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I’m sitting here writing this blog postfour weeks postpartum and I’m not going to lie, everything about my birth story just seems like such a blur. The entire experience was way less scary and harder than I imagined it to be.
I know every woman and every experience is different, but if you’re pregnant or thinking of getting pregnant I hope my birth story encourages you.
This post goes very in depth, but I hope that it is somewhat informative and interesting for you to read. Happy reading!
I almost feel like some parts I may have left out or forgotten which is why I kind of wish I would’ve documented/journaled my experience each day as it happened or at least at the end of each day so that I did not leave anything out. So word of advice, if you want to remember the details, definitely document it or journal it as the days happen. That is one of my regrets.
Pregnancy Overview
I was blessed with a great pregnancy. Some things were a little difficult here and there but overall, it was such a breeze. We got pregnant the end of October 2021 and told family a few weeks later. My due date was August 5th, 2022.
The first trimester was the most difficult for two reasons. When we first found out I was pregnant again, it was somewhat hard to be excited right away because of what we experienced the first time we got pregnant. I miscarried in March of 2021 and it was a bit of a traumatic experience being hospitalized for three days and having to get three blood transfusions before having the D+E procedure. But once I got past the first 3 months, things started to look so promising. This time around felt different though. I was more ready this time around and for some reason was filled with so much hope.
The other difficult thing about the first trimester, was that I was so nauseous all day long and if I didn’t eat something as soon as I woke up in the morning, I felt worse. I couldn’t enjoy anything with flavor. I could only get down very bland foods like crackers, plain cheerios, and toast with the tiniest bit of butter. The taste and smell of coffee, the smells from our fridge and the smells of anything cooking in the kitchen made me super nauseous.
I feel like as soon as I got pregnant, I was waking up in the middle of the night to pee. This happened pretty much my entire pregnancy. Which isn’t too bad, but because I sleep under so much, the bigger I got, the more difficult it became to get in and out of bed lol. I would sleep under my sheet wrapped around my pregnancy pillow with our comforter and my weighted blanket above that.
But once my second trimester came around, I was able to enjoy flavorful food again without feeling nauseous and could enjoy iced coffee. The nausea pretty much went away in the second trimester. Apparently the baby does the most crucial growing in the beginning which is why it makes you feel so sick. Not to mention your body goes through so many changes all at once. The second trimester was such a breeze!
The third trimester wasn’t all that bad either minus the heart burn and the unsolicited comments from strangers lol. The heart burn started to go away though once she started to drop (aka baby’s head and body start dropping further down the birth canal to prepare for birth). Your belly will feel so much lower.
I’ve had people say things like “you must be having twins!” ” you’re so big” “you’re going to have a big baby!” “are you sure you’re only __ weeks?” “you look like you could have that baby any day now!” and other things that would scare any woman from having birth or having kids. If you don’t have anything ENCOURAGING to say to a pregnant STRANGER you see, please don’t say a word LOL. You would think this was a common courtesy, but unfortunately it’s not.
I even had two female strangers (both different incidences) reach out and rub my belly as they congratulated me on my pregnancy. I was MORTIFIED. Do not let strangers touch you. LOL
Anyway, the weeks leading up to my due date, I started getting more uncomfortable and it was getting harder to get comfy sleeping at night. My pregnancy pillow was definitely a God send and I definitely would not have been able to sleep without it.
Word of advice about stretch marks: I did not listen to anyone who told me to start rubbing anything on my belly in the beginning. I wish I did, because once I popped, I got them allll over and they were SO itchy. I would highly recommend you rub stretch mark cream, oil, lotion, whatever you can find every single night and day religiously as soon as you get pregnant lol. I’m pretty sure you’ll thank me later.
Labor
My due date, Friday August 5th came and nothing happened. I chose to be patient and not rush myself or my body into getting our daughter out. I refused to put any type of pressure on myself. I knew God had a plan and I trusted that His timing was best and she would be here when it was time. This was a very comforting mindset to have and kept me from being fearful or on edge that I went over my due date.
I started having minor contractions /Braxton hicks? that started late Saturday evening into Sunday morning 8/6/22-8/7/22. They just felt like very minor period cramps. I had the feeling I would be having her within the next day or two so that night I washed my hair in the shower. (I usually wash my hair once a week and use dry shampoo on the days I don’t wash. Blog post with all the hair details to come!)
