The Kraus Family: He Looks Like a Brody

I woke at 6:15 on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 with a trickle. During the last month or so of pregnancy it had been taking me several minutes to lug my big belly over the side of our bed and stand up. However, on this particular occasion, I moved faster than I had in weeks and rushed to the toilet in time for the trickle to turn to a gush of fluid. My initial thought (after being woken from a deep sleep) was that I had almost just peed all over myself and that the last two weeks of pregnancy was going to be interesting and require me to shop in the adult diaper section of Walmart. Greg, who was still in bed asked me if everything was ok (apparently it sounded like I had gotten sick). I told him I thought my water just broke and before I knew it he was in the bathroom in a flash looking a little shocked and was literally jumping from side to side in the bathroom. Then it hit me that it was my older sister Sarah's birthday and there was a very real possibility that my son was going to be born on her big day (considering my water in fact did break and I had not almost just wet the bed). I called Dr. P and explained what happened and she thought it did in fact sound like my water broke, but that I was not in labor because I was not having contractions. She suggested that we get our stuff together, eat breakfast and meet her at her office. She said we could go straight to the hospital, but I figured that if someone was going to tell me that I had peed on myself, I would rather it be Dr. P instead of some random hospital worker. So, we did what she said and took showers, ate breakfast, packed our bags and met Dr. P at the office around 8:45. The whole morning while getting ready, I kept leaking fluid, making me feel like I wasn't crazy and that it was "go time" (a person seriously couldn't pee this much). The minute Dr. P saw me, she knew my water broke. As an added bonus, I had already lost five pounds of fluid...yea! Dr. P did a quick exam in the clinic and sent us on our way to the hospital. Since I wasn't in labor, it was a very calm and yet surreal ride from Dr. P's office to the hospital. Greg had not eaten breakfast and needed deodorant, so we calmly stopped and took care of said errands while I called my family. I had already called my parents to give them the heads up since they would be driving from Pensacola (an eight hour drive). I got a hold of my sister Audra, but Sarah was in an all day training (that I wasn't aware of until later). Anyway, still continuing to leak my lovely fluid (apparently this can happen and is considered normal) we got checked in to our room and started the pitocin to start labor around 10:00. My nurse told me to tell her at least a few minutes before I absolutely had to have my epidural. I went in knowing I would want the drugs and so I lasted about four hours and got an epidural around 2:00 pm. I was feeling good...could feel absolutely nothing. Dr. P had come up to check me around 1:00 and I was a four. So feeling like I was making progress and feeling no pain, life was good. I was able to talk to my parents who were driving from Pensacola and Sarah (who I had finally gotten a hold of) was driving down from Dallas. Then, I started feeling my legs and could feel contractions in one spot on my right side. I called in my sweet nurse (seriously, she was AMAZING) and told her what was going on and she said sometimes "hot spots" can occur. She said I could get another epidural, but I was hesitant to get another one because of how squirmy I was the first time around (apparently very jumpy and tickilish on my back). We decided to try stronger doses of medicine using my first epidural. It did n.o.t.h.i.n.g! Sarah got to the hospital around 5:00 and my parents at 7:00. I could still feel the hot spot, the contractions were getting worse and I was still at a 4. At this point things were looking bleak. After several attempts of a higher dosage of medicine, I decided to get another epidural at 7:30. Thankfully, this one took and I started feeling good again, but since I wasn't making any progress (still at a four), they decided to change my position and start a fresh bag of pitocin. Dr. P came back to check me at 9 and much to our shock and surprise, I was at a 10! Dr. P said Brody looked like he was doing great, so we were going to just let my body keep working for a little bit without me having to do anything. I started pushing about an hour later around 10 and Brody was born at 11:06. 8 lbs. 4 oz 20.5 inches long. When they first put him on my chest I said...

1. "I'm sure every mother says this, but he really is the cutest baby I've ever seen."
2. "And he totally looks like a Brody."

Here are a few of the "must have" hospital pics that capture the first moments of my little Brody's life in the real world. I love him more than words can express and am beyond grateful everyday that he's here and healthy.

My eyes look closed in all these pictures due to my naturally
squinty eyes and that I was SO tired (but SO happy) by this point. I like
how Brody looks like he's looking up at Greg.