Coleden's Birth

I can't tell you how many times I've sat down at my desk to do this post. It's a heavy undertaking to properly share a birthing experience. My main reason for doing this post is for my own memory's sake. I don't want to get 10 years down the road and not be able to remember, for example, that I tried bribing the doctors to induce me for a dollar and a hug.

It's also important to me to share what really happened while I was in labor. A lot of what I had read to prepare myself (as much as one can prepare for something they've never done before) for labor hadn't really given me the answers I was looking for. I was afraid to ask other moms about their labor because I didn't want to scare myself if they had a terrible experience. If I can shed some light on this tricky topic for at least one other mama, I'll have succeeded.

This was me right at 38 weeks

My pregnancy was an amazing experience. I loved every minute of it...until I had 2 weeks left. Really, I shouldn't complain. The only real issue I had was peeing myself. If I stood for too long, laughed too hard, or coughed even a little bit, I peed myself. I was getting restless to meet my little boy, and wanted to get the show on the road.

Remember when I posted going to Centering, just to find out they cancelled on us? What I hadn't shared was when they did my cervical check I was already 3 centimeters dilated and 75% effaced. I was so sure I was going to have our baby that week. Josh and I walked, and walked, and walked, thinking I was going to get things started faster. I didn't.

I guess the walking helped a little, at my next appointment on May 22, I found out I was now 4 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. I begged them to keep me, I was 4 centimeters! They said they'd keep me if I was 4 centimeters. They lied. Okay, maybe they also said I had to be contracting too. I was kind of contracting, in a sporadic, non-contracting way. The doctor gave me the okay to start drinking raspberry leaf tea and man that stuff is no joke.

Josh and I continued to walk, but also added tea drinking and balance ball sitting to the mix. By the next afternoon I had really started contracting (by the way, real contractions start from your back and move around to the front or front to back, versus Braxton Hicks that are just in the front). I called L&D, got the thumbs up to come in. I spent a few hours contracting, but nothing was progressing. Much to my dismay, I was sent home. I was given sleep meds to help me get through the night. This is where Josh and I have differing opinions of what happened: I say I didn't sleep a wink. I just contracted and contracted. Every time I felt a contraction coming on Josh was right there to hold my hand and help me get through it. Josh says that I completely passed out-until I had a contraction and I would scream for his hand and as soon as the contraction would pass, I fell back asleep. Agree to disagree.

By the next morning (the 24th) I couldn't take it anymore. We made our way back to the hospital. They have a drive up, where Josh could've dropped me off so I wouldn't have to walk, but at that point, I think Josh was just as anxious as I was to get this baby out of me. If that meant walking a little ways to get to the ER entrance, then I was just helping progress my labor. When we were crossing the street I got a contraction that stopped me in my tracks. So there I was, standing in the middle of the street contracting away and once it had finished, I waddled a few steps and peed myself. Again. This was getting old, quick.

Once we got to L&D they did all of their preliminary checks and discovered that I was running a fever, so I was definitely staying (woo!), but our baby would have to go up to NICU after he was born. I was also told that I hadn't peed myself, my water broke.

And this was just the beginning...

Yeah, I'm coloring on the sidewalk at 38 weeks. That's how I roll.