Birth Story

2/16/2015- Luke’s birth story

Today I am attempting to write about a huge day, the day I had my first son, Luke. Pregnancy was coming to an end and I was very anxious to meet our son. The week before we had an awful scare with Preslie coming into the world. Preslie is my brother’s first child and they had some very serious complications with her. I had been crying all week because of the terrifying experiences they had to face. I had been having major anxiety about not going into labor naturally. My Dr. has a 1 week over limit, and I was scheduled to be induced on that day. I was ready to argue about that and get him to let me wait two weeks after my due date. Lucky for me, I didn’t need to have that conversation. On Sunday morning (2/15/15) I felt like I was leaking. I had major anxiety about my water breaking at church, and I was also not feeling very well. Jordan assured me that we could leave church if I got uncomfortable. I made it through the passing of the sacrament, and we decided to leave.

We hung out around the house for the rest of the day. By 10pm I knew I was in labor. I got ready for bed with J and tried to get some sleep. The contractions were very painful on my back. I could not sleep through them. It is hard to describe how they felt. During the contraction, I was very miserable. In between I felt just fine. I could not lay down for the contractions, so I went down stairs on the couch so Jordan could get some sleep. I made it to 1am by myself, but began to get very scared to be doing it alone. I woke Jordan and asked him to be with me. The only thing comfortable was my yoga ball, so I brought it upstairs to wait for the bathtub to fill. The bath did help, but I was still in a lot of pain. Jordan sat in the bathroom with me and read his book about Vikings. I told him to go back to sleep, but he had too much excitement for that. At 4:30 I decided we should eat breakfast and go to the hospital. We made it to the hospital at 5am and the nurse put us in a triage room. We were told I was dilated to a 3.5 and if I made progress in an hour, I’d be admitted. It was very hard to lay in the bed with the monitors on. I tried at one time to get up and sit on the ball we brought, but the monitors stopped working. I was having a very difficult time during my contractions that were about 3 minutes apart. Finally at about 7 we were admitted and I asked for an epidural right away. I got an IV and about 30 minutes later the guy was there to put me out of my misery.

The epidural was a piece of cake to get put in. I felt pressure, but no pain as it went in. It was pretty scary afterward though.  My blood pressure dropped, as did my heart rate and Luke’s. There were people trying to give me meds to help the blood pressure, a nurse trying to ultrasound Luke because our heart rates were the same and they were worried that his wasn’t beating. I did some puking, and the dr’s did their job and everything stabilized. That was the point that I told Jordan to tell my mom to come right away. After that I was able to rest. I don’t remember falling asleep, but I did lay there, not talking, on oxygen, for a good hour before they checked me and told me I hadn’t made much progress, so they gave me pitocin. That kicked in quick and the next time I was checked I was almost ready to push. My mom got here at this point and was so helpful. She held my hand and reassured me in ways I didn’t know I needed. One hour later I was pushing! My epidural was literally perfect for labor. I could feel all the pressure, but none of the pain. I could lift my own legs and feel when my contractions were coming. I pushed with all my might. The nurse had told me all along that Luke’s head was “right there.” She gave me false hope that I would only need to push a few minutes. It ended up taking about an hour. Other than being exhausted from earlier labor, this part wasn’t bad. Luke’s massive head wasn't budging so the Dr. decided to do an epiotomy to help him out. After that, I also got a nice 3rd degree tear. A few contractions later he was out. It felt like a squirmy fish once his head popped out. The next thing I remember I was holding him on my chest and the Dr. was giving me a billion stitches. Luke’s hair looked a little red, and I think I offended a red hair nurse. I remember saying, “But I don’t even know any red heads.” haha. Luke’s hair is not red, it was just the gunk from labor confusing us.

Jordan took Luke to get his first bath. J asked many questions to make sure our baby was healthy and strong. I was wheeled into recovery. I remember feeling so exhausted. I really have never felt that tired. It was great to have my mom by my side while Jordan was with Luke. The delivery of our baby was so perfect! We were over the moon to have him here safe and sound. I was able to walk quickly after I got to the room and we began the road to recovery!

The aftermath:

Since Luke's birth there have been so many emotions! We are both still recovering from the event of labor. I am forcing myself to take it easy for 6 weeks. I really do think I need that time. The thing that has been the most difficult for me is all the emotions. I said many times to my mom that, "I should have eaten my placenta." lol. I had read and had friends tell me that helps with your emotions. I have decided, though, that these hormones and emotions are what make women amazing at what they do. Yes, the crying, worrying and anxiety are part of what I have been going through, but I am also experiencing a HUGE amount of concern, love and empathy for this little being. I realized that the emotions that come with being a woman are a huge blessing. I have already began to get over my fear and anxiety, but the love and care have only grown. We are so happy to be a family of 3!