He's here!!! (Caleb's Birth Story)

It all began on Tuesday morning, January 15, 2013 (around 12am) when I was trying to go to sleep and felt my first contraction. Followed by a second one. Since I was on high risk for preterm labor, I figured I should keep track and time them ...just in case. 

The first hour, they were 9 minutes apart. The second hour, 7 minutes apart. The next 30 minutes, 5 minutes apart. I knew I was clearly in labor. 

I was 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant. My due date wasn't until another 3 weeks.

With nerves racing, I got out of bed and Mike helped me get dressed. "We're going to have Caleb today!" I thought. With each contraction, I just wanted to lean over or sit down, or something other than stand. Nothing really helped ease the contractions. I felt like I wanted to push already!

The contractions were getting stronger and stronger. They felt like ocean waves going through me or something, and they were painful. I was so uncomfortable. 

Mike and I left the house around 3am and went to the hospital to have Caleb! Sitting in the passenger seat trying to be patient with all the contractions wasn't easy. The contractions were now 3 minutes apart.

We got to the hospital around 3:30am. I couldn't believe we were walking into the hospital knowing we were about to have Caleb. I also couldn't believe I was walking with the kind of intensity that was coming at me! I just really wanted to get going and stop these contractions, and my thoughts were 'I just wanna push already! At the Emergency Room, I was put on the monitors and contractions were still about 3 minutes apart. The ER nurse checked to see how dilated I was and she checked while I was in the middle of a contraction. I wanted to kick her in her fucking face! She said, "I don't even feel a cervix, just a bag of water." Her check revealed that I was already 10cm dilated, 100% effaced and +1 station. (And 2 weeks before I was already 1cm dilated, but not sure about the other details). All that progress in only 3 hours. From this point on, all I could focus on was breathing through the contractions. The ER nurse said it was time to go in to Labor and Delivery. I thought, 'no shit, dumb bitch!' She went ahead and called my doctor to let him know.

I was carted over to our room and they put in an IV. Our doctor, Dr. Villegas, arrived shortly after. The contractions started to take over my whole body. It was like there was a really, really strong magnet inside. Every time a contraction would start, someone was trying to pull the magnet from me with another on the outside. 

It was now around 4am and the contractions were more intense than ever. My doctor asked if I wanted them to break my water and start pushing or wait to try and get an epidural.

I responded with "JUST BREAK THE WATER!" 

I wasn't planning on getting an epidural anyway. I wanted to do it all natural.

He broke my water, and I felt relieved. Then another contraction came and the pressure was on another level. 

It was go-time.

I started pushing at 4:11am. Apparently he was coming down very fast. Everyone told me I was an excellent pusher and to just keep doing what I was doing. But I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. And the nurse was counting so damn slow, I wanted her to count faster as I pushed.. lol.

After just several minutes of pushing, everyone was cheering me on. "He's almost here." "He has a lot of hair." "Give it that last big push." I asked Mike if he saw the head yet and he said, "Yeah, he's right there baby, you're doing such a good job."

With another big push, everyone said, "His head is out, try to hold him there!" I don't remember saying this, but Mike told me that I said, "I can't hold it, I wanna push. I'm gonna push, fuck it, I'm pushing." After 15 minutes of pushing, it was 4:26am, January 15, 2013 when Caleb arrived! He shares a birthday with the great Martin Luther King Jr.! He's destined for greatness, lol.

The nurse said I did such a good job, she wishes all her deliveries were that easy and fast. She told me I should teach a labor and delivery class, lmao. Although it felt like I was pushing for what seemed forever, she told me I only pushed 6 times. 

Mike and I couldn't believe he was here.

I had a second degree tear, so my doctor stitched me up. It was over quickly though and I had Mike to keep me distracted.

The nurse weighed Caleb. He was 6 pounds 5 ounces. 18 inches long. She also gave him his first bath and he spent a little time under the warmer while he got his vitamin K shot. His Apgar scores were 9 and 9. Mike took pictures.

They brought him back to us and the nurse said I was able to start nursing him right then. I had some help latching him on and then he just started sucking. He nursed on both sides for about 15 minutes each. The room was much calmer now, and I passed Caleb off to Mike for him to hold. 

Mike had to leave for a while to sign his paternity leave papers, so I said goodbye and I was left alone with Caleb for a while.  

When he came back, we moved to our postpartum room and got settled.

As intense as my birth was, even minutes after he was born I was thinking it wasn't so bad. My labor wasn't long at all. It was only 4 hours ;) I'm just so glad that Mike was there with me. If he wasn't, I would have been so scared. We're a team. He was there to remind me that I was okay and that I was strong enough to get through it. He was my physical comfort, knowing that he was right near me through everything. 

So would I go drug free again? I don't know. Maybe. My number one goal for going drug-free was just to experience what women have gone through for ages. That goal has now been achieved. I had Jr. all natural too, but he was only 23 weeks gestation. The contractions weren't as intense, and he was so tiny that I didn't even have to push for him to come out. The good news is that I don't have to worry about a next pregnancy for a while. But I am so thankful for this experience, as intense as it was.

Love,

Tiare