My Birth Story

Ryan saying hello

First pics when he was placed in the warmer

Our first photo of Jack to second he was put on me.

Bye bye belly.

Me in labor and taking my last belly pictures :(

Jackson Ryan arrived Saturday the 25th of July at 5:28 am. He was 37 and 4 days gestation. He weighed 6 lb. 14 oz. and 19 inches long. (His first pedi appointment 2 days later he was 20.5 inches so the nurses were off at delivery, woops)

I battled preterm labor since 20 weeks, went into L&D multiple times, was admitted for a total of 6 days, was on medicine to stop my contractions, and bed rest from 20-37 weeks. It has been a hard pregnancy on both Ryan and I emotionally and financially (since I’ve been out of work for so long). But all this being said I would do it ALL over again in a heart beat; although the thought of being pregnant again makes me want to vomit.

I went to my 37-38 week appointment on Friday (the day I went into labor) and I was a generous 4 cm dilated. I went off my anti-contraction meds 7 days before and had been having pretty irregular and intense contractions on and off and severe menstrual cramps. No bleeding or spotting, just the cramps. I fully expected to go into labor at any time. So after my 12:00 appointment on Friday I started having some pretty intense cramping but they weren’t consistent yet and quite honestly, I’ve had those type of cramps before so I didn’t really think too much of it. Instead of driving all the way home we went to lunch at Olive Garden in case they turned into something more since I knew I was so far dilated. I hate having contractions in public because it either just makes you look like you are having really bad gas and the during big contractions people think you are going to drop the baby right there in front of them. The cramping progressively became worse and I started to tighten with the cramping so I knew this may be it. Previously, I would have cramps or tightening, but not at the same time. We were getting excited, but I still didn’t think I would be having a baby. We then walked the mall for almost 2 hours which was excruciating for me as we went. The contractions were getting so strong that I was having trouble walking. We decided to go to the hospital to get checked just in case. I thought it was going to be one of those false alarm visits like all my other triage visits. Ryan is actually the one that said we need to go and he was right!

We got to L&D, they checked me and I was a 6 cm, totally effaced so they admitted me. When the nurse was checking me in triage for dilation she said “nope, you’re having a baby tonight!” WHAT?!!!!! That’s when it hit Ryan that we were having a baby, the look on his face was priceless. He went from looking like he was going to pass out, to greenish looking to smiling all in 3 seconds. They started my IV and gave me my fluid bolus in case I wanted an epidural (which I knew I was going to eventually). I decided to wait to get it since I wasn’t really in pain yet even though I was contracting pretty regularly by this time. I wanted to be able to move around my room and walk the halls.
We moved into my room and Ryan and I walked the hospital for almost 3 hours to let me labor and bring baby down and dilate me. I was terrified my water was going to break as we walked the halls and lobby; thankfully it was early in the morning by that time so the hospital was empty. I mean, if it broke would I have found cleaning staff? “Hey you, can you go clean up my bodily fluids in the lobby?...sorry!” I would have been pretty embarrassed. I came back to my room after it got difficult to walk anymore and I wanted my epidural before they broke my water since I knew things could happen fast after that.
The first epidural was placed and it wouldn’t work because there was a kink (we think), so they took that one out and placed another one. The epidural placement wasn’t horrible, but definitely wasn’t pleasant. Once the second one was placed it was awesome; I could still move my legs a little bit and felt the tightening of my contractions but not the pain. They broke my water to let him come down further and then we started waiting for me to get to 10 cm. Sitting it my own amniotic fluid was by far the most disgusting thing about my delivery hands down. If my epidural wasn’t already placed I would have been in the shower to let that process happen because it was seriously grossing me out. Ryan and I turned off the lights and he took a nap (I just dozed); it was heavenly after laboring and walking for those couple hours. I was amazed that I was in labor and completely comfortable. Although I was so hungry I could barely think straight. I wish women were allowed to eat during labor, but oh well.

After only an hour I started to feel a lot of pressure but I really didn’t think I could be ready to push since it was so quick. The nurse checked me and I was almost 10 cm with a tiny lip of cervix so she had me practice push and said baby was still too high. She said baby looks great on the heart monitor so we decided to elevate my head a little bit and I went back to bed to let gravity bring him down instead of starting to push prematurely. About 40 minutes later we started pushing.

