Emma’s Birth Story

I would have bet you a thousand dollars on the fact that this baby was coming late. I just had a feeling she would not be early and every single appointment indicated that she was comfy.

On Wednesday June 23 I had my 39 week appointment. Before this appointment I was zero percent dilated and zero percent effaced. When my doctor checked my cervix that day she said I was barely 1cm dilated and that my cervix was starting to thin out but nothing significant. I left that appointment again thinking that baby Davis was not coming anytime soon.

I remember Jarred being swamped with work that day. He stopped working a lot later than usual and we settled to eat out at Chipotle for dinner. I am so happy we did because little did we know that would be our last little date night before baby.

I went to bed that night thinking I probably had another 10 days AT LEAST before Emma would make her arrival. Now…this is where my birth story begins.

Around 2 am I sat up in bed for my routine middle of the night pee and felt a tiny gush. My first thought was hmmm that was a weird feeling. I thought it was probably just spotting from getting my cervix checked because I had spotted here and there all day ever since my appointment. I went to pee and didn’t think much of it. For some reason I had the understanding that when your water breaks it’s more of a water hose gush and not just a trickle like mine.

I went back to bed and woke up around 4am to pee again. When I woke up this time I realized that my underwear was wet. At this time I still didn’t believe it was my water breaking because again, I expected it to be like a water balloon breaking type gush. I changed my undies, and went back to bed. This time when I got back in bed, some pretty intense back pain began to settle in. I thought maybe I had slept wrong. I couldn’t get comfortable enough to go back to bed. So I just laid around trying to get comfy until about 6am. My back pain got so bad that I decided to grab our heated blanket and move to the couch. That didn’t seem to help at all so I thought maybe a hot shower would do the trick. Little did I know this was back labor.

In the shower I kept thinking dang I am miserable. The back pain became more intense and I started crying from the pain. I started to feel some ovulation type crampy dull pains which I now know looking back were the start of my contractions. I was able to breathe normal so I knew it wasn’t time to go to the hospital yet. This being my first time to give birth, I didn’t know if it was the real deal or not. I had never experienced Braxton Hicks so I really had no clue what to expect. I tried my hardest to just relax and breathe but then I lost my mucus plug and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t freak out because it was paired with “bloody show” which I also didn’t know much about.

After some quick googling, I realized A I for sure lost my mucus plug and B it was paired with bloody show which meant that my cervix was doing what it was supposed to. I was equally thankful, excited, and SOOO nervous. I thought to myself, well if today is the day, then I better let Jarred sleep until 7 because it’s gonna be a long one!

I was proud of myself for holding off until 7 because once my back pain started I really wanted to wake him up to tell him how miserable I was. Haha! Looking back, we are both glad that I did not wake him because it was a long day indeed.

Around 7 am I came into our room to wake him up. I asked him if he was ready to be a daddy today? He gave me the “Are you serious? I think you’re being dramatic” look and I said yep babe I am pretty dang sure this is happening today. I told him my symptoms and he was skeptical that this was actual labor. I too was still skeptical because I didn’t know if I was feeling contractions yet or not. I just felt the super intense back pain along with dull achey pains near my ovaries.

Between 7 am and 8 am the dull crampy pains in my ovaries increased to sharper pains and more frequent. I knew they were progressing because I could no longer breathe or talk normal through them. I felt the urge to cringe and clench my fist and bend over until they passed. I told Jarred to fill the tub with warm water because I knew that would give me some relief. He sat with me next to the tub timing my pains with an iphone timer. (we still didn’t know if they were the real deal contractions at this time). The contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart. I told him to download a contractions app because I wanted better data and I am so happy that we did because we could track the intensity too and look at the patterns more clearly.

I spent 8 am to 9 am in the tub and my contractions were becoming more intense with pain. I couldn’t talk through them. They were 3-5 minutes apart and they were about 45 seconds each and progressively getting longer. Around 9 am we debated calling the hospital. We didn’t want to be those weenies who come in too early and get sent back home! I decided to call the hospital and ask them if we are supposed to come in now. I remember I couldn’t finish the phone call because I was going through contractions and I couldn’t talk so Jarred had to take over. Sure enough after telling them about the frequency and intensity in my contractions they said yep come on in and good luck!

