PERSONAL POST | MY BIRTH STORY

4th of July this year looked a lot different than last year. This year, we did all of the typical 4th of July things with our almost-one-year-old: splash pad, park, bbq, pool, popsicles, another bbq, fireworks, etc. Last year, I was about a week past my due date and anxious to have my baby boy!

Our induction appointment at the hospital was for 4:00 that afternoon and we knew if we didn’t keep ourselves occupied we’d go crazy that day. So we slept in as long as we could, tidied the house, Craig finished up a couple house projects, and I got our hospital bags all ready to go. We left our empty house and nursery with a sign that read “Welcome Home, Wesley” and couldn’t believe that we’d have a baby when we came back home.

We hit up Costa Vida for a late lunch, then headed straight to the hospital. We got checked in and settled into our room just after 4:00. Our nurses were super awesome and super chatty! One of them loved to hunt so of course she and Craig had lots to talk about. It wasn’t until about 6:00 that Pitocin was going and I felt like labor had officially started. Contractions started to pick up quickly and grew more and more intense than the ones I was having on my own. At 8:50 my doctor checked in with us and broke my water. When he did, I just bawled and bawled. I was so emotional. He thought I was crying from pain and was surprised I was at that point already, but I explained to him it wasn’t the pain. They were anxious/nervous/excited tears and it just all came over me at once. Then he told me that when he broke my water there was some meconium in it and that when Wes was born, he’d need to be immediately placed under the care of respiratory therapists rather than right on my chest. He assured me it was routine and that Wes would be just fine. While that could have easily caused me to worry, just the opposite happened. I had heard of that happening to lots of babies. A calm came over me and I didn’t think about it again the rest of the night.

At 9:00 I had my epidural and was feeling all sorts of magical. We had my favorite show playing on the TV and watched some fireworks from our hospital room. My mom and sister had been in and out of the room a couple of times to bring Craig food and to visit so that helped a lot of the night pass. My friend Ashlee stopped by at the perfect time, right when our nurses came in and told us they were going to do some internal monitoring on the baby. Wesley’s heart rate was dipping some with each contraction so they just needed to make sure he was still doing great. Despite all of this, Ashlee had Craig and I and the nurses laughing and the mood was light. She’s not a doula but should totally consider it.

At 10:20 I had progressed to an 8 and by 11:00 I was fully progressed so my nurse called the doctor. He didn’t want to exhaust me and have me push right away since this was my first baby, so he didn’t get back to the hospital until midnight. When he arrived, my nurse was prepping me for pushing and it was go time! I pushed through two contractions when all of a sudden Craig told me, and I’ll never forget it, “his head is out!” I was shocked and at first didn’t believe him. I was ready to push my night away. But then one push later, at 12:30 a.m., my baby had arrived.

He let out a high-pitched cry and I melted into a puddle. Actually, I sobbed uncontrollably. The doctor quickly whisked him away to the other side of the room where a respiratory team took care of him. Everything looked great so they took his stats and brought him right back over to me. Then I got to cuddle the cutest and most swollen 8-pound, 19.5-inch baby and my heart has never been the same!

(All photos by Amber DeHaas)