Giving birth is so many things- It’s hard to capture it in words. Elijah’s birth was unexpected, chaotic, extremely fast, and honestly overwhelming. To get the full effect, I’ll start from the beginning of this little humans entrance into the world.
2:00pm:
On November 8th I went in for my 38 week appointment. My OB was located in the heart of downtown Duluth- where they just started a major hospital construction project. So my pregnant butt had to walk a million miles (not really- but I often stopped twice to pee on my way) from my car to my appointment. At my last 2 appointments my blood pressure was high and I was admitted immediately for observation. Usually by the time I changed into the gown, my BP would go back to normal and they would let me leave after my labs confirmed I was fine. Today was the same story. They took my BP 4 times over a 30 minute period and my saint of a doctor told me that she was working that night & if I wanted- I could be induced. I jumped at that opportunity because I was so uncomfortable and ready to meet my baby. I was induced with Jamie- so I knew what was coming which was comforting.
3:00pm:
If you’ve ever been induced- you know there’s a slight chance that they could send you home before it happens if there are too many moms already in labor. This was the case for me. I was admitted around 3pm and waited around for 2 hours to see if I was going to be able to stay or not. I was kept company by the first of many amazing nurses because Jordan was home with Jamie waiting to see if we were in fact having a baby. I’m going to skip the part where my pitocin was started prematurely and they were forced to keep me & continue my induction.
6:00pm:
At this point I was begging for my epidural. My nurse told me that I was in active labor and my pitocin drip hadn’t been increased- and that I would have been having a baby that night even if they had sent me home earlier. For some ungodly reason, my anesthesiologist liked to dig his thumb nail in my spine to mark the spot he was going to insert the needle. This hurt more than the epidural itself. Why???
7:00pm-11:45pm:
A lot of watching tv and attempting to sleep. Not very eventful.
12:00am:
They were ready to have me practice pushing & they were preparing the room for me to give birth. I suddenly felt extremely lightheaded, dizzy, and couldn’t breathe. I then started crying uncontrollably for (what I thought) no reason. They put me on oxygen and my doctor checked and said that he was ready to come out and that I needed to push if I could. Which is hard to comprehend when you are basically blacking out and have no sensation at all.
Birth is fun.
After a minute or two I was able to start pushing. After 2 pushes Baby Eli arrived!
My doctor told me that my blood pressure had dropped quite a bit and combined with him crowning- that’s why I felt so awful. Luckily my blood pressure went back to normal after he was out, but his was also a little low. We were both monitored constantly to make sure neither one of us needed any interventions. She also told me that I’m made to deliver babies because I once again- had the quickest induction she’s ever seen. I also had no tearing (woooo!) which meant no stitches. Can I get an amen?
The next few hours were a total blur. I was exhausted and there were people in an out all night. I just wanted to eat a pizza and sleep for 50 hours. Neither of which I got.
November 9th:
The next day we had visitors sprinkle in and out. Jamie came to meet his new brother and I was so excited to see his reaction. His first words after seeing the baby? “Mama, can I have some banana bread?” #BoyMomLife
November 10th:
Aren’t fresh babies supposed to sleep? Because Eli didn’t. Neither Jordan or myself had slept since we woke up Friday morning (It’s now Sunday) and I’m not sure how I was even functioning. Luckily our amazing night nurse took Eli for his 24 hour screening at 1am and kept him for a while so we could get some uninterrupted sleep. Nurses are the bomb and deserve alllll the monies.
My dear friend Amanda had planned on taking hospital photos for us- but she was in a wedding out of town and I had given birth a week early so she wasn’t able to get to us before we were discharged. Luckily I remembered to pack my camera and I gave Jordan a crash course in hospital photos. We were discharged shortly after that and we couldn’t wait to take him home (and sleep in our own bed!)
We are so happy that he’s here & healthy. Our little family feels complete and we can’t wait to watch these boys of ours grow up together.
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