My nurse, Michelle, was AMAZING!!! They set up the delivery table and got me into position; we talked and laughed in between pushes. I had a weird moment were I really wanted to brush my teeth so I made Ryan get me my toothbrush. (I have NO idea why that was necessary all of a sudden). My nurse was like “nobody cares what your breath smells like sweetie, your vagina is in my face and your feet on the sides of my head…your breath is not important.” She was SO funny and relaxed. She coached me on breathing and pushing and calmly counted out my contractions. I didn’t want anyone to yell at me to push or be loud. It was weird, I didn’t want anyone but my nurse to talk to me during pushing or count out my contractions….poor Ryan tried during my first push to tell me good job and I think I remember biting his head off and telling him to not talk to me. I wanted a mirror to watch so we set that up which was really cool, I was so excited when I could see his hair. I am glad I decided to do that, I got to see my son being born and it was unreal.

My mom and mother in law, Carla, were also in room which wasn’t my plan originally but I am happy that I invited them in. Carla stood next to Ryan and my mom stood on the other side. I asked one of them to take pics and they didn’t know how to work my camera so I asked Carla to call my 16 year old sister in law, Rachael, to come in and take pics. She walked in and saw me spread eagle with the top of baby’s head visible and I think she went into shock for a few seconds. After the initial shock (hehe) she took pics for us and did an amazing job! I have photos of the entire thing (even a few vagina shots which I promptly deleted from my camera) and LOVE them. Rachael really should be a photographer. She was so excited about seeing him born too; it was really special to share that with her.

So I started pushing at 4:30 and my nurse called my OB at 5:00 to come in then saying get there in 30 minutes to give him enough time. Well, I guess baby had different plans….I got the hang of pushing fast and baby was almost crowning. I only pushed during half of my contractions to help me stretch slowly and my nurse did perineal massage and stretching the entire time. She was awesome, my epidural seems to wear off half way through pushing so when baby’s shoulder was pressing on my right pelvic bone I wanted jump out of my skin. It was incredibly painful; my nurse put counter pressure on the inside and pressed on my pelvic bone to help alleviate it which really helped. I just tried to stay calm and breathe thru my contractions even though the pain was at least 11 out of 10 at that moment.

Baby was crowning and the nurse was pushing on his head to keep him from popping out too fast and tearing me badly so we waited thru about 5 contractions, not to mention my OB still wasn’t there since I went so fast. She called the on call doc to catch baby and she didn’t make it either. During my last contraction I didn’t push but my body pushed him out on its own so the nurse delivered me! Everything was so calm and peaceful, it was awesome. He was put on my chest immediately and they did some of their initial assessments there which was cool. My first thought was that Jack looked EXACTLY like Ryan…I mean totally the same facial features, same nose, mouth, eyes, hands, legs….everything. He is definitely Ryan’s son. My OB ran thru the door when he was put on my belly and he was SO sorry he missed it. It was funny, he was so embarrassed. I love my OB and I kind of wish he was there during the delivery. He has been such an important part of my pregnancy and he missed it.Jack only needed a little blow by oxygen for a couple minutes because he was a little blue, otherwise apgars of 8/9. My OB delivered my placenta and stitched up my bilateral small internal labial tears. I am SO thankful I didn’t tear too badly. My OB said they weren’t even “tears” but kind of like a stretch mark on the underlying skin. My nurse gets full credit for that since she let me labor down for so long and did so much stretching during my pushing.
Recovery has been amazing. I was up and walking around within a couple hours of having him with Ryan’s help and within few hours I could walk on my own. They took out my IV as soon as I got to my postpartum room. I took a shower within 4 hours of having him and that was like heaven. When we got home 3 days postpartum I cleaned my entire house since I felt so great (which I don’t recommend, wowza I was in pain after that.)

My delivery could not have been better; I loved the staff and the hospital. It was a calm and wonderful experience; we laughed and joked during pushing. I would do it over again it was so great. I wish I had a video of it, that is my only regret

Breastfeeding on the other hand was horrific. Painful isn’t even the word I would use to describe it….Jack has an awesome suck but a poor latch which is not a good combination for successful breastfeeding. He wasn’t able to feed very well during the first 2 days of our hospital stay and he had blood incompatibility jaundice. He was on the bili bed and losing weight so I decided to supplement formula (it helps the jaundice if baby is eating enough and pooping enough). We worked on latching for a few days but he just never was able to properly feed and gain weight. I pump and feed him breast milk and also supplement him with formula. My supply is dwindling and I’ll have to feed him 100% formula soon.

So my entire labor was 15 hours from start to finish which I didn’t think was bad at all, especially since I was allowed to labor down for so long when I was technically “ready” to start pushing much earlier. I get all teary eyed when I think of it and the look on Ryan’s face when he was pulled out and laid on my chest. It was absolutely amazing.