I wasn’t going to post my story, because my son had to go to NICU for a rare issue. I didn’t want to scare other mommies over something that’s unlikely to happen; but I thought I would share just in case it helps others going through something like I went through.

Okay, let me start at the beginning. On Monday I had an appointment with my midwife. They checked my cervix and I’m 4 cm dilated, 60 effaced walking around like normal, no contractions or anything. On Tuesday morning I had a bloody show and some contractions that went away. Told work, I’m out! My husband and I hung out all day, I’m bouncing on my ball, we’re playing scrabble and trying to get things going again. By evening I’m having contractions 7-10 minutes apart, not too intense yet. Called my midwife and she says to get some sleep, call her if things progress. I actually slept from about 9 PM to 1:30 AM! Then things start getting real! I’m having contractions 3-4 minutes apart by 6 AM. Hubs and I went for a walk and then hopped in the car. The midwife met us in the hospital around 8 AM. I’m checked in triage, 6 cm dilated, 80% effaced and I’m moved to a birthing suite right away. I had a plan to do early labor at home so I’m proud I was able to hold out!

By 9 AM my Mom and sister are there. We’re all hanging out and talking; I’m moving around a lot and cracking jokes. I was in and out of the tub in the afternoon; loved laboring in the tub! I’m chill as a cucumber until about 8 cm dilated when the contractions started coming on top of each other. I wanted the epidural! Long story short, by the time they were ready to administer I was 9.5 cm dilated and almost ready to push. It was too late! I ended up pushing for about an hour and a half, including 30 minutes of crowning...omg ouch!

After the last big push I hear him give out a huge cry! My baby is out at last at 7:11 PM, Wednesday, November 15, one week before his due date. He’s 8 lbs, 6 ounces and 21 inches of pure perfection! They put him on my chest and I’m just repeating “my baby, my baby” and sobbing! I’m so happy to meet him, and honestly, so relieved labor is over!

Then the worst happened. As my midwife is stitching me up (first baby, 2nd degree tear), the nurse rushes over and says the baby is not breathing normally. About 20 minutes after he was born 10 NICU staff rush into the room and it was determined that my son suffered a spontaneous pulmonary pneumothorax. Basically, his lungs did not inflate evenly when he screamed as he was born and the pressure caused one of his lungs to collapse which also pushed his heart over. It’s a

rare, random occurrence in full term babies. They told me he needed to go to NICU to resolve a pocket of air outside his lung from the rupture.

My son had to stay under an oxygen hood for 12 hours and had his chest pierced twice with a needle to draw off the oxygen bubble. All my expectations about holding my baby, starting breastfeeding right away, etc. went out the window. It was really painful for me and definitely not what I expected after an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. By 24 hours later, he was cleared from NICU and in our room with us! We were released the next day and he has been perfectly healthy ever since.

We did have some issues breastfeeding in the beginning because of our delayed start but he’s a chunk now at almost 2 months and doing great! I shed many tears over my fear for my son and loss of the experience I expected, but everything ended up just fine in the end.

Other moms, you got this! You are stronger than you think! Even if things don’t go according to plan, you are resilient and so are our babies!! 💕💕💕