Kane Aaron: My Birth Story

My sweet baby boy is three weeks old as I write this, I can hardly believe it. Three weeks has flown by, and it’s crazy how 9 months of pregnancy and 6 hours of labor now feel like a distant memory – but at the same time feel like it all was taking place yesterday. Luckily I made lots of notes about our birth story while I was recovering in the hospital so I can reflect on those and write down the complete story. 

BEFORE HOSPITAL

Throughout my pregnancy, I never really experienced the “Braxton Hicks” that everyone talks about. Because of this, I wasn’t sure what to expect when the contractions started. At about 37 weeks, my stomach started getting incredibly tight and felt super hard for about 1 minute, and this happened probably 3-4 times a day. This lasted for the next two weeks, except once I hit 38 1/2 – 39 weeks, it happened more frequently, probably 2-3 times an hour. In my head, I had a feeling these were early labor signs, but with this being my first baby I had no idea! 

At my 38 week appointment, I was already dilated 1cm. This made me extremely excited because it meant my body was preparing for labor. I ate a ton of pineapple the next week between my appointments, and made sure I walked for at least 30 minutes each day. The morning of my 39 week appointment, I took my two German Shepherds on a 2 mile walk hoping this would get things going. I was expecting to be further along at 39 weeks, but when I got checked I was still 1 cm. Baby boy was sitting SUPER low though and the doctor could literally feel his head when she checked me, so she asked if I wanted my membranes swept. I said let’s do it, so she took care of that quickly (it wasn’t painful at all for me, but I know some people say it hurts). After this, she checked me again and I was at 2cm! This was about 4:30pm on April 16th. I have friends who went into labor almost instantly after getting swept so I was mentally preparing and getting super excited, but my doctor casually said as I was leaving, “Okay, we’ll see you next Monday on your due date.” This was slightly discouraging, but in my heart I knew I wasn’t going to make it another week. My body was ready to deliver this baby!

I went out to the car and sat in the parking garage for about 30 minutes. The tightening of my stomach started happening a lot more frequently so I decided to start timing them, and they were about 8 minutes apart, sometimes as little as 5 minutes apart. I told myself these weren’t contractions and drove the 40 minutes home. I kept telling my mom I just wanted a “clear sign” that I was in labor – like for a super painful contraction or for my water to break!

It was a Tuesday night so we were eating fajitas and watching The Voice on NBC. I noticed my dogs were out of dog food, so I asked my dad to take me to Wal-Mart so I could buy a big bag so they would have breakfast in the morning. We left for Wal-Mart around 8:10pm, got the dog food, then decided to swing by my Grandma’s nursing home to visit for a little while. We stayed there from 8:30-9:00pm, visited about old family memories, and how the next time she saw me I might have a baby! She rubbed my belly and kissed my cheek, and told me how excited she was for me. My dad and I pulled into our garage at 9:10pm, I took 3 steps into the house and BOOM! My water broke!! I looked straight into my mom’s eyes who was across the house in the living room and just said “OPE!” and everyone knew what had just happened. 

My mom, dad, and sister started frantically getting ready to head into the hospital, but I felt a huge calming wave take over me. My mom called Mason and told him to hit the road and head our way! (if you didn’t know, Mason was 2 1/2 hours away at work and I was still staying with my parents so I could be close to the hospital). I went downstairs and took my time getting ready. I already had my hospital bag and the baby’s bag packed, so that was in the car ready to go, but I changed my pants (duh, my water had just broke – mine actually was like a dramatic movie scene haha!), called my sister down to my room, and had her take a photo of me & my two dogs because I felt it necessary to document my last night as just a fur momma!

I had no idea how I would be when I finally went into labor. I kind of expected to be freaking out, but it was the most calm I had ever felt, and it was of course exciting! I called Mason to tell him how excited I was to make him a daddy, and to share how excited I was to meet our son. We talked for a few minutes and then he told me to get to the hospital. 

On the 40 minute car ride to the hospital, the contractions started to get a little more intense. They were definitely 5 minutes or less apart, and they actually hurt now instead of just feeling like a tightening sensation. I was FaceTiming with my brother and had to pass the phone off to my sister because I couldn’t talk when the contractions hit. I called the Birthing Center to let them know my water had broke and that I was on my way in!

AT THE HOSPITAL

We pulled up to the hospital at about 10:40pm and I was taken into a triage room so they could confirm I was in labor. This part was kind of silly/frustrating because I was CLEARLY in quite a bit of pain, my contractions showed on the monitor at 3 minutes apart, and my water had broke, yet they still had to make sure I was in labor and that they were going to admit me. They had to take a swab and run a test to make sure it was amniotic fluid not just urine (which I assured them I had not just simply peed my pants lol). I understood that the nurses were just doing their job though, so I cooperated.

My mom was in the room with me, while my dad & sister waited in the waiting room. And thank goodness she was! As soon as the nurse left the room to test the swab, the pain really picked up, and I knew I was going to throw up. My mom moved quickly and grabbed the trash can just in time. Ugh, I thought after the first trimester I was done with getting sick haha!

I told the nurse in the triage room that I would be wanting an epidural and probably really soon because the pain was getting less and less tolerable at this point. She said they would get me wheeled into my room, hooked up to the IVs and then they’d be able to administer the meds. After about an hour in triage, I was finally admitted, and wheeled to my room. It was about  11:30pm at this point, and I was in a lot of pain. 

