I’m not even sure that I can find the appropriate words to describe the past 3 days of my life. It has all been quite a whirlwind and I am still in complete awe over this truly miraculous experience and this amazing gift from God that I have been given.
Let me start from the beginning and share with you my labor story!
On Monday night of the 26th (Memorial Day), Jordan came home from work and he and my mom and I had decided to grill out for dinner. My mom had been in town since the previous Tuesday to help me out and to be there with me in case I went into labor. Here we were a week later and the day before my due date and no signs of contractions or baby coming. We were prepared to go to my 40 week appointment in the morning and find out if I had made an progress from the week before and come up with a plan with our doctor on how long we would wait before we would consider inducing.
We were discussing all of these things at dinner and anticipating what the doctor might say. We were enjoying our delicious cook-out and hanging out with the dogs on the patio. I embarrassingly told my mom and Jordan that my pants felt a little wet like I might have laughed so hard I let out a little squirt. I figured that I made it 9 months without “leaking” so it was funny to laugh about it with them at this point like I officially earned my super-pregnant stripes or something.
Jordan went inside and when he came back out, I actually felt myself “leak” and jumped up saying “okay it happened again, this is weird!” and ran inside worried I was going to pee myself! I text my friend Keely who has gone through this twice already and said “I think my water broke”. She called me immediately and I remember her asking something along the lines of “are you joking?” and told me that if my water had in fact broke, it would just continue to keep leaking. Sure enough I kept experience bursts of liquid and was pretty sure that THIS WAS IT! Jordan came to check on me and I told him that we were about to have a baby! He and my mom came in and we decided it was time to load everything up that wasn’t already in the car and head to the hospital.
At this point (8:30pm), I had so many things running through my head. I felt nervous about what the night would bring and a little bit in shock because although I knew it was coming any time, I had given up on the idea of it happening before our appointment. I figured I would have at least one more sleep before I went into labor. While I was nervous on one hand, I also felt this amazing calm come over me. I took a minute to text my best friends and family. I put on some makeup and took my time because I knew that I was in for a whirlwind of a night. I even made sure we snapped our 40 week picture before we left! Jordan on the other hand started running around the house like a mad man getting everything together and was sweating like crazy! I could tell he was so excited and it definitely helped calm my nerves knowing I had such a great partner to go through this experience with.
Once we had everything loaded up and ready to go, we got into our car and my mom got in hers and we caravanned to the hospital. I talked to my birth mom and my dad and they decided they were going to drive through the night to try and make it to Nashville for the delivery.
Once we got there (about 9:30pm), we filled out all the paperwork and I went into triage to confirm that my water had in fact broke and labor had officially started. We were moved into our labor room where we would spend the next 12 hours and settled in for the night. Jordan and my mom went out to the car to bring in our bags and while they were gone, in walked a familiar face – my doctor! She was not on call that night so I was prepared to have a different doctor for my delivery if it happened before 8am the next morning. She was in for another patient and decided to stop by and check on me when she found out I had been admitted. She advised me to rest and said prescribed an ambien to help me sleep & said that they would start pitocin around midnight to get things moving along since I was open to infection because of my water breaking. She told me that even if Brody decided to come before her shift started the next day, she would be there for us! Talk about an AMAZING doctor! This instantly put all of my nerves at ease knowing that the doctor we built a relationship with over the past 9 months would be the one delivering our baby. It truly couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. She anticipated that it would be morning before he came which also gave me hope that my dad and Devry would make it in time!
I’m not sure there was enough ambien in the world that was going to calm me down enough to sleep. Between my excitement and the highly entertaining group text message between all of my closest friends that kept my phone buzzing all night, I wasn’t expecting to get any sleep. Just as the ambien started to kick in, so did my contractions! Those bad boys are NO JOKE. My plan was always to hold off as long as I could so that I could still move around and work with my body to make myself as comfortable as possible.
The nurse came in and was able to set me up with a brand new wireless monitor that allowed me to move more freely around the room. I got up and tried to use the bounce ball and change positions but it got so painful that I knew it was time for plan B. I debated between using the nitrous to help make the contractions more bearable or go right for the epidural and after talking it over with the nurse, I decided to go ahead and get the epidural so that I wouldn’t feel anything and could hopefully get some sleep.
I wish I had gotten the epidural sooner because by the time anesthesia came in, I was in full-force pain and my whole body was shaking. (Imagine shivering & teeth chattering as if you were freezing, only I wasn’t cold!) They said it was normal from hormones, but it definitely didn’t make it easy to sit still to administer the epidural. Those 10 minutes were probably the worst from the contractions to the massive needle in my back, but as soon as it was administered I felt awesome. No more pain, my phone had finally stopped buzzing for the night and I could rest until morning while my labor progressed itself.
Just as I started to drift off into dreamland, three nurses rushed in and said that Brody’s heartbeat had suddenly dropped. They said it went back up but they needed to hook me up to oxygen to keep it regulated. Needless to say, this was quite scary and woke Jordan and up REALLY quickly and I officially would not be getting any sleep!
