Almost 8 months have passed and I've finally made the time to write Owen's birth story.
Rewind back to July 2012. I'd been dilated at 4 cm for a couple of weeks and I was having some stronger Braxton Hicks contractions as we drew closer to Owen's due date. I also worried more and more about how things would play out once we went into labor. I wasn't certain everything would work out with someone locally taking Ella while we went to the hospital. I'd been thinking of all the things that could happen. What if my labor was really quick and we didn't make it to the hospital in time? Thankfully, Brent's parents agreed to come down earlier than originally planned. They arrived on Sunday, July 15th. I felt better knowing we could simply drive to the hospital and leave Ella at home, where she is most familiar. The night Brent's parents came in, Brent persuaded me to go on a walk to try and start labor. We walked Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night & let me tell you, it is still hot after the sun goes down in Memphis!
On Tuesday, July 17th, I took a shower before we went out to eat lunch. In the shower, I felt extremely weird, and I told Brent that I thought labor would probably start sometime that day. We went to a Mexican restaurant and it was so yummy. Ella loved all the chips and guacamole she kept getting from all of us. :)
Later that evening, Brent and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up a few things. Walking brought lots of pain, and as we were leaving, this lady yelled across the parking lot to me. She congratulated me and told me that I didn't have much longer to go. Lol. If she only knew she was so right! When we arrived home, it was pretty quiet. Then, we realized the grandparents were upstairs giving Ella a bath. Brent put our new slipcovers on our couches, and I set out to finally finish writing our thank you notes for Owen's baby shower. (Between moving into a new house, unpacking, cleaning, and Ella's 1st B-day party...I didn't really have time to work on them and I have yet to send all of them out- that's the next project.)
At 9:10 pm that night, my contractions began. However, since Brent had been asking me for a while when labor was going to start, I wanted to wait to tell him about the contractions.... just so I could make sure it was real. I had two close together and thankfully Brent came into the dining room not too long after to ask me if I felt anything yet. We walked around the neighborhood to time the contractions. They were 5-6 minutes apart for 20 minutes. We came back to the house and decided it was time to go to the hospital since it was a little bit of a drive. We went around gathering our last minute things (and by "we," I mean Brent). He was sweet enough to take care of getting the bags, and I went into Ella's room to catch a few more glimpses of the last time I'd see her as my only child. I cried thinking about how much I was going to miss her. This would be the first time I'd been away from her overnight (and it was going to be a few days). I whispered, "I love you," to my sleeping baby girl one last time before we headed to the car.
We called my mom to let her know. She and my sister were already on their way, as they left after my sister got off work earlier that evening so they could come help us out too. The timing with people being in town worked out perfectly once again.
Once we arrived at the hospital, we started walking around campus timing contractions before we checked in. I wanted to keep labor progressing. Contractions became even stronger as we walked. We ended up checking in not too long after this because I became scared that Owen would come quickly. Brent ran to the car and grabbed our bags after walking me to the front desk.
We were admitted and monitored for two hours. My contractions were very inconsistent and basically stopped while in bed. After two hours, I was still at 4 cm. I really wanted to walk around, but they didn't seem too willing to let that happen. They said they had to have a doctor's order in order to allow that. Since I didn't progress in the two hours, the doctor wanted me to discharge. I was really disappointed. I wanted to meet my baby boy, and didn't want to go back home. We decided to stay close to the hospital and find a place to walk around to get labor going again. We also contemplated getting a hotel close by so we didn't have to drive all the way home.
Before getting completely dressed, my contractions came back and were two minutes apart and getting stronger with each one. Brent let me lean on him through the contractions, and he would put some pressure on my back to try and relieve the pain. My nurse, Stephanie, happened to walk in with our discharge paperwork as I was in the middle of a contraction. She didn't want to send me away now. She kept saying it was up to me, but she would feel better having me stay. She worked with us and got approval for me to be monitored in bed for 20 minutes and then I could walk the halls for 40 minutes. Since they monitored me for two hours already, I could go ahead and walk.
After changing back into the gown and walking around the room for a little while, things got a lot more painful and I no longer wanted to walk around. I labored on the toilet for a little while before getting back into my bed. Once back in bed and on all of the monitors again, my nurse checked me to find that I was now at 6cm. The nurse came in to put in the IV, and she couldn't get it. She then had to get another nurse to come do it. She, too, had lots of trouble putting it in. I was squirming because of all the contraction pain, and I do not like having IV's put in... it always takes too long! I don't quite remember if my mom had gotten to the hospital before or after I had my IV put in, but she was there sometime early that morning.
As time went on and labor progressed, I realized I couldn't go completely naturally. I was in so much pain and had lots of back labor. Pressure on my back no longer felt good and I felt like we were running out of things to try. I didn't want to admit it, but I wanted the epidural, and apparently it didn't take long for me to get over my shame. I was practically begging for it, but had to wait a long time. I had to wait on fluids since I hadn't gotten the IV when I first arrived. I remember crying and begging Brent to tell the nurse the bag of fluids was empty. Brent would let me squeeze his hand as I contracted and helped me breathe. However, I wasn't doing such a good job of breathing at this point. My body tensed each time I contracted. I finally got an epidural a little after 4:30am. Now we were just waiting for my water to break or any feelings of pressure to begin pushing.
