Baby Chick || A Birth Story

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

I don't know what it is about birth stories, but I just love to read them. Something about each experience being so unique. So many emotions are tied into childbirth- the anticipation, the anxiety and worry, the what-ifs, the excitement- all present at the same time- and somehow we mama's manage to focus and keep it together long enough to see that sweet baby laid on our chests, even though we're on the edge of completely losing it. If you don't want to read any of the backstory, and just want to get to the birth story- scroll down until you see BIRTH STORY :)

A little history about this pregnancy- we started trying to have baby #3 around the summer of 2016. Unexpectedly, it didn't happen quickly. I struggled to get pregnant with Big Chick for 2 years, and Little Chick was easy- for some reason I thought my third pregnancy would follow suite, but seeing negative after negative I decided to reach out for help. To make a long story just a touch shorter I went through 6 months of Clomid treatment before almost losing my mind from the hormones and deciding to move on to a more specialized treatment. I contacted a clinic in Clovis and after multiple appointments, blood tests, dye tests, and ultrasounds we had a plan for a different fertility drug with injection for December 2017. We moved forward hopeful but cautious as we'd been at this for almost a year and half at this point. I asked my fertility Dr. when to test, she looked at the calendar and said Christmas morning. She told me I could wait a day if I didn't want to be disappointed on Christmas, but I knew I wouldn't be able to wait. I had some spotting a few days before, so I was pretty sure it would be negative. Christmas morning I woke up around 3am and needed to use the restroom, I decided to go ahead and test, just to get it over with. To my complete surprise that little test popped up with the word Pregnant. I was in shock, and my husband was even more in shock to be woken at 3am! That was it, baby #3, the finale to our family was finally a reality.

BIRTH STORY


Baby Chick was due September 3rd, 2018, but that day came and went along with the entire week after it. At my appt. on the 5th my OB decided to schedule an induction for the 10th. She was going to be working through the night, and she knew I had a history of long drawn out labors and hemorrhaging, so she wanted to keep an eye on me.

Sunday evening we dropped the girls off at my parents house to spend the night, they were going to go to school Monday morning since we knew it would be mostly waiting for the first part of the day. Monday at 5am Ben and I walked into the delivery room and got settled in. I got all my IV lines in, I have to have an extra in case of hemorrhage, had all my stats done, got hooked up to all the monitors, and then we waited. Around 7:30 my OB made her way in to check me, I had not progressed at all since my last appt the Wednesday before, so she decided to start with a medication on the cervix to help it ripen further- we were then told that was a 4 hour process! We did not expect that, I don't know why I thought it would be a quicker process, but I was wrong. We turned on the TV, took some photos, nurses checked in with us, my parents came to visit after dropping the girls off, my dad took Ben to go get some lunch...it was very slow.


My nurses came back in to check me around noon, the first nurse (in training for the delivery unit) thought I was at a 4-5, the head nurse thought I was still at a 2, so they called my OB back to decide the next step. They let me know it would probably be another dose of the medication on the cervix, and another 4 hour wait, which I was not excited about. I was having contractions during this time, but they were very minimal and not very consistent. My OB came in around 12:30pm and told me she was just going to break my water, and get the process started! She checked me again, I was about 3cm dilated, then proceeded to break my water. They let me know to call when I was ready for an epidural, they were going to get Pitocin ready to start if I didn't progress after my next check.

Around 3pm they came back in to check me again, I was 5cm so they held off on the Pitocin. At this time I decided to request the epidural. I was having consistent contractions every 3-5 minutes, and I could watch the intensity on the monitor increasing. I was handling the pain ok, still able to breath though them, but I know my body, and when I hit 5-6cm dilated, it usually goes really fast and I didn't want to miss the window. I also knew it would take 30 minutes to an hour for that to be in. Around 3:30-4 to epidural was administered.

This was the first time I had an epidural when I wasn't already in pretty severe pain- with the big girls I was in so much pain from contractions I don't remember feeling the epidural. It was also the first time I really felt the epidural and the first time I cried during this labor. I felt the needle, the catheter, her repositioning it to try and get it in the right place, I also felt the pressure of the medication going in, all while my nurse was trying to reposition the TOCO monitor, everyone asking me to hold very still- which is easier said that done with a needle going in your spine. When it was over I had to try really hard to stop crying, it was the first time I let emotion escape that morning, and being 41 weeks pregnant and having that bottled up, trying to get it to stop was not easy. I got myself together, they let my husband and mom come back in and I finally calmed down and was able to relax a bit. We FaceTimed the girls and let them know baby probably wouldn't be here in time for them to visit that night, but definitely the next morning. They were VERY excited. They each packed a hospital bag to bring when visiting, packing with all the things they wanted to show baby. It was about the sweetest thing I've ever seen.


After the epidural they started Pitocin. From 4:30-6pm I was monitored and flipped from side to side to keep the epidural from pooling on one side, I enjoyed watching the monitor as contractions increased in severity and frequency. I could still feel my legs which was also new, with the big girls I was completely numb. I could also still feel some of the tightening of the contractions. They did  let me know that I would probably feel some pressure when it was time to push- some pressure...the understatement of the year.

