It took me a whole year to write this story and here I am emotional as fuck so I think it’s finally time. Let me first say it all kinda happened like magic and this was the absolute best day of my life.
So the labor and birth itself were pretty average and easy sailing but the backstory with the few hours & days before it all is the weird part. So Wednesday (2 days before I gave birth & 4 days away from 40 week landmark) was one of my routine doctor checks but my regular OBGYN wasn’t there that day so I had to see the NP and she would be the one to check how dilated I was. Not much had progressed, I was still only about 1 cm dilated and about 90% effaced but for some reason the nurse was convinced this baby wasn’t making it passed the weekend coming up. I’m almost positive she either purposely or accidentally swept my membrane cause holy shit did her tiny hands HURT! So all night I kept having Braxton hicks like crazy... like strong! I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or not cause my whole pregnancy I didn’t really experience them so I called the Dr to make sure that all was normal. The lady told me that the nurse had pretty tough hands so expect to be sore..okay, cool. So the next day was normal but I was still having BH so I went and visited my boyfriend for lunch. One of his friends who had 3 kids of his own was sitting with him so I asked his opinion on going to the hospital just to make sure it wasn’t actual labor happening (first pregnancy, I had no clue) he told me just to wait because they would most likely just send me home if anything wasn’t for certain.
So I went home to take a nap and 30 minutes later, I had the worst pain so I went to the bathroom and ended up pooping (TMI), tried to lay back down but the pain came again. Pooped again. I hadn’t even left the bathroom before I was pooping AGAIN and this time I looked down and my mucus plug is just sitting in there like HEY BRO. I realize I’m in labor, these are contractions and I’m freaking out wondering how quickly this is happening because my boyfriend is not home BUT I have the car. I’m like ‘nope, I'm NOT waiting’ time to go before shit gets crazy. So I finished doing some things around the house and grab all of our bags and take them to the car and text Jon to get his ass outside because it’s baby time!
I’m driving to his work that’s 15 minutes away with ACTUAL contractions happening about every 5 minutes with NO air conditioning in 100 degree weather but I made it to Jons work before shit got real painful. He hops in the driver seat and the hospital is 45 minutes away, about 20 minutes in we hear a POP and I start to feel my water draining. We get to the hospital and I’m able to walk all the way through to L&D and by the time we reach triage, I’m hunched over DYING. The nurse wanted to check my fluid and make sure my water broke as there’s shit dripping from me as we speak. LIKE NO SHIT. She tried testing the fluid on the floor but it wasn’t coming up as a positive so she had to do it vaginally and at this point my contractions are extremely close together happening every 2 minutes and everyone and they’re mother wanted to ask me questions like isn’t this why I pre registered?! Not to mention my OBGYN calls me and tells me she won’t be delivery our baby cause she worked the night before. GREAT but whatever. Then I find out its GO time and I’m only 3 cm dilated, but I got that epidural ordered ASAP. GIMME THAT SHIT.
Up we go to L&D as Jon tries to walk me and I’m shaking uncontrollably like I’m freezing and I’m so tense from the contractions. Those things are no joke, when somebody tells you you’ll know what’s real and what’s BH, It’s SO true. That jank HURT and I SERIOUSLY applaud any mama who goes through birth naturally... like I don’t know how you could go through all that pain but to all mamas in general, cudos. So I get the epidural, easy peasy and thank god because that’s when my family started to arrive and visit with me and before that there’s no way I could encounter any company with how miserable I was feeling. I was on cloud 9, I had the room surrounded with people who love me, I had like 5 Popsicle and was watching cable TV. It was great. It still hadn’t hit me that I was meeting my daughter that day though! Things were progressing slowing so they started with pitocin and the ridiculous peanut ball in between my legs. At one point my epidural ran out and the anesthesiologist was on lunch for 30 minutes and I couldn’t get more epidural medication until then. I was trippin' but they finally showed up with a bag before I started to feel anything again. Jon went outside with my dad to take a hit of his e-cig and I started to feel like I was maybe pooping on myself so I had the nurse check me and little behold, it was time to have a baby! I started shaking again and texted Jon to get up to the room like NOW.
So when he got there we started doing some practice pushes and I remember that being the hardest part of my labor. I was just so tired and the huffing and puffing was exhausting, I started to cry and the doctor told me that crying won't help anything like OKAY I ONLY HAVE A BABY COMING OUT OF ME. Bitch lol. They asked if I wanted to look and I agreed to but I was too into getting a baby out of me to look at anything once they put the mirror in front of me. After almost throwing up, lots of vagina stretching, zero rips and tears, 1 and a half hours later, the doctor finally pulled her out.
The first thing I remember thinking when they put her on my chest was “wow she’s heavier than she felt in my belly”, she was a little blue from the cord being wrapped around her neck 2 times and had a major cone head from being sunny side up but man was she absolutely perfect. The whole experience was so amazing and truly the greatest day of my life. Ocean Zari was born September 28, 2018 weighing 6.6 lbs and 18.75” 2 days before her due date. The NP that day knew my baby girl was not waiting to meet us! My whole pregnancy from start to finish was so much of a blessing that I would do it again in a heartbeat. My labor from start to finish was 10 ½ hours and it went perfectly. My best advice to first time mamas is to go into labor being positive, knowing you’re going to be meeting your baby girl/boy helps A TON, and just rolling with the punches because our fears are our own worst enemies and just listen to your own gut instinct. I’m so excited to have another baby based a lot on my first birthing experience; I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
