Meet Braylon Avery Bush!
He was born on March 28th, 2019 at 1:15pm (one day before his due date!) and was a healthy 8 pounds and 19.75 inches long. It was so incredible to finally meet him, all of the anticipation and uncertainty over the past 9 months finally came to an end. Of course I felt like I "knew" him a bit from carrying him, but officially meeting him after he was born will always be a special moment. And seeing Josh meet him and hold him for the first time just warms my heart all over again.
Braylon was born with a head of dark straight hair, thinner on the top and fuller in the back. It has started to get a bit of curl over the past couple of weeks which is just darling. He has dark grey eyes for now, we assume they will change to brown at some point (Josh and I both have brown eyes), but time will tell. And of course, one of the first things all parents check...10 fingers and 10 toes! My personal favorite is his adorable smirk when he is happy and full after feeding. He is already showing so much personality...it is hard to not be crazy about him!
Now for a Cliffs Notes version of the birth story...I will start off by saying labor itself was quite the "experience." I think I felt every emotion possible within 24 hours and we definitely have a lot of memories to look back on from that day. I intended to have a natural labor and delivery for numerous reasons after talking with my doctor and educating myself on the pros and cons of the various options out there. It definitely was not easy but I did it all natural, no epidural, no drugs, no anything. And looking back, although it was the hardest thing I've ever done and most painful thing I've ever experienced, I wouldn’t change a thing.
In terms of the timeline, my labor began with contractions that started around 1am that day. As directed by my doctor, I labored at home until the contractions were a minute long and about 4 minutes apart. We left for the hospital around 9:30am and I was 5cm dilated when the doctor checked me initially...I was so happy/proud I had made so much progress at home but knew there was still a lot of work to be done. Around 11:20am my water broke and the contractions and pain really escalated after that. Josh was a tremendous birth coach and kept me calm and motivated when things were getting quite intense. I felt the strong urge to push around 12:40pm. And Braylon was born at 1:15pm...so all in all, it was a little over 12 hours of labor and 35 minutes of pushing and our little guy was born. Wow, I’m getting chills just thinking about this moment again!
Call me crazy, but I took my camera and gear to the hospital in hopes I'd be up for taking some Fresh 48 photos of our new little family. I’m so glad I did! The day after he was born, we took a few minutes and snapped some photos as a family of three!
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. We have learned so much as new parents and have been adjusting well, blowouts and all! I am enjoying the time off work and bonding as a new family. And naturally, I am taking plenty of photos along the way...including some formal newborn portraits and that I will share soon! Thanks for reading!
-Kristen