The nurse shift change happened and my night nurse came in to check on me and get stats around 6:15pm. I had been on my left side for about an hour at that point, so she decided to roll me to my right. She checked me and I was 7cm and baby's head had not dropped yet, she finished her stats then increased the Pitocin. At 6:30pm she rolled me to my right side and left the room. I had one contraction that all of sudden felt very intense. I had a ton of pressure, so my husband pushed the button to increase the epidural dosage, but little did I know it was too late. Another contract came shortly after with more pressure and more intensity- the pain was severe at this point and I felt like I needed to push. I called my nurse back in and let her know I was all of sudden in a lot of pain and having a extreme amount of pressure. She mentioned it was most likely just from flipping but that she would check me again just in case. In those 5 minutes, I had gone from 7cm to 9cm, baby had dropped completely and I was ready to deliver.

It all happened very quick, but it felt like forever to me. At this point I am sure the epidural was helping, but I couldn't tell. The pressure was so intense that I had to will every part of me not to push as contractions rolled on top of each other and then finally never let up at all. My body started shaking uncontrollably from the pain and pressure and I was trying to breath and relax as best I could because my OB was not there yet. She was called in while another 4 or 5 nurses came in to prep, I couldn't really tell who who was in the room, I had my eyes closed trying to focus on something other than pushing as my body shook more forcefully. My husband and my mom were by my side, encouraging me to breath, I could hear the sobs of my husband in my ear as he realized we would meet our sweet girl in just a few shorts minutes. The tears streamed down my cheeks, both from hearing him and the same realization, but also from pain. I had to block out all that excitement and emotion to get through the last few minutes of waiting for my OB to arrive.

Literally minutes before delivery, Ben thought it would be a good time to take a picture. This is my attempt to smile, mid contraction and cry.

My OB walked in the room and got suited up, I could hear her voice. I remember seeing her getting ready and the stirrups being added to the bed in one of the few moments I blinked and opened my eyes. I doubt it took her longer than a few minutes to be ready. She walked over to me, my legs were lifted, and I heard her say, "Ok we can probably push on this next one". Sweet relief was coming! I heard her say push, and I don't even know that I pushed, but I know I let my body go, I let it do what it had wanted to do for the last 30 minutes. I saw Baby Chicks head immediately come out about halfway through the first push, I took a quick breath and saw her body follow. Her cord was wrapped around her neck twice, she was quickly freed and placed on my chest and we all started sobbing. She cried and cried and cried! She had the sweetest little raspy cry, and she was perfect in every way. She was beautiful and whole, she was healthy. We were complete.


Ben cut the cord, she continued to cry, and immediately latched on to nurse. We FaceTimed the girls again, and let everyone know her name. We were transferred pretty quickly to Mother/Baby and spent some time getting settled in. My husband left to take my mom home, picked up some treats on his way back, and we called in a night. Baby Chick slept all night, waking only a few times to eat and get stats from the nurses.

The big sisters came first thing the next morning and spent a few hours holding her, reading to her, and showing her all the goodies from their hospital bag. We spent the rest of the afternoon with a few more visitors, waiting for a discharge time. Around 7pm we were finally let go, and we made our way home with our sweet girl.

Look at this sweet little crown that Little Chick brought for her to wear! 



She has been the perfect addition to our family! She is sweet and happy, she smiles constantly, and loves watching her big sister. We know we are blessed and are so thankful to have a healthy baby and safe delivery.

Near the end of my pregnancy with baby chick I was in quite a bit of pain. I had hip, pelvic, and sciatic pain like I'd never experienced before, it made it nearly impossible to do so many daily activities- on more than one occasion I found myself stuck on the floor waiting for my husband to come in and rescue me because my pelvis didn't allow me to move my legs. My sweet 7 year old watched me carefully throughout this time- she knew I was in pain, she heard me scream out anytime my pelvis unexpectedly failed me and she worried about me. One night while I was slowly getting into the bathtub for a soak, she let me know that she felt so bad for me, and would probably decide to adopt kids because it just looked too painful to be pregnant. I let her know that she can make that decision if she chooses (our lives have been blessed by adoption so many times over!), but I also reassured her that I was ok, that this is what happens as we get closer and closer to welcoming our sweet girl. I also reassured her that it was worth it. It was and is worth every ache, pain, and tear shed...it was worth it to become a momma in anyway possible. It's worth the heartache of trying to conceive unsuccessfully, worth the pain of the fertility needles, the worry of the 2 week wait, the nausea, the fatigue, your body slowly failing you...worth it to see those beautiful eyes look at your for the first time, worth it to love with your whole body and soul in a way you didn't even know possible- 3 times over in my case. Worth it.

Leave a Comment

  1. I was in tears reading your beautiful birth story! So happy for you and your family. Such a crazy journey but worth every bit of heartache and pain!! ❤️ Lisa Camarco

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  2. Beautiful! Isn’t it so crazy how your body just takes over?! I couldn’t have stopped the pushing even if I had tried - God’s design is incredible!! Congrats on baby chick Tessa! ��

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    1. Thank you- it was not easy, that's for sure! Such a different experience with this little one, but I love it!

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