Hello my little boobalahs! I know it's been a little while. I'm still trying to juggle this whole mommy/blogger/sleep-deprived chick deal and how to work them all together but I promise I'm not going anywhere and I'll get back to daily posts as soon as possible. I mean, Halloween is coming up. I totally can't miss celebrating that on the blog. DUH.
I've been DYING to share my birth story with y'all. Around week 39, I started getting nervous because I had absolutely no signs of labor besides a few Braxton Hicks every once in awhile. I was pretty convinced that Baby XO was in no rush to come out and that I'd go into 41 weeks and have to induced. In fact, everyone thought that.
So imagine my surprise when on September 8th, I had my bloody show. Your bloody show is basically your mucus plug that blocks your cervical opening. #facts For some people, when you lose it, shit's about to go down but for others it could be a few days before you give birth. I figured I was probably the latter. I went out on our boat that night with my fiance and brother and started having contractions. To be honest, I didn't really know they were contractions. It just kind of felt like I was sitting uncomfortable. Like when you wear tight pants that dig into your stomach? Weird way to describe it, I know. When we got home, we got ready for bed and I fell asleep. I kept waking up from the contractions but again, they didn't hurt, they just felt uncomfortable and weird. Kind of like your body saying, "Whoa, hey. Something's going on here." I barely got any sleep. The morning of September 9th, my fiance wasn't sure if he should go to work or not because I kept having contractions. I was timing them but they were all over the place. From five minutes apart, to ten, back to five, down to three, up to fifteen. Nothing was consistent so I told him to go to work. I called my doctor and ended up talking to a nurse who said to not go in unless my water breaks or my contractions are less than five minutes apart. As the day went on, the contractions got more and more intense but still all over the place. When Ant and my mom got home around 5:30PM, they were hitting a little harder but I wanted to stay home as long as possible. Serious #whitecoatsyndrome, fo' real. At 7:30PM, I finally decided that maybe we should go in and started crying. It was becoming a little too real. My mom and fiance packed up the car and away we went to the hospital. The entire car ride, I was squeezing my mom and fiance's hands with every contraction.
When we got there, the contractions were definitely getting a little rough. Probably about five minutes apart and all up in my back/behind area at this point. I was still convinced that nothing was going to happen so I told my mom and Anthony to leave our stuff in the car because I'll probably be sent home anyway. I then spent a good twenty minutes in registration at the hospital >:0 I'll never understand why you pre-register but still have to go into the registration area and basically register all over again. Finally, we went up and they gave me a room in L&D. The doctor came in and checked me and lo and behold - I was already at 5cm! They told me we were staying and Ant went and got our bags out of the car. The nurse said to walk around and bounce on a labor ball for an hour and then she'll come back and check on me and see if I progressed any. Walking around sucked. The contractions, at that point, were so hard in my back and butt area. Not painful, just super pressure-y. I kept having to stop and basically bang my head against the wall until it passed. Long story short, every hour I progressed a cm. I made it up to 9cms but I was so exhausted from not sleeping the night before and having bad back labor that I asked for an epidural. Actually, I got a shot in my butt first that was supposed to take the edge off but it didn't work so then I asked for an epidural. At this point, we were looking to have the baby at 1:00AM.
Getting an epidural was the craziest feeling ever. It felt like someone was tickling my vertebrae. I swear, it doesn't hurt but it's such a weird feeling. After it was in, I was in heaven! It was such a relief. The nurse told me to get some sleep and she'll keep checking in on me to see if I'm ready. The epidural ended up slowing down my contractions but I ended up getting the best night's sleep of my entire life instead. Seriously. Best. Sleep. Ever. I wasn't looking to get an epidural but I'm SO happy I did. I think if I didn't have back labor I could've went without but still. So happy I went with an epidural.
Around 7:30AM on September 10th, they came in and checked me and I was at 10cm and ready to go! The epidural was working amazing and just my pelvic area was numb. I could still feel my legs and everything. Then my doctor came in and was like, "Oh hey, do you mind waiting on pushing? The woman next door thinks she's ready to push so..." I'm like, "Oh yeah, sure. I'm not going anywhere. Nothing to do today besides have a baby. No big deal." So all the nurses and my doctor went to the next room. They came back like 20 minutes later and was like, "J/K." Our nurse was like, "It's a race between us and that woman! We have to deliver first!" My delivery was definitely lighthearted and fun which is exactly what I wanted. I hate seriousness. It was also a party. I had my doctor, a student doctor, a nurse, a student nurse, the infant nurse and my mom and Anthony. The nurse started telling me how to push, Ant and my mom held my legs and she told me when I felt a contraction to push through it. Except I couldn't feel any contractions. Like, at all. So I lied. Within about ten pushes, they could see the head and about ten more pushes, he was out! Just 30 minutes of pushing! It was so amazing. No pain, no nadda. Definitely my dream labor.
He came out face up so they think that's why I had such back pain from the way he was positioned. They immediately put him on my chest and that's when I fell in love. Apparently, I tore a teeny tiny bit so they stitched me up while I held him but I didn't feel a thing. After about a half an hour, they asked if I wanted him bathed and I said sure so they bathed him in the room. My fiance, who faints at the sight of blood, watched the whole thing AND cut the cord! So proud of him :) Hands down, it was the best day of my entire life! He came out 6 pounds, 7 ounces. 19 inches long. I had the most amazing, perfect labor and delivery. I consider myself so blessed and lucky. Honestly, if I could be promised my pregnancy and labor would be like this every time, I'd have a billion little babes.
Breastfeeding has been going awesome. He had a great latch at the hospital and has been doing awesome since! He's such a happy, chill baby and only cries when he's getting changed and if he's hungry. Since day one, he's been lifting his head and was given the OK at two weeks for tummy time! Since then, he's only gotten stronger. He also likes to "crawl" where he grabs my shirt on the top and wiggles his way up to my shoulder. He makes these little chipmunk noises all day and smiles and just started cooing. I love reading, singing and dancing with him.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for...
Introducing - Hunter Anthony!
(At three weeks old!)
I mean, c'mon. Is he not the most gorgeous little guy you've ever seen? I just want to eat him up!
