So, I never actually got around to posting my birth story and I guess it's better late than never 😂

Let me start off by saying that this will probably be long cause I can't tell a short story to save my life😂 My due date was June 15th. My parents, who live in PA, were flying out to Cali to be here for the birth on the 12th.

On April 29th at 33 weeks and 2 days, my husband came home with the early crew from a 7 month deployment. He was able to spend my birthday with me, which was 2 days later, for the first time in the last 3 yrs of him being active duty and was able to celebrate Mother's Day, May 12th, with me. I insisted we didn't need to do anything but he disagreed and took me to a nice dinner, then we returned back to base. We got back to base with 4 miles til E in the car, I said, "Why don't you get gas now instead of worrying about it in the morning before work?" So he did. It was about 9:30pm by the time we returned home, I sat down at my vanity to take off my makeup, he sat down at his desk to play playstation for a little before bed. I had a few contractions, nothing seriously hurting and I'd been having them for a few weeks already by that point, and I had read that it was normal for them to be happening already. They were pretty far apart and weren't consistent, maybe just 2 or 3 times a day. I got in bed and started reading, he played his game for a few hours more. At about 1am (so now it's May 13th) he joined me in bed and we talked, I asked if he remembered to tell someone I had an OB and Ultrasound that morning at 10am, he said yes, he was telling me how excited he was to finally see the baby moving in an ultrasound instead of just looking at the pictures that I had sent while he was away. It's almost 3am when I finally started getting tired, he'd already been asleep for about 45 minutes. I finished reading the chapter I was on, checked the time and saw it was 3:30am, plugged my phone in, and settled myself on my side with the body pillow between my legs. I realized then that I kinda had to pee. As I'm debating whether or not I should get up to go to the bathroom, I felt a small burst and gush of fluid. I JUMPED (as much as a 35 week and 2 days pregnant person can jump) out of bed and waddled to our attached bathroom, dripping all over the floor as I go, peeled off my underwear (which were SOAKED) and plopped onto the toilet. My husband woke up out of his sleep and looked in the bathroom since I left the door open, "What's going on?" I looked up at him and said, "I think my water just broke." He groaned, "Are you serious? I JUST fell asleep. Are you SURE you didn't just pee yourself?" I laughed and was still holding my EXTREMELY soaked through underwear and did the only thing I could think of and smelled them 🤦🏽‍♀️ didn't smell like anything. "No, they don't smell like pee and honestly, I've peed my pants as an adult, that was NOT it. Plus, I keep wiping and it just keeps running down my legs. Sooooo we gotta go to the hospital." He grabbed me fresh underwear and a pad from under the sink and we ran around like crazy people trying to get a hospital bag together, because of COURSE I hadn't packed yet, I called the birthing center to let them know we were on out way because we hadn't scheduled a tour yet (and by doing that they put you in their system a head of time) and then we got in the car and headed off base to the hospital in town (about 20 minutes away) because base hospital doesn't have a birthing center. In the car, he was more calm than I thought he'd be and he did what he does best and tried to make me laugh. "I thought you saw a bug in bed, I was NOT expecting it to be your water breaking." "Aren't you glad I listened to you and filled the car with gas?" It was about 4:15am when we get checked in and they put me in a waiting room to while I wait for them to see if my water actually broke. They come back and tell me that it did, get an ultrasound tech in to see how the baby is doing, and then they checked my cervix and I was dilated 2cm. They put me in a labor in delivery room. We called my mom, who was awake and getting ready for work, we called his mom who was doing the same, they put in a cervidil, and left me to rest. But, I couldn't sleep, too worried about what was going on around me. I just kept thinking to myself 'It's too soon. I had 5 weeks left.' A few hours go by, the sun was up and they checked me again with a different OB than was originally there when I checked in, but hardly any changes. She was much nicer than the OB who was on duty before her and actually took the time to ask me things and talk to me. A couple more hours and I dilated to 4, but my contractions were pretty weak. So, the OB came in and she asked me if I wanted the epidural because she wanted to put me on pitocin to see if it could get my contractions to strengthen. I got the epidural, no issues, anesthesiologist was AMAZING, I didn't feel a thing. They go to check my cervix one more time after I got the epidural and just as the nurse is putting her hand in I felt ANOTHER burst and a HUGE gush of fluid came out. My water broke the rest of the way. I was still at 4cm. Around 10pm, the OB came in to check me again tell me that she was going home, and would be on call from there if it came time for me to deliver. She let me know that since I was only 35 weeks, 2 NICU nurses were going to be in the room when it JUST in case of any issues. She was concerned that he wouldn't cry. I was 6cm when she checked me and then she left. The nurse told me to call her in if I felt any pressure changes. Not 30 minutes later I called her in and told her I felt pressure in my pelvis. She checked and I was 10cm! She couldn't believe how fast I'd dilated and she called the OB immediately and then her and 2 other nurses started prepping the room. The OB was back, NICU standing by, and at 11:10pm, with my husband on my left side holding my leg, I started pushing. Our baby boy was out, no issues, and voicing his first cry at 11:40pm weighing 5lbs 13oz and measuring 18.5 in. After being in labor a total of 18 hours, hearing his little voice made me burst into tears with complete relief that he was okay. We had to stay in the hospital for a week after that, poor buddy had high Bilirubin levels and needed to do photo therapy. I hated seeing him in that plastic box but I counted my blessings that he was in there with no tubes, just a little eye mask. And so, here we are 11 weeks later, watching shark week with him in my arms asleep. All I think about now is how lucky I am that my husband came home early. Because a few hours after my water broke, his ship pulled into Florida to make a pit stop before finally docking in Virginia, and he wouldn't have made it in time. 😂 pictures of things below!

Homecoming Day! (4.29.19)

Mother's Day! (5.12.19)

Baby Day! (5.13.19)

Today!