Tanner's Birth Story

Tanner James O’Bryan

7lbs. 5oz.

20 inches

Born on January 11, 2016 at 7:14pm

I went into labor on a Monday morning while getting ready for work.  It was 6am and I had a few contractions but didn't know if it was the real deal or not.  I had been having them for past few weeks.  It was also 17 days before my due date and I had no expectations of having an early baby.  Anyway they kept coming and I had to decide whether or not to go into work.  I figured it's better to be safe so I called in and told them I wasn't coming in.  About 9am I texted my doctor and she told me to come into the office to get checked first since she was at work.  We got everything ready and had my sister come over to watch Blake and headed over there.  I was dilated to almost 3 and 80% effaced.  She said that was a good start but to walk around for an hour or so to get things moving along before checking into the hospital.  We ran some errands and walked around and headed over to the hospital about noon. They took me back and then told me to walk around the hospital and eat lunch to see how I progressed.  Luckily they decided to keep me and admit me to labor and delivery.  Even if they had sent us home there was no way I was going home.  I knew by this point that I was in labor and things were moving right along.  On the way back we ran into our awesome nurse that was there for Blake's delivery.  Unfortunately she was the head nurse in charge of everyone that day and couldn't be our nurse. That was a bummer but she said she would make sure we got a great one.  She definitely did take care of us because we got a really great nurse and she was with us all the way until Tanner was born (right at shift change time).  I was already at 4cm by the time I got into labor and delivery and was ready for that epidural.  It really does make the whole experience so much more pleasant.  My doctor was not on call that day but she said she would definitely be there and only just had a few quick surgeries that morning.  Again, she is the most amazing OB/GYN out there.  The nurses kept asking who we were because we knew the charge nurse and we had Dr. Koe coming in special for us.  Apparently she never does stuff like that. 

Once I got the epidural, I could really relax and just wait.  We hung out with our moms and I had my sister text me pictures of Blake.  Just like last time I made good progress after the epidural and was ready to push within and a couple hours.  The nurse said it would be a lot quicker this time so I would not be doing any test pushes before the doctor got there.  That was a relief, knowing that it would be quicker and that I would be holding my little man in just a matter of minutes.  I pushed for around 30 minutes which was much less than with Blake and got to help deliver him like I did with Blake.  Once his shoulders were out, I grabbed him under the arms and pulled him out myself.  It is truly the most amazing thing.  I don't know why anyone would not what to do it.  Needless to say, I was obsessed with him from the very first second and we bonded immediately.  I was so much less tired and out of it than I was with Blake, probably because this all happened in the daytime after a full nights sleep and because it was easier and quicker.  After that I just held him on my chest and nursed and Kyle and I stared at him for an hour or so.  He has lots of hair and Kyle and I both think he looks really different than Blake. We aren't sure who he looks like yet though.

I donated my cord and cord blood so there were about 10 people in the room, which is kind of annoying but you really learn to throw your modesty out the window when it comes to giving birth. Donating was the best decision and the girl who collected the blood and cord told us all of the amazing things happening in stem cell research right now. 

Blake waited up past bedtime to FaceTime with us and she was so excited.  All she could do was giggle and say "he's so beautiful".  I don't know how a two year old comes up with that but it's pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever heard.  

I had such a good experience with Blake that it's hard to believe a delivery could be easier than that but this one really was.  I'm really lucky to not have any complications and just an all around pleasant childbirth experience.  Now to convince Kyle that we need to have at least one more child...

Now that we are home, I'm addicted to snuggling him and smelling his head.  It's like a drug and you can feel the hormones take over when you get a whiff of your baby's head.  He is eating great and sleeping 24/7.  It's been much less stressful than the first time around so we are getting so much quality time.  Blake has been great and loves being the big sister.  I'm pretty lucky to have the greatest kids ever born so the transition hasn't been too tough so far.  We will have to wait and see how he is in a few weeks when he becomes more alert and starts keeping me up at night.  For now, everything is bliss so I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.