I will start this post by saying if there is one thing I have learned from hearing other birth stories, it is that no birth story is ever the same. Like ever. I will also say this post might be TMI for some readers, please proceed if you’re not worried about that 😉
The weekend before my due date, Brian was on the road. I was paranoid the baby was going to come when he was gone but it was 85 degrees out so I wasn’t sitting home. I went to my cousin’s graduation party Saturday and basically baked in my own sweat. I later learned that my water had probably broken at that party… whoops. The next day, I invited my friends to the beach, again refusing to stay home and decided to sweat it out and put my feet up while my friends made bets if I was having a boy or girl.
My 40-week appointment was on 6/13 when Brian would come home. I was still “working” but told my co-workers I was heading out to my appointment and would be back on after. The real plan was the appointment, lunch with my husband, sign back on at 4pm. We plan and God laughs though, right?
My appointment was at 1PM and happen to be very crowded in the doctor’s office that day. We waited an hour, and I’m 40 weeks pregs so naturally, I needed to pee. I ran into my Doctor on the way to the bathroom and he said: “Hey there, are we looking at the baby today”? My first thought was why are you asking me this? Aren’t you the doctor? In my head, I knew that wasn’t the plan, we were supposed to just be just checking if I was dilated (which by the way is the worst thing ever). “I think so,” I said. He told me to jump in the room even though this was totally backward since I had not even been called in yet by a nurse. I said, “OK, let me just run to the bathroom quick”. I grabbed Brian from the waiting room and told him we the Doctor was ready for us. The first nurse began the ultrasound, after a few minutes of her not speaking and looking concerned she went and grabbed my Doctor. He came in and said “the nurse thinks your water looks low, let me take a look. Confirmed, your water looks low”. Apparently, your water level should range from 6-10, he said I was a 6 but he put me at a 5 and said he would send me to the hospital to be safe. I wish he hadn’t said I was a 6 because then we wouldn’t have made the next mistake.
Brian didn’t seem to have any concern by this, he was ready to go to the Hospital and then leave and go get lunch. I stopped and said, but what if they keep us, I need to eat or they’re not going to let me. “The Doctor said you’re a 6, it’s going to be fine”. Apparently, I had a slow leak that weekend, what I thought was me baking in my sweat all weekend was likely me just going into labor and not knowing. As the nurse at the hospital began the ultrasound, she seemed alarmed. “They said you were a 5? You seem to be a 3, you’re going to have to stay and we will induce you”. I turned to Brian and cried, great we didn’t eat anything and now I’m stuck here… but we’re also going to have a baby. Holy shit!! I’m having a baby. Today! Or so we thought. We started to make our phone calls. First was my Mom – who was at the beach. She started to panic and tell the neighbors nearby. I said Mom, please put Dad on I have things you need to do. Next was my MIL, shocked that I was having my baby the day before my due date. And next, my sister – booking the next flight home from Colorado to be here for the birth of her niece or nephew. We waited until we were in the inducing room to text all of our friends. 8 PM rolled around and they hadn’t started yet, but all 4 Grandparents arrived eager to see what was going on. They told us this could take 36 hours, Brian would provide updates and let them know when to come back tomorrow.
Guys, labor is nuts. I was one of those people who thought they weren’t going to need an epidural. I didn’t have much of a birth plan. I knew it would only be Brian and me in the room and that I didn’t want drugs if I didn’t need them. That was before the thought of getting induced crossed my mind. Give me all the drugs, all of them. I really don’t wish being induced upon anyone, it’s terrible. Hardcore contractions for hours. I remember the contractions really starting at 4am and still being 2 cm dilated at 2pm. I know I shouldn’t say this, but “poor Brian” hadn’t slept and all he wanted was a cup of coffee. He was waiting for my family to come to be with me so he could take a break. My mom and sister had fallen asleep and they didn’t relieve him until 2:30. I was 2cm, so what harm could be caused by him leaving for 20 minutes right? Wrong. So wrong. I went from 2cm to 8cm in 10 minutes. I recall screaming at the doctors that no one cared about me since I was in so much pain. You literally feel like you’re going to poo yourself in front of 10 people. I was screaming that I had to poo and the nurses were yelling at me not to push. Then I started screaming for them to get my husband. What a shit show. It was happening.. but not really. Then they move you to the delivery room and I just remember laying there freezing cold just waiting for this all to end. I had a fever, which thinking back maybe that was why they were delaying my delivery to start. They warned me that since I had a fever, they were going to take my child to NICU to monitor the baby. This doesn’t sound like a big deal at the time when you’re just fighting pain, but it was the worst thing ever when they take the baby from you. For the next 3 hours, my family just sat around and watched me labor. How bizarre is that? There were couches for everyone to hang out on. It was really nice but I felt like I was on display. Finally, at 6 pm, they kicked them out and said we were going to start (slight recap that this process began 8pm the day before).
After the epidural, I was fired up. I was excited, and not in as much pain. The Doctor was like my basketball coach, giving me average delivery times but he’d like for me to push faster. I think he prepped me that it could take 3-6 hours, but that wouldn’t be happening on his watch. Brian and I looked at each other both fired up and ready to do this. I’m pretty sure Brian should assist every woman through delivery. He basically held me in a crunch as my knees touched my forehead. I will never forget those 30 minutes. Breathing, resting, pushing, breathing, resting, pushing. “We can see his head,” one of the nurses said. His? Did you just ruin this for me? I let it slide. Brian looked and confirmed the head could, in fact, be seen. I pushed 2 more times. The Doctor held up my baby “what do you think it is”? “It’s a boy” we said. It wasn’t a boy. She was a perfect little girl. The best surprise of my entire life. I still cry thinking about the moment I met her. They laid her on my chest. McKenzie Rose Myers – 8 lbs 11 oz born at 6:31 on June 14th, 2017. I’ll never forget that moment. I barely remember the pain of labor, but her beauty is something I will never forget.
The Redheaded Mom 
Easton was 8pounds 11oz too! 😀
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