Now that we’re three weeks out and things are getting more into a routine, I have time to share my birth story!

Little man’s due date was 10/6, and he was born on 9/30 at 39+1. I had been having labor symptoms for more than a week before that though, although it was never enough for me to think I was in real labor and go to the hospital.

On Monday September 30th, we (my husband, me, our 2 year old boy, and my husband’s sister who had spent the night with us) woke up like normal. My sister in law made omelettes for us, and I was sitting in a rocking chair eating mine. While eating, I had two strong-ish contractions, but didn’t think much of it. When I was done eating I was standing in the kitchen and my water broke! I looked at my husband and SIL and said, “Annnd my water just broke!” My SIL was like, “What! Really???” And my husband said, “Are you sure you didn’t just pee?” (A few times in the previous week I made the comment that I wasn’t sure if I peed myself or if my water my have broken 😂, so that’s why he said that). I answered, “Um, it went through my shorts and is dripping on my feet. This time I’m positive it’s my water!” So I called L&D and we got ready and headed to the hospital. I had a couple contractions on the way to the hospital, but they didn’t really pick up quickly.

We get to the hospital, and my mom and two sisters meet us there. They confirm that it was indeed my water lol. I was at about 4 cm (I don’t remember how effaced they said I was). My doctor had them go ahead and start pitocin, which I didn’t mind - contractions hadn’t really picked up. I bounced on the birthing ball, swayed, and fast-paced around the room. I planned to get an epidural, and the anesthesiologist was scheduled for a C-Section at 12:30 pm and would be tied up for awhile, so I said I wanted to go ahead and get it at noon before I lost my chance for awhile haha.

The next time they checked me after getting the epidural (at around 2:45) I was at 7 cm. Like I mentioned, I had my husband, mom, and two sisters there with me during the labor process, and something happened that just tickled me and I couldn’t stop laughing for a solid five minutes - like crying laughing! 😂 So that got us talking about how that kind of laughing is kind of like the same action happening as pushing, so we were curious if laughing would help progress me further/faster. So my sister looks up jokes and I’m laughing so hard I’m crying. 15 minutes later, my nurse checks me again because I was feeling pressure. Guys - I progressed 2 centimeters in 15 minutes! 😂 So I’m at a 9, where I stay for awhile. My husband was concerned that the “jerky” motion of laughing that hard wasn’t good for the baby, so my sister stopped telling jokes haha. My dad and his wife stop in visit with us. My doctor came in and checked me again around 4:45, and I’m still at 9 - she said there’s still this lip of my cervix there. So she has them bring the top of the bed all the way up so that basically I’m sitting criss-cross-applesauce and my upper body is directly over my hips (like if I were standing).

It didn’t take long for this to work! In about 10 minutes I started to feel kind of crummy, so I called for the nurse. She comes to check me at 5:00, so my dad and his wife step out of the room. She’s like, “Oh! Yep, you are ready to go!”

My sisters left the room at 5:02, and baby was born at 5:07! Super quick delivery!

Crazy surprise to us is that he was/is such a hairy little guy! Full head of black hair, hairy back, hairy arms - it’s so funny, but we think he’s pretty cute! Haha His older brother was a completely hairless baby and was bald till he was over a year old, so we were shocked! Lol

Anyway, sorry this is so long. Thanks for reading if you got this far! Meet Eliot Kendrick, born at 5:07 pm, weighing 7 lb 11.5 oz, and 20.5 inches long. We have loved having him with us! 💙

Fuzzy hair!

And here is our family of four!