We had lots of issues with the monitors. I barely moved and the nurse would come back in because they weren't able to read my contractions or Owen's heartbeat.
The nurses ran into my room and immediately put me on my side and put an oxygen mask on me because Owen's heart rate dropped. That was such a scary moment. Thankfully, they were able to get Owen's heart rate back to normal. However, that was the most comfortable I'd been while lying in the hospital bed since I'd been there. I think I was able to get a little sleep, but I don't quite remember.
Around 6am, my nurse came in and told us the doctor was on her way to break my water. She also went ahead and checked to see if I'd progressed any more in dilation. As she was checking me, I heard this loud rushing water sound. My water broke as she was checking me. It was pretty hysterical, and I felt even better after that happened! I was now at 9 cm.
Brent and I decided that we wanted it to be just the two of us as we brought our baby into the world. My mom went to the waiting room so we could have our time with each other and with Owen.
My doctor was on vacation, so another doctor in the group performed the delivery. The doctor told us Owen was 'sunny side up,' so she turned him over. At 6:45 am, I began pushing and Owen arrived at 6:53 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. It only took two pushes to get him out! Brent was the one who cut his umbilical cord. Owen Robert weighed 8lbs and 7oz. and he was 20.5 inches in length. I cried as they laid him on my chest. He was perfect.
The same nurse stayed throughout the entire labor and delivery, and she was wonderful. She honored our wishes that we'd written in our birth plan, and she treated us with such kindness and care. I wasn't forced to get Pitocin this time around, and I'm thankful that I made it for a longer period of time without the epidural. Since the nurse kept to our birth plan, we weren't rushed out of our room, and I nursed and bonded with Owen.
Sidenote: After delivery, the nurses realized my monitor hadn't measured my contractions correctly. They probably thought I was crazy when comparing the graph to the amount of pain I said I felt.
It amazes me as I sit and think about my two babies and how each birth story is so unique. There are some similarities too. Both of my babies arrived three days before their due dates. I also went into labor the evening before the morning each were born.
A couple cool facts: They are exactly 12 months and 2 weeks apart; Their weight at birth was flip-flopped: Ella weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and Owen weighed 8 lbs 7 oz.
I thank God for my precious family. Thanks for taking the time to read all the details I never want to forget.
Rewind back to July 2012. I'd been dilated at 4 cm for a couple of weeks and I was having some stronger Braxton Hicks contractions as we drew closer to Owen's due date. I also worried more and more about how things would play out once we went into labor. I wasn't certain everything would work out with someone locally taking Ella while we went to the hospital. I'd been thinking of all the things that could happen. What if my labor was really quick and we didn't make it to the hospital in time? Thankfully, Brent's parents agreed to come down earlier than originally planned. They arrived on Sunday, July 15th. I felt better knowing we could simply drive to the hospital and leave Ella at home, where she is most familiar. The night Brent's parents came in, Brent persuaded me to go on a walk to try and start labor. We walked Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night & let me tell you, it is still hot after the sun goes down in Memphis!
On Tuesday, July 17th, I took a shower before we went out to eat lunch. In the shower, I felt extremely weird, and I told Brent that I thought labor would probably start sometime that day. We went to a Mexican restaurant and it was so yummy. Ella loved all the chips and guacamole she kept getting from all of us. :)
Later that evening, Brent and I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick up a few things. Walking brought lots of pain, and as we were leaving, this lady yelled across the parking lot to me. She congratulated me and told me that I didn't have much longer to go. Lol. If she only knew she was so right! When we arrived home, it was pretty quiet. Then, we realized the grandparents were upstairs giving Ella a bath. Brent put our new slipcovers on our couches, and I set out to finally finish writing our thank you notes for Owen's baby shower. (Between moving into a new house, unpacking, cleaning, and Ella's 1st B-day party...I didn't really have time to work on them and I have yet to send all of them out- that's the next project.)
At 9:10 pm that night, my contractions began. However, since Brent had been asking me for a while when labor was going to start, I wanted to wait to tell him about the contractions.... just so I could make sure it was real. I had two close together and thankfully Brent came into the dining room not too long after to ask me if I felt anything yet. We walked around the neighborhood to time the contractions. They were 5-6 minutes apart for 20 minutes. We came back to the house and decided it was time to go to the hospital since it was a little bit of a drive. We went around gathering our last minute things (and by "we," I mean Brent). He was sweet enough to take care of getting the bags, and I went into Ella's room to catch a few more glimpses of the last time I'd see her as my only child. I cried thinking about how much I was going to miss her. This would be the first time I'd been away from her overnight (and it was going to be a few days). I whispered, "I love you," to my sleeping baby girl one last time before we headed to the car.