I started timing the contractions in the apple notes app on my phone. They were ten minutes apart and lasted about a minute or less each contraction from 2am to 6am Sunday morning. I ended up losing my mucus plug around 5am that morning.
The contractions stopped during the day Sunday and picked back up again that evening. They started up again around 3pm and started to get a little more intense around 7pm until around 1am where I finally was able to fall asleep through part of it. I woke up around 5 am and continued tracking them.
We left for the hospital around 9-10am on Monday 8/10/22 and my Mom met us in the waiting room. They took me back, hooked me up and when the doctor came in I was only 1 cm dilated. They gave me the option to be admitted and wait another 1-2 hours to be checked again or go home and labor some more until labor got more intense.
The nurse encouraged me to go home, take a nice hot shower, eat lunch and try and sleep through part of the contractions and come back later when they were stronger.
We left around noon and grabbed lunch from Chick-fil-a on our way home. After I finished eating, I labored in bed until around 5pm when they got so intense. My Mom came over and we left within the next hour for the hospital. I got admitted and at this point the contractions were so intense and I was screaming so loud, my husband thought the windows in the delivery room might shatter, haha.
The entire time I was contracting, even when they first started, I would track them in a note in Apple Notes on my phone. But then I discovered they actually have an app for timing your contractions! I thought that was cool and will definitely be using that again in the future.
My Birth Story
My hope was to have as natural a birth as possible with little to no intervention. I also kept an open mind and knew things may or may not turn out how I’d hope they would and was at peace with however things ended up being.
I labored for as long as I could before requesting the epidural. The contractions kept getting more and more intense and I wasn’t fully dilated so I chose to not suffer through them any longer.
Before I got the epidural, Olivia’s heart rate deceled which meant her heart rate dropped. It was scary because a bunch of people came running in and they had to keep flipping me over and over in the middle of very painful contractions. They knew what to do in that situation and eventually her heart rate went back up.
I got the epidural around 10pm? and I don’t remember it being that painful tbh. It was uncomfortable but not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was successful and once it kicked in, I was finally able to relax and sleep! My body continued laboring and it was so interesting to see the contractions happening consistently on the monitor but not feeling a thing. If I had chosen not to get it, I would’ve spent that 11 hours in extreme pain.
Hopefully your hospital has a peanut ball because that was the best thing for sleep haha they put it in between your numb legs. Definitely request it if you end up getting an epidural.
The doctor came in early that morning and asked if I wanted my water broken. I hesitated, and asked her when she would be back to check dilation. She said she would come back in a few hours so I decided to just get it over with. My body continued laboring until around 9am on Tuesday 8/9/22 when I was dilated enough to start pushing.
I only pushed for about 30 minutes and she was born Tuesday 8/9/22 at 9:31am weighing 7 lbs 1.5 ounces and was 20 inches in length. The NICU nurses were there to check her shortly after birth because of the meconium that was present.
Breastfeeding
Thankfully, Olivia latched pretty much right away and I was able to feed her on demand moments after she was born.
I will say it was VERY painful those first few days of breast feeding and my nipples became so sore and beat up. The lactation consultants in the hospital gave me nipple cream samples and encouraged me to get more of the breast tissue into her mouth to get a better latch and minimize the pain I was having.
They told me to feed her every 2-3 hours especially that first week and not to go over 3 hours without feeding her so that my milk supply wasn’t affected.
It’s so crazy because once my milk came in the next day after having her, not only were they HUGE but I had to wear a bra to support them. And I’ve been wearing one since. I know a lot of us girls are so used to going most of the day especially at home without wearing a bra, but in this case you need the support! Ha. I also recommend bringing nipple pads to the hospital with you to put into your bra to help catch any milk that leaks so that it doesn’t end up all over you and your clothes.
I am still breastfeeding and loving it. It’s finally not painful anymore and lately she’s been cluster feeding (feeding every hour). She is definitely going through a growth spurt! I am excited and hopeful to continue breastfeeding for as long as I can.
Home from the hospital
We ended up staying in the hospital until Thursday 8/11/22 and were discharged that afternoon. We stopped for lunch on our way home and were so excited to finally spend the night in our own bed.
