Introducing Baby O! {A Birth Story}

Well, last week threw me for a loop! Our beautiful baby boy decided he couldn’t wait to meet his Daddy, so he came a little early all on his own. Prayers were answered and God is good! Here is his birth story!

When I hit 37 weeks I started doing things that I hoped would bring me closer to labor. I increased my intake of pregnancy tea and started bouncing regularly on my exercise ball. I kept as active as I could. Being a mom of two littles means I don’t get much time to rest anyway.

About a week before Baby O was born, I noticed that he had dropped down some. I was hopeful labor was imminent, but after a couple of days I figured it didn’t mean anything.

For about three days before I went into labor I would wake at 5 a.m. with menstrual cramps. After waking up they would go away. I was a little mad at my body for tricking me!

The night before I went into labor we did a lot of walking. I hadn’t felt well that day. My body was achey and I was very, very tired. Mr. Simple did an extra good clean up of our kitchen and master bedroom while I slept that night. If you know my husband, you know that is very unusual!

I woke up at 5 a.m. with the menstrual cramps again. This time they felt a little different. There was a weird pain down low with each one. I decided to take a bath to see if the cramps would go away. When I got out, they were still there, so I drank two cups of pregnancy tea and bounced on my exercise ball.

When the kids got up we went about our day as usual. The cramps were still there, but they didn’t hurt at all. I wasn’t really sure I was in labor, but I could tell the baby had dropped even more and I was feeling a ton of pressure. Mr. Simple had to run some errands, so I stayed home and took the kids for a walk outside.

Mr. Simple got home around 2 p.m. and the cramps were still relatively mild, but consistent. I joked that we would be going to the hospital. My grandmother called to check on me and I told her I didn’t really think it was labor. 20 minutes later Mr. Simple made his lunch and I had him time my contractions. They were consistently three-ish minutes apart and getting stronger.

I called my doctor’s office around 3 p.m. and they told me to head to the hospital. I had my bag and the baby’s bag packed, but not the big kids. I tried to rush to pack them a bag. Mr. Simple was eating a Hot Pocket and watching Madagascar with the kids. I told him we needed to go to the hospital, but he just kept on eating! After a few minutes I said, “I’m serious. We need to go to the hospital. Help me get things together!” He got up after that!

We dropped the kids off with my grandparents and I called my mom. She was just getting off of work and would be there as soon as she could.

We got to the hospital and I got changed into my gown. While I was in the bathroom I noticed I had bloody show. The tears started flowing. I knew our baby was on his way and I was so thankful that my husband was there by my side.

The contractions continued to increase with intensity while the nurse did the usual drill. She checked me and I was dilated to a 4. I knew I had talked about going natural, but I was not prepared for it, so I requested an epidural.

When we got the green light that I would for sure have the baby that night I had to use the restroom. When I came back I sat on the bed and had a very hard contraction that broke my water. When the nurse checked we learned that there was meconium in the fluid. I was scared, but the nurse reassured me that it happened a lot and I shouldn’t stress about it yet. She checked me again and I was dilated to 5.

After that things went very quickly. My epidural showed up right before I hit transistion. It is almost impossible to sit still through transition. The epidural was awful. He stuck me twice, which was something that had never happened to me before. The meds took forever to work. I thought I was going to die. A different doctor had to deliver me, but she was very sweet. I was not nice to her, though. I wanted the stupid blood pressure cuff and the monitors off of me. I screamed. I thought I was going to faint. I tried to relax my body, but I felt like my insides were being crushed with each contraction. I was very hot. I told my husband to stay away from me and I kept saying that I couldn’t do it. The doctor checked me and I was complete. A few minutes later the epidural kicked in, and honestly it was the most awesome relief ever. I instantly relaxed.

The nurses had me do some practice pushes, but they weren’t aware that I am a power pusher. They said it would be about thirty minutes before I delivered. Haha. Our beautiful baby boy was born in less than five pushes at 7:13 p.m. He weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces and was 20 inches long.

They took him to suction everything out of his lungs. We did not want meconium in there. He was just fine, though!

We got to hold him and love on him. I nursed him and he immediately latched on.

The kids got to meet him the next morning and they were so in love. Our little family of five got to be together. It was a wonderful feeling.

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