On December 10, our sweet Christmas baby, Warren, arrived. It is still so wild to me that I carried and grew this baby for nine months, and now he’s here with us. He is just so sweet and precious; his presence fills me with wonder.
Our birth was tough, but everything turned out well — however, if these stories cause anxiety, you might wish to skip it. Our story semi-begins on December 7 when I was walking in the park with my parents and husband and unexpectedly tripped off a curb and fell, busting my nose (it was a big mess) and hitting my belly. It was a pretty upsetting afternoon for everyone that had us rushing to the OB Emergency at Ascension St. Thomas Midtown. Thankfully, baby was totally fine and so was I, and after 24 hours of being continuously monitored, plus a CT scan that showed my nose was not broken, we went home. I was feeling shaken from the experience but so thankful that baby was fine and that we were able to go home and continue waiting for his arrival.
It felt really good to be able to get settled again at home and have a peaceful few days after that experience before the actual birth. We slept at home the night of the 8th and 9th — until I woke up around 2:30 am the morning of the 10th having what felt like a real contraction (I’d been having Braxton Hicks). I took note of the time and laid in bed, then had another 9 minutes later, then 8 minutes, then 7 minutes (it was happening fast and becoming more painful) when I woke up Harrison and told him I thought this might be it, but I was still sort of uncertain. He told me it seemed real to him based on how I was acting and encouraged me to go ahead and shower.
By that point — around 3:30 am — the contractions were coming every few minutes. I was confused by how fast it was happening after assuming I’d labor at home for a while, but I knew I couldn’t wait. Harrison got the hospital bags and I got in the car. We were on our way a bit after 4:00 am. In the car my contractions were becoming quite painful, and mostly felt in my back.
We arrived back at the OB Emergency at Ascension St. Thomas Midtown where I was immediately taken to triage, had vitals taken, hooked up to monitors, and an IV administered. I was 5.5 cm dilated and waited a short time before being wheeled to a labor and delivery room. Contractions were intense, and the kind nurse and Harrison helped me through them until the anesthesiologist came in with the epidural. Shortly after the epidural I felt absolutely nothing — it worked a little too well on me so they lessened the amount I was getting. Even with the lesser amount, I was still completely numb and couldn’t feel anything.
At 7:00 am the day nurse came in to check me, and I was 7 cm dilated. From there I just hung out, had some liquids, and we waited. With how quickly the morning had gone we expected a baby pretty soon, but things slowed down after the epidural. The nurses positioned me in different ways using a peanut ball and stirrups to try and move things along. Eventually around midday my doctor came in to break my water, and the nurses administered Pitocin. As they checked me through the afternoon I progressed to 8 cm, then 9, and finally was complete and ready to push around 4:00 pm. I felt so excited, and a little overcome with nervous anticipation!
The nurses coached me through pushing, but it was a bit challenging because I was so numb I couldn’t feel anything. My doctor came in periodically to help as well. They reassured me that I was doing a great job, but I still felt so uncertain not being able to feel. As baby got lower, my doctor noted that his head was turned to the side and wasn’t flipping the right way. She manually tried to turn him twice, but he kept turning his head back. After two hours of pushing, which was absolutely exhausting — pushing was much harder than I realized — my doctor told me that another doctor was there who was able to use rotating forceps, and she thought that was needed at this point.
This is when things got a little scary. They explained the risks to me quickly (like increased tearing for me and bruising for baby), but it seemed necessary (there was no mention of a c-section, and I just went with it). The room filled with people getting dressed in protective gear — the new doctor, NICU nurse (just in case), and I cannot remember who else; it was all overwhelming. It took a little bit to get set up. Once they were ready, both my doctor and the one trained in using forceps were right there to get baby out.
The doctor first rotated baby with the forceps, and then with two pushes from me, helped pull him out, and our baby Warren was born at 6:45 pm. It felt truly miraculous to me. They laid him on my chest and initiated skin-to-skin as I delivered the placenta (of which I was completely unaware), the cord was cut, and they assessed me. Thankfully, he was perfect, no NICU needed. I held our sweet boy for about 10 minutes before they told me I had severe tearing and would need to go to the OR. I was oblivious to the fact that I had hemorrhaged a lot as well. I was upset to have to leave baby without getting our golden hour or first breastfeed, and to have to leave my family and go alone to have surgery. But I stayed as positive and brave as possible.
They wheeled me to the OR where it was absolutely freezing (I had to ask for a few warm blankets throughout) and operated on me for two hours. I also received two blood transfusions. I stayed awake for the duration of this with my epidural continuing to provide pain relief. They allowed me to have my speaker so I played music the whole time which really helped (this was true during labor as well). Once it was done I felt very weak, tired, and out of it. They wheeled me back to our room, and it’s all a blur, but I believe I did some skin-to-skin with Warren before falling asleep.
We stayed in the hospital for three nights while I recovered. I was so well taken care of by every doctor and nurse. Throughout this time I was monitored closely and given antibiotics and pain medication, and I gradually regained my strength. Whereas I couldn’t sit up without assistance initially, by the time we moved to the postpartum floor, I was able to take slow short strolls through the halls. Warren remained perfectly healthy, and though we didn’t get to breastfeed initially, we had easy success once we did, which has continued to this day and been such a blessing.
We went home on Saturday the 13th, and being in the warm car with the sunshine streaming through felt like another miracle. I was filled with overwhelming gratitude to be healthy, with a healthy son, and going home.
Ever since that day, we have been getting settled into life with a newborn, and I have been recovering each day. We have had challenges, wins, and joys, and plenty of cozy moments by the Christmas tree. Today is the best I have felt, and I am so excited to celebrate Warren’s first Christmas with him! I feel so grateful to be this little boy’s mama.
Wishing you and yours a beautiful holiday with all the messiness, love, and joy that comes with it.
P.S. December pre-baby.
