Birth Story & Postpartum Recovery

I cannot believe it has been two weeks since Gray was born- time is already flying by and we are cherishing this newborn phase! As I sit here writing this, I keep looking over at Gray (of course he is in the MamaRoo haha!) and I cannot imagine life without him!

Many of you have asked about our birth story, as things happened very suddenly and quickly, and I am happy to share more about our experience!

Let me backtrack a bit first- on October 25th, I was 36 weeks exactly and had my regularly scheduled OB appointment. This was the first visit where they would be checking to see if I was dilated, so I was a little excited about it! My doctor was unavailable that date, so I was seen by a nurse practitioner. She was so sweet and informed me that I wasn’t dilated at all- which is what I fully expected to hear! She also told me that I may experience some mild cramping and spotting as a result of her checking my cervix.

The following day, I was running errands all over town. I went to Home Goods and bought all sorts of baskets for Gray’s room- you should have seen me carrying all the baskets to my car- it was comical! I went to Target and got everything for the nurse’s baskets, stopped by the grocery, and pretty sure I also went to Aerie and bought some comfy loungewear. Let’s just say I was on my feet all day and was FULL of energy.

As a side note, Scott was actually gone for the weekend on a boy’s hunting trip. He was 30 minutes away and had phone service, so if anything was to happen he would be able to make it home quickly. Both Scott and I felt confident that nothing would happen while he was gone seeing as I wasn’t dilated at my OB appointment.

Saturday evening, my parents came over and brought me dinner (I had a pepperoni and jalapeño pizza ha!). My dad hung the mobile in Gray’s room and I basically forced them to watch a cheesy Lifetime Christmas movie with me. While I was siting on the couch, I did mention to my mom that I had been experiencing some cramping, but I was sure it was related to the NP checking to see if I was dilated. Luna, who is normally very calm and mellow, was acting super weird that night- she was literally all over me on the couch and wouldn’t sit still. My mom even commented that Luna seemed super anxious and that she was acting so weird. Looking back, I think it is definitely possible that she sensed something was going on with my body.

The rest of the evening was uneventful, but Sunday morning I woke up around 6 AM due to cramping- the pain, although very mild, woke me up which had me a little concerned. I was also experiencing continual back pain (still mild), so I decided to get up and take a hot bath. I literally never take baths, but I felt like it would help the pain. Afterwards, I decided to download a ‘contraction counter’ app to start tracking the frequency of the cramps. Honestly, I didn’t really think it was possible I was in labor, but I definitely knew something was going on. Around 8 AM, I called my mom and let her know what I was experiencing. She immediately told me to call Scott and advised me to keep her posted if anything changed. I actually decided to get ready before calling Scott- again, I DID NOT think I was in labor and didn’t really want to bother Scott on his trip. At this point, I was experiencing lower abdominal cramping every 15-20 minutes and it was bearable. Around 9:30 AM, I texted Scott and told him what was going on and he said he would be home shortly.

About 30 minutes later (this may be TMI), I went to the bathroom and noticed a lot of mucus- which I knew was likely my mucus plug. It was at this point that I started thinking I may be in labor, but I remained calm and waited for Scott to arrive.

By the time Scott came home and showered, it was around 11 AM and although the cramping hadn’t increased in frequency, my back pain was becoming more severe. I still didn’t really believe I was in labor, but Scott refused to hang around the house any longer and said we were going to the hospital. Looking back, I honestly think I was just scared- I have always been a little nervous about delivering a child (I know, so silly), so going to the hospital made everything more real. I also am a huge control freak and have a hard time letting things just ‘happen,’ so for me the uncertainty of how labor would progress was also making me anxious.

On the way to the hospital, I called my parents and filled them in, but I told them to wait at home until I had been seen by the doctor. I didn’t want them to show up to the hospital if it was just a false alarm. We arrived to the hospital at 11:30 AM and we walked (yes, I walked) up to the labor and delivery floor. The NP who I had seen just 2 days prior for my 36 week appointment was at the nurse’s station and she was so surprised to see me! I told them that I thought I may be labor, but I wasn’t sure. The nurses were so sweet and walked me back to a room where I was hooked up to the monitor. Sure enough, they confirmed that I was having contractions, so next they wanted to see how much I was dilated. The nurse popped her head up and said, “Are you ready to have a baby today?” Pretty sure my jaw dropped right when she said this haha! She then proceeded to tell me that I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced- and that this baby would likely be here within a few hours. Scott and I were SHOCKED– honestly. It was a lot to take in that our child would be arriving! She mentioned that she was having trouble figuring out how he was presenting and that she was going to get the ultrasound machine to take a better look. Unfortunately, even with the ultrasound, she couldn’t figure out his presentation, so she paged the on-call physician. He arrived and quickly confirmed that our baby was breech (this was the first time I had ever been told that), so again Scott and I were SHOCKED. I asked the physician when he thought I would have a c-section and he replied, “in about 30 minutes.” Scott and I could not believe how fast things were moving and I immediately told him to call my parents- I knew they were going to freak out and want to be there before I was taken to surgery.

