Birth Story

Here it is...THE BIRTH STORY. I know a lot of ladies like to hear how labor and delivery went, and it is good for me to get this down in the family records so that I one day tell Ryan how he came into this world.

As far as contractions go, I had had a few Braxton Hicks every night for about three nights before I went into labor. I didn't think too much about those. The same thing goes for Monday night...there Jacob and I are, watching X-Men First Class, and all the while I am having Braxton Hicks. Those contractions continued on into the night, but nothing that kept me awake. I got up at 7:30 to go to the bathroom, and I noticed I was still having contractions, but again, nothing too extreme or severe. I started our normal daily routine, got breakfast, got Kyla dressed, did her hair. At about 8 I went in and woke up Jacob and told him that I was having pretty regular contractions, and he said, "Really?" and then started a workout. I was planning on having just a normal day with some minor contractions, because that is what happened with Kyla. However, that was not to be so. At about 8:30, they started coming faster and stronger, so much so that I started having to concentrate on breathing through them. So we started to think about getting someone to watch Kyla. Dani (sister-in-law) didn't have the car until 11, so we decided that we would take Kyla to her little best friend neighbor's house. By 9, Jacob was showering and the contractions continued to come faster and harder, so much so that by 9:30, I told Jacob that we needed to get to the hospital fast (my Dr. told us to go to the hospital when the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart, and my contractions were coming 3-5 minutes apart) or we were going to have this baby at home. So we dropped Kyla off, scrambled to grab everything that we needed (and we forgot a few things) and rushed off to the cafe.

Now I had originally wanted to have the baby without an epidural, because, call me crazy, but at some point I want to feel what a delivery feels like. But after a few contractions in the car, I knew that I wouldn't be able to relax enough to have a smooth labor. The contractions were just coming so fast and so hard without any type of gradual transition that I knew I would need something to help with the pain. So we got to the hospital at about 9:45. By the time I'm checked in and in my room it was 10 AM and I was 5 cm. I asked for a low dose epidural that could wear off for the time to push (and I could still feel and move my legs), so they got that for me and at 10:30 I was at a 6+. The epidural helped me be able to relax enough. The Dr. came in at 11 and checked me and I was at an 8. At 11:20 I was at a 10 and ready to push. Two pushes later our sweet baby boy was born at 11:33. It was such a different experience with him than with Kyla because they were able to put him right up to my chest while they cut the umbilical cord. They then cleaned him up and brought him over so I could nurse him. It was such a precious experience.

So there it is. A completely different experience that I had with Kyla, and one that we learned from. I'm glad I was able to labor at home like I did. I'm also glad that it was so quick, so I didn't starve and run out of energy like I did with Kyla. I also didn't tear at all, which was very nice for recovery. I hope that in subsequent births I can find a way to manage the pain a lot better, even if I am bombarded with contractions. But all in all, it was a very good experience.