Brennan Kent Jensen

Our sweet little Brennan came into the world on 

February 3, 2014 at 6:06 a.m. 

Weight 5lb. 15 oz

Height 18.5 inches

He came exactly three weeks early at 37 weeks. Here is my story:
On Sunday morning, the 2nd of February, at about 4 a.m. I woke with contractions. I timed them and I was certain I was in labor and would be going to the hospital soon. I was only 36 weeks 6 days so I decided to take a bath to try and slow them down in case it was too early and because I didn't want to wake the kids up yet. They got to every five mins. apart so I got out and decided I had to go to the hospital. I hadn't woken even Nick up yet, but I just started getting ready to go. Then right after I got out of the bath and was getting ready I realized the contractions were gone. So that lasted for about an hour and a half. They just completely disappeared so I went back to bed. The whole day I would have like one contraction every hr. I didn't know what my body was doing and they weren't very painful so with out them being consistent I wasn't going to go into the hospital.

I went to bed that night still with nothing consistent, but I was thinking in my head, he's coming tonight, I know he's going to wake me up again in the middle of the night and this will be it. I told Nick and I think he believed me, but at the same time didn't worry about it.

Sure enough at three in the morning I woke up with two contractions ten mins apart that were very painful. I told Nick I had two contractions ten mins apart, but I know they were too painful to ignore so I got up. As soon as I got up that's when every thing just went fast. Right after standing I started having contractions every 2-3 mins and they were painful. I told Nick we had no time and had to leave NOW.

By the time we packed the kids bag, called my friend, got my stuff and left it was probably a little around 4 a.m. We dropped the kids off and poor Jacob was hysterical. I tried calming him down, but I told Nick I couldn't wait and I knew the contractions were too strong to wait around.

We drove to the hospital and Nick dropped me off at the emergency room entrance. I walked in and told them I was in labor and they told me where to go. I waited for Nick to park and we went up together. We checked in at triage and of course the nurse took her sweet time when I told her I had only been contracting for an hour and a half. She told me to get changed and wait for her. I did all that and was ready so fast, but she took her time. I told Nick to go get her because the contractions were so close and strong I was nervous how far along I was. Finally she came back and hooked me all up. She checked my cervix and told me I was at a 9. I think my heart almost stopped, then when I asked, "Will I have time for my epidural?" and she responded with a chuckle and said, "No"  I think then it really did stop for a minute. I immediately looked at Nick and said, "Nick I can't do this I need my epidural." I pretty much said that the whole time.

They tried explaining that I could get it but it wouldn't work in time. I kept saying I don't care just give it to me, but then the anesthesiologist just walked out of the room and they shut the doors and curtains and the nurse said, "Ok Dana let's do this, let's have this baby!" And I almost started crying then because I knew there would be no pain relief, I was going to have this baby right now whether I wanted to or not.

I kept looking at Nick saying things like, "Nick help me I can't do this" or "I'm gonna die, babe I think I'm gonna die." It's kind of funny now, but it wasn't then. Nick was SOOOO good. He held my hand tight the whole time and I squeezed the heck out of it. He kept telling me I was so strong and I could do it, that I was doing great. I really couldn't have made it through with out his support. I would just look at him, I'm sure with a look of terror on my face and keep saying, "I can't do this, I'm going to die." And he would just look back and encourage me.

Let's just say the next 35 mins were the hardest thing in my life. I can't really describe how I was feeling, I was so incredibly scared out of my mind to the point that I honestly didn't believe I would have the baby with out dying. I've since forgotten all the pain, but I often remind myself I never want to do that again :)

So about 35 mins of pushing and the little guy came out. I will say after going through all of that pain and fear, when I finally got him out I felt such a sense of accomplishment, I really wanted to hold him and I was so happy I did it. It's a different experience then just painlessly pushing out my other kids with an epidural. I really felt like I had done it this time all on my own and that I had been through one of the toughest things in my life for my baby who I loved so much. I feel happy that I got to experience it and it really makes me appreciate my kids even more.

Now with that being said, I will never wait to go to the hospital again, but we couldn't have really gone much faster than we did so I think it was going to happen either way.

I'm so happy to have this sweet little boy in my life. He is just a sweetheart and so calm. I couldn't be more blessed to have three happy healthy children and a loving and supportive husband.

 The day before I went into labor

 Brennan baby

 February 3, 2014

Precious little boy