Sloane's birth story Part 2

This is the second half of my birth story. If you want to read the first half click HERE.

The nurse arrived to take me to my room and we slowly followed her back, stopping once to let a contraction pass. Once we arrived to the room it seemed like everything was flying by. We were asked a bunch of questions, my vital signs were checked and I was hooked up to monitors for my baby's heart rate. While checking in, lunch arrived and the tray looked so good with an amazing looking lemon bar calling my name. I had only eaten a pack of peanut butter crackers so far that day. I so badly wanted to eat it but the nurse strongly suggested I didn't because it was likely I could get nauseous during labor. I sadly agreed not to eat. Once we were checked in I decided I wanted to labor in the tub.

The nurse filled it up and I quickly climbed in and turned on the jets. This tub is the only thing that got me through my labor is believe. The warm water and the jets really helped to relax me. During this time I was also receiving texts from family and friends letting me know they were on their way, I wasn't really able to concentrate on texting back however but Mat was letting me know what they were saying. Linnea was the first to arrive followed by my Grams and then my parents and Kristin were soon after. They all gathered around me in the tub as my contractions were rapidly getting stronger. I remember getting annoyed that they all kept offering their seats to each other and quickly I made a rule that there would be no talking while I was going through a contraction. While in labor I remember yelling "I don't like this" and "I'm so stupid, why didn't I want drugs?" It was hard for me to remember why I was going for an all natural birth while in pain. I wish I could discribe the pain I was in but it was really just a lot of discomfort. They say you forget how much pain it was and I will agree with that. I know it was a lot of pain but I can't really remember what kind of pain it was and so, in a way, I have forgotten how bad it was.  It was nice because Mat was being so supportive and not letting me give into the pain. I thought for sure once I started saying I should have taken drugs that my nurse would have offered them to me, and I would have given in, but she was didn't really make it seem like drugs were an option which was good. I feel like having my birth plan really helped with the way my nurse treated the experance. The headline was; "I'm just dramatic, I'm sure I'm fine." I also stated to not offer me drugs, that if I wanted them I would ask for them. I hear from friends that my nurse was a bit rude, luckily I don't really remember that. I was brought cranberry juice to drink and it was very tasty but quickly the contractions became so strong that I started puking from the pain and I couldn't even keep down ice chips. I was happy that I hadn't eaten that lemon bar earlier. My Dr arrived and started talking to me about my options. She suggested that we could break my water to get the process moving a bit quicker. I was a bit nervous about that so I decided to wait it out a bit longer. By the time my dilation was checked I think I had been in labor for 4 hours. I was at 7-8cm and it seemed like things were progressing pretty well on their own. I climbed back into the tub to make it through the rest of my labor.
I decided I wanted my water broken a little while later so I got the nurse and let her know. They got me back out of the tub and checked me again, I was 9 and 3/4cm so the Dr broke my water and a few minutes later I was pushing. My mom and grams where holding my right leg while Mat was holding my left. Pushing was the hardest part of labor by far, so exhausting having to push so hard. I pushed for 30 minutes total. The last two pushes were the worst, I felt like I was literally ripping in half, I sat up, screamed and nearly jumped off the bed but my Dr grabbed my attention and very firmly told me that I had to push and that it was almost over. With the last push I felt the most amazing relief I've ever felt. There was suddenly no pain just pure relief. When they broke my water they had noticed that Sloane had pooped while still inside me so they had extra nurses in the room in case she was born with issues. As soon as Sloane was out she cried and we knew she was all right! Sloane Lori-Lee Evans was born November 7th, 2012. She was 8lbs 8oz and 21in long. My labor totaled 6 hours (not including the time I spent at home feeling light contractions.) They quickly placed her on my chest for skin to skin while they worked to get out the after birth. Sloane promptly pooped on me, she is quite a poop machine still.

