The Birth Story of My Daughter Aria Lee

 

So I am finally getting this up, and I am so happy about it! I am sharing this to give an honest look at what the birth of my daughter was like for my husband and I. But I am also doing this to have it documented for us to always have to look back on. Before I get started I want to give a small disclaimer.

 

** I thought long and hard about how honest I wanted to be with this, and I ended up with the decision that I wanted to share as much as I feel is important. When I was pregnant I wish I had been told about some things that happened, and therefore I feel it is good to share it now for anyone who might appreciate it for themselves! Also, when they say everyone’s experience is different they are not lying, and I want to say that here as a reminder to anyone reading. Not one experience is the same; this is just mine! **

 

We think the reason my water broke was because the barometric pressure in the atmosphere dropped that night. I woke up at 3AM with strong period cramps and got up to go to the bathroom. I noticed I was leaking a little but thought nothing of it…#PregnancyProblems!! All throughout the night I continued to come in and out of sleep, tossing from one side to the other unable to get relief from these cramps… At 8:30AM I gave up and decided to get up for the day. Standing bedside my water broke, and at this moment I realized I must be in labor.

It took my husband a little to realize what was going on, but it wasn’t long before we were on the way to the hospital. He actually told me to just get ready for the day and he was going to go downstairs and do some work. HA! A few minutes later (after Google-ing ‘water breaking’ and calling our doctor), he ran back upstairs to announce to me that I was in labor. (Thank goodness he let me know! Tee Hee!)

The drive was about 30 minutes long, so we timed my contractions the whole way and they were consistently 5 minutes apart.

We arrived at the hospital and approached the desk to get signed in. It wasn’t until I told them I think my water initially broke at 3AM that they decided to put me in triage right away and see if I was in labor. Later we would find out they were very busy due to 7 other women who had come into the hospital that day in labor as well. (Again the barometric pressure must have been to blame!!). They checked my cervix and sure enough my water had broken and I was dilated to 4cm. I was moved into a delivery room.

At this point I was not dying by any means. I was a bit uncomfortable, but the pain was bearable. I got situated and the nurses started getting me all hooked up and ready for labor. Within the next hour I was starting to really feel the contractions… They checked my cervix almost exactly 1 hour from the last time and this time I was dilated to 6cm. Woah! The nurse said I was changing fast. And at this point I mentioned the epidural.

It took about 30 minutes before the anesthesiologist had my epidural in place, and by then I was quite ready for it to start working. I was told it would take 5-10 minutes to kick in.

Almost instantly I started to shake uncontrollably. I had heard this can happen, and let me tell you it was the most annoying thing in the world! Eventually the shaking did wear off, but it would come back from time to time over the next 48 hours. A good 30 minutes later I was dilated to a 7, and the epidural had only worked on one side. My left side was KILLING me. 7cm, almost 8cm, I was in some pretty good pain, and the left side was in full force.

I was contracting hard every minute on the minute, and I was asked if I wanted a drug to help ease the pain on the other side. The anesthesiologist came back in to “adjust” my epidural to see if it would help the pain on the left side, but again I got no relief. Now I had heard it is rare, but that an epidural can sometime fail. I guess I was that rare case.

I had decided very early on in my pregnancy that I would not take any drugs at all as long as my baby was inside of me and could be affected.

So I said no to drugs, but was happy when they offered to try the epidural again. A second anesthesiologist came in to re-due my epidural, and this time I was in so much pain I did not care one bit about the needle or the shakes I just wanted it to work!

Another 30 minutes, dilated to almost 9cm, and the epidural again failed me on the left side! At that point I gave up and just took the fact that I was going to feel everything on the left side and there was nothing we could do about it. This baby was coming! I was at 10cm 4 hours after arriving to the hospital, and it was time to push.

I will be honest here! Pushing was actually a relief even though it did hurt pretty good, it was better then just laying there taking the contractions.

But pushing is HARD! I did not know I had to hold my breath for ten EXTREMELY LONG seconds, and I did not know the pushing was going to be so difficult to master. I pushed for about 2 hours, but it felt more like 3 and a half. Honestly, I actually did not think I could do it. At one point I almost gave up. TRUTH. The worst part about pushing was not the pain, but actually running out of breath and getting exhausted. I know for sure the next time I am pregnant I will definitely exercise more and practice holding my breath!

Aria was born on December, 22^nd at 8:26pm, and was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. My initial reaction was disbelief. I could not believe that this living breathing little human was really in my belly. I instantly fell head over heels in love with her, and the emotion of being her mommy is indescribable.

The biggest thing no one ever told me and I wish they had is the feeling you get when you become a parent. It is the most intense level of love and fear all wrapped into one.

Every breath, every cry, every movement that baby made gave me a surge of joy and terror for long hours after she was born. The fear and terror were legitimately worries of whether or not she was safe and happy and ok. I did not sleep that first night. I had to make sure she was breathing and alive CONSTANTLY. Some may find this funny, but I will be frank with you. It is not funny! It is terrifying and exhausting, and I remember thinking to myself…”Oh Dear Lord…for the rest of my life I have something to worry about! How will I survive!”

On the flip side the love and joy were the highest of high I have ever been in my life on happiness! Every little blink, finger curl, and smile made my heart sing with elated glory! I have never loved someone so much, and I swear I never will! No joke I stared at her for hours upon hours straight just completely taken with her!

I promise you these intense emotions do give way, and being a parent just becomes a second nature. But those first few hours were very unexpected for me!

We left the hospital on the second day and made it home as a little family of 3 for Christmas Eve. The best Christmas gift we ever could have gotten! Aria is now 5 weeks old, beautiful, healthy, and the center of our lives! I could not ask for anything better!

For those of you who are pregnant, or plan to be pregnant soon, I hope this does not scare you! My goal was only to share my story, and to give a little bit of truth into what it can be like. If I did I am sorry and I promise the end result is worth every bit of the struggle. In the end, it is true when they say you forget. I have already forgotten and I am excited to have another little bundle of joy soon!