Brian's Birth Story

About 2 weeks before Jason's birthday, I found out we were pregnant with our 2nd child! I have always thought the best part about being pregnant is the fun way you can tell the Daddy, and this time around was no exception. I bought Hannah a "Big Sister" shirt (in a 4T because that was the only one I could find!), wrote a cute and creative poem on a birthday card, and waited. And waited! I had to wait a little more than 2 weeks and it was killing me! Luckily I had one person I could tell and she was adamant with me that I keep it a secret until the appointed day - July 30th. When the day finally arrived, Jason was working in the yard when Hannah and I brought him a card. I told him he couldn't open it until Hannah and I were back inside. We ran inside and I quickly changed her shirt into her pretty "Big Sister" shirt. Within a matter of seconds, Jason opened the door with a HUGE smile on his face!

The pregnancy progressed normally with the same amount of morning sickness (5 months), but much less throwing up. My new little tummy-tumbler only made me throw up 3 times. Total! Because of this and some other changes I was feeling (gassy, stinky), I was pretty sure my little bundle of joy would be dressed in blue. There was a new ultrasound technician at the clinic where I worked who wanted to work on her skill, so I found out when I was only 15 weeks along that I was right. Our due date was March 29 and I was very excited because it was also my mother's birthday. Another pregnant Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went. Finally February rolled around and I was hoping he would make his arrival. After all, Hannah's and my birthday's were in February, so I thought my little man should join us. No such luck. With my mom still praying and asking me to hold out for the 29th, I did what I could for as long as I could. At the beginning of March though, I was ready to hold my son - see picture!

On the morning of March 17, 2010, Jason, Hannah and I got up and went to my clinic for our "Overseas Screening" doctor's appointments. After we (mostly) got the all clear, we went downstairs for my 38 week appointment. The nurse said I was dilating and having contractions, but wouldn't send me to the hospital. (Looking back now, I should have gone anyway!) So, I sent them home and I went back to work. I was still having contractions every 30 minutes or so, and the boss sent me home. I didn't stay at home though. It was a Wednesday and that meant only one thing - double dollar coupons at Farm Fresh! Yup, I went grocery shopping. I had a few contractions while I was there, but nothing I couldn't handle. If I remember right, Jason, Hannah and I even went shopping together later that night too.

Around 4 or 5, I started writing down my contractions. They were coming about every 9-10 minutes and lasting for about 30 seconds. Occasionally I would get excited, but then the next one would come 25 minutes later. I didn't know what was going on! My nurse did a HORRIBLE job telling me when I needed to go in ("When you are ready"), so I Googled it! Since my contractions weren't my definition of consistent, I thought I still had time. I honestly don't know what was going through my head, but I never had to labor at home before (see Hannah's Birth Story) and I was afraid that I wouldn't be close enough and the hospital would send me home so I kept waiting. Finally, around 9:00, I called Julie. We had previously arranged with our wonderful friend, Julie Albritton, that I could call her when we went to the hospital so she could watch Hannah. After I hung up the phone, I realized I was in trouble. I had 3 contractions while on the phone with her and the phone said it was a 6 minute conversation! She got to the house around 9:30 and we were on our way.

If you have ever lived in the Portsmouth area, you know what I mean when I say "tunnel traffic." Well, it was worse than that. They were doing maintenance or construction on 1 side of the downtown tunnel and had it blocked down to 1 lane!!! The contractions became really painful now and I was feeling the need to push - in the car! I told Jason and he got really nervous. He turned the flashers on and proceeded to drive on the shoulder or anywhere else he could to get us closer to the hospital. We got there and hurried as fast as we could up to the 4th floor - Labor & Delivery. We got there at 10:30.

I was in a lot of pain when we got there, so all I did was scream, cry, whimper and moan. Jason was harassing every person that came into the room about when I could get pain medication, but there was always an excuse. When they were wheeling me into the delivery room and my nurse told me that I was too far to get an epidural, I started weeping uncontrollably. The next hour was a blur. (I will say now this was NOT my finest hour - or even close to it). I did a LOT of crying and screaming through the pain - which I don't recommend to other women, by the way. Around 11:00, an angel (the anesthesiologist) came in with papers for me to sign. I was thrilled and couldn't wait. Unfortunately twenty minutes later they said that Brian's heart rate was dropping and he needed to come out NOW! Six minutes later at 11:33 pm, Brian Thomas Uphoff was born - naturally.

He weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces. He had to spend his first hour under warming lights to bring his temperature up. He had a full head of dark hair and is named after his 2 loving grandfathers. He is my (other) Prince Charming.