Brock's Birth Story

Brock's Birth Story written for Brock by his Mommy On Tuesday, September 7, 1999, I went to visit Dr Garrard for my 38-week appointment. While there, he told me that I was 2 cm dilated. I then asked him if he thought I would make it to my September 18th due date. His comment, "If you don’t have this baby before Monday morning, meet me at the hospital". After gaining my composure from his shocking comment, I then found out all the details of what would happen Monday morning. Daddy and I were to be at the hospital around 5:30 a.m. Monday morning (September 13th). I would be admitted, the nurses would start the Pitocin drip to start the contractions, and Dr Garrard would be in around 7:30 a.m. to break my water. When I left the doctor’s office that day I knew one thing was definitely sure, we would have a baby on or before September 13th!

Once I got into my car, I proceeded to call everyone I knew. I paged your Daddy and he immediately called me back. When I told him the good news all he could do was stutter. I think he was in shock. I then called Granddaddy, Nay-Nay, Grammy, Gran-Gran, Keith, and everyone else I could think of. The only person not happy about this was Aunt Heather, she would have to share her birthday for the rest of her life (just kidding)!!!

The weekend before the 13th was filled with much excitement and anticipation. We shared our news that you were on the way with everyone we saw. I went to Daddy’s ballgame on Friday night, we packed and cleaned up on Saturday, and Sunday we had everyone praying for us a church. On Sunday afternoon I was about to explode with anticipation. I convinced Daddy to take me riding around to get my mind off things. I could not sit around the house and wonder all day. So he took me riding in his truck on every dirt road in Pike County. We then had a steak supper at Uncle Robin and Aunt Tracy’s because we knew it would be a long day on Monday before I got to eat again.

We left Uncle Robin and Aunt Tracy’s around 9:00 p.m. to get home and make sure everything was in order. We finally climbed into bed around 9:45 p.m. We were in bed for about five minutes when I had this strong urge to go to the bathroom. I then came back to bed and made a funny comment to Daddy that "I think my water may be broken because my underwear were soaking wet before I made it to the bathroom". We both just laughed it off. About two minutes later I sprang from the bed and looked straight at Daddy and said, "I’m not kidding this time, I really think my water has broken" and I ran to the bathroom.

Daddy convinced me to call Aunt Karen and talk with her to see if she thought my water had broken. After telling her the entire story, she agreed that my water had broken. She told me to call my doctor and see what he said and call her back with the details. I then called the doctor’s office and got Celia, the mid-wife, who was on call. By this time it was about 10:00 p.m. I explained everything to Celia and she told me to go ahead to the hospital. She would call them and let them know I was on my way. I then came out of the bathroom and Daddy was ready to go. He had loaded the car, made up the bed and was in the process of ironing a shirt (I really had a fun time with that). I opened up a package of your diapers and used one so that I would not leak all over the car. Daddy then drove 90 miles-an-hour to the hospital in Montgomery with the hazard lights on while I called everyone and told them our story. We told them all we would call them back when we got to the hospital. This part of the drama was so much fun; it was just like something that you see on TV! We were both so excited! We knew you would be here soon!

When we arrived at the hospital, Daddy dropped me off at the front door and I went on up to the third floor (labor and delivery). It was around 11:00 p.m. by this time. Daddy soon joined me and we got settled into our room. I was immediately put to bed because my water had broken. I was then given an IV and had to answer tons of admitting questions. Our nurse, Lee, was assigned to us and she checked me and said I was around 2 cm. She then told me that she had talked with Dr Garrard and he said to continue with the same game plan that we had planned the week before. If I was not progressing, Lee would start the Pitocin drip around 4:00 a.m.

We then called everyone and gave them an update. Everyone said they would be at the hospital around 5:00 a.m. It was about 12:00 a.m. by now. We then heard a knock at the door. It was Uncle Brian. He wanted to join us for the night. By about 12:30 – 1:00 a.m. the contractions were kicking in good. I finally talked Lee into giving me some Stadol. That put me to sleep for about an hour. The hour after that I would wake up between contractions that were coming about 5 minutes apart. Finally around 4:00 a.m. I was told that I was 4 cm and that I could have an epidural. The anesthesiologist could not get there quick enough!!! When he gave me the epidural it was immediate relief! Lee also started the Pitocin drip. I lay back in bed and was able to sleep again until around 5:00 a.m. when all of our friends and family starting showing up. I’m not sure that Daddy and Uncle Brian got any sleep at all.

Dr Garrard came in around 6:30 a.m. He said I was around 9 cm and I would probably start pushing in 30 minutes to an hour. I was so excited. After months of waiting to see you, you would be here VERY soon!

Lee’s shift was ending and we were assigned another nurse, Nancy. I hated to see Lee go after she had been through so much with us, but Nancy was great also. Around 7:30 a.m. she made everyone leave the room but Daddy. She converted my bed to a delivery table and she held one leg while Daddy held the other and I pushed. We had to wait for Dr Garrard to deliver an emergency C-section and the baby next door.

Dr Garrard finally came into our room and we pushed a few times and your head popped out! Dr Garrard told me to look down I could see what you looked like. My comment, "Put him back and pull him out again and see if he will come back out looking like me"! I thought you looked just like your Daddy! We pushed one more time and you were out at 8:29 a.m. Dr Garrard then let Daddy cut your umbilical cord. The nurse then cleaned you a little and put you in my arms while Daddy snapped pictures! She then took you away into the next room to clean you up and take your weight and height measurements. You weighed 7lbs 6oz and were 21 inches long. Both of your Apgar scores were a 9. I thought you were perfect!!!!

All of our family and friends stood outside the room and watched you get weighed and measured. Daddy got it all on video! He was so proud. Everyone else thought you looked just like him also!

After we were both cleaned up, they brought you back into my room and let everyone in to see us. We had a room full of people. They all signed your baseball that we brought with us. Lee, our nurse from that previous night, even came back in to see you before she left. The nurses came to get you after a couple of hours to take you to the nursery and give you a good bath and put you under the heat lamps. I was then cleaned up and moved to our regular room on the second floor. The rest of that day was spent holding and admiring you and visiting with all of our guests. We were so glad to see nightfall come because it had been a long 24 hours, but the best 24 hours of our lives!