Today is July 3rd. It was my due date. The day I fantasized over since we got our BFP.
July 3rd, 2014.
I think it's only fitting that I post my birth story today and take some time out to reflect on the most amazing journey of my life. Today our son is 3 weeks old.
Let me take you back.......................
June 9th, 2014 {36 weeks 4 days / 23 days until my due date) I went to work as usual and like other days I felt so miserable. I could hardly breathe from the pregnancy congestion and there was so much pressure down below. But the difference today was I knew I would be off on 06-10-14 for a routine OB appointment. I was scheduled to have my Group B Strep test done (GBS) and to maybe have a cervical check. I went back and forth about the cervical check and decided I would decline it when I went in. My OB appointment was scheduled for the 10th at 10:15am. When I came home from work I lounged around the house and even bought brownies for my wife to fix. I did notice that simply getting in and out of the car was beginning to be very uncomfortable for me so I also decided that my last day at work would be 06-19-14....that would put me at 38 weeks. My plan was to work until then and take 2 weeks for myself to rest up and get off of my feet for the remainder of my pregnancy.
"When we are busy making plans.....God laughs."
Later that evening I pulled the hospital bag out and just randomly went through it to make sure we had everything. I now know that was divine intervention.
My wife and I did some stretching before bedtime. My body was so sore and my hips hurt like hell so stretching did provide me a little relief. I thought I heard a "pop" sound while on the floor but nothing happened. We went to bed.
At 12:34am on June 10th, 2014 I woke up from my sleep feeling like I was peeing on myself. I jumped up to try to make it to the bathroom. I figured I had a dream of being in the bathroom and just had an accident. Then I thought maybe Baby Boy N hit my bladder in the right spot and that caused me to pee! As I stood up to go to the bathroom...the fluid just kept pouring. I just stood there and yelled, "Baby I think my water just broke!" My wife jumped up and walked around to my side of the bed. She said, "Baby that's NOT pee...it's not yellow!" lol I then attempted to walk to the bathroom. The fluid was still coming. When we both got to the bathroom and I sat on the toilet, it stopped. So at that point I knew for sure it was just me peeing on myself. I wiped and there was no bloody show....no thick mucus. Just the slippery clear kinda discharge. It looked like "I had a major orgasm" kinda slippery clear discharge. lol I should say that I think I started losing my plug the week before...but it was coming out in small pieces. I had one glob that was kinda weird but nothing that stood out as OMG!
My wife called the on-call OB and told her what was happening. They advised that I could come in at any time. After going back and forth with my wife about going in I decided to go back to sleep. lol Again, I just knew it was just pee. I put a towel between my legs and laid back down in bed. At 1:40am my wife asked was I still leaking. I told her yes but I thought it was again.....pee. lol Let me explain, when you get to the end and you're having to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes it's quite possible to pee on yourself...a lot! I laid there for about 5mins and sat back up in bed. Something inside of me said, "go to the hospital." I figured, if it is just pee let them tell me and then send me home. I also considered just waiting until my 10:15am appointment THAT DAY to be seen! lol I just knew I would be coming back home..........
As my wife sprung to get Baby C together and put the bags in the car I sat on the side of the bed and prayed. Same prayer I prayed just before our first insemination...."Lord, Thy Will be done." In that moment Our lives had come full circle. I also prayed that if this was truly it...that He would protect Baby Boy N and I and keep us both healthy and safe.
I was having no pains. No nothing...and as we walked out the house I laughed to myself and thought, "I will be back home soon." My plan was to come back home and tell my OB all about my ordeal at my appointment later that morning.
"When we are busy making plans.....God laughs."
We arrive at Labor & Delivery around 2:15-30am. We were laughing and joking the entire time. Just me, my wife and Baby C. We were checked in and when the registration clerk asked why I was there I replied, "I think I pee'd on myself or my water broke...I'm not sure." She laughed and said, "Most of the women who come in saying they are totally sure their water broke end up going back home...and all of the women who think they pee'd on themselves end up staying." LOL I thought...Yeah right.
Still having Zero pain and in a chipper mood.
They call us to the back for triage & this was the moment of truth. It's around 2:45am at this point.