We called my mom to let her know. She and my sister were already on their way, as they left after my sister got off work earlier that evening so they could come help us out too. The timing with people being in town worked out perfectly once again.
Once we arrived at the hospital, we started walking around campus timing contractions before we checked in. I wanted to keep labor progressing. Contractions became even stronger as we walked. We ended up checking in not too long after this because I became scared that Owen would come quickly. Brent ran to the car and grabbed our bags after walking me to the front desk.
We were admitted and monitored for two hours. My contractions were very inconsistent and basically stopped while in bed. After two hours, I was still at 4 cm. I really wanted to walk around, but they didn't seem too willing to let that happen. They said they had to have a doctor's order in order to allow that. Since I didn't progress in the two hours, the doctor wanted me to discharge. I was really disappointed. I wanted to meet my baby boy, and didn't want to go back home. We decided to stay close to the hospital and find a place to walk around to get labor going again. We also contemplated getting a hotel close by so we didn't have to drive all the way home.
Before getting completely dressed, my contractions came back and were two minutes apart and getting stronger with each one. Brent let me lean on him through the contractions, and he would put some pressure on my back to try and relieve the pain. My nurse, Stephanie, happened to walk in with our discharge paperwork as I was in the middle of a contraction. She didn't want to send me away now. She kept saying it was up to me, but she would feel better having me stay. She worked with us and got approval for me to be monitored in bed for 20 minutes and then I could walk the halls for 40 minutes. Since they monitored me for two hours already, I could go ahead and walk.
After changing back into the gown and walking around the room for a little while, things got a lot more painful and I no longer wanted to walk around. I labored on the toilet for a little while before getting back into my bed. Once back in bed and on all of the monitors again, my nurse checked me to find that I was now at 6cm. The nurse came in to put in the IV, and she couldn't get it. She then had to get another nurse to come do it. She, too, had lots of trouble putting it in. I was squirming because of all the contraction pain, and I do not like having IV's put in... it always takes too long! I don't quite remember if my mom had gotten to the hospital before or after I had my IV put in, but she was there sometime early that morning.
As time went on and labor progressed, I realized I couldn't go completely naturally. I was in so much pain and had lots of back labor. Pressure on my back no longer felt good and I felt like we were running out of things to try. I didn't want to admit it, but I wanted the epidural, and apparently it didn't take long for me to get over my shame. I was practically begging for it, but had to wait a long time. I had to wait on fluids since I hadn't gotten the IV when I first arrived. I remember crying and begging Brent to tell the nurse the bag of fluids was empty. Brent would let me squeeze his hand as I contracted and helped me breathe. However, I wasn't doing such a good job of breathing at this point. My body tensed each time I contracted. I finally got an epidural a little after 4:30am. Now we were just waiting for my water to break or any feelings of pressure to begin pushing.
We had lots of issues with the monitors. I barely moved and the nurse would come back in because they weren't able to read my contractions or Owen's heartbeat.
The nurses ran into my room and immediately put me on my side and put an oxygen mask on me because Owen's heart rate dropped. That was such a scary moment. Thankfully, they were able to get Owen's heart rate back to normal. However, that was the most comfortable I'd been while lying in the hospital bed since I'd been there. I think I was able to get a little sleep, but I don't quite remember.
Around 6am, my nurse came in and told us the doctor was on her way to break my water. She also went ahead and checked to see if I'd progressed any more in dilation. As she was checking me, I heard this loud rushing water sound. My water broke as she was checking me. It was pretty hysterical, and I felt even better after that happened! I was now at 9 cm.
Brent and I decided that we wanted it to be just the two of us as we brought our baby into the world. My mom went to the waiting room so we could have our time with each other and with Owen.
My doctor was on vacation, so another doctor in the group performed the delivery. The doctor told us Owen was 'sunny side up,' so she turned him over. At 6:45 am, I began pushing and Owen arrived at 6:53 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. It only took two pushes to get him out! Brent was the one who cut his umbilical cord. Owen Robert weighed 8lbs and 7oz. and he was 20.5 inches in length. I cried as they laid him on my chest. He was perfect.
The same nurse stayed throughout the entire labor and delivery, and she was wonderful. She honored our wishes that we'd written in our birth plan, and she treated us with such kindness and care. I wasn't forced to get Pitocin this time around, and I'm thankful that I made it for a longer period of time without the epidural. Since the nurse kept to our birth plan, we weren't rushed out of our room, and I nursed and bonded with Owen.
Sidenote: After delivery, the nurses realized my monitor hadn't measured my contractions correctly. They probably thought I was crazy when comparing the graph to the amount of pain I said I felt.
It amazes me as I sit and think about my two babies and how each birth story is so unique. There are some similarities too. Both of my babies arrived three days before their due dates. I also went into labor the evening before the morning each were born.
A couple cool facts: They are exactly 12 months and 2 weeks apart; Their weight at birth was flip-flopped: Ella weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and Owen weighed 8 lbs 7 oz.
I thank God for my precious family. Thanks for taking the time to read all the details I never want to forget.
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