Thankfully, my parents arrived right before Scott and I were taken to the OR, so I was able to see them! Here is a photo they quickly snapped before I was wheeled to the OR.

I honestly didn’t have a lot of time to process that I was having a c-section because everything happened so quickly. Once I was in the OR, I received a spinal (at this point, labor was intense and shoutout to the nurse who I basically squeezed to death during this) and I was prepped for surgery. Scott had to wait outside the room until they were ready to start and once that was complete they brought him in. I was so thankful to have him there- I kept looking up at the ceiling telling myself in my head that I was about to meet my baby. I’m not entirely sure how long it took, but eventually there was a lot of commotion and the drape they had up was pulled slightly down- and there was my sweet baby boy. Great, I’m crying again haha! I was so happy– I could hear him crying, so I knew that was a good sign. Gray was whisked away to the warmer where the nurses could attend to him and make sure everything was okay. They told Scott to come over and that he could take some photos. To be honest, I was a little sad at this point that I couldn’t be involved/see my baby, but that is just how it goes with c-sections. Gray was doing well, so they were going to take him to the nursery for an official birth weight/more tests and the nurses advised Scott that he needed to come along. Once Scott and the baby left, all I really remember is staring at the ceiling listening to Adele (she was playing in the OR the entire time). Unfortunately, I did start to feel very uncomfortable as they were putting me back together (lots of tugging and pulling- no pain) and I think I had a slight freak out moment. I later found out that the anesthesiologist gave me a small dose of Propofol at this point because I was getting so anxious and uncomfortable. After what seemed like forever, surgery was finished and I was taken back to L&D to recover. When I was wheeled into my room, no one was there and I remember asking the nurse where my family was. She replied they were all at the nursery and would be coming to see me soon. Again, I was staring at the ceiling wondering when I would get to see Scott and the baby…and about 10 minutes later everyone arrived in the room.

*As a side note, I will say that having a c-section can be tough in the sense that I wasn’t able to experience that initial skin-to-skin bonding time with Gray. I wasn’t able to hold him immediately and I missed seeing him in the nursery.

Once everyone arrived, I was informed that Gray’s sugar level was low (it was 32 and needed to be above 40) and they asked if I wanted feed him to see if that would help. I was so overwhelmed/happy/in love to hold him for the first time and feed. He latched so well and it was such a special moment- I never once thought that I would become a mom that day and I was completely in shock that I was holding our child. Thankfully, his next sugar level they checked was normal and he didn’t have to go to the NICU.

After spending a few hours in L&D recovering, I was transferred to the postpartum unit. Patients who have c-sections are normally required to stay for 72 hours, but I was very up front that if Gray and I were doing well then I wanted to leave after 48 hours. During the first evening, the night shift nurse told me that I needed to try and stand by the side of the bed- she wanted to change my pad (yes, I was wearing pads and mesh undies ladies). My legs were still were tingling a bit, but the nurse and Scott were on either side of me as I got out of bed and stood. Everything went well and from that point on I knew that it would be so important for me to get up and moving the next day.

Although my incision was sore, I did get out of bed the next day (Monday) and took some steps around the room. It felt great to be on my feet and moving around. I definitely had to take things slow, but I was so happy to be up on my feet. From then on, I seemed to start recovering very quickly. We were discharged on Tuesday and I told the nurses that I could walk down to the car- they looked at me like I was crazy and were like, “just get in the wheelchair.” HAHA! Once we got home, I was so happy to be in my own space, sleep in my own bed, and take a hot shower- it was literally magical.

During the next few days, I did take things slowly (no lifting anything heavier than Gray, no going up stairs, etc), but I could feel that my body was getting stronger with every passing day. My incision became less and less tender and I was able to move around with minimal pain. I will say that everyone recovers from surgery differently and I am thankful that I had a good experience. Now that I am 2 weeks out, I have no tenderness around my incision and honestly feel about 95% back to normal.

I have also been asked about feeding- I am breastfeeding and again am very thankful that it is going well. From day one, Gray latched very well and I haven’t had any problems with feeding. I recently starting pumping throughout the day to increase my supply- and because I want to have breastmilk available for Scott/my mom if I’m not home and Gray is hungry.

I will say that I do feel a little guilty that my recovery and feeding have been going so well. I have received countless messages from you all saying that you did not have a good experience with either delivery or feeding, so it makes me feel bad to get on social media and basically say everything is great. Everyone experiences childbirth differently and there isn’t a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way. We also all experience postpartum differently– for me, I knew that I needed to get up and start my day as normal or I would likely fall into a deep hole of depression. I like getting up and having a list of things to get done in a day- it gives me purpose and motivates me. If I woke up and spent my day feeding/changing Gray, sleeping, watching TV, I fear that I would feel like I was in a never-ending cycle which would cause me to become sad. There is no right or wrong way to navigate this newborn phase as a new mom- you just have to find what works for you!

Okay… I better wrap this up before I completely bore you to death. I hope this post was helpful and you were able to learn a little more about our experience. We are so happy to have this sweet boy in our lives and hope to one day be able to add a sibling(s) for sweet Gray!

As always, thank you for reading- xoxo, A