I can’t believe it has been 10 days since our precious Charlee came into this world. It really has been a whirlwind of a week filled with every emotion possible. Delirium, bliss, anxiety, terror, name a feeling, we have felt it! Being Charlee’s Mom has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t believe how much I love this little person I only just met. She is everything I ever hoped for and I truly feel like my destiny was to be her Mother.
I wanted to write down my birth story as a reminder of what I have accomplished while it is still fresh on my mind. I will spare you guys the yucky details lol, but share how my experience went.
My due date (August 4th) approached and I was very anxious to go into labor. Due to the scare we had had the week before with my blood pressure, I was convinced that I would go early, but then my due date came and went. I remember being so disappointed that I didn’t go into labor that day. I had been having Braxton hicks contractions for a week and was SO uncomfortable. Every time a Braxton hicks contraction would start I would question “is this it”?? Well, it wasn’t! Saturday came and still nothing, and by that point I decided to stop thinking about my impending labor and accept that I would most likely be induced the following Friday. Sunday morning Matt and I woke up after a long night of sleep and ordered breakfast. That’s when I started to feel a little “weird.” I got a cramp that felt like a period cramp which I hadn’t really felt before during my pregnancy, but I dismissed it. A few minutes went by and it started to happen again. I told Matt I felt a little off and he said we should just monitor how I was feeling to see if this was the real thing. Suddenly, I started getting more intense contractions that would last 20 seconds and were totally manageable. I got super excited and knew that this was most likely it. I wanted to get things going, so I told Matt I think we should go for a walk. He was hesitant but I was convinced it was the best idea so we headed over to Madison Square Park. We started walking the park and my contractions started to get stronger. They were still about 15 minutes apart but when one would come on I would have to stop walking and take a break. We walked a full mile around the park and decided to stop in at the grocery store to get some food. I had three contractions in the grocery store and we decided it was probably time to head home and call the Dr. to let her know I was in labor. We got home (at this time it was around 12:00P.M.) and Matt made me a sandwich. I knew I needed to eat and made it a priority to shove the sandwich down my throat even though I was SO not in the mood to eat between contractions. Once I finished my sandwich I sat down on the couch and called my Dr. She told me to call her back and head to the hospital when my contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasted a full minute. Well, about 5 minutes later I got a really intense contraction that took my breath away! I told Matt I was going to go lay down. At this point, they were coming every ten minutes and were pretty intense. I laid down and in literally under 5 minutes, my contractions were every 3 minutes, lasting a full minute and INSANELY painful. Every time they would come on I would grab Matt by the arm and writhe in pain. I went from having contractions every 10 minutes, to every 3 in minutes!!! I was terrified and after I had about 5 of these I told Matt we needed to get to the hospital ASAP! My labor was progressing so fast I was scared I had already missed the epidural window! We called the Dr. and she agreed it was time to go! We grabbed our bags and ran out of the apartment. Matt ordered an Uber and on our way I had 4 insanely intense contractions. I was yelling at the driver to slow down and BE CAREFUL OF THAT BUMP, then apologizing for being a crazy lady the moment it would subside. We arrived at the hospital and they put me into a wheelchair and took us up to triage. I felt SO bad because there were a number of women in triage that I really freaked out. The sounds that were coming out of my mouth were almost animal like! The nurses took me to get checked and I was 2.5 cm but my contractions were so close and so strong that they decided to admit me and I was going to get the epidural!! I was so excited!!!
They brought us into the labor and delivery room and I was more than ready for the epidural, but of course due to the high blood pressure scare, they had to run a blood test on me before they could administer it! My nurse was so nice and told me the truth…it would take ONE HOUR most likely for the tests to come back. That hour was SO long, filled with insanely painful contractions coming in every three minutes lasting 60 seconds! FINALLY, the anesthesiologist came into the room and said let’s do this! He gave me the epidural and it didn’t hurt at all. I think I was in so much pain from the contractions that even if it did hurt I didn’t notice. Once I got the epidural, I must say labor was awesome. I couldn’t feel my contractions anymore and we were able to relax and settle in. Matt had brought bluetooth speakers and we put on some music and relaxed! It was wonderful. Over the next 10 hours, I progressed from 2.5 cm to 9.5cm dilated. We watched Game of Thrones and I was able to drink some chicken noodle soup broth to keep me from getting too hungry. Around midnight, the Dr. came in to check me and I was at 9.5c.m. dilated which got me really excited. I just needed to get to 10 to start pushing. Three hours later however, I was still at 9.5 cm which was really disappointing. At this point, my epidural had sort of stopped working on the right. I could feel the beginnings of the pain of contractions again and I got so scared I was going to feel the pain again. Since I only had about .5 cm to go, my Dr. decided to have me start pushing and assist in getting me to 10 cm. I could feel the contractions and we began to start to push. I should also mention that at this time, my neck was KILLING me. I was thrashing and flailing during my contractions at the beginning of labor and of course pulled a muscle in my neck that I didn’t notice until after I got the epidural. I was so upset about this because in order to push correctly, you are supposed to bare down and put your neck to your chest. This was going to hurt and I knew it. I sucked it up and started pushing and I was finally able to get to 10 cm! The pain was there though, as the epidural had really tapered off. I could feel everything on the right side. It was awful and I had to push through each contraction every three minutes. Looking back, I think this is why I was able to get the baby out because I could feel EVERYTHING when pushing. A full hour went by but the baby wouldn’t move. The Dr. told me that she may be too big and perhaps will need to come out another way, alluding to c-section. I REALLY didn’t want a c-section and so I got a rush of adrenaline and decided this was going to happen the way my body was meant to deliver this baby. I could do this. Over the next TWO HOURS I pushed with all my might. I was so exhausted I would almost fall asleep between each contraction only to wake up and bare down again. The neck pain didn’t even bother me anymore since it was so painful to push. I will spare you all the details, but after THREE hours of pushing we were almost there. My Dr. told me to push with all my might and finally, Charlee made her debut, all 8 lbs. 11 ounces of her, with her hand up by her face! That was the reason it took her so long to make it out. My Dr. grabbed her hand, pulled her out and put her on my chest. The love was immediate. Matt and I were both sobbing and looking at this little baby with awe. It was the best moment of our entire lives.
Giving birth was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I would do it all over again to bring this sweet baby into the world. I have a new found respect for my body after what I have seen it capable of achieving. We love you Charlee with all our hearts.
I also wanted to let all my readers know that I will not be posting many images of Charlee onto the blog. I started this blog to share my own personal style with my readership. I want to protect my child and I feel that putting images of her up onto the internet permanently is dangerous. I will share images on my Instagram and more on my Instagram stories as these images are lower quality, making it difficult for people to steal. I truly hope you all understand. That said, I want to continue to share about my journey into motherhood. I will share my favorite products, interior design, outfits etc. so don’t forget to stop back by the blog!!
Thank you to all of you who have supported my blog and my family. We feel so blessed to have welcomed this little angel into our lives and I hope you all enjoyed reading my birth story.
Xoxo-Jess