Birth Story

My Elias Wayne is here!

He was born August 9, 2015 at 8:16am, weighing 7 pounds; 5 ounces, 19.5 inches long. My shortest delivery of about three hours and my first completely natural birth.

The Birth Story:

Wednesday, I had my 39 week check-up and to my disappointment, I was only dilated half a centimeter, which is basically nothing. On Saturday, Mom came back from visiting Meredith in Texas. Emily, Dad, the kids, and I rode together to pick her up at the airport and she took us out to eat at Applebees. I made a joke that if I ate something spicy, it might kickstart labor (thank you, Applebees' Grilled Chicken Wonton Tacos). We came home and I felt sudden nausea. I put a cold rag on my face, breathed through what I thought was false labor and had a difficult time falling asleep.

Around 4am, I woke up to use the bathroom. When I sat up, I felt a small pop. I checked my underwear and felt the bed, but everything was dry. My nausea had subsided and Elias was hiccuping. I laid back down and dozed off. At 5am, I felt a strong urge to pee, so I hurried to get up. I barely made it to the toilet and was soaked. I was half-asleep, trying to decide if I had peed myself or if it was my water leaking. When I stood up, I noticed pink color in the toilet and liquid was just falling out of me. I woke Zac, told him my water broke, then woke my parents. I called Dr. W, grabbed my hospital bag, then Zac and I headed to the hospital, stopping for gas along the very bumpy way. 

By 5:30, my contractions were intense and two minutes apart. There was so much burning pressure on my pelvis. We made it to the hospital and I checked in. I told them I wanted to see how I labored without medication (which received a ton of support) and I didn't want to be confined to the bed. By now, it was 6am and I was dilated to 5 centimeters. I overcame a few waves of nausea, sucking on ice chips, groaning, and wiping my face down with a cold rag. I decided that laboring on all fours or on my knees would be as comfortable as I could get.

At 7:30 or so, I was hooked to a monitor to check the consistency of three contractions. I was practically leaning over the edge of the bed to get the pressure off my pelvis, so I was told to face the head of the bed and hold on to it when it was upright. I was at 8 centimeters, second-guessing myself for not requesting an epidural, and was told if I felt the urge to push, call the nurse back in. One contraction later and I told Zac to get her back in there ASAP. I was up on my knees holding onto the upright section of the bed, forcing myself to breathe deep. Dr. W arrived, confirmed 10 centimeters, and I started pushing. It was a pain I never felt before. Constant pain and pressure, my body pushing against my will. I kept my eyes closed, feeling the movement of a head and arms. I was waiting for the "ring of fire" that never came. I held my breath and pushed as hard as I could, just wanting the pressure to go away. I felt a gush, then relief.

When I opened my eyes, the room was spinning. All I wanted to do was sleep! I looked down and saw the cord hanging from me. Blood was everywhere. I kept hearing "Okay mama, take a look". I was still up on my knees and Dr. W passed my little baby to me from underneath. He was covered in vernix, making tiny cries. The nurses helped me take my shirt off so I could give Elias skin-to-skin contact. Zac cut the umbilical cord after it stopped pulsing and I passed the placenta. My lower region burned, but I didn't tear... at least, not enough to require attention. My little Elias had arrived, a lot of hair, gray eyes, perfect little fingers and toes and probably the most vigorous boob-latch of all three kids.

We were discharged this afternoon and I've been trying to get used to a newborn again. He's content, but demanding. When he's hungry, there is NO negotiating. He likes to be held, hates to be naked, digs my singing, and is loved so very, very much.