My Birth Story

I experienced my early contractions over the span of an evening, not entirely sure if I was having Braxton-Hicks or if it was the real thing. Kev and I were trying to time things out, but they were happening pretty sporadically, although I found them ranging from mild to somewhat painful. I couldn’t sleep, and after calling our nurse hotline, they advised we come in to get checked out. After a few hours in triage and two cervical checks (which by the way… ouch!), we were sent home since my cervix was only 2cm dilated and I wasn’t making much progress. The contractions started to subside, so we went on with the rest of our day normally, even thinking to myself that L was probably not coming for at least a few more days…

…I couldn’t have been more wrong. I could not sleep that evening either. Around midnight, the contractions started picking up again, and this time they were much more painful. We were timing everything and while the span in between contractions was all over the place for a few hours, once we hit about 4am, they were getting closer to each other. I couldn’t handle the pain anymore, so we made our way back to the hospital. My first cervical check in triage came back at 3cm dilated, and I struggled through the contractions as best as I could for the next two hours. Then, a second cervical check happened, and the nurse said I was close to 4cm and we were officially admitted to the hospital.

Even though I’ve gotten better with my fear of needles over the last couple of years, I was still nervous about getting an epidural. I knew in order to get some rest after not sleeping for the past two days that this was necessary for me, and I couldn’t have been happier with my decision. The anesthesiologist was amazing and walked me through every single step, which helped lower my anxiety as he was setting it all up. Suddenly the pain from the contractions went away, and I finally felt some relief.

We waited for what felt like forever to get to 10cm dilated (13 hours to be exact), which is when I get to start pushing. I did a few “test runs” with our nurse and Kev, and at the same time, L’s heartbeat was being monitored. It was slowing down, and within 15 minutes, the doctor and a bunch of other nurses flooded the room. Because L’s heart rate was dropping, they were about to use a vacuum to suction her head out… but somehow, as the doctor was explaining what was happening, I pushed one last time with everything I had left in me and L came right out with no intervention needed. We were told first babies usually take one to three hours of pushing, and I managed to do it all in 30 minutes.

After that, everything was kind of a blur, but we were also told it was a blessing in disguise that L decided to arrive two weeks early - my placenta had started to detach from my uterus which was causing her heart rate to drop and it would’ve been really bad for both of us had I delivered her any closer to her due date.

I still can’t believe my body did all of this - from carrying our baby girl to delivering her, I’ve shown myself how strong I really am. I wouldn’t have made it through without Kev who was a supportive partner through it all. I know we’ll have our challenges, but I’m so excited to start this new journey of parenthood together knowing I picked the perfect person to do this with.

xo,
Keshia