This Family of Two... Just Became Three!!

It's taken me quite a while to officially write this all down but finally, here i am to give you the low down of how my kiddo arrived. So here we go...

It was the 4th of July when i started feeling some strange Braxton Hicks contractions. I didn't think too much of it after all i had about 2.5weeks left until my due date. Well, I guess the fireworks were a bit too much because around 2am on July 5th i started having some contractions. They were definitely not braxton hicks, something that had always worried me was how i would know what real contractions would feel like, this was very obvious now. I woke Brian up and he started timing them and by 4am they were about 10mins apart. I called our doula to let her know what was happening and she told me she would be on her way shortly.

Our plan was to labor at home as long as possible then head to the hospital when contractions were pretty close to avoid any hospital intervention (iv,pitocin, epidural, c-section). This worried Brian because our hospital is about 30mins away from our home and we'd have to take the busiest freeway to get there which meant the possibility of HORRIBLE traffic. Still, we kept to this original plan and everything seemed to be going pretty smoothly. Our doula arrived and quickly she got me walking around the block to get my contractions moving along, which they did... Yay! (or OUCH!!!) She made me some breakfast, made me sleep, and made me eat some more. Finally we were ready to head to the hospital, called the parents to meet us there... contractions were 4mins apart for about 2hrs at that point.

WTF? a car ride while having contractions is not ideal AT ALL! It's officially 5pm and I have been admitted to the hospital but they set me up in an older delivery room (definitely not the ones we saw during the hospital tour) that was a total FAIL. I'm in my lovely hospital gown, monitors wrapped around my belly and wam bam they check me out and i'm only 4cm dialated. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You're kidding me right? shortly thereafter, my contractions stalled. Yeah, the idea of only being 4cm dialated completely stalled my labor taking my contractions to about 13-15mins apart. I was also really hungry and apparently once you've checked into the hospital you can't eat anything other than ice chips or popsicles... i was so ready to head the hell outta there. So I did! This kinda freaked my parents out but I signed forms "Against Medical Advise" and got myself home to eat and let labor get moving again.

I actually got a great night of sleep but woke up to some amazing contractions... Hello Tuesday July 6th I think today will be the day!

I called the doula and we made a plan to head out early and maybe walk the mall near the hospital until i felt ready to check back in. So with contractions 7mins apart at 9am we headed out near the hospital. I'm not gonna lie going through labor is so much more mental than I would have guessed. At one point I realized my contractions were slowing down again and I told the doula and Brian from that point on
Do Not Tell Me How Far Apart My Contractions Are... I'm Serious!!!

Contractions from that point on seemed pretty manageable as I was breathing through them and squatting as often as possible. Mind you, I was laboring in public... In Public!!




I was far from home and had to wait it out, no shame in my game! I was ready to get this kid out... Correction, this kid wanted out! Although I kept thinking to myself, after all my Bradley classes had taught me, I was nowhere near having the baby because in my mind my contractions were still about 7mins apart and I began to get hungry. You're not supposed to want to eat so close to giving birth, or so I thought. (Apparently my contractions had been 3min apart for 2hours but I had no clue) So we headed over to Corner Bakery for a bite to eat in between contractions. I ate a whole sandwich combo... Hey i was hungry ok?!?



4:45pm I told Brian and our doula that all I wanted to do was lay down somewhere and be comfortable. We went down the block to a park, set out a blanket and tried to nap but this is where the real hard contractions took over. It felt like someone was ripping my bones out of my body, literally. And then the conversation went as follows....
Me: "I feel like I really have to go poop, like really bad"
Doula: "well let's get in the car head to the hospital so you can use the bathroom then check in"
Me: "ok"


so we got in the car and started driving to the hospital (only 2 blocks away) when i felt the strongest contraction of my life

Me: "oh my god I think I have to start pushing, Ahhhhhhh"
Doula: "marci, we're almost there don't push, Breathe... Breathe through your mouth"
Me: "oh No, it really feels like the baby wants to come out"
Doula: "MARCI, DON'T PUSH WE'RE ALMOST THERE, NOW BREATHE!!!"


We pulled up to the hospital Valet and the doula urged them to get a wheelchair asap and take me straight to delivery, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200 because I was already pushing! I had pushed 2 times already by the time i was in the elevator. They wheeled me into the delivery room, ripped off my clothes, put on my gown and sat me down on the bed and got monitors on me. It was 5:15pm on Tuesday evening... no time for IVs, no time for drugs, no time for anything other than pushing this kiddo out.

On the next contraction I couldn't stop the feeling of pushing so I gave in to it and there was the head... next contraction, the body.

Me: "what is it, what did we have?"
Everyone: "IT'S A BOY!"







Born at 5:25pm, weighing 5lbs-15oz, my beautiful little boy Enzo!

Welcome Baby, We love you more than you can imagine :)
If it weren't for my wonderful husband and amazing doula who left me out in the blue about what was happening, I would have never had a natural birth.

Comments

Casey Lee said…
Marci, I cannot tell you how happy I am for you! I really hope I am as strong as you for when I get pregnant and go into labor. I want it to be natural for as long as possible, if not the entire labor. Congrats!!!!!
Anna_Kramer said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
D said…
Oh Em Gee! I thought I posted a comment before, but I maybe forgot. What an incredible story! So happy for your whole family! Great job!!!

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