and if they get worse it's real labor - if they go away or get better it's false labor. So I took a shower - even though I was scared because I didn't really want them to get worse - they hurt already :) In the shower I was fine, as soon as I got out of the shower - they hurt!!!! I was standing at the vanity as soon as I got out and was doubled over in pain - then I knew for sure! So I told Kevin we needed to leave right away. We got to the hospital around midnight and man was I in pain - it's funny because I always heard that after labor you forget how bad the pain really was - not me :) I remember how much it hurt! :) The first thing I said to the nurse was "how soon do you guys give epidurals?" :) She laughed at me and said, "well lets get you checked in and everything first". My main problem was that nothing I was doing was helping the pain - if I could have found a good position or something to help the pain get a little better I would have been able to deal with it better - but nothing helped. I remember my mom and Tammy getting to the hospital and I could barely look at them or talk to them I was in so much pain. I was checked again and I was 3 1/2 so they said I could get the epidural - which I got around 2. They had to try to get it in twice because it didn't work the first time.

Then I was SO HAPPY!! I was able to talk to everyone that came there in the middle of the night to support me and I think I might have even closed my eyes for about half an hour! Everything was so exciting, there was no way I could fall asleep. They checked me again around 4 and I was 4 centimeters, then again at 5:30 and I was 5 1/2, then at 7:00 I was 6 1/2 and they broke my water - then it went really fast! At 8:30 I was 9 1/2 and they were getting me ready to start pushing - which was freaking me out, I thought I had another several hours before that! I started pushing around 9:25 and Mr Bradley was born at 10:20am! He was 7 pounds 9 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long. He was beautiful from the very second he came out! I've never seen such a beautiful baby - actually Ive never seen anything that beautiful in all my life!!! He is just perfect in every way - we are so so blessed and thankful!

December!

So December came and with the due date quickly approaching the contractions decided to start early and make the last 2 weeks of pregnancy pretty hard. We had to go to the hospital when I was 29 weeks because I was having steady contractions and was given meds to make them go away, so based on that no one really thought I would make it all the way to December 20th. We went back to the hospital on December 10th because I was having contractions, I called the doctor to see if we should go - and instead of asking me questions and asking the doctor - the nurse on the phone just told us to go just to make sure. Kevin and I didn't feel like it was time yet but we went, spent several hours there and ended up being sent home because I was having very consistent contractions but they were not progressing.
So for the next week I was not sleeping well because of contractions and regular pregnancy woes, and every day the contractions would start pretty early in the day and get worse and worse as the day went on. There was one other night that we were about to walk out the door to go to the hospital but I decided to wait for one more bad contraction - which never came, so I'm glad we avoided being sent home again that night :)

November

With November came the Baby Shower and Thanksgiving. The Baby Shower was thrown by my Mom and 2 sisters and was so much fun! I love playing games at showers and we had plenty. Many friends and family were able to make it and we were so blessed by everyone's generosity! I appreciate everyone in our lives so much and the love for the baby was so evident! Everyone was so excited for us and knew how much we wanted this baby and how overjoyed we were to be so close to meeting him or her! :)















For Thanksgiving we had our normal bunch over for a small get together :) Bill, Tammy, Mom, Mindy, Drew, Katie, and Scott. We later went to Dad's for a nice dinner and Connie's another weekend for another wonderful dinner! I sure love turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy - ya know it's the one food in the world that actually tastes good all mixed together :)

October

In October we had our yearly Halloween party. Kevin first thought of us being a football player with his knocked up cheerleader :) but those costumes would have been hard to find - especially a cheerleader outfit that would fit over my big belly :) So a Priest and pregnant Nun was our next choice! It was a lot of fun as usual! We also carved our pumpkins - Kevin carved a little one for the baby but messed up on it so it ended up being 'cyclopse baby' - pretty much a pumpkin with 3 big holes in it :) At least baby had a pumpkin I guess!

September

September '07 was an exciting month - Connor Joseph Dunphy finally decided to come meet us! Katie had a rough time but did a great job bringing this beautiful baby into the world! Born 9 pounds 10 ounces with a full head of hair - he is adorable! We also got to see our good friends Erin and Joe who came back to visit. Erin was due 1 week after I was so it was nice comparing our big bellies and talking pregnancy and babies! :)

Anniversary

The present you're supposed to give for a 5 year anniversary is wood - so we decided to plant a tree :) We picked out a beautiful Autumn Leaf Maple Tree and had it planted in our backyard. It's very pretty and it'll be fun to watch it grow and know that that was our present to each other when we celebrated 5 wonderful years of marriage!!

Pregnancy

Here are some pictures from early pregnancy. We went on a family trip with Kevin's side of the family in June. I was not feeling my best at that point but I was able to go through Cosmo's Mystery Area without getting sick so that was a good sign :) Here we are on a little train ride we took.







4th of July is one of our favorite holidays. I had to walk to the park a little later than everyone else because - surprise! - I wasn't feeling well :) It was still a wonderful day/night though despite feeling sick and despite the rain :)








Katie's Baby Shower! Mom, Me, and Tammy. Eagerly awaiting the arrival of Connor!












I guess I didn't realize that we don't have too many normal pictures of me pregnant :) We have a lot of close ups of the belly and of my holding my shirt up so you can see the belly growing - but I don't know how many people want to see my big bare belly :) So I guess I'll keep those to my family albums :) Here's one with me fully clothed :) This was taken in August.














The gang! :) Before Jenny and Jerome packed up and left us :(. This was about 1 month before Connor decided to make his dramatic appearance :) I love this picture, we finally got a picture of all of us together, it seems like when we get together there's always someone missing or we forget to bring cameras!