This was our first child. Five days before my due date, my water broke. I wasn't expecting that because I was told in the birthing class, that almost never happens. My husband and I were at the hospital about an hour later. I assumed that our baby would be born later that day. Little did I know that I was about to endure 30 hours of labor before we would meet our little one. Brandy Fleming, our nurse, came on duty the night before W was born, she had a student nurse with her and was instructing her as well as looking after me. I remember thinking that she must have been doing this awhile because she was the epitome of competence and confidence. She really knew her stuff. I also remember hoping that my son would be born on her watch.
The hours went by, and labor did not progress the way I hoped it would. Twenty-five hours went by, and a young doctor came in and informed me that if my labor did not move along, they would have to commence with "alternate forms of delivery." A C-section. Not what we wanted to hear. Brandy came in with her student nurse and asked me if I was experiencing the urge to push. I replied, "no, not yet." What I didn't know is that the epidural, along with blocking out labor pains, was probably also blocking out the urge to push. Brandy and her student nurse went outside and returned a few minutes later. "I'll tell you what we'll do, let's try some practice pushes." OK, sounds great, let's do that. She instructed me on how to push, and I did some pushes on her cue. She was an excellent teacher. The next thing I knew, my son's head was starting to appear, and various medical personnel was starting to come into my room. My husband was excitedto see the top of our son's head for the first time. So much excitement in the room. The contractions came every two minutes or so, and active labor went on for a long, long time. She told me at one point that her shift was ending at 7 am, and that she wanted to see this baby born before then. I have never had such a wonderful cheerleader as Brandy and her student nurse. About two and a half hours after starting practice pushes, our son was born. My husband and I can't thank Brandy enough. In my opinion, she saved me from an unwanted C-section. Thank you, Brandy!