The first few moments after Sloane was born is a bit of a blur after going through so much pain. There is video of me holding her to my chest talking to the Dr about when she should get her ear pierced. (for the record I vote for her getting them when she is around 10 yrs old, as a right of passage.) After getting me all stitched up it was time to start breast feeding. Sloane took to it quite well, and once I was comfortable at what I was doing I let all the rest of my family and friends gather back in my room. It was amazing how many people came for Sloane's birth. I'm so grateful that she has so many people that love her. I was especially excited that Mat's aunt from California was able to make it up here for the birth.

I'm so proud of myself for making it through an all natural child birth. I hasn't known that is what I wanted until I was pregnant. It just felt right to, I don't know, earn my child. Like people say the best things in life you have to work for. Now onto the best adventure of my life. I can't wait to see who our beautiful daughter will grow up to be.

Sloane's Birth Story Part 1

I had been waiting to go into labor for what seemed like months. I was put on bed rest at 28 weeks for being at risk for going into pre-term labor. It seemed ever since then I had been waiting for our little one to arrive. I wanted her to make her appearance before Halloween because it would have been so much fun to celebrate with her. Well November 6th, 2012 arrived, her due date, and she still was no where to be seen. I felt like I might have been having contractions, I hadn't really felt any during my pregnancy thus far, but being a first time mom I really had no idea what labor felt like. I went to my regularly scheduled Dr appointment at noon. Told my Dr that I thought I had been feeling contractions, hoping that she would just send me to the hospital that day. She checked me and saw that I was dilated to 4cm (I had been dilated this much for about a week or so already). She hooked me up to monitors and saw I was having contractions but they weren't very strong or very regular so she sent me on my way. I was determined to go into labor after trying a bunch of old wives tales already. Mat and I headed straight to our favorite Thai restaurant, Chantanee. We ordered or regular; Heavenly Beef, with the full 5 stars (spicy foods are said to bring on labor). Sadly no real improvement in my contractions so we headed to Bellevue Square Mall to walk around. I think we walked every inch of the mall and I thought my contractions were getting a bit stronger but still no real pain. I wanted to be able to just go back to the Dr's office but it didn't seem like the time so we headed back to our house to rest. I was on edge cause I knew something was happening but it just didn't seem like enough to call the Dr about. Much to my dismay any pain I had been feeling faded as we relaxed at home. Seems it was all just from the exhaustion of walking so much, so we headed to bed. Around 4am I woke up feeling more pressure than before but still no pain. I decided to get up and move to the living room to let Mat sleep and see if it was possible to time the contractions. The first few hours they weren't really regular but as time passed the pressure seemed to come anywhere between every 2 to 4 minutes. I was pretty excited once Mat finally woke up but still pretty sceptical because I wasn't in pain and everyone who had talked to me had said "You will know you are in labor. it will hurt!" but after a full hour of contractions coming every 3 or so minutes I called the Dr's office and they instructed me to come into their office to be monitored.

We arrived at the office around 10:30am November 7th, 2012. Upon seeing me my Dr said "You don't look like your in enough pain to be in labor" I'm pretty sure she had made up her mind then that I wasn't going to the hospital that day. She checked my cervix once again and I was still at 4cm. I was once again hooked up to monitors. While we sat there my contractions were becoming more and more painful to where I had to stop what I was doing till they passed. My Dr still wasn't convinced and was talking about sending me home. I told her the problem with that was I wouldn't be sure when real labor had started if what I was going through wasn't it cause I already felt a good amount of pain and pressure. She said she would check my cervix one more time to see if I had gotten any closer to the 5cm I needed to be sent over to the hospital. As she was checking me she said that I still hadn't gotten all the way to 5cm but if I really felt like I needed to go to the hospital she would "fib" for me when she called the hospital to tell them I was heading over. Her final words as I left to head to the hospital were "make sure to look like your in pain so I don't look bad for sending you over." I was relieved to be finally heading to the hospital. Mat and I slowly walked through the underground tunnel that attached my Dr's office with the hospital. We did have to stop a couple of times to let contractions pass. We arrived at the hospital and they called up a nurse for me. As we waited I was texting all of my friends and family, and calling my mom. This was it, I was finally being admitted to the hospital.