My mom, dad, and sister stayed in the delivery room with me for a while. I didn’t hire a photographer but knew I wanted this time in my life documented so I brought my professional camera and had my sister snap some pictures – knowing I could edit them later. :) Taylor took some photos and was laughing at the pain I was in… I couldn’t talk (could hardly breathe) during the contractions, but if I could have, I would have told her this will be her someday!!

As the contractions got worse, and I really had no relief time in between each one, my dad and sister stepped out into the waiting room, and my mom stayed to comfort me because Mason was still on his way. At about 12:00am, Mason finally arrived and came to my bedside. I had been holding it together pretty well, but started crying as soon as I saw him. It was a mix of being excited to see him finally, and also the extreme pain I was in. 

If you remember, I asked for the epidural while I was in triage (where I had last been checked, and was 4cm dilated)… Unfortunately, there was only one anesthesiologist on duty that night, and he had been called into an emergency C-section by the time all my IVs were in, so I was still laboring completely naturally. And it was PAINFUL! There’s really no way to describe or compare the pain associated with labor. I remember saying through teary eyes “I really wish I could get an epidural”, and the nurse kept apologizing because the anesthesiologist still wasn’t available, and told me I was doing a great job. I told her she says that to everyone, and she assured me she doesn’t! Whether she does or not, I don’t know, but it was nice of her to tell me I was handling the pain and situation well. 📷 My mom was really impressed because I usually have a bit of a potty mouth, but I didn’t swear once the whole time! #momwin

Finally, around 3:00am the anesthesiologist made his way to my room to give me the goods. At this point, I was in excruciating pain and was nearly passing out after each contraction from pain & complete exhaustion. Mason was amazing and incredibly supportive/calming, and kept reminding me to breathe (we didn’t take any classes prior to labor but I think we did pretty well lol). I had been wanting to turn on my side or adjust how I was laying, but the pain was so intense that any movement made it 10x worse.

Unfortunately, I had to sit up for the epidural which was AWFUL! I sat up on the bed, leaned forward on Mason’s shoulders, and contracted pretty much non-stop. This put so much pressure and force ‘down there’ that I was practically pushing as I was getting the epidural. The anesthesiologist told my nurse he wanted to know how many cm dilated I was because he was pretty sure judging by how much pain I was in that I was almost, if not all the way there.

After the epidural, my nurse checked me and sure enough I was dilated 9cm, so almost completely to the point of pushing. I could feel baby boy ready to be pushed out, but begged my nurse to let me lay for just a few minutes because I was so exhausted. She told me she would let me rest for 15 minutes and then we would check the baby. I couldn’t fall asleep because I was experiencing so much pressure on my bum, and I whispered to Mason “I can feel the baby, I should probably tell the nurse, but I’m sooo tired so I don’t want to.” So he took it upon himself to blurt out to the nurse, “She says she can feel the baby ready to come out” haha, thanks babe…

The nurse told me that since I am a first time mom, I may need to push for up to 3 hours. She then had me do a practice push with her holding my right leg, and Mason holding my left. As soon as I pushed her eyes got huge, she looked at Mason and said, “do you see that?!” Mason replied, “that looks like hair!”. And she said, “Yep, that’s the baby and he’s ready to come out.” She then turned to me and told me NOT TO PUSH and to just breathe through the next two contractions because she needed to get the doctor in the room ASAP because I was not going to be pushing for long lol. 

Once the doctor came into the room, I asked her if I needed to be gentle/pace myself or if I could get the baby out as quickly as possible. She said I could make this as quick as I wanted, so I said, “Okay let’s do this!” and pushed about 6 times, less than 20 minutes and out came Kane! From the time my water broke to the time I delivered him, it was about 6 hours. Way shorter than I was expecting! They placed him on my chest right away, he cried, and I was immediately in love with our perfect little boy. From that moment on, I was completely changed for the better.

It’s crazy how I completely forgot about how much pain I had just been in! I was super fortunate to not tear during labor, so no stitches were needed!! They waited 2 minutes per my request before clamping the umbilical cord, and then Mason got to cut the cord. As I was holding Kane, my mom, dad, and sister came in to meet him. There were definitely some happy tears being had! I held Kane skin-to-skin for about an hour, and then Mason had some skin-to-skin time as well. It was so precious! After that, they took him away to weigh/measure him and do the necessary new-baby things that they do lol. Kane weighed in at 8lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long!

Our stay at the birthing center was nothing short of amazing. All of our nurses were incredible and super helpful. It was really cool how our room was set up, too. The delivery room was transformed into our overnight room, so we never had to pack up & move anywhere. They wheeled out my hospital bed and pulled down a fold away queen-sized bed for me & Mason, and brought in a crib/bassinet for Kane. The bathroom had a magical & huge whirlpool that made me feel like a whole new person after delivery! If you give birth at a place with a whirlpool, I highly recommend taking a nice, long bath afterward. It helps everything feel better haha! The breakfast, lunch, and dinner that was provided was super appreciated – but I definitely ordered Jimmy Johns directly to my room because I MISSED DELI MEAT! 

All in all, my labor & delivery experience was absolutely perfect. Receiving the epidural a little sooner would have been appreciated haha, BUT now I’m kind of glad I pretty much experienced the full pain of laboring naturally. Pregnancy and birth are so incredible. I am still in awe at what the female body is capable of. I feel like Wonder Woman. <3