Hi! It’s so great to get back on the blog and reconnect with everyone. I just want to say, thank you so much for all of your kind words over the last few weeks. Austin and I read them all and are so appreciative of each and every one of you that took time out of your day to give us support and encouragement. I’ve been asked quite a bit if I’d be sharing my birth story on here and as someone who has an obsession with reading other peoples’ birth stories, how could I not?!
My doctor decided it would be best to induce me at 39.5 weeks with Griffin. There was a lot of satisfaction in this decision for Austin and I mostly because we could arrange child care for Colette and know that there wouldn’t be a middle of the night scramble finding someone to take care of her. I can’t explain how weird it is to drive to the hospital to give birth but not be in labor. Obviously I got NO sleep the night before and had a complete weeping breakdown around 3AM. Honestly, I was scared. My labor with Colette was difficult and my recovery was even harder. I worried about her and how she would feel with Austin and I being gone for a few days. To reiterate, I was really scared. We checked into the hospital, got my IV (not bad this time around!) and I was started on Pitocin around 9:30. My Mom joined us at the Hospital and the morning was pretty uneventful with the exception that I could not seem to control my anxiety about the looming epidural and birth.
There came a point (around 1PM) where my nurse politely suggested I opt for the epidural as the anesthesiologist would be in a surgery for the next hour and a half and I was becoming really uncomfortable with the contractions. I sobbed through the entire process even though it wasn’t painful at all. The afternoon was lovely from that point on! I read an US weekly, took a nap, prayed and made a conscience decision to put my fear aside and enjoy and live in the moment as it’s pretty likely that this will be our last baby. I mean never say never though right?
During the end of my pregnancy, I had a feeling he was sunny side up. He was super active and I could feel what I knew were hands and feet, not heels and elbows during my last few weeks. They confirmed that he was face up and had me lay on my side with a special exercise type ball between my knees and he ended up turning on his own! Around 5:00, my OB and nurse ran in the room asking if I had felt the need to push. They said that the baby’s heart rate was dipping with contractions, meaning he was in the birth canal. My OB checked me and said, “let’s push this baby out!” Wait. What?!
People started to assemble (about 6 total) and set things up and I knew it was time. Let me preface this part with the fact that I pushed for over 3 hours with Colette and was in labor for a total of almost 16 hours. By the time she arrived, I could barely open my eyes. My level of exhaustion prevented me from being fully present and happy in the moment. This was a totally different experience! Everyone in the room was pumped, my OB was relaxed, I felt excited and empowered, Austin and the nurses cheered me on and in 17 short minutes, Griffin Thomas was here! It was hands down, the most incredible experience of my life.
Both of my babies were born with the cord wrapped around their necks so unfortunately, Austin is 0-2 with cutting the cords but we are just thankful that they were both healthy babies. How is my recovery you ask? In the words of my OB, “I’m sorry, your body just isn’t well equipped to handle deliveries without significant trauma.” I had a 3.5 degree tear (had a 3rd degree with Coco) which took 45 minutes to “mend” with somewhere north of 25 stitches. It was not fun but I’m 2 weeks out, and feeling so much better and could not be more grateful for my experience and the fact that we get to snuggle this sweet baby boy now. Nothing comes close to the sense of mental and physical accomplishment you have when you give birth! At the risk of sounding so sappy, the birth of Griffin was a gift and a miracle and we feel incredibly blessed to be a family of four. Now we’re settling in and figuring out how to manage everything that comes along with having a newborn- more on that in a later post though!
THANK YOU again for all of the kindness and support you’ve extended to me and my family over the last 9 months. It means the world to us! xo
PS- please excuse any typos over the next few months. I’m sleep deprived!
