FINALLY it’s my turn to share my birth story 😭 I always loved reading these because I was so terrified about giving birth and what to expect so I’m going to take my time and give all the details

One week ago on 5/11/20 I gave birth to my baby (I know I’m late posting this but having a newborn is very time consuming lol) my due date was May 7th. I never “felt” like I was about to go into labor. I very rarely had any BH contractions, my mucus plug never came out, I NEVER dropped - I actually took this picture hours before I went into labor

She was still way high in my belly, I told myself that night it seemed like I was never going to have her... 🤣 Besides all that I just felt good and felt like I could be pregnant for a little longer. It never seemed real that a baby was going to be born at any moment.

I went to bed that night around midnight feeling completely normal. At 2:09am I woke up because I had menstrual like cramping. At first I thought maybe it was just from the ice cream I ate shortly before bed because sometimes it irritates my stomach. But after about 20 minutes of it not going away I downloaded an app to start timing my contractions.

For the next couple hours I spent the majority of my time on google looking at the difference from false labor and real labor. I couldn’t decide if I was actually in labor or not because I never lost my mucus plug and I didn’t want to go to L&D just to be sent home. I went to glow and asked this question

After I posted this around 4am the contractions spread further apart, to about 6-7 minutes. So I was still in doubt that I was actually in labor. I started having diarrhea around this time and I couldn’t sit down because the pain would intensify if I just laid down. At 6am the pain and tightening just wouldn’t go away and we couldn’t find the number to L&D anywhere so I told my boyfriend we just needed to go up there. We grabbed our stuff not really expecting to be admitted right away because I only had about 3 contractions on the 20 minute drive to the hospital.

We get there and they hook me up to the monitor and they check my cervix. I’m 2-3 CM dilated and my contractions start to intensify again. When she checked me she said I had a little bit of bloody show so I was like “oh shit, this is the real thing!”

The pain was starting to get unbearable to me and I was moaning and crying through every contraction. I do not have a high pain tolerance ☹️ it was also uncomfortable to lay down. I was kind of embarrassed but I couldn’t help it. They drew my blood and around 8am my doctor came in to tell me they were going to admit me. Then I thought “oh shit... this really is the real thing... this is happening... I’m not leaving without a baby now” 😂

I go into my room and the pain just keeps intensifying. They asked me if I wanted any pain medicine in my IV. I immediately said yes. I told myself throughout my pregnancy that during labor I was going to try to go without any medication for as long as I could but at that point I was so exhausted and needed my strength.

Once I got the pain meds everything was suddenly a blur. I hardly remember anything. A mix of the pain and the medicine made my memory fuzzy. I was still in a lot of pain but was able to breathe through my contractions instead of scream through them. I couldn’t get out of bed because the contractions were so intense and painful. My doctor came in and checked me I was 4cm and she broke my water to speed things along.

A couple hours went by and they gave me another dose of the pain meds in my IV because the anesthesiologist was very busy that day with C sections. So they were backed up trying to get to my room for an epidural. The hours just flew by while I was crying and moaning and screaming through each contraction and the pain meds just weren’t enough. I was scared to get an epidural but I was literally begging for it.

I have no idea what time they came in to finally do my epidural but it was very scary. They were kind of rushing me through it but I understood because they were busy that day. I was shaking and my heart rate was pretty high (around 130-150s) simply because a lot was going on and I was a nervous wreck. Also a lot of adrenaline. It was tough having to bend over for them do it all while I was in intense pain with contractions but I kept telling myself I needed to do this and tried my hardest to breathe. I just remember holding onto the nurse with tears rolling down my face and having her tell me I could do this over and over again and reminding me to breathe (god bless that lady and all L&D nurses ❤️)

It took about 30 minutes to feel the epidural start to work and it was only numb on my left side. The nurses rolled me around on the bed for the next hour until it all evened out. I could still feel some contractions but it wasn’t even nearly as painful as it was. Another hour goes by and the nurse asked if I still felt any contractions I said yes, so she pressed a button and 10 minutes later I was completely numb. A few hours went by and I was worried that the epidural made my muscles relax or something to where I wasn’t getting contractions anymore. Around 4pm I told the nurse and she checked me. I was 9cm dilated!! She said “get ready to push soon! If you feel any pressure let us know so we can start pushing”

I couldn’t believe it. That epidural brought my pain from a 10 to a 0. It was literally a life saver. I have NO IDEA how women go through labor without any medication.

45 minutes go by and I start to feel a little pressure in my pelvic area. I call the nurses in and we start pushing. It was nothing like I thought it’d be. The show Botched was on the TV in the background and the nurses were watching it laughing and making casual conversation with my boyfriend and I as I was pushing lol. Any time I felt pressure I pushed 3 times for 10 seconds. I literally felt no pain though, nothing at all! My doctor came in about 10 minutes later and they just kept telling me to push, before I knew it she was out! I had a 2nd degree tear and got stitched up. She came out sunny side up

Born at 5:09pm, I was in labor for exactly 15 hours and only pushed for 15 minutes!

I was still profusely shaking and my heart rate was so high. But after about 10 minutes of skin to skin I finally calmed down. It was the most unreal, unbelievable thing meeting my daughter. I couldn’t believe I pushed her out of me! It was so hard seeing her at first because my mask was in the way and I was crying, my boyfriends mask was soaked from crying so much!!

6 lbs 5 ounces and a head full of hair ❤️❤️❤️

Even though I had a 2nd degree tear I was up walking around immediately after the epidural wore off. Don’t be scared! It’s not as bad as you think.

She didn’t latch on at all at first but now she’s latching and feeding like a champ! Breast feeding has probably been the hardest thing for me this first week of her life, I’ve wanted to give up like 20 times but I’m still forcing myself to do it lol.

She has so much hair! It’s all over her body lol 🥰

And this is Miss Vivien one week later ❤️

I’m not going to lie, even though I hated being pregnant and gaining 55 lbs, I do miss my belly. It was such a shock to have a huge body change in such a short amount of time after having her. It took me about a week to get used to it. I cried when I took my first shower because I normally rubbed my belly with soap and felt her kick all around and all of a sudden it was just gone and flabby! And I cried the night she was born too when I realized I wouldn’t feel her feet kicking the right side of my belly anymore. I started my pregnancy 105 lbs and weighed 161 the day I gave birth. A week later I’m down to 139. It does feel good to not be so huge anymore!

The only thing I did differently the day before I went into labor was forced myself to walk, A LOT that day. So I feel like walking might’ve helped me finally go into labor 😊