Emmitt Steven Brandvold

The Announcement:

We are thrilled to announce to the world that
Emmitt Steven Brandvold
was born
October 28th at 11:43am
weighing 8lbs 11 ounces.

The Story of His Birth
-way more than you ever wanted to know

Early on I had set up with my doctor to be induced on Friday October 29th. My mom was coming the day before, Kevin had work scheduled off and this date brought me a lot of peace- knowing the end and when it would be. However, in the final weeks of my pregnancy I got really anxious about giving birth and really wanted to go into labor on my own- having never experienced that with my previous babies. Toward the end of my pregnancy I found a chiropractor who helped me with my back, hip and sciatic pains of late pregnancy. She was my miracle worker. She also practiced acupuncture and at my request she electrically stimulated the pressure points that have been known to induce labor. She did this shortly before I was thirty eight weeks and not much came of it and then she did it again on Wednesday the 27th. Within a few hours I was having very mild/ hardly noticeable contractions. I had tried a lot of ways of inducing labor and many many times had contractions so I really didn't think this meant much of anything. I didn't even want to mention it to Kevin because I didn't want to get his hopes up. He always wanted the "rush to the hospital" experience so I didn't want to be playing with his emotions. That night we ate dinner and went to Brayden's cub scout pack meeting. The contractions were still coming but they didn't hurt. Kevin stayed for another church meeting and I took the kids home and put them to bed. When Kevin got home I gave him a hair cut and had to pause through contractions so I decided I had better start timing them. We sat down to watch some t.v. and I downloaded a contraction timer on my iphone. They were coming about every three minutes but were not very long and still not painful. I was getting tired by this point so I went upstairs to take a bath and discovered I was bleeding. I called the hospital and they told us to come on in. And so off we went at about 10pm... very anxious... very excited...
My whole labor and delivery experience was really positive even though it was long exhausting and in the end very painful. Kevin and I stayed up that whole night "laboring." It was really a time I will always treasure. I have the best most supportive husband anyone could ask for. He made our long night fun- it felt like an extended date night. We walked the halls, we chatted, we chose a name, we snacked, I sat in the jacuzzi. We had a great nurse. I wanted to hold off on getting the epidural because I hate losing my mobility and other reasons... My goal wasn't to go natural, I just didn't want to be a bed bound spectator to the experience.
My progress was slow. By early morning I was only about 6 centimeters and my labor seemed to be stalled- I think due to the iv fluids they started pumping into me. The nurse wanted me ready to get an epidural at any time but she didn't tell me that all the fluids tends to space out your contractions- oh well...
By the time the doctor came at around 9:30 I was 7cm and a bit weary from a long night and frustrated by my stalled labor so she broke my water and hooked me up to pitocin. Shortly thereafter the pain became too much and I was exhausted and since I thought it would be close to the end I got my epidural. The half hour of waiting for the epidural and then getting it through MISERABLE contractions was definitely the worst part of my labor... as to be expected I guess. The epidural was slow to kick in but when it did, I relaxed for just a short time- maybe 10 minutes or so- and then the nurse told me it was time for baby to come. Two gentle pushes later and Emmitt was born. It was a miraculous moment- one of those sacred special few moments in life that can't be put into words.

The First Few Days of Life
Special thanks goes to my wonderful brother Scott. Without a plan or a warning, he came over late at night on Wednesday night and stayed with the kids. He got them all ready for school, took care of Brielle and even missed his first class that day. He did it all without a complaint and having him there was such a blessing for us.

Our time in the hospital was great. My parents got in shortly after Emmitt was born so the kids were well cared for. Kevin and I were able to just focus on little Emmitt and not worry about our busy lives. The nurses were good to us and it was a pleasant stay.

We got home Saturday afternoon. Emmitt's first night of life contained a seven hour sleep stretch. The next night, he slept for a six hour stretch and then since we have been home it has deteriorated to last night when the longest stretch he did was one and a half hours- here we go again :). He is definitely "waking up." He hasn't been fussy though. There has been very little crying. He has a bit of jaundice but nothing requiring treatment- just something we have been watching. He is a sweet sweet little guy and everyone in our family has fallen in love with him. His siblings adore him and fight over holding him. He is just so loved!

The Pictures -
- it's kinda a big deal so there might be a lot...