My Birth Story: Welcome, Oliver!
I'm so excited to sit down and finally share my birth story. We’re so grateful that our sweet baby boy, Oliver, is finally here and as healthy and happy as can be. For the past few months, we’ve been knee-deep in the newborn trenches, working to strike a balance between managing sleep deprivation and trying to soak up every moment of life with him.
Disclaimer: This is for entertainment only. Every birth story is SO different.
Leading Up to Baby
I had a gut feeling my entire pregnancy that Oliver was going to make an early debut. At his first anatomy scan, he measured in the 90th percentile and was not showing signs of slowing down. Thankfully, we were able to rule out gestational diabetes, so we ultimately determined he was just going to be a big boy. Being 5’2” and petite, I knew that baby boy would start running out of space long before his expected due date.
Throughout my pregnancy, my due date changed three times, spanning from mid-February to early March. Fast forward to January, I was hospitalized with a nasty stomach bug. My dehydration was so bad that I actually ended up having early labor symptoms. After that, I mentally decided that I had to prepare for Oliver to arrive at quite literally any time.
Funnily enough, I went into labor at 3 am the day I turned 39 weeks. I jolted out of bed and was pretty certain my water had broken. A few minutes later, my contractions started, and we knew it was go time. Matt and I did our final preparations. I showered, gave Parker lots of kisses, texted my mom, and then we headed to the hospital at 5 am. On the car ride to the hospital, my contractions were already 4-5 minutes apart. At the hospital, they quickly confirmed that my water had broken. I was already 5cm dilated, and it was baby time!
It’s baby time! Or not…
The next few hours progressed smoothly. The plus side of having PCOS is that I’ve had horrifically painful period cramps my entire life. So, in comparison, contractions really didn’t feel much worse. I got an epidural when I was about 7cm dilated and just hung out reading, resting, and watching basketball. I honestly felt great. It wasn’t until 4 pm that things started to go south. I was ready to start pushing but was experiencing a persistent stabbing pain on my left side. (As backstory, I felt pressure at the same spot on my pelvis throughout my pregnancy, starting in my second trimester.)
The next few hours of labor were a total blur. Matt had to help me put together the puzzle pieces over the next few days. All I remember is that my epidural stopped working, and even though I pushed for more, the pain got increasingly more debilitating with every contraction and push to get baby boy out. I just remember saying, “he’s stuck” over and over. At this point, I had been pushing for 4 hours with little to no progress. The anesthesiologist returned to re-do my epidural and try to offer some relief. It didn’t work. At hour 5, I was exhausted, throwing up with every contraction (sorry, TMI) and shaking uncontrollably. My left side, where I felt pain, now felt like it had a hard bone just poking out. With each contraction and push, it stayed lodged and sent a shot of pain throughout my entire body. Ironically, I could feel pain everywhere you don’t want to during labor, but my legs and butt were fully numb.
I later found out that the debilitating pain was baby boy lodged in my pelvis.
It’s finally baby time!
I don’t even recall who was in the room at hour 5, but I remember saying, “I’m done. I don’t have anything left in me.” Within what seemed like two seconds of saying these words, I was being wheeled off to the OR for a C-section. They had Matt change while they prepped me for surgery. This next part is where I have to give Matt a major shout-out. He is my rock, and this day was quickly becoming our worst-case scenario delivery. We do not do well separated, especially not in high-stress situations.
Again, this next part is also where the story yet again gets blurry. As Matt was changing, I was getting prepped for surgery. However, when they went to check the effectiveness of the epidural, I could feel every poke of the needle. Long story short, I was told that I’d have to get a spinal block, and if that didn’t work, I would have to be put under. Cue my worst-case delivery scenario.
I later found out that Matt had heard the doctors discussing how concerning the amount of blood in my urine was right before surgery. So while I was spinaling (get it, lol?) in the OR, he was spiraling, waiting to be allowed to come in.
At this point, I was so numb that three people had to hold me up while the spinal block was administered. I got so drowsy after the spinal block, but I just remember how kind everyone was in the room. I felt so supported, even though this was a super traumatic few minutes. YES, all of this happened within a few minutes of saying I was done and didn’t have anything left in me.
Thankfully, the spinal block worked, and I heard the first cries of my sweet baby boy a few minutes later. He was born just before 10 pm, about 19 hours after my water broke.
Welcoming Baby Boy
Everything they say about becoming a mother is true. The second I saw Oliver and held him, I forgot all of the discomfort of pregnancy and the trauma of delivery. I was overwhelmed with so much love. He was just the most perfect boy I had ever seen, and I just couldn’t believe Matt and I were parents. He felt like the most perfect miracle we could have ever asked for. I spent the next few days in the hospital, recovering and putting back together the puzzle pieces of delivery.
It wasn’t until the anesthesiologist came in the morning after my delivery to check how I was doing that I turned to Matt and asked, “Wait, was yesterday really bad?” I honestly blocked the majority of my delivery completely.
Final Thoughts
Fast forward, it has now been a few months with our sweet baby boy. Time is already moving too quickly, and he’s seemingly getting bigger every hour. While we’ve been a bit sleep deprived, Matt and I have so much love for our little family. I’ve also never been more thankful for Matt. He helped me through the first few weeks of postpartum like a champ. Poor guy really embodied “in sickness and in health” because I was in rough shape for the first two weeks. It has also been such a gift watching him become a dad. He is so gentle, nurturing, and just the best.