We didn’t want to rush to the hospital so from 9-10 Jarred packed up the car and I helped where I could double checking that we had everything. The contractions were bad but I remember feeling so happy and calm in between them at this point. We fed Riley who at the time definitely thought something fun was about to go down. She probably thought we were loading the car for another camping trip! Little did she know she was about to become a big sister.

Around 10 am is when we left to the hospital. It’s a 12 minute drive and I vividly remember those 4 contractions in the car. That was NOT fun. Luckily 2 of the contractions happened at a red light which gave me some relief from all the bumps and turns and motion.

We arrived at the hospital and by 10:45 I was in checked into triage. They asked me if my water had broke and I told them I wasn’t really sure. I told them about the leaking, the mucus plug, and the bloody show and they decided to swab me to confirm whether or not my water had broke. They said this could take about an hour. The nurses checked my cervix and I was still only 1 centimeter dilated which was discouraging. I thought to myself if this is not active labor, and I get sent home for a false alarm, I want nothing to do with what the real thing feels like haha!

My contractions were still about 3-5 minutes apart during this time and this was probably the most miserable part for me. The triage bed was incredibly uncomfortable and masks were mandatory. I was trying so hard to breathe slowly through the contractions but all I had were tears, sweat, and snot in my mask. It was pretty brutal and on a scale of 1-10 I’d say I was at a pain level 8.

Finally the doctor that was delivering that day (who wasn’t my normal doctor) came in with her cheery and lighthearted demeanor and told me yes my water did indeed break and that she would be delivering my baby today. I could have cried tears of joy at the fact that A this was not a false alarm, B I was in fact in active labor and not just being dramatic, C that I was gonna get an epidural soon, and D that we were gonna meet our baby!

At 1:30 pm we entered the delivery room and I just kept thinking soon this pain will be gone. Soon I will get my epidural. Soon. Turns out the epidural definitely takes a lot longer than expected between paperwork, setting up, getting my IV, and waiting for the anesthesiologist to be available. People told me to expect this but man it feels like eternity when you’re actually in the moment.

I was so irritable at everyone at this point. The nurses, the doctor, the anesthesiologist, Jarred. I remember everyone wanted to have small talk with me and joke around and I just kept laying there thinking that I wanted to punch them all. LOL. I remember my nurse telling me I needed to slow by breathing or else I was gonna pass out. As soon as she left the room I told Jarred I didn’t like her. Haha! Jarred for sure was the one who kept me grounded during this time.

AT LAST around 3:00 pm the anesthesiologist made all my epidural dreams come true and the pain subsided. I felt like I was on a cloud. Happy. Relaxed. Comfortable. Excited. And able to enjoy the hours to come. This is where my birth experience became magical.

At 3:45 my nurse Kelsey checked my cervix and I was 3 centimeters dilated and that my cervix was paper thin. So she told us to get some rest and that she would check back in hourly.

At 4:45 Kelsey checked my cervix again and I was dilated to a 6. I just remember feeling so thankful and proud of my body. I didn’t know what to expect giving birth but I am thankful to my body for being able to progress the way it did.

At 6:58 Kelsey checked my cervix again and I was dilated to a 9. Eek! I was so so excited for the green light to push and we were almost there. I felt no pain ever since that epidural, just pressure and an increased desire to push. The nurses started wheeling in all the delivery prep equipment and my adrenaline definitely started to kick in.

Truly after that epidural, everything felt magical. Our room had a nice view and I spent 3pm-8pm dilating with the view of a pretty sunset knowing that we would meet our baby very soon. Jarred was laying right under the window and I just remember thinking how grateful I was to have him here and in this moment.

At 8:31 I was 10 cm dilated and we got the green light. When I tell you I didn’t know much about pushing, I legit didn’t look much into this prior. I figured the nurses and doctor would coach me through it and that’s how it would all go down. I also know that our bodies are meant to do this so I didn’t worry about it too much beforehand.