Right before we left the hospital, I checked the living room camera we use to check up on Rem (if you don’t already know, Remington or Rem is our 1 year old chocolate lab). And all I could see was pillow foam all over the floor. He had torn up one of the couch pillows. He couldn’t have just waited 30 more minutes and we would’ve been home!
The second day in the hospital, my husband Bob took one of Olivia’s hats home so that Rem could sniff it and get used to her scent before we brought her home. So far he has been so good with her, but has definitely just gotten over being depressed from all the new changes (a new baby in the home getting all the attention plus gates up everywhere to keep him out of different rooms of the house and him no longer sleeping in the bedroom with us) and wasn’t eating.
He’s finally seeming more and more like his self and has his energy back thankfully!
Postpartum Recovery
The part of my birth story has been a little rough. Because I had a vaginal delivery, tore and had to get stitches, I had to deal with the postpartum aftercare for down there. At the hospital, the nurses showed me how to use the mesh underwear, to use a peri bottle, anti-itch spray, ice packs and witch hazel pads. Going to just pee was an entire PROCESS. I was in there for forever going through all the steps every time I had to go.
Currently, I still have the stitches, but I don’t have to do all of those steps now that I’m feeling somewhat better. I just use the peri bottle. The stitches are supposed to dissolve within the next week or two and once they do, I will no longer have to use it.
I used up all the extra pads, ice packs, sprays, hazel pads and more from the hospital. Once I got through all of that, I ended up switching over to the Fridamom postpartum care kit and it is SO GOOD. Their ice maxi pads are 100 times better than the one provided at the hospital. The peri bottle is so much better because it angles at the top for better reach and the disposable underwear are sooo comfy.
I bought the Fridamom postpartum kit to have on hand for when I came home from the hospital. Definitely glad I did. You can also stock up on any of the items needed from Fridamom on Amazon.
First few weeks with baby
Olivia sleeps in a bassinet next to my side of the bed and we also kept the rocking chair from the nursery in the bedroom for the first few weeks. That is now back up in the nursery.
It has been QUITE an adjustment having hardly any freedom, but I have been loving every second of motherhood. I am still pretty sleep deprived but not as much as I thought I would be. They say your adrenaline kicks in and I’m not sure when that stops because I don’t feel as bad as I should given the amount of sleep I’ve been getting (or more like not getting haha).
The one unfortunate incident I had postpartum…
Tbh, I wasn’t sure I wanted to even share this on here, but a lot of the details shared above are pretty personal so I figured why not because it is also part of my birth story. I believe it was about a week or two postpartum and one night I went to the bathroom and noticed something hanging out of me. It was hanging there for a good day or two and eventually was halfway down my thigh.
I googled it and was convinced I had a prolapse (A prolapse is a bulging or falling out of a body part, such as the rectum or vagina, that commonly occurs because of weakened supportive tissues.) But when I got to my OB the next day, she told me that was definitely not the case.
I couldn’t feel anything when I touched it, so it definitely wasn’t a part of me, but what hurt was that it would rub against my stitches and THAT hurt so bad I couldn’t sleep the one night I was in TEARS.
She left the room to grab another set of hands to pull this thing out of me and somehow that didn’t hurt at all. She told me it was most likely leftover accessory tissue from the placenta. Because of how long it was hanging, she put me on antibiotics for five days to help prevent an infection. She also ordered me an ultrasound to check to make sure there wasn’t anything else left behind.
The ultrasound results came back, and there wasn’t much up there, but because of what I experienced, she wanted to make sure everything came out. So she had me take Misoprostol to clear out the little that was left. It made me feel crampy and bleed a little, but it was definitely bearable. It just felt like mild period cramps.
I am so glad that is all over and that it wasn’t worse than it was! I still can’t believe that happened to me though. I swore one of my organs was hanging out of me (thankfully wasn’t the case though).
Whoo! You won’t believe how long it took me to write this post! Much longer than I anticipated, but my baby girl is first priority and takes up a lot of my time! lol #momlife
Anyway, if you have any questions about anything I shared, feel free to comment or shoot me a DM on instagram. See you on the next blog post!
Xo, Kristen