The Doctor comes in and asks me a bunch of questions. She then tells me I have to get a cervical check to see if it was in fact my water that broke. My wife sees the look of panic on my face and immediately says, "she had a bad experience with a cervical check that caused her to bleed." The Doctor comforted me and said she would use the smallest speculum they had. My wife can be gangsta when need be! God I love her..lol She stepped in like a BOSS! :-) I braced myself for the check but Before she could even get the speculum in....more fluid gushed out and she was like, "Yep...your water broke I don't need to test!" She then told me she would check to see if there was any dilation. I saw the look on her face and I knew something was up! She shouted, "How long have you been having contractions??" I told her I didn't think I was having any because I was in NO PAIN! She asked how far dilated I was at my last OB appointment? I told her I had never been checked because my appointment was TODAY! All I remember is her saying, "Well you are 4-5cm DILATED already!" WTF!!!!! Then the room was an active L&D site! lol Nurses came from everywhere and I was asked even more questions. My wife started calling our moms and I was just laying there thinking, " Ohhhmyyyygawd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
They wheeled me into my L&D room. At this point it was around 3am. I immediately asked for the epidural! I was still in NO pain but I wasn't taking any damn chances! lol They also gave me antibiotics to be sure since I never made it to my GBS test. Well, after being in the room for about 5mins I began to feel pressure. I got the epidural around 3:30am. The nurse stayed with me while it was being administered because my wife had to step into the hallway with Baby C because our moms had not arrived yet. The Epidural wasn't that bad at all.
Within minutes our moms walked into the room and I was starting to feel more pressure but I was also starting to feel the Epi kick in. Then the pressure really got to the point where I had to breathe thru it. I finally found out what contractions felt like. I asked the nurse if I could get more Epi juice but she wanted to check me first. My mom was on my left and my wife was to my right. My wife's mom was holding Baby C on the sofa playing with the ipad.
When the nurse checked me I closed my eyes for a few seconds to brace for the possible pain....when I opened my eyes I asked her how much I progressed? She said, "YOU'RE 10CM!!" I thought, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!???? OMG OMG! My wife said she mouthed to her "he's right there!" Everyone was so shocked that I progressed that fast! The nurses were like, "Your body is a pro at birth and this baby is ready!" I asked if my OB would make it in time to deliver and they told me flat out, "hellll no!" lol Well, they didn't say hell but basically there was no way she would make it in time at the rate things were going. If I hadn't made the decision to go to the hospital I would have been delivering our son at home. This is a fact. Thank God we went when we did. At this point it was around 5am.
We all screamed and I think I started to cry. Well, yeah I did. I was scared, nervous, excited and shocked all at the same time. My mom was so helpful and supportive. She surprised me. She was rubbing my face with a cold towel, rubbing my arms and telling me to breathe. I thought she wouldn't be able to handle the birth but she really surprised me. I've never felt more close to her than in that moment. My wife was a trooper and also did an amazing job keeping me calm. I just remember thinking how I wanted to make her proud of me. She was such a solider with the birth of our daughter....I just wanted to make her proud.
This was it! We were about to meet our son! The child we prayed so hard for! 22 days early!!!!!
I pushed 7 times and Baby Boy N came into the world at 5:17am on June 10th, 2014 weighing 6lbs 1oz and 19inches. I cried so hard. I did it! I did it!! Praise GOD! I did what people said I wouldn't do. I carried a child and I pushed him out. I endured the pregnancy! I endured being miserable! I DID it!!!! I was so proud of myself in that moment. I remember just wanting to hold him and smell him! As they cleaned him off I had to get a few stitches. I will forever remember that first moment of skin-to-skin with our son and him rubbing his little fingers on my chest. My mom was so happy. My wife cried. My mother-in-law got to see her first grand-child born and my daughter got to see her baby brother come into the world. So many were blessed by his birth.
I prayed for a pain free easy labor.....and that's what I had. I only labored for 2 hours. There were no complications. Baby Boy N required no NICU time despite coming at 36 weeks 5 days. 22 days early. 2 days shy of full-term. My pregnancy was textbook & uneventful. I prayed for no morning sickness...I had none. I got pregnant on the first try. I prayed for a Boy and we now have our son. God. IS. Amazing.
To Be Continued..............{The After-Birth Experience}