The hours quickly flew by from there. My mom had gone back to our house to get some sleep and my dad and Devry were almost to Nashville. My labor had progressed without ever having to increase the pitocin and Brody was getting close to making his grand entrance to the world. By the time my dad and Devry got to my house to meet my mom, it was time for them to head to the hospital and for me to start pushing!
They arrived around 6:30 and not long after I started practicing with my nurse and getting him moving. I must say that having them make it in time was really an answered prayer. I knew that I owed everything in my life leading up to this moment to these three people. If Devry hadn’t made the decision that she did nearly 28 years ago, I never would have grown up with the greatest parents in the world and wouldn’t have had the life that I did. If it hadn’t been for all of the decisions these three people made for me in my life before I could make my own, I may have never ended up at Butler to meet the man of my dreams and be in this moment preparing to deliver this amazing baby boy.
Because I was adopted, I wanted to give this gift of experiencing birth to my parents who never had the opportunity to experience it themselves. I also wanted to share this moment with the woman who gave me life and the other who taught me to live it. It was the most unforgettable experience.
Pushing was more difficult than I thought, It sure does take a lot out of you! I had developed a fever that was affecting Brody’s heartbeat so they gave me some tylenol. I was 9cm dilated so they called my doctor and told her it was time. I continued to push while we waited on her. I felt a lot of pressure as I was pushing and started to hurt. Ultimately they had to call anesthesia back in to administer more medicine for my epidural so that I wouldn’t feel pain when pushing.
I was in a daze while pushing, it was all kind of a blur. I ended up getting sick and having to stop for a minute. Then the doctor told me that Brody was turned sideways and because of my fever and its effect on baby, they were going to have to assist in the delivery. My first thought was that they were going to make me have a c-section which I really didn’t want but then she told us they were going to have to use the suction to help get him out and turn him. I started balling when she told me and saying “I don’t want him to have a cone head!” but they assured me if he did that it would not stay that way for long and it was more important that we get him out healthy. I couldn’t have done it without my amazing partner through it all who encouraged me and held my hand the whole time.
I REALLY didn’t want him to be suctioned too long so this motivated me to really give it all I had and push like I had never pushed before. They set up the suction and had me give a good push only to find that something was wrong with the suction and they had to get a new one and try again. I caught my breath and saved all of my energy to give it all I had and when they gave the word I gathered every bit of strength in my body to push, push, push! I was holding my breath as I pushed and had my eyes closed to concentrate and I heard my mom and Devry crying and gasping as he must have been starting to come out and all of a sudden I heard the doctor say “open your eyes and look at your son!”. At 8:47am our 8lb 5oz, 19.5″ bundle of joy came into the world. They lifted him up and I laid my eyes on my beautiful baby for the very first time and couldn’t stop crying. I remember looking at Devry and her saying to me “he’s perfect”. Jordan cut his cord and I held my baby.
That moment was all a bit of a blur, but I remember them putting him on my chest as they checked him and took his temperature (my fever gave him a fever – sorry baby). I remember wanting so badly to just see his face and examine all of his features but I just held him close while I cried and kissed the top of his head. He was mine and I was his.
In that moment our lives were forever changed. For everyone it’s a little bit different, but I can definitely say that I fell instantly in love. I was in such awe that this living, breathing little human had just grown inside of me and was now here in our arms. He was a perfect combination of the both of us and we created him. I fell in love with my precious baby and I fell in love with my husband all over again. We instantly became a family of three and I feel so blessed.
Once all the doctors and nurses left the room, we visited with my family for a little bit while we waited for my epidural to wear off and get moved to our new room where we would spend the next two days. Since my dad and Devry had been up all night, they all left to go home and nap while we got some food from the hospital and rested ourselves while I regained feeling in my feet & legs. When I was ready, we loaded up the GIANT wheelchair and moved upstairs.
I couldn’t wait to shower, so while Jordan snuggled with Brody I got cleaned up and ready for friends and family to come and meet our little man! We had so much fun with all of our visitors that night. Too much fun even – we got scolded by the nursing station for being too loud! It was one big birthday party for Brody, we are so lucky to have such great people in our lives.
Our hospital stay was wonderful. We had the most helpful and kind nurses and there was a sense of security in that room. I didn’t get much sleep while we were there because I couldn’t stop staring at and holding our little man! (I still can’t!) In fact I forced myself to let the nurses take him for a couple hours both nights because it was the only way I was going to get any sleep at all without worrying too much about him. I couldn’t believe how much I could miss someone who was just down the hallway from me. I was (and am) in quite a bit of pain (I had a 3rd degree tear…) but it was totally worth it. Somehow when I hold him, none of that matters.
This afternoon we packed our bags and loaded Brody into the carseat to head home. We introduced him to our first children – our dogs, Ross & Chloe, and so far they have adapted quite nicely. It’s us against the world now and it’s time to begin our life as parents.
I’m so grateful for this incredible experience and couldn’t have asked for two better guys in my life. Brody and Jordan, I love you both more than you will ever know. Thank you for allowing me to be yours!
