Henry's Birth Story--Part 1

Today I'm going to share part 1 of Henry's birth story, and then tomorrow, on his birthday, I'll share part 2. This was such a whirlwind day, and I don't ever want to forget any of it! Warning: this might be the longest post ever. 🙈 Also, it's going to be full of TMI, so if you get grossed out easily, stop reading now! 😊

During my pregnancy, I was super focused on preparing for labor. I wasn't afraid of pushing a baby out, which surprised me, but I just had an idea of how I wanted it to go, and I was willing to do whatever I could in preparation. After doing some research, I really decided that I wanted a natural childbirth with no epidural, mostly because I was absolutely terrified of having a c-section, and what I read was that an epidural can increase the chance of that. One of my best friend's mom had all 4 of her babies vaginally, and without any medication, and she bought me a book about Dr. Bradley's "Husband Coached Childbirth" methods. I read that book like my life depended on it, and really internalized a lot of his ideas and suggestions. I began doing pelvic tilt exercises in the floor every night pretty early on, because it's supposed to help strengthen the muscles needed during childbirth, as well as be a good way to ensure that the baby is in the birthing position. I wish I had a picture of me 9 months pregnant down on my hands and knees, cause I'm sure it'd be funny now. :)

My due date was Wednesday, October 19, and my plan was to work up until that day and then begin my 6 week maternity leave. I thought that I would for sure go past my due date, and I was kind of excited about having a few days off work before the baby came, just to finish preparing our house, my body, and my heart for what would soon be happening. Those final days before your first child arrives are kind of scary. I had no idea what to expect about labor or raising a child, but I knew that life was about to change forever and that it would be a long time before I had "me" time. I went to bed on Saturday the 15th after working all day, and as I lay in bed I could feel the baby moving like crazy. I took a little video of my stomach because you could see him move from one side to the other. Sometimes I watch that video and it's hard to believe that this little boy I have now was ever inside there. I try to picture his little face that I would see in 2 more days, all scrunched up in my belly, and I just can't. I had been to the doctor a few days before, and was only dilated 1 cm, which is where I'd been for about 2 weeks. 

I woke up at 2:30 A.M. to use the bathroom, which happened at least twice a night. I didn't even have to turn on the bathroom light, I went so much. I got back in bed and as I lay there I began having some cramp-like feelings that weren't going away. I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for months, but they were never painful. These kinda were. I got up and went back into the bathroom and turned on the light this time, and in the toilet was bloody toilet paper from when I'd wiped. I was in SHOCK! I knew it was an early sign of labor and meant that my cervix was dilating. I went downstairs and called my doctor because I just KNEW I needed to go the hospital soon. I told him what was going on and he basically said that I don't need to head to the hospital until contractions are 4-5 minutes apart. I waited around for a few hours, and finally at 6:00 I woke Caleb up and told him what was going on. I thought that my contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital around 7:30. 

They took me back and began hooking me up to monitors, which sent me into a downward spiral because this was not how I wanted my experience to start. I wanted to do this naturally, which meant the freedom to walk around to help speed up labor. They checked me and to my utter dismay, I was still only 1 cm dilated! The hospital's OBGYN said that they would call my doctor and ask him to admit me so they could begin induction drugs. I about lost it, because all of a sudden I just knew I was going to have a c-section. (I realize now that this was a bit over dramatic, but at the time I was devastated.) Caleb encouraged me to speak up and tell them that I didn't want that, and luckily they had no problem sending me home to let labor progress there. We got home and I laid down around 10 to try and get some sleep, because remember I'd been up since 2:30! I wasn't in awful pain, but it was bad enough that it was hard to sleep, and I basically dozed on and off for about an hour. 

I won't bore you with the details, but basically it was a loooooooong, and exhausting day of waiting. We went on a walk that evening which caused my contractions to speed up. They were getting closer together, and much more intense, and I felt good about the fact that things must be progressing quickly. We went home and ate dinner, and I showered and laid down to closely monitor contractions, and at about 10 P.M. I was certain that they were now coming 3-4 minutes apart, and that within a couple hours we'd have a baby. HAHAHAHA. It's probably a good thing I didn't know how much longer we'd wait, because I think I would have given up right then. 

We got to the hospital and were set up in a room for them to examine me. And then I was told that I was 2, maybe 2.5 cm dilated. TWO CENTIMETERS. I was distraught and completely discouraged. They told me that they couldn't admit me to Labor and Delivery until I was at 4, and that they'd let me stay for an hour to see if things progressed, otherwise I'd be sent back home. Well at this point I was hurting BAD, and the thought of going home and continuing in this pain made me start to lose it. I was like a crazy woman, pacing back and forth through the room, and stopping to grip something, anything, when a contraction hit. I'd read in Dr. Bradley's book that contractions rarely last longer than 1.5-2 minutes, and so "You can do anything for 2 minutes" was one of the mantras I had prepared for myself. Unfortunately, all rational thought was flying out the window, and I started crying and telling Caleb that I didn't want to do this anymore, I didn't want a baby, and that it wasn't worth it (oh, how wrong I was!). When a contraction hit, he would repeat "Breathe. Breathe. Breathe." over and over again, and I finally told him THAT I WOULD KILL HIM IF HE SAID THAT ONE MORE TIME! :)

The nurse came back after an hour and checked me again, and I was now at 3 cm. I seriously cannot even describe how upset I was. It was now close to midnight and I'd been up for almost 24 hours, I was in agony, and there was no end in sight. They had a doctor come check me and he said that he thought I was maybe at 3.5, and that he'd go ahead and send me to Labor and Delivery. My precious nurse, Brittney,  came and wheeled me to my new room, and she asked me if I wanted to go ahead and start fluids in case I wanted an epidural. I told her my fear of this whole thing ending with a c-section, and thus my reason for not wanting an epidural. She checked me again and I was now at 5 cm, and she said that she thought I was far enough along that the epidural wouldn't slow labor down. It didn't take much convincing! It took 30 long minutes to get the fluids, and then another 20 or so before the anesthesiologist got there. My contractions were 1 minutes apart and I barely had a chance to catch my breath in between them. I still don't know why they were coming so fast when I wasn't dilating as quickly, but all I know is that once I got that epidural, the whole game changed. My lower body was numb, and my legs felt so heavy I couldn't move them. When the nurses came to check me they'd have to bend my legs and lay them to the side because I had no control whatsoever! 😂 It was a weird feeling, but I loved it because for the first time in 24 hours, I wasn't hurting.

From 2:30-6 we slept a little bit, but there were a couple visits from the nurse, and one episode where my blood pressure dropped so low that the machines started beeping and the nurse had to come in and start giving me fluids to try to get it back up. I have never been so exhausted in my life! And the task of delivering the baby was still at hand...

Come back tomorrow for part 2! It's the best part of the story, because it's when we get to meet our baby! Lots of pictures will be included. :)