First Time Birth by Chelsea

I wanted to share the birth story of my first baby, Elliott. This is a special story because it's a case of "What if everything goes right?" I feel like it's something to share to first time mamas (and all mamas) to give hope and to balance all the stories of what could go wrong.

My husband and I got married in late 2020 and we had always known we wanted a little family. We were ready and excited for this adventure right away. However it took us almost a year to conceive. I had read that that was normal and had talked to my doctor but couldn't help feeling disappointed each month when I wasn't pregnant or feeling like I was doing something wrong. When we both accepted that we might need to look into fertility and find answers, it happened! Even though we were trying it was still a surprise. I had never really had regular periods and was working a crazy busy job in media production. I was on one of our biggest productions of the year working 12-14 hour overnight shifts, so I didn't think much about my period being late since my body was already out of whack. But when I got home one morning after work something told me I needed to take a test and there it was! Our little dream baby was coming true!

My pregnancy was incredibly easy. I was 32 and in good health so we had no reason to worry. The first trimester had me fatigued and nauseous but it never elevated to actual morning sickness so I consider myself very lucky. The second trimester gave me that boost of energy and the reveal that we were having a boy! We were over the moon and set up our nursery when we still had 5 months left to go haha. I finally started to get my baby bump close to the third trimester (I'm 5'2 and about 110 lbs so it took some time to start showing). I only gained about 15 lbs during my pregnancy and felt great up until the last month. But that, at its worst, was just feeling uncomfortable, especially when sitting. Again I was working a busy job so I was on my feet most of the day for several hours and actually worked up until the day before I went into labor (again, very easy pregnancy- no swollen feet or backaches due to a heavy baby). While I had dreamed of going to a birth center and having a doula and midwife, we're middle class big corporation working millennials and our insurance covered hospital births. However because of the network my doctor and insurance were in, we ended up at Winnie Palmer Maternity Hospital which is THE top birthing hospital to go to. We couldn't have been in a better place for our first time!

I woke up around 2am one morning thinking I was having contractions. The timing was consistent but it didn't feel like much more than average period cramps (according to what I had heard) so I let myself go back to sleep, or at least try to. Around 6am it started getting more intense so we headed to the hospital. I was only 2 cms dilated so they suggested going for a walk for about 2 hours and checking back. We did and while the walking definitely felt like it was doing something (I had to stop several times due to discomfort during contractions), it appeared it didn't do enough. We were 8 days early from our due date but I had already set my heart on the fact that this was the day, it was meant to happen on this day. I was disappointed when the doctor told us it "might be the day but it probably won't be". They gave me what they described as a "super Benadryl" to see if it would help everything relax,and told us to go home and take a nap.

We went home, took a 2 hour nap and I woke up with a start! I practically fell off the couch, I was doubled over and these contractions were the worst pain of my life so I knew it was really happening this time! We were only 20 minutes from the hospital and they do valet (do all hospitals do that?!) so we were able to get in to triage in no time. Not only had my water broken as we were arriving but it appeared that my water was ruptured. So with everything contraction there was just a gush. I know it's natural and I'm literally in a birthing hospital but to say I was embarrassed is an understatement. But I think it worked to our advantage as they brought me back within minutes, checked me out (9 cms dilated, baby!) and brought me up to a delivery room right away. I was miraculously still within the window to get an epidural and graciously accepted (seriously those contractions were so awful). The doctor told me when I couldn't feel my legs that it was time to start pushing. (What is pushing? How do I do that? How do I tell my body to do that when I can't feel it?) 12 minutes later our son was earthside and he was perfect.

So to recap:
6am thought I was in labor and went to hospital
11am sent home to rest
130pm went back to hospital in actual labor
324pm Elliott was born

To say it was a blur is putting it lightly but everything happened how it was supposed to and I wouldn't change one thing. We're currently expecting Baby 2 in July 2024 and so far pregnancy is just as easy breezy as the first time.