Birth Story!

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Please note this is just my own personal experience and everyone experiences birth differently!  Yours may be way shorter and easier than mine was, so if you're nearing your due date, don't worry!  Your birth will probably be a walk in the park :)

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Never listen to anyone who tells you that you will give birth early.  When you start approaching your 39th week and you still have no baby, things start to get a little frustrating!  I was convinced I would be early since everyone and their cousin said I would.  At my 37th week prenatal appointment, my OB started checking me to see if I was dilated and effaced.  

Week 37?  Nothing.  “High and closed” is what they told me.  Okay, it's still early yet... I can handle that.  

Week 38? The same.  Okay baby, this has got to be your week.

Week 39? I started having a lot of signs that made me think it was going to happen at any time (more BH contractions & cramping).  At our prenatal appointment… I’ll give you one guess what my doc said after he checked me. 

No change. 

At that point, I was discouraged and as silly as it sounds, I was starting to feel helpless!  I just wanted to meet our little guy.  The next week things continued to be crampy and I had other changes so I knew something good was happening. We had our 40 week prenatal appointment on Monday, March 10.   When he checked me… I was a whopping 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced!  Wahoo!  I asked him to strip my membranes, if possible, to try to help things along. He let me know that there was about a 50% chance that it would actually do anything and he’d see me back in a week if nothing happened.  I walked out of the room praying that it worked.

It did.

I went to the gym after my appointment and noticed a lot more cramping, but nothing to get too excited about.  I went home and had a lot of energy for some reason (nesting??) so I cleaned our room, finished packing my hospital bag, and made two loaves of banana bread.  Jake’s sister came over and we all took Diego on a walk to the park.  I ran up and down the sledding hill with Diego, trying to get this baby moving.  When we got back to the house, I started to notice a little more cramping, but nothing organized.  My mom made a delicious dinner and during dinner I started to notice increasingly strong contractions. 

I decided to start timing them, just for kicks, and realized they were 7 minutes apart!   We watched a movie and I tried not to get my hopes up but they consistently were coming anywhere from 6-9 minutes apart.  Jake and I went to bed, but there was no way I could sleep.  The contractions were getting stronger and more regular, so I did my best to rest and continued timing them.  After a long, sleepless night, I got up and told my parents that I thought “today is the day” and that I was having real contractions.  At this point, they were around 4-7 mins apart and were tolerable- although it definitely took some breathing techniques. Diego was my constant companion and never left my side throughout the process.

By noon, things were definitely stronger and thing were picking up time wise.  They were 4-5 minutes apart and lasting at least 1 minute each.  By 2:30 they were 3 minutes apart and I was in a lot of pain, so we decided it was time to go to the hospital.  After getting checked in and hooked up to a monitor, they checked me to see what changes had been made.  I was totally expecting a “3 or 4 cm” but instead, the nurse said, “well, you’re 1.5 cm dilated.”  I almost cried right then and there.  Over 16 hours of contractions and no change.  They had me walk around the hospital for an hour, then asked me to come back to reassess.  That hour just about killed me.  3 steps, contraction. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.  3 more steps, contraction. Breathe, Breathe. Breathe.  

We went back to be checked and I’ll give you one guess as to what they said. 

Yep.  No change.

Well, I take that back.  I was then 80% effaced which is a great sign.  The nurse wanted to monitor my contractions and baby’s heartrate for a while longer before sending me home, so I got on the trusty birthing ball and attempted to work through contractions.

They were lasting approximately 2 minutes each and coming every 4 minutes.  The nurse checked me again after an hour, and said I was still 1.5cm but I was almost completely effaced and the baby’s head was “right there” so they decided I would be admitted.  This was music to my ears!

We walked from triage to L&D where I met my amazing labor nurse, Marie.  She literally was my saving grace and I am so grateful she was there for me!  We got settled in and they allowed me to get in the shower.  As much as I loved this, I also wanted to die.  The contractions were starting to stack on one another and I felt like I was constantly in searing pain.   Some one told me contractions feel like menstrual cramps.  HA.  Maybe menstrual cramps on steroids with a side of gut-wrenching agony.

As I progressed, the best way to describe it is someone has a hold of your insides and they’re tearing them out of you while attempting to cut your low back in half with an ax.  No breathing method could help lessen the pain.  No trip to my happy place could take me away.  No visualization, aromatherapy, or music could relieve the pain.  I tried it all.  I honestly don’t know how I did it besides just making it through each contraction, one at a time.  That became my mantra.  Just one more, just one more.  I was rechecked each hour and at midnight, my contractions were 3 mins apart, still lasting 2 minutes and they said I had progressed to 2cm.

With every contraction that came, I wanted to get an epidural, some pain meds, anything, but Jake helped me keep my focus and honestly, the contractions were coming so quickly and lasting so long, I didn’t really have time to consider it.  By 1am, I had been in labor for over 30 hours, hadn’t eaten in probably the same, and hadn’t slept in about 40 hours.  I was so drained and felt hopeless. At 1 am when I was only 3cm, I asked what I could take that was the most harmless but would just take the edge off.  They gave me a half dose of Stadol which did nothing more than make me dizzy and sleepy in between awful contractions.  But it was exactly what I needed.  The small 30 seconds of rest in between contractions allowed me to relax and my body finally started to dilate.  Quickly.  They checked me an hour later at 2 am and I was at 7 cm.

The last two hours were the hardest I have ever experienced. It literally took every ounce of my soul and all my depleted strength to get through each contraction. I was about to ask for another dose of stadol but the nurse said based on my contractions she thought this baby would be here soon!

The pain was like a train coming in the night... Complete silence until slowly the sound comes and begins to shatter the ground beneath it until passes by and leaves the world silent once again. I could feel each contraction building until my whole world was torn apart. I honestly can't remember much about each horrendous contraction except that Jake and the hospital bed handle bars were my saving grace. I was lying on my left side in the fetal position and would grab Jake's hand with my right hand and the handle bar with the other and give them tightest death grip possible. I remember sliding my legs up and down the bed as I waited for each second to pass.  It felt like I was in a hopeless, dark place for the 2 minutes they lasted and it took every breath I had to make it through. Jake said it broke his heart to hear me whimpering in pain, but I don't even remember making a sound.  The nurse checked me not even a half hour later and said I was 9, almost 9 1/2 cm and that it was time to get the doctor in there!   

When they say you will have the urge to push… it is an uncontrollable, all consuming need.  It took every last bit of my strength to not push.  I can still hear the nurse saying, “Brittany, breathe like this… quick hoo hoo hoo hoo.”  Ha.  Impossible. 

I remember seeing my doctor walk in and almost cried tears of joy because I knew the end was in sight and I was allowed to push!  My Mom, Dad, sister-in-law, and our photographer friend, Aliki, showed up just in time, although I honestly don’t remember seeing them.  They had the mirror for me to watch each push, but it distracted me too much so I kept my eyes closed to focus.  My contractions were so long I was usually able to get out 3-4 long pushes per contraction.  Then I had about 30 seconds to re-group before the next one came.  The pain of pushing wasn’t as bad as the laboring process for me.  Pushing was the most gratifying part of the whole process because it meant it would all be over soon!  I remember being so focused and quiet, just trying to breathe and use my strength to get him out! When the final pushes happened 30 minutes later, our beautiful boy was placed immediately on my chest and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

 He was finally here!

I was so overwhelmed with immediate love.  A part of my soul was born that day. 

It's amazing how quickly the pain fades from your memory.  I would do it all again in a heartbeat for this precious soul. 

 He is our whole world. 

*** Photo credit goes to our amazing friend Aliki