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A BIRTH STORY, From FOUR Years Ago…

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I never thought about sharing my birth stories with the world, let alone on the internet, but the more I read other’s which they’ve shared, it leads me back to questioning why haven’t I done the same? Birth is such a beautiful, emotional, and spiritual journey that mothers all across the world have experienced. I’ve seen some very special births shared by video, I’ve read some that made my jaw drop, and others that just prove that women are truly incredible beings and can still have a baby at home!

My sweet Ava Noelle was due on New Years Eve almost FIVE years ago. Yep, this is a birth story of the rock ages (or so it feels like). I remember three weeks before she was due making my husband take me down to our yearly Christmas parade. It was PACKED, and parking spots were sparse, but I insisted I wanted to walk around and get into the spirit. After searching and searching, alas! We found a parking spot, and that’s when my mind changed and I realllllllly didn’t feel up to walking around. Pregnancy, right? We never know what’s good for us or what we want. Except food, food decisions were never an issue…

So, after all that time it took us driving around, walking downtown to the parade, and trying to find a place to sit and watch… I was over it and wanted to go home. Thankful for my dear husband at that time, he had the worlds largest jar of patience! I love you Tyler!

I had my 38 week appointment set up at the hospital for an amniocentesis. The doctor knew baby was big, and I was miserable, and wanted to give me a chance being a first time mom to be able to have her naturally. I hadn’t been feeling very well the day before, and that morning, but I went in with high hopes that her lungs were ready for a possible induction. They hooked me up to the monitors, and I remember looking up at the clock and it reading exactly 1:05pm. That’s when it all started….

I was EXTREMELY nervous for the amino. I didn’t know what to expect, and all I pictured was a giant needle going through my belly button and accidentally hitting my baby. So, I tried my hardest to get my mind off of it by thinking of Christmas and hoping I could hold my baby girl as soon as possible. The nurse sat and stared at the monitors for awhile, came in and out with another nurse quite a few times. I started to wonder why they hadn’t gotten the procedure done yet, but didn’t ask too many questions. Not much later, I was surprised when my doctor walked in. He took one look at the monitor and one look at me and said, “yep, you’re in active labor. Go home, pack your bags and check yourself into the hospital.”

WHHHHHAAAT? How was I in labor? Isn’t labor supposed to be accompanied by intense contractions? Pain? My water breaking? I mean…. none of that was happening. I had been having braxton hicks from as early as 20 weeks, so the “contraction” tightening and every once in awhile with some slight pain were normal for me. I had gotten used to them. I was appalled, but also SO grateful they didn’t have to do the amino. WOO HOO! I was having this baby girl tonight (or so I thought).

So, I’ll let you in on a little secret of mine. Something that’s extremely silly but something I was sooooo worried about during delivery. I really, really, really, was afraid that I was going to poop. You know, while pushing. I had heard horror stories from nurses, friends, family, and that was something I didn’t want my mother, baby daddy or my sister in law (who was coming to take pictures) to see! It would be way too embarrassing for me and I just couldn’t handle it. Walking out of the hospital the clock read 3:36pm. I knew I needed something to eat. That way I could try to get it all digested and possibly poop before it was go time. My thought process, right? Haha, I’m laughing that I’m actually sharing this with you…

I wasn’t checked into the hospital until that evening around 7pm. My contractions were getting stronger, but so far apart that I wasn’t too worried about getting there quickly (so I had plenty of time for my poop problems to be solved). Hours went by, friends came by to visit…. time was clicking by and progress was creeping at a snails pace. However, I WAS dilating so my option of being released wasn’t on the check list. Midnight hit, and I awoke from a sound sleep. Contractions were stronger, and closer together. At that point I was uncomfortable, and getting a little bit more nervous as to what was to come. My water still had not broke, but I was sure my little one was coming soon!

Then… they stopped, and I had a peaceful nights sleep.

Breakfast came, I nibbled. Lunch came, I nibbled. Then, it was the doctors advice to speed up the labor and give me pitocin. This was something I DID NOT want to do. I wanted this to happen the way my body naturally wanted it to happen, but at the pace we were at it would have been, who knows, days left of this slow labor. He asked if a epidural was in my birth plan, and I told him I wasn’t opposed. His advice was to give me the epidural an hour after my pitocin kicked in. That would allow my body to kick into labor, while allowing it to rest to the baby could move into the canal without stress. Sounded like a good plan to me. I was ready!

Are you bored yet?

Processed with VSCOcam with x1 presetMy nerves were at an all time high. I knew that the pain would be getting worse, and that things were going to happen a lot more quickly once the medication kicked in. Emotions were rushing through me and it felt as though the blood in my veins were ice cold. My mind was in so many places, and I truly was terrified.

The nurse came in to set up my IV. Needles don’t necessarily bother me, and I’m the weirdo patient who always likes to watch. I tried talking to her about who knows what while she was getting it ready to place it, just to get my mind off things. About 15 seconds after my IV was placed, I started seeing white dots…. I felt nausea drape over my whole body, and I felt like my head was floating in the sky…. I knew I needed to get up and take a deep breath, but I had no idea what was going on. So, I made up the excuse that I needed to go to the bathroom really bad. I had hot flashes at this point, and I felt clammy. Something was up.

I got to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I was ghost white. I splashed some cold water on my face and took a deep breath, trying to talk myself out of whatever was happening. The feeling wasn’t diminishing, and I knew I probably should say something.

I walked out, and my mom looked at me straight in the face. She knew something was wrong. I informed the nurse of my symptoms, and she advised me to get up on the bed, and gave me some oxygen. I couldn’t tell you how much better that made me feel. My doctor was called, and within 10 minutes four to five different doctors and nurses were in my room. I had an EKG to check my heart, I had a EEG to test my heart waves. Mind you, pitocin was kicking in and my contractions were getting muuuuch worse. To the point where I was able to breathe, and it felt as though my whole lower body was on fire. WHAT WAS GOING ON?!

A wheel chaired down to get x-rays on my heart, and during that time ended up finding out they were worried my symptoms were coming from a possible embolism, in other words, air in my IV during placing. Wow, talk about nerves now…

BY THE GRACE OF GOD, all tests came back normal and during that time, minus the unbearable contractions, I was feeling better. So, that’s when I demanded my epidural. Once I was back in my room, the clock read 4:45pm. WHERE DID THE DAY GO? How has the baby not come yet? I was checked before the epidural was ordered, and was at a 6. Things were moving along!

Still following? I give you kudos, because this is a novel! I promise, my next birth story won’t take up two hours of your day…

Epidural was given, HALLELUJAH! I was feeling better, and ready to get this show on the road. The clock said now 5:30 (funny how I remember all of these times). My eyes were fixated on the clock a lot. It had been 28 hours since I had been in “active” labor. THIS NEEDED TO BE DONE. At 6pm, she checked me, I was at a 10 and ready to rummmbleee!

Then, guess what else happened? I pushed for 45 minutes, and delivered my beautiful Ava Noelle on December 17th, 2008 at 6:45pm. After 29 hours of labor, she was born two weeks early at a healthy 8lbs, 8oz and 19 1/2 inches long. She was perfect. I was in love, and ecstatic that we both made it through that long journey. Honestly, pushing for that 45 minutes was probably the easiest part of the whole experience.

Processed with VSCOcam with x1 presetOkay, so theres is my story! Did you stick with me through the entire thing? If you did, that really means a lot. Now, I’m going to ask one more thing of you… LINK UP! Oh, and stay tuned for baby birth story number two… I promise it isn’t as long, hehe.


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