Weston's Birth Story

I can't believe Weston is already a month old and I still haven't written down his birth story. I guess that tells you what life has been like since he was born. This is probably TMI for most people, but when I was pregnant I loved reading other people's birth stories AND I want to remember every detail of Weston's story so here it is...

In the beginning of my pregnancy the weeks seemed to fly by, but near the end I was starting to feel like I had been pregnant forever and I was ready to get that baby out! It didn't help that I convinced myself my true due date was actually a week earlier than my 'official' due date. So by the time my due date rolled around I was feeling overdue. I spent hours scouring the internet for 'natural ways to induce labor,' and 'signs that you are going into labor.'

Ready to pop, at 39 weeks

The week before my official due date I told my doctor I was loosing my mind and I was so ready to have this baby. She offered to strip my membranes (TMI?..sorry), a painful procedure that may or may not send you into labor. Suddenly, the possibility of going into labor seemed so real and I realized I wasn't as ready as I thought so I said no thanks... I spent the next week feeling okay about still being pregnant but by my next weekly appointment I was ready to try anything so I agreed to the procedure. Sadly, I waited around for the next 24 hours for the contractions to begin or my water to break but nothing happened.. not a thing.  Since I had made no progress in dilating for the past month my doctor wasn't too hopeful that I would go into labor on my own so we scheduled induction for a week after my due date.

The day before my due date Jake, my Mom, and Brittany went on a hike up Rock Canyon. Determined not to stop until I was in labor, I was so excited with every contraction I felt. However at some point we had to turn around and call it a night. The next morning my Mom and I tried to go hiking again with still no luck.

did you know whales can hike mountains?

I spent the next week with semi painful contractions at night and pretty much nothing during the day.

The day I was scheduled to go to the hospital was strange. I tried to think about other things but I was really getting nervous for the pain I knew was coming soon. I had Jake give me a blessing, and I immediately felt surrounded by peace. Jake and I packed up our stuff and drove to the hospital. It was night time when we arrived and the hospital was really quiet; it felt very surreal.

My doctor wanted to help prepare my body for labor before they started the induction with pitocin so she prescribed a medicine that helps with effacement. The nurses said I would start the medicine at 9pm and continue for 12 hours. In the morning I could shower and have breakfast and then they would induce me.

After starting the medicine Jake and I tried to get some sleep. Around 1 am I fell asleep only to wake up around 2am with painful contractions. Eventually I woke up Jake because I was so uncomfortable. He suggested we watch a movie so I joined him on his cot. I kept getting more contractions and just could not get comfortable. I finally realized there was no way I could sit and watch a movie with those contractions. I tried walking around my room, but would stop and hold onto something during each contraction. Around 3 am, I was starting to think this was NOT normal and I was going into labor. Jake got a nurse to check on me. Sure enough I was right on the brink of active labor.

Our nurse was joking with us and teaching us how to read the contraction monitor. As time went on I was in more and more pain. I started doing some deep breathing like I'd seen on tv.. regretting not signing up for a Lamaze class. The pain became super intense and I went in the zone. It was all I could do to get through the contractions. I remember thinking this was way worse than I thought it would be. The pain of each contraction took over my whole body.

By the time there was a nurse shift change I felt like death. I really felt like I could not go on any longer {I have a very low pain tolerance}. My new nurse was nothing like the first nurse. She was a pretty serious lady, which was fine with me because I was no longer in the mood for joking. When she came into my room she asked how I was feeling. I replied, "I feel like I'm dying." and she said, "well that's not good let's get you something for the pain." I was so surprised by her response. Somehow it hadn't occurred to me that I would be allowed to have medicine at this point. I was worried my epidural would run out if I got it too soon. She suggested some IV pain medicine and while I had previously thought that I didn't want to do that I was desperate for some relief. By this point I had been in labor for about 6 hours and was around 4 cm.

After I got the pain medicine I could still feel everything but it took the edge off a little bit. Jake had been sitting on a stool leaning over my bed to hold my hand for hours so my Mom came in for a bit to give him a break. I tried to sleep but I was still in pain so I didn't get any sleep. The medicine gave me about 30 minutes of relief but then my contractions came back painful as ever. Then my glorious nurse came back in and offered the epidural.. and I said YES!

At our prenatal class the teacher passed around an epidural needle and it looked more like a fondue skewer than a needle. So needless to say I was a little nervous about that thing going in my back. But at this point my entire body was shaking and I was throwing up from the pain. The doctor told me to curl up in the shape of a C while he gave me the epidural. Being curled up and holding completely still is about the last thing you want to do while you are having a contraction. To my surprise I didn't feel the needle at all. Instead I felt pretty immediate relief as the numbing sensation spread all the way to my toes.

After I got the epidural I was able to get some much needed rest. It was the greatest thing ever. People would tell me I was having a contraction but I couldn't feel it at all. I could talk and enjoy the experience. I was dilated to 4cm when I got the epidural, but I started progressing quicker once I had it. The epidural was THE BEST THING EVER.

It was around 10 am when I got the epidural and they told me I was ready to push around 5pm. My body was pretty exhausted by that point. Jake told them he wanted to stay near my head because he has a little passing out problem and lets be honest it's not something a lot of people want to see. The nurse said, "oh ya no problem we have lots of dads that do that! You can even sit over there in the corner in the chair if you want." He was pretty relieved that he would not have to do any leg holding like he had heard about, but I made sure he was close by to hold my hand.

Right when I started pushing, there was another nurse shift change and my fun joking nurse from the night before was back on. It was the perfect timing because I needed someone upbeat to keep me going! After about 15 or 20 minutes of pushing the nurse explained that they had a bunch of moms go into labor at once and they had to go help someone else... um, what?? lol She showed Jake how to read the monitor, how to count me down, and how to hold my leg and then she left us ALONE. So much for Jake being able to sit in the corner! haha It was so strange to be in this big delivery room just the two of us, not knowing how long it would take for the baby to come out. Jake did so good motivating me and counting for me. When the nurses would come in to check on us everyone kept commenting on how great he was doing.

When I first started pushing I remember thinking it was not as bad as I thought it would be, but after around 30 minutes I was so tired that I didn't even open my eyes. Between pushes I would drift into sleep only to be startled awake by Jake saying another contraction was coming. At some point I heard my epidural machine running low, as scared as it made me it worked out because it helped me push better. As time went on I was getting really out of it. I could hear voices around me, talking to me but I felt sort of disconnected from my body. It was such a strange feeling. The people around me kept saying how much hair he had, but I didn't really care I was just ready to be done.

After about 2.5 hours of pushing Weston was finally born. I heard him crying and then they laid him on my chest. It was the most amazing and surreal moment. He was crying so loud and seemed so upset I remember feeling like I wanted to help him calm down. I kept saying, "he's so sad I want to help him stop cring." But the nurses assured me that crying was a good thing. Then he peed on me. Welcome to the world baby Weston. He was 9 lbs and 21 inches.