Oliver's Birth Story

Oliver is 2 months old and I am just getting around to writing about his birth story… (oops) Turns out this mom thing is like a 24/7 commitment...

It all started on Sunday November 8, 2015. I was up ALL night with what I thought were braxton hicks contractions. My stomach hurt, I couldn't get comfortable, and was overall just miserable. I think this was actually pre-labor. Fast forward to Monday night around 6 P.M…

I arrived to my parents house and began feeling contractions that were a little more intense than I had felt before. My parents and brother began helping me time them as I scarfed down dinner and a bowl of Reeses Puffs, walked around the house, and repeatedly said "I'm not in labor mom, calm down!" 

After about an hour of this, and my mom complaining that she didn't want to deliver her grandson at home, I finally gave in and decided to go to the hospital around 9 to get checked just to appease her. Mitchell was in a class, so I didn't want to worry him until I knew for sure I was in labor.

Which I was so so sure I wasn't…(eye roll)

When we got to the hospital I was 3 cm dilated (I had only been 1 cm that previous Friday and had set my induction date for November 20th!) The doctor said she would be back to check on me in an hour and to go ahead and call Mitch.  My contractions were getting pretty painful at this point. I made my mom walk around the hallways for an hour straight while we waited. I truly think this not only helped with pain management, but also to speed up the process. 

Mitch and my Dad arrived and I continued walking around my room, doing squats, and whimpering with each contraction, which at this point were getting extremely painful. My parents waited outside while Mitch sat with me as they got my IV started. I then began whining for an epidural to the nurses in the hallway. Hahaha…and I started this pregnancy with the thought that I would have a natural birth…lololol that epidural was amazing.

So, my parents, Mitch, his mom, and his sister, all waited for Ollie to arrive.

And we didn't wait long! I woke up from drifting off to sleep feeling cramping in my stomach and kind of freaked out (" I feel stuff!!!" lol) So the anesthesiologist came back in, (yassssss) I threw up,
(apparently normal), and then it was time to push! I didn't expect things to progress that quickly so I was pretty nervous. He was definitely ready to be here! Labor was honestly less painful than contractions. (For those who have asked what I did to have a relatively easy labor and delivery…not sure. I think I got lucky. But I did drink raspberry leaf tea a few times in the previous week, and I ate an entire pineapple the day before. lol) 

And then they put this screaming little human on my chest.

 I remember thinking "I can't believe he's here... I can't believe he's mine!" The immediate love I felt for him was overwhelming. Love at first sight absolutely exists, and it is what a mother experiences when she sees her child for the first time. I don't really remember anything that happened after they put him on my chest because I couldn't stop staring at him. Oh, and he peed on me.

I was utterly exhausted after being up for basically 3 days. I  have no idea how I even made it through labor with how tired I was. I tried to rest so many times, but it is true that you will get 0 hours of sleep in the hospital. People are coming in and out constantly! I finally couldn't take it anymore and got the okay from my doctor to go home early. And then I continued to get 0 hours of sleep because I had a newborn to care for. Having a strong support system is the key to getting through all of this. My parents brought us groceries and came over to clean, Mitch's mom did all of our laundry while we were at the hospital, and family members were so understanding with waiting to visit.

  Special thanks to my momma who made sure I survived those insane first weeks. I'll be depending on you from here on out (just as I have been for my entire life)

Now for the best part

Welcome to the world, Oliver Michael