Giving birth is such an amazing experience and is so different for each woman. As many video's and stories I'd heard about other birthing situations, nothing can prepare you for the unknown. My Birthing Plan: Vaginal, Epidural, No poop on table. Little did I know that my vision of how things were going to go down, was not what my body had in mind. It was Monday afternoon (Feb 4th, the day after my due date) and Aaron had decided to take the day off to keep me company (since I had a mad case of cabin fever and he could tell I was going legally insane). It was also our one year wedding anniversary and I wanted to make it as special as a nine month pregnant lady could make it. We decided to go to Smokey Point to Best Buy to get Aaron an iPad charger he needed and run to Costco to stock up on all the bulk we may need to be stuck at home with a baby. We stopped at Jamba Juice on the way and got an Orange Dream Machine smoothie for all the walking we were about to do. I had been having mild BH contractions all day (which I had been having for months) so I didn't think much of it. Once we got to Best Buy a little switch in my body flipped and things started to get a little uncomfortable. I continued pretending they were nothing and toughing it out as we looked at all the Apple products and Aaron found the cord he needed. I started to not be able to walk as normal and I figured I just needed to sit down for a bit. We went to a another store and I made Aaron just run in and get what he needed while I waited in the car and sucked down my Jamba. Aaron got back and I told him I was done shopping and wanted to go home because my back was starting to hurt and I wanted to lay down. Aaron begged me to let him go into Costco and get some pizza because he was starving, but I soon convinced him I was done, and we got on the freeway back home. The next few minutes I couldn't talk through the contractions but I still wasn't convinced it was true labor. Everyone kept telling me "you will KNOW when you are in labor" but I wasn't certain. I decided to call the birthing center and see what they thought. Since my last apt showed I was already at a 3 and 80% effaced they said to come in for a check, but not to get my hopes up. We showed up at the hospital, I walked in and they sat me behind a curtain in a little closet looking cubby hole. It was 6:15p when they checked me and I was still at a 3 but 100% effaced so they made me lay there for an hour before they would check me again. At this point Aaron ran home to get our bags and carseat since we had gone straight there and was back around 6:50p I was in a lot of pain by this point and showed it by gripping the side of the bed and smashing my face into the pillow. I told the nurses my pain level was at a 4 when I got there and about ten minutes later decided to change that number to a 9. They didn't believe me, they thought I was a wuss. At about 7:00p they decided I was squirming enough to check me again and I was almost fully dilated. They were in shock because "this is your first baby it won't be fast" and "yeah labor does hurt you're just going to have to find a way to cope." Little did they know there was a baby in my birth canal and I wanted a freaking epidural! They then ordered the epidural, decided to officially admit me, and put in an IV which she did wrong and squirted blood all over the place. She tried to change me into a new non-bloody gown, but I was in back to back contractions of active labor and I would have rather been naked then try to put that stupid gown on. Soon after, they lost the baby's heartbeat (because he was WAY lower than they thought). They found it again, but it had dropped drastically. Nurses and doctors came flying in, stopped telling us what was going on, made me wear an oxygen mask because apparently I kept forgetting to breath, went flying down the hallway into the elevator Grey's Anatomy style and all I remember is a little boy in the distance pointing at me and my entourage saying "woah, what is happening to her." Don't forget, all of this is happening during back to back contractions and I still hadn't gotten my epidural! We got up to the room and the stirrups came out, they put a heart rate monitor directly on the babies head and it had gone back up. The nurses calmed down and they seemed to forget that I was still in labor. I felt like I needed to push by this time, and they told me to hold it in. To tell someone in labor not to push is like telling someone to stop peeing halfway through, you can't do it. The anesthesiologist finally came in, a little too late, and apparently I yelled at him "you should have gotten here sooner!" (I don't remember this at all, but Aaron laughed and said the guy just looked at me and walked out). They gave me a shot of something to try and slow contractions which made me heart race like I had just drank 200 Red Bulls. The drug didn't slow it anything down, especially my heart. The doctor told me I was about to deliver naturally and it was about time to start pushing for real. I heard the nurse telling Aaron the baby would probably be born within the hour and I remember thinking to myself, I'm getting this baby out in the next five minutes. Aaron said they had tarps on the floor and everyone was in their delivery get-ups which was great because remember that Jamba Juice I sucked down about an hour before... mix that with amniotic fluid and hard contractions.. Sorry, that was too much. A few pushes later, bursting all the blood vessels in my face, and nurses telling me stupid things that weren't motivating... Oakley Aaron Boren was born! 8:29p (about an hour after they admitted me). 6lbs 14oz 19 1/4 in long The doctor told me I was about 30 seconds away from an emergency C-section, they were either going to see if they could make it to my room or go straight to the OR. The true Birthing Plan: Vaginal, 100% Natural, Did not poop on table
So the moral of the story is expect the unexpected. I can now testify that Orange Dream Machine Jamba Juice naturally enduces labor.
There is a reason women forget the feeling soon after birth and the precious little boy in my arms gave me hope that someday (in a very very long time) I may have the urge to do this again (with an epidural for sure). I had just done the craziest thing on earth and Aaron was a witness.
Before, Aaron had explained he didn't want to look or even cut the cord. He held my leg and ended up cutting the cord too. He said he had no choice in the moment and it happened so fast that he had no choice.
We love our little cuddle bug and he is the best most sleepiest baby anyone could ask for. I still haven't heard him actually cry and he nurses like a pro. He has Aaron wrapped around his finger already and I can't even imagine life without him. But really, who could resist that face!
