Joyce’s Birth of Antoine Neville

Joyce Brewer is the creator and host of:

MommyTalkShow.com was created by Emmy award-winning TV journalist, Joyce Brewer. This video blog unites her passion (Motherhood) with her profession (TV News). Joyce is a married mom living in Atlanta with her husband and son.

Joyce's Birth of Antoine Neville

For years, I've known whenever I got pregnant I would need a c-section. Around 2006, while I was living in Mississippi and working as a TV news anchor, I had a myomectomy. It's surgery to remove uterine fibroids and brought me immediate relief from heavy bleeding and painful periods. My gynecologist told me that a c-section would be the safest option for delivery to avoid uterine rupture. Although much of the research shows the uterine rupture risk for a vaginal delivery after myomectomy is less than one percent, most doctors won't take the risk.

On May 30, 2009, I married my husband, Antoine. We had been friends and co-workers at the same TV station for years. He got a new job at a station in Atlanta, so I left my job, put my condo on the market and moved there with him a week before our wedding. Less than two months after we got married, we were pregnant. At my second OB appointment, after I took three (yes, three) positive pregnancy tests, my new doctor in Atlanta gave me a due date of March 20 and said he would like to schedule my c-section for March 15 so I could reach 40 weeks.

Fast forward through a "text book pregnancy," minus any nausea but with a bunch of sciatic nerve pain and chiropractor visits mixed in (see video at the bottom of the story), I started having contractions the day before my surgery date. Oh joy! They were varied and crampy and annoying. I used an Iphone app to help me track them and they never really became consistent. But the on call doctor with my OB's practice said me and hubby could come in to the hospital if we wanted and they would check me. We went in, I wasn't dilated at all and by then the contractions had almost stopped. So we went home and tried to get some rest before we headed to the hospital the next morning for the c-section delivery.

Oh, I forgot to add the best part. In all of our OB appointments for my pregnancy, we never found out the sex of our baby. So for months, I had to explain to people that my husband wanted it to be a surprise and that I couldn't find out and then attempt to keep it from him. Just wouldn't work. So all of my baby shower gifts were gender neutral and we decorated the baby's room with green, white and brown dots, plus a brown wood crib.

Back to the c-section. Months before my delivery, I started praying for the operating room team who would be there for my surgery.  I asked the Lord that they would have clear minds, no distractions and clearly be focused on me and the health of our child. Praying and releasing those worries really put me in a positive place, even though I was having major surgery and about to become a first time mom. Finding that peace also allowed me to just relax and listen to the directions the anesthesiologist and nurses gave me as they administered my epidural in the OR.   I told them, "You're in control. Just tell me what to do." A few of them remarked, "That's a great attitude to have."

As the pain medication coursed through my system, I was so still and ready to see my baby. My OB had already made the incision when hubby walked into the OR about 10 minutes after all the preps began. Hubby had the camcorder rolling just in time to capture the birth of our baby on camera.

My OB said, "Dad, you're gonna call this one." As he pulled our baby's head from my body, my doctor said "Beautiful face!" Since I was kind of groggy from the meds, I mumbled, "What is it?" The whole OR team said, "We don't know yet." And within seconds, my husband said, "It's a boy!" and started giggling like a mad man.

We named our son Antoine Neville Kendrick Jr. I never intended to name a boy junior or give them the nickname A.J., like we call our son. I always thought sons should have their own identity, not their father's, and I was always kind of annoyed by nicknames. But once I saw how our son was basically a carbon copy of my husband, right down to his baby feet, I couldn't resist.

If we have another child, I'd like to request the exact same operating room team who delivered our son. Especially the anesthesiologist. He pumped me up with just the right amount of medication that I didn't feel a thing. No pulling or tugging, like a lot of moms report.  Between the prayers and medication, my text book pregnancy ended with a text book c-section delivery of a baby boy who looks, laughs and snores just like my husband.

Check out Joyce's other phenomonal creation here:

Great Feature from Mommy Talk Show about the benefits of

Chiropractic care for expectant mom's and newborns: