Brekan's Birth Story

It's about time for a post! We welcomed the newest member of our family on Friday, March 2 at 8:51pm.

Welcome to our family Brekan Randall Wendzel! Here is how he made his entrance into the world.

I had my 40 wk. appointment on Thursday and was checked by our wonderful midwife who said I was a good 4 cm. That in and of itself made me very happy because it took an induction and an epidural to get to a 4 with Coleman. She said that it could happen at anytime and to try some long walks to possibly get things started. Brekan was positioned really well too.

So Thursday evening Justin, Coleman, Harley, and I took a nice LONG walk around the farms property. It was actually a really nice walk. Justin carried Coleman in the backpack (although, maybe if I had, Brekan would have been here sooner). Harley had the time of her life being off-leash and running back and forth to us while exploring the woods. Coleman had a blast watching Harley "run run run" (as he likes to call it). And I enjoyed talking with my husband and we both enjoyed the time of it just being the 3 of us and Harley for what could possibly be one of our last moments as a family of 3.

Friday morning, around 8am I started having really bad lower stomach cramps. They kept on coming about every 15 min. so I figured we were probably starting early labor (hooray!). I tried to keep my excitement level down just because I didn't want to jinx the fact that I may be going into labor and I also knew that it could still be a while before the little guy decided to show up. Coleman and I kept busy by running errand to get bagels to put in the freezer, pick up night diapers and a few groceries, and I tried to pick up the house a bit. Justin came home for lunch and the cramping was still coming on about every 15 min. It wasn't a pain that was unbearable, I could talk and do things through it, but it was definitely uncomfortable. My wonderful husband reminded me to try and rest during Coleman's nap because this was most likely the start of labor and I would need energy to finish it out (what an amazing guy!). So while Coleman took his afternoon nap, I tried to relax and then the cramping slowed down a bit, but was still on and off. I was having doubts that this may/may not be labor so I called my midwife (who also delivered Coleman) and she had me come to the office to get checked again and see if anything was progressing. Justin came back from work, since Coleman was still sleeping, and I headed in. I found out that I was indeed making progress and was already at a 6/7. I explained to our midwife that my parents were on their way down to take care of Coleman and be with us this weekend (as I was pretty sure something was going to happen). She suggested I go home, pack our bags, get Coleman situated and head to the hospital. WOW!! So I went home, asked Justin if he wanted to have a baby that night, and we got busy packing last minute things, feeding Coleman dinner, and finishing up some last minute things around the house. Meanwhile, I'm still having some cramping, about 7-10 min. apart, but I'm able to work through them without too much trouble. My parent showed up, I went over a few details with my mom about Coleman's routine, etc. (but I had left a rather detailed list already of his schedule), we said goodbye to Coleman and headed off for the hospital.

Just before leaving for the hospital

After checking in - just 40 weeks!

We were officially checked in around 6:30 pm. I was checked again during a contraction (we were on the fetal monitor to see how baby was doing), and I was already at a 9. CRAZY!! We took a picture (see below) of me smiling at a 9....I never thought that would be me at 9cm about to have a baby!! She broke my water and then the labor really started to progress. I ended up having all front labor contractions. We labored in our room for about an hour and I was really having a hard time resting in between contractions because I just couldn't get comfortable and the contractions felt like they were coming right after each other (even though they were really 3-4 min. apart). I did a lot of groaning and hanging over Justin's arm just to get through each one. Justin suggested that we try the birthing tub. I was a little hesitant because I didn't want to get in it and then not like it and have to get out all wet, but decided to give it a try anyway.

Crazy we're already at a 9!

OH MY....the birthing tub was AMAZING and immediately brought relief between contractions. It was still tough to work through them, but the warm water helped me to relax which was exactly what I needed. After about a half hour in the tub, I felt like I needed to push and so we started pushing. At this point, instead of groaning and working through the contractions, my new thing to do was scream.I was yelling at our midwife and Justin to just go in and take the baby out in between pushes. I really thing that everyone on that birthing floor could have heard me...but hey, whatever works in the moment right? After a half hour of pushing, Brekan Randall Wendzel made his way into the world through the water! What an amazing experience, and even cooler, his daddy got to deliver him!! He came up out of the water and they layed him on me, his eyes were wide open and it took him a minute to cry. Apparently, babies born in the water come out a lot more calm then those who aren't because of the easier transition from inside the womb to warm water, to the air.

Justin carried Brekan across the hall to our room and layed him on my chest when I got there. After a little while of bonding together, we had him weighed. 7 pounds 11 ounces, 20 and 3/4 inches long, 14 head circumference (only a half smaller than Coleman). What a little peanut. He has skinny little legs, long fingers and toes, and a cute head of hair. He is perfect.


We chose the name Brekan because well, we liked it. It is different, but not weirdand it fits well with Coleman. Randall is my dads name and we wanted to have a family name for his middle name. We are so thrilled that he is here! He is a very good baby, calm, and only cries when he's naked, needs to eat, or be changed. Right now he has his days and nights mixed up (hoping that changes soon).

First moments meeting his little brother - he brought him a giraffe to snuggle with

Coleman is doing a great job being a big brother...he is helpful, gentle, and really transitioning well (of course, we have our moments).