The doctor told Kelsey to get the pushing started and to call her back in when she was needed. Basically, from what I gather, to catch the baby! Also being a first time mom, I think the doctor knew I would need some coaching and practice in those first pushes.

Kelsey was the most pivotal person in the room by far. She told me exactly what to do and how to do it. She told me to take a deep breath and to push for 10 seconds while holding my breath. The plan was to repeat this breathe/push pattern 3 times per contraction. We practiced together and I definitely did not get it the first or second time. We practiced again and I’d say I got the hang of it!

Pushing isn’t at all what I expected it to be. I thought it would be dramatic, painful, and difficult. It was honestly so fun for me. Each push led me a little closer to my baby and that kept me very excited. I also felt the urge to push so I didn’t feel like there was any fear holding me back.

After a couple pushes, Kelsey went ahead and called the doctor. The doctor came in and her excitement was so contagious. Every person in the room was cheering for me and encouraging me and it definitely made the experience that much more enjoyable.

After one push with the doctor, out came Emma’s head and my doctor was like, “WOW look at that head of hair!” I couldn’t believe it. My baby was making her entrance and what?! she has lots of hair?! She asked if I wanted to touch her head and I was reluctant but knew I had to in order to grasp and appreciate fully what was happening in that moment.

I touched her head and instantly had tears. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that my body was doing that. In this moment. I was in shock and elated. And so motivated.

The pushes that took place after this were pretty specific and no longer followed Kelsey’s pattern. My doctor told me to listen to her instructions closely. Push when I say push and stop when I say stop. I guess these were the pushes that would get her out safely!

I pushed a few more times and by 9:03pm. Out came our baby. This moment was simultaneously such a blur and such a beautiful crystal clear moment. I was immediately hyper focused on our baby. She was crying. Her arms and legs flailing. And it was an instant moment of love and infatuation.

Our doctor was adamant that Jarred announce the gender since it was a surprise my whole pregnancy. I remember not even thinking about the gender the moment she was born. All I could feel was this euphoric love. My heart was outside of my chest. And the only thing that mattered in that moment to me was that our baby was here.

Our doctor held up our baby so that Jarred could see the gender and then I heard him say it. “It’s a girl”. The best surprise of my whole life. This is exactly the moment I prayed for. The moment I had painted in my head that would be mine and Jarred’s forever. And it all happened so beautifully.

They put Emma on my chest and delayed cord clamping for 60 seconds. It was just. so. euphoric. She was so beautiful and soft and fuzzy like a little peach. I didn’t expect her at all to look the way she did (with so many of my and my family’s features!-big dark eyes and dimples) but I also somehow felt like I had already known her in my heart for my entire life. My littlest love. 6 pounds and 15 ounces. 19 ¾ inches of pure perfection. The doctor was also adamant that Jarred cut the umbilical cord. He was hesitant but we are both so glad looking back that he was able to be the one to do it.

I delivered the placenta a few minutes later and I prepared myself for the worst. I had heard that sometimes this is worse than delivering the baby. I think I was too exhilarated to feel anything other than infatuation at this point. I honestly don’t remember much about it. Because nothing else mattered than our beautiful baby being here at this point.

The nurses and doctors left the room and we were able to spend the next hour with our girl before being admitted to our recovery room. We did skin to skin and in that room is where our breastfeeding journey began (which is the hardest but most rewarding thing I have ever done and also the most difficult challenge out of everything to this point).

The next two nights we spent in the hospital and in awe of our little girl. God’s most beautiful gift. I am proud of myself and I am proud of Jarred. I am proud of our family and what we created. We did it! We created our Emma Kate and with the help of an amazing group of health professionals we brought her earth-side.

I won’t ever take this birth experience for granted. I realize that my next birth could be vastly different from this one. Nonetheless I am forever grateful for what we did experience. Though the start was rocky, all of the rockiness has faded. I only remember the high. The good parts. It’s what sticks out the most. Truly the most magical experience of my entire life.