Cole's Birth Story

So this blog has really been neglected, and although I don't use it as often as I used to, or would like to, it's rich in history, and has served as a great place to document things I hope to remember, and little Cole's Birth Story is one of those things I don't want to forget!

Again, here is a public service announcement this is a BIRTH STORY,  so it has some TMI and some details that could make someone out there uncomfortable, so you've been warned!

Also here is a link to Logan's Birth Story, in case anyone is interested http://thebestofbrittany.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-birth-story-logan-paige.html

I feel like the last 3 weeks of pregnancy are seriously the most miserable time in life (okay that's a really unsympathetic, sarcastic statement,) but there's something that clicks in your mind when you hit the 38 week mark that is like "okay this baby could come any moment!!" And then all of a sudden you're at 39 weeks and your brain is really like "okay, I can't go anywhere far, I have to have my phone on speed dial" but you literally wait all day everyday for something to happen and nothing is happening and your brain starts to lose it....then you hit your due date....and everyone's texting you, and asking you if baby is here yet, and you feel like ripping your hair out waiting minute by minute for something, ANYTHING to happen. Oh that's not everyone's situation? Well it was mine...:) I was 41 weeks to the day when I went in to my midwife for my 41 week appointment. She has always said "I will not let you go beyond 42 weeks..." so I knew my time being pregnant was limited, but in my head going to that appointment, I was convinced I'd be pregnant for another week.

10:00 am When I got to the Birth Center, Nancy, my midwife, could tell I was miserable. I knew from making it to this point with Logan that today I would get a non stress test to make sure the baby was fine, and Nancy would check me, but as I started asking her about what we do when I come in for my 42 week appointment (bc I was convinced he would be in me another week), she said to me "oh Brittany, I'm going to  non medically induce you today! We are going to have this baby tonight!" HA! RIGHT! I literally had not had a single contraction, baby was not coming tonight. At that point she checked me...I wasn't dilated or effaced AT ALL....which lead me to be even more discouraged, so Nancy says "lets get things going!" My cervix was REALLY far back, so she was having a hard time even assessing my progress, but in this exam she was able to strip my membranes (not without a lot of pain on my end, and she was sweating on her end, it was not a fun experience!) She then said "okay come back at 2 and we will do the non stress trest and check you again, I think we will see some progress!"
Since the birth center is about 40 minutes from my house, Logan and I went to my parents house (they're only 10 min from the birth center.) My sisters and I went and got a pedicure and just hung out and then my mom, sister Kelsey, and I headed back for my 2 o'clock visit

2:00 pm Nancy hooked me up to the monitors for my non stress test. Baby was doing great! No signs of concern, but she noticed that I was having contractions every 5-7 minutes.....WHAT?! I hadn't felt a thing! When she checked me I was dilated to a 4!!!WHAT?! THAT WAS THE EASIEST 4cm EVER! Now she was 100% convinced baby was coming tonight!!!! She stripped my membranes again.....ugh I wanted to cry, that sucked, but I started having more cramping right away, so I knew things were happening. I called Kyle and told him he should come home, he had been waiting on that call for weeks! Nancy told me to come back at 7 to get checked again (or sooner if I needed to.)

I went back to my parents and started walking, bouncing on the medicine ball,anything I could do to keep labor progressing. With both kids I have been able to labor with all my family around, and for me thats super distracting and awesome, and keeps my mind off of the discomfort, it also helped pass the time. As 7 approached I was still having contractions, but was still not in active labor, so Kyle and I headed back to the birth center.

7:00 pm Nancy stripped my membranes for the THIRD TIME in one day...ugh that was miserable and I was over it, haha. But that was all it took to send me into active labor! At this point I was dilated to a 5, so Nancy said "stay close, but you can leave and walk, and I'll see you at 10pm" (Might I add, HOW AWESOME IS SHE?! She saw me 4 times in a day to get labor going naturally.) Kyle and I went and walked around a nearby park, and I was having painful contractions, but my water was still in tact so we decided to go back to my parents where I labored until 9:45 when we kissed Logan goodbye and headed back to the birth center for what I knew was the last time!

10:00 I was dilated to a 6 and only like 30% effaced, but at this point Nancy keeps you at the birth center because you can transition at any point. She went into her house (which is attached the the birth center) and Kyle and I watched "The Help" while I paced around having contractions about every 1.5 minutes lasting about 50 seconds. At 1am (as I was falling asleep between contractions) my water broke! It was weird because with Logan, Nancy broke my water for me, so to have it break on its own was a new experience for me. That moment was when I was clearly in transition. I started throwing up and lots of other fun bodily functions:) I'm always so impressed with my husband during this part of labor, he is always so calm and loving and holds my hair or my bowl or whatever I need him to do. I always feel an abundance of love for and from him in these moments.

I asked at this point if I could labor in the tub because my contractions were pretty strong. I love that tub! About 30 min in the tub I felt like I needed to push! I was so excited because with Logan's labor when I felt like I needed to push I was right and it was time to push, but with Cole I got out and Nancy checked me to make sure I was dilated and effaced enough to push and I was only dilated to a 7 and 100% effaced. Nancy and the doula, Ingrid, told me that even though he had dropped I still needed to wait to push until I was completely dilated. NOOOOOO...this was honestly the worst part of either labor, and the time when I literally felt like "I will NEVER do this again!" I remember having so many thoughts, and being brought to tears from the pain. I just felt like I needed to push and it was so uncomfortable. After another 45 minutes of these killer contractions, I finally said "I have got to push!" (probably not that calmly or kindly:) At that point I was good to go! Hallelujia

Pushing is my favorite part of labor. Its so painful, but so relieving after working so hard all day, and being so exhausted. Nancy told me she was nervous about Cole's shoulders being wide, so that had me a little worried that I could be pushing for a while, but it only ended up being about 12 pushes total.

I wish I could capture the feeling you have the moment you feel the baby slide completely out...I know that may sound weird and graphic, but it's slightly euphoric, and there really is an adrenaline rush, and you feel like you could conquer the world at that point because you just did something SO INCREDIBLE!  All that pain, all that hard work, slips away in that moment when they lay that tiny baby on your chest.