Nathan's Birth Story

Just when I thought I had two more weekly posts to capture my pregnancy milestones (weeks 38 and 39), Nathan decided he couldn't wait any longer and surprised us all by coming 8 days earlier than his scheduled c-section (and 12 days earlier than his due date).

On Thursday before his arrival, I felt like he had "dropped" - there was a new (uncomfortable) pressure in my pelvis and I was having a lot of trouble just walking (without a severe waddle). By Friday night, I was really uncomfortable and after a lovely dinner out with friends, I had a hard time walking back to our car.

All day Saturday I was miserable. It felt like I was getting my period - I was cramping and feeling Braxton Hicks contractions all day and was just lethargic. By the evening, I started wondering if those "false" contractions were the real thing and I went to take a shower to see if it helped relieve any pain (and to prep for a trip to the hospital, just in case). I also started packing. I just had a feeling - whether this was real or not, we were going to the hospital that night to be sure everthing was okay.

By 9 o'clock, I was timing contractions and they were coming every 5-6 minutes and lasting about a minute. Ryan texted our doctor and he called back to chat. I explained how I was feeling and he said he didn't think it was real labor because I shouldn't be able to talk through the contractions (which I did while we were on the phone) but he would be ready to go to the hospital if we wanted to go.

I tried to stick it out, thinking for sure this couldn't be it since Nathan was breech and not in the right position to start labor. But if I had to go another week feeling like this, in false labor, before my c-section...I was going to die.

We headed to bed, with the pains continuing to come and me squeezing Ryan's hand each time. I got up around 12:45 to use the bathroom and when I got back to bed, I sat on the edge (bent over in pain for another contraction) and my water broke.

My water broke! On its own!

Then I knew. This was real. We needed to go. Now!

Ryan called the doctor as I struggled to the bathroom to put on make-up. Ridiculous, I know, but I wanted to look good in my photos and I was looking pretty rough at that point. Ryan also tried to get in touch with my family, whom I had kept in the dark all day thinking this was nothing, but to no avail.

We finally gathered our things and made it to the car. Ryan was able to get a hold of my mom and as she tried to console me and encourage me over speaker phone, I was shaking uncontrollably and writhing in pain. If only I had practiced my breathing a bit more - I could not focus on it!

When we pulled up to the hospital, Ryan ran in to grab a wheel chair and I struggled to get out of the car. We wheeled over to triage and the nurse at the desk asked me to fill out a clipboard of paperwork while Ryan went to move the car. I think I actually said "Are you kidding me?" I had already preregistered, afterall. She also asked why I was there. Seriously?! I'm having a baby! She must have finally taken pity on me because she offered to fill out the papers based on my insurance. Um, thanks lady!

Once we got into triage, another nurse started asking me questions and wheeled me into a room by myself. She went through a list of what I'm sure are very important things but why Ryan couldn't be in there was beyond me and I could barely speak to answer her. All this time I had my eyes shut, so I don't even know what was going on around me.

At the end of her list she asked if there was anything else she needed to know. "He's breech." I told her. That got us moving to an examination room for the next stage of torturous waiting.
It seemed like an eternity for anyone to come into the room with us. Finally, a nurse appeared and started doing a check of my vitals. When she got to the internal exam, I was stunned.

I was at 8 cm already!!

I had never even had an internal at my doctor's office, so who knows how quickly I got to that point but 8 cm! I was pretty freaking impressed with myself that I got that far through labor without any help of drugs.

The news of my progress sent everyone into a rush and finally got us some attention. I changed into a gown and got wheeled into the OR just as my doctor came through the doors. It felt very "Father of the Bridge 2-esque." Ryan stayed behind to change while they prepped me for surgery.

I was still shaking non-stop when I had to shimmy onto the operating table and provide limbs for probes and pricks. Another nurse (or maybe the anesthesiologist?) hovered over my face and started going through a bunch of legal jargon to have me sign the paperwork for my spinal. "Are you kidding me? Just do it, please!!" But I was required to give a signature before they could do it and they were in quite a rush to get the drugs working so I scribbled something on a few pages.

Then, I was asked to try and control my shaking because it was making it tough to get the spinal in. Ha! I wish I could have! They had me roll to my side and try to curl into the fetal position, but I was struggling so I am very thankful, they were finally able to get it because I couldn't help at all.

Once that was in, I started feeling some relief. My arms got stretched out to each side and they wrapped them in blankets, along with my head, to try and warm me up.

Ryan appeared in his yellow scrubs and face mask, camera around his neck, and I've never thought he looked so adorable. What a sight for sore eyes!

The curtain went up and I started getting tested for numbness - "can you feel this? what about this?" There wasn't a lot of time for the drugs to kick in before they had to cut so I'm glad they worked their magic in time!

I am sure I appeared as a completely different person once the drugs were flowing and I was able to talk to Ryan and the nurses that surrounded me. All the while, in the back of my head, I was thinking this was it - we're about to become parents. We're having a baby!

The surgery started and after quite a bit of effort, I was told the baby was out. I listened, but didn't hear anything - why wasn't he crying?!

Finally, the most beautiful sound in the world, Nathan made his first few peeps and then wails. I started tearing up and was staring at Ryan in disbelief for this miracle we created. It was 3:21 am on Sunday - Mother's Day. What timing!

They began the long process of sewing me back up as the nurses brought the baby over for me to meet. God is so good and Nathan was absolutely perfect! It was love at first sight, for sure.

We had some family time and then my boys were whisked off to recovery to wait for me to arrive. Unfortunately, it seems that Nathan's position caused a bit of extra tearing in my uterus and I had additional bleeding during the procedure, so it took almost an hour and a half for them to finish putting me back together.

After the eternity of being all alone in the OR (alone with a dozen hospital staff working around me), I got wheeled into recovery and reunited with my family. To be honest, I don't remember a lot except that I was in extreme pain, couldn't stop shaking, and was in and out of sleep. They tried several different pain meds to help me but nothing seemed to work and I wasn't allowed to leave and head to my room until it was under control.

Hours later (four or five), it was finally time and we were able to make our way up to a private room to rest. It was 10 in the morning and I felt like I'd been through the entire day already. Nathan was here, we had made it through labor and delivery and a new adventure was starting!