Our son Brady Andrew Leischner was born December 23, 2004.   Now Kevin and I had prepared for a baby that would be on time or one that would be late considering this was our first child.  I had been very active walking etc. my entire pregnancy.  I gained 30lbs and I was even told that I needed to slow down a little.  I went to the doctor that morning and met with Rita-Marie who asked if I was really trying to hold off having this baby until after Christmas-the answer was YES.  So being so knowledgeable she didn't do an exam because she said sometimes that onsets labor, she also told me to take it easy.

Needless to say I am sometimes horrible at following my providers’ advice.  I went last minute shopping for one gift for my husband at Potomac Mills but ended walking the whole mall up and back - my mom swears that's why I went into labor.

At midnight my water broke and trying to stay calm, we called the hospital.  Monica was at Potomac hospital and called back as soon as she could.  I was not having any contractions so she told me to get some rest and shower but I needed to be in the hospital by 3 am.

All I kept thinking was this is for real and nature is now taking its course and soon we are going to see our son.  Once at the hospital, Monica did several tests only to find out that my water had only partially ruptured.  I was given pitocin to onset contractions - this is not something I had planned on but I knew that Monica had my best interests in mind.

After I was on pitocin, they eventually broke my water all the way.  Labor set in at about 6am.  I used a birthing ball, walked around in my room and tried to focus and breathe.  I got to 6 centimeters and decided to get an epidural - partly because of pain but mostly from
being tired.  I had been up the entire day before and most of the following morning - and I knew I would be pushing soon.

The rest was great, and I felt recharged which was good because I went from 7 centimeters to 10 in about an hour.  I won't lie - the pain was intense right before pushing but I just kept breathing squeezing the life out of two tennis balls and talking myself through it.  Being an athlete I thought mind over matter.

Monica had left for the day and Rita, whom I had seen earlier that morning, was going to deliver our son. She prepared me for pushing by telling me that first time mothers usually push for about an hour. She was an awesome coach and got me through every push.  She even kept my husband involved with cheering me on and let him lay Brady on my chest once he was born.  I wouldn't trade that moment for anything. I only pushed for 20 minutes and our new early Christmas present was born. At 3pm Brady weighed 8 lbs 2oz and was 19 ½ inches long. 
We were home by 5pm Christmas eve - I highly recommend if your body and baby will allow it, go home, it's so much more comfortable there.

I hope you enjoyed my story.  I truly think that an easy labor came from being in shape and also not gaining too much weight - don't worry; I think I ate a pint of ice cream every two days.
I want to thank the Adler Center for everything that they do.  They are a group of unbelievably caring people.  Thanks for being a part of our lives and for helping bring into this world our most precious gift from god.

Love,

Kristina Leischner