birth story

mom

Well, you were late. Nearly everyone said you would be early! And you were NOT. But that’s okay!!

Leading up to your due date, I had a few bouts of timed-out contractions. We would get really excited, text Alyssa (our doula), and then they would stop. It was very frustrating! We kept having to go back to the doctor because I wasn’t in labor yet. They would check me and I was not dilated past 1.5cm every time! I had been 1.5 cm since 38 weeks.

We tried everything to jumpstart labor. It’s probably all crap, but at least it gave us something to do. Stretches, walks, drinks, curb walking, the whole 9. Nada. Finally, at my doc appointment at 40+4 on Monday, September 29, they asked me how I felt about induction. At that point, I said “great!” And she said “good, your blood pressure is slightly elevated and we want to send you now. Today.”

We were so excited! Luckily we had the car packed. We’d had the car packed everywhere we went for nearly a month, so that’s another thing we’re glad to be free of. ‘Cause you never know!

They told us to go eat some breakfast and head to Labor and Delivery to check in. We ate at Chick-fil-A (chicken burritos), went by Walgreens to get me some more fisherman’s friend cough drops (I had a gnarly cold and they’re the only thing I could take), and went by Starbucks to get a pecan crunch latte.

It was odd pulling up to L&D not in a rush or any sort of tizzy. Just walked up to the desk, told them our name, they took my info and Tyler moved the car and about 20 minutes later, we were in our room! Way more leisurely than we pictured. Didn’t have to worry about timing or traffic which was a blessing!

Now, technically, my labor started at about 11 a.m. on the 29th and you were born at 4:56 p.m. on the 30th. You may think, wow, that’s a really long labor! But I promise we were just sitting and waiting on me to dilate for most of that.

Once we got there, they started me on misoprostol, an oral medication that helps dilate/soften the cervix, but they could only give one dose every 4 hours. So all day Monday we were just chilling. The hospital brought food so I ate everything I could while I could. Honestly overall the hospital food was pretty good!

I was still not quite 2cm dilated when they checked at about midnight. One of the side effects of the meds are contractions, and they can’t give your next dose if you’re contracting too much, which I was, so I had to wait.

Then I went to the bathroom at 2:30 a.m., felt a pop, looked into the toilet to find a piece of mucus and then my water was a very steady trickle after that. I did my best to wake your dad up and tell him I’m pretty sure my water broke. The nurses came in, got me fixed up, and put me back in bed while they chatted with the midwife about what to do next.

I got up an hour later and water literally gushed out into a puddle, it was rather an odd feeling.

I had some (actual!) contractions after that and our doula came, still bearable. We tried the positions we learned and all in all it was going fine. Then around 4 they started pitocin and that was hoooooorrible. I was so nauseous and wasn’t getting a full contraction done before another started. No breaks. Tried fentanyl, it helped initially but eventually I was just groggy and having horrible contractions and confined to the bed. STILL 2 cm. I did the math and told your dad I was ready for the epidural.

Finally an hour and a half after that (you have to finish 2 bags of fluids in your IV first), at about 9, I finally got it, slept for an hour and a half, woke up and was all good.

OH also in my IV I had to get penicillin since I was Strep B positive, which hurt like FIRE in addition to the contractions so that was fun. There was one nurse, Sarah (who also helped with my epidural) that could lower the rate I got it so it didn’t hurt as bad. She was the best.

Then we just waited for me to be dilated enough to push, which I finally was at around 4:30. It was crazy to see the contractions on the monitor and not feel them! But once it was time to push, I could feel the pressure to push when I needed to.

I had a good epidural: I could move my legs to lift them, feel when I needed to push, and even feel your head! Just nothing hurt. I could feel your feet under my ribs while your head was crowning, which made the final few pushes really fun. I didn’t want to break you! I pushed for about half an hour and you were born at 4:56 p.m. Everyone said I was a good pusher and that you were a specimen of a newborn! You were immediately super alert and trying to hold your head up.

You were 8lb 9oz and 21.25” long! Which explains why I was so uncomfy the last weeks.

Your dad and I got some time alone with you, and then your Grandma, Grandpa, and Sweet Mama came to meet you followed by Aunt Kaitlyn, Aunt Kendall, and Uncle Matthew. The next day, your Sweet Mama, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kaitlyn came again in addition to your Grandpa and Shannon. People brought gifts for you and snacks for us and were just so thrilled you were here!

Our first night in the hospital was delightful. You slept so much! And fed so well! And nurses only came in when we were already up with you! Then the next night you cried the whole time and would only stop if you were feeding. Then with the light on at 7am we discovered you’d peed out the back of your swaddle, and once we changed you, you slept for 3 hours. This will be a theme moving forward.

You passed all your tests with flying colors (8 and then a 9 on your APGAR, didn’t even cry during your circumcision) and they let us bust out of the hospital a little after lunch on Thursday. Your dad had to get the car so I had to put you in the carseat by myself which I had not done before and you did NOT like it and certainly let us know. The discharge nurse wheeled me out with you in my lap in the carseat just screaming and I couldn’t reach you to comfort you, so that was not fun. But, once we got you in the car, you were asleep before we made it out of the hospital parking lot! I hope you continue to find car rides soothing, even with all these potholes.

Your dad may have more to add, since there were several hours during which I was out of it, but we’re really glad to have you here, healthy, and home!

dad

I certainly won’t retell events your mom already covered, but will fill in some gaps or at least give my perspective on the matter. I was quite terrified your birth would go wrong. Alyssa had grown so uncomfortable and the pregnancy had gone on longer than expected, I thought something was bound to go wrong. Anxiety at its finest, because nothing did go wrong in the end.

So much of that day simultaneously flew by and crawled onward like a snail. I had scheduled an appointment with the head editor of the publishing company for my novel on Monday, in hopes that we would still be in that ‘waiting period’ of pregnancy (it was the earliest appointment she had, don’t judge me too harshly.) As mom testifies, we went to the hospital that morning, just hours before my appointment. So, as any dedicated writer does, I took the video call from my room and expressed how we were just waiting, nothing serious had begun yet. And nothing would for many more hours.

Playoff baseball had also begun the week you decided to arrive. Which was great news, as I passed the time watching the Wild Card games. Let the record show that I watched the Tigers and Guardians play game one while hanging out in the hospital. Later that day I watched the Padres and Cubs. It was a great distraction but also signified how long we had been there, and it was only Monday.

On Tuesday, things became clearer. Scarier, maybe, but nonetheless more apparent that we would be meeting you soon. The nurse even believed so, and she was close, thinking you would arrive Tuesday morning, when you actually came Tuesday afternoon. Alyssa’s water broke and she started the med process to induce. Things, from my perspective, went from tolerable to bad to worse, to a point where I was afraid what was happening to your mom. Before the epidural the labor had become so intense that she grew quiet, didn’t say much, laid down, got up, laid down again, while listening to her favorite music. She would occasionally say some lines to the playing Hamilton track so I knew she was still there. But the contractions never let up, and after the Pitocin bout, she lay there on the bed to one side, eyes closed from nausea, and whispered, “I want the epidural.” I felt truly powerless in that moment, wanting to help her and knowing that I could do nothing about it, just hit some buttons and tell the nurse what Alyssa needed.

Things looked up after that one last push from 4a to 7:30a. I’ll never forget watching your mom sleep soundly after the Epidural, wondering where she had gone but knowing she now had immeasurably more comfort. Hours would go by before she began to dilate, and things never slowed down after that. Once she hit 9cm, the doctors prepared for the moment. Then 10cm, and thirty minutes later you were here. I had the incredible honor of watching you be born, so I know you are ours. And what a joy that is.