Ivan’s Birth Story
It was a Sunday morning and I just felt “off” when I woke up. I was feeling tired and crampy and I thought I would go take a shower just in case I was nearing labor. During my shower my stomach just felt tight so when I was done I thought I’d just lay down for a bit. After a while I was feeling what I thought might be contractions but I really wasn’t sure. They were so mild and I knew some women had contractions days before going into labor. I sent Josh off to work/church and told him I would time them and maybe give my doctor a call.
After an hour of very mild but regular contractions I did call my doctor. She told me that I could wait it out and see if they get stronger or go to the hospital and get checked for dilation. I texted Josh and asked him if he could get things squared away at work and then come home. At this point I still wasn’t in pain but was starting to get nervous. I started slowly packing a hospital bag (I never got around to packing one before then because we were busy packing up the apartment). During this time our good friend Matt was at the house working on the grout for the backsplash in our kitchen. I came out of our room and told him I was having contractions. We carried on conversation while my contractions started to get a bit stronger but I was still not in pain. Josh got home and I told him we should go to the hospital right away because I was getting anxious.
We got to the hospital around 10 or 10:30 a.m. and almost immediately my contractions picked up and I started to feel some pain. I was only 3 cm dilated though so they told me I should walk around for an hour and a half and they would check me again. I walked around for maybe 15-20 minutes but by then the pain had gotten too intense so we went back so I could lie down. At some point some more good friends of ours brought us some lunch and I ate a bit between contractions. I was already asking for an epidural at this point and we hadn’t even been checked into labor & delivery yet!
I can’t remember exactly but I think it was around 1 p.m. that they checked me into a labor & delivery room. I suffered through some pretty intense contractions for a while before I was able to get an epidural. I received it right around kick-off time (it was Super Bowl Sunday). The epidural took my pain from a 9 to a 0 and I was able to nap off and on for a few hours while Josh watched the game. At some point my doctor came and broke my water and then things progressed pretty quickly. I was starting to feel some pain again so they gave me another dose of feel-good-juice but it only mildly helped this time.
Around 8:30 p.m. it was time to start pushing! Ivan’s head was in the same spot for most of my pushing but he just wouldn’t come out. My doctor told me that she could give me an episiotomy and on the next push he would come out. My response was, “YES DO IT THEN”. I was given the episiotomy and just as my doctor said, Ivan entered the outside world on my next push at 10:02 p.m. He was immediately placed on my chest and he started coughing up meconium onto me. After only seconds my doctor asked Josh if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord. I only remember having two thoughts at this point... My first thought was, “It seems too soon to be cutting the cord” and my second thought was, “Shouldn’t he be crying?”. At this time my brain wasn’t processing that something was wrong.
Ivan and Josh both went into the small NICU room that was within our delivery room. At some point (though I didn’t know it was happening) Ivan was resuscitated and I remember hearing him cry. Josh went with Ivan down to the NICU and I still had no idea what was really going on until Josh came back to update me an hour or so later. At that point I finally cried but I don’t think I really comprehended the situation yet.
I finally got to go see my boy around midnight. It was so hard to see him with tubes and wires all over him but he was still the most beautiful baby I’d ever laid my eyes on. What followed was the hardest 4 days I have ever gone through but it all resulted in our perfect, healthy baby boy. Every moment was worth it!
After an hour of very mild but regular contractions I did call my doctor. She told me that I could wait it out and see if they get stronger or go to the hospital and get checked for dilation. I texted Josh and asked him if he could get things squared away at work and then come home. At this point I still wasn’t in pain but was starting to get nervous. I started slowly packing a hospital bag (I never got around to packing one before then because we were busy packing up the apartment). During this time our good friend Matt was at the house working on the grout for the backsplash in our kitchen. I came out of our room and told him I was having contractions. We carried on conversation while my contractions started to get a bit stronger but I was still not in pain. Josh got home and I told him we should go to the hospital right away because I was getting anxious.
We got to the hospital around 10 or 10:30 a.m. and almost immediately my contractions picked up and I started to feel some pain. I was only 3 cm dilated though so they told me I should walk around for an hour and a half and they would check me again. I walked around for maybe 15-20 minutes but by then the pain had gotten too intense so we went back so I could lie down. At some point some more good friends of ours brought us some lunch and I ate a bit between contractions. I was already asking for an epidural at this point and we hadn’t even been checked into labor & delivery yet!
I can’t remember exactly but I think it was around 1 p.m. that they checked me into a labor & delivery room. I suffered through some pretty intense contractions for a while before I was able to get an epidural. I received it right around kick-off time (it was Super Bowl Sunday). The epidural took my pain from a 9 to a 0 and I was able to nap off and on for a few hours while Josh watched the game. At some point my doctor came and broke my water and then things progressed pretty quickly. I was starting to feel some pain again so they gave me another dose of feel-good-juice but it only mildly helped this time.
Around 8:30 p.m. it was time to start pushing! Ivan’s head was in the same spot for most of my pushing but he just wouldn’t come out. My doctor told me that she could give me an episiotomy and on the next push he would come out. My response was, “YES DO IT THEN”. I was given the episiotomy and just as my doctor said, Ivan entered the outside world on my next push at 10:02 p.m. He was immediately placed on my chest and he started coughing up meconium onto me. After only seconds my doctor asked Josh if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord. I only remember having two thoughts at this point... My first thought was, “It seems too soon to be cutting the cord” and my second thought was, “Shouldn’t he be crying?”. At this time my brain wasn’t processing that something was wrong.
Ivan and Josh both went into the small NICU room that was within our delivery room. At some point (though I didn’t know it was happening) Ivan was resuscitated and I remember hearing him cry. Josh went with Ivan down to the NICU and I still had no idea what was really going on until Josh came back to update me an hour or so later. At that point I finally cried but I don’t think I really comprehended the situation yet.
I finally got to go see my boy around midnight. It was so hard to see him with tubes and wires all over him but he was still the most beautiful baby I’d ever laid my eyes on. What followed was the hardest 4 days I have ever gone through but it all resulted in our perfect, healthy baby boy. Every moment was worth it!
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