Happy Friday everyone! I have never been more excited to introduce anyone, ever! Not that I do a ton of introductions, but you get the point.
It has been the greatest joy for my sister and I to be pregnant together and now raising our sweet tiny humans together. Never in a million years did I think we would have kids this close together - mostly because I am 2.5 years old and I assumed I would have kids first, but nope!! God knew what he was doing & gifted us with raising our kids together. I love this woman with all my heart & have loved watching her become a momma! Enjoy her birth story.
"Monday, October 23rd 2017, I was getting ready to go to the gym and I decided to take a pregnancy test. At this point it was just to rule out that I was pregnant, because my husband and I had just stopped trying to prevent pregnancy a little over a month before this date. I set the pregnancy test down, got dressed, put my hair in a ponytail, put my shoes on, and walked back to look at the test. There were TWO PINK LINES! My heart started racing and I was thinking this cannot be real, it happened so quickly. I marched down the hallway to the living room where my husband, Matt, was. I said “I think we need to talk”, with the pregnancy test in my hand! He said “ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” Yes I was definitely serious. Needless to say, I did not go to the gym, instead I stayed at home and spent time with my husband thinking about how our whole life had just changed for the absolute best! I was 4 weeks pregnant when I found out and I couldn’t wait to tell my family and friends, but knew because of how early it was, it was best for my husband and I to only tell immediate family.
All checkups and all tests went perfect up until the 3rd trimester. That was when things got interesting. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (GD) at 28 weeks. I was checking my blood sugar levels 4 times a day and was on a restrictive diet for the rest of the time this baby boy was in my belly and man was it stressful!! Because I wasn’t able to keep my fasting sugars under the maximun (the very first blood sugar reading in the morning when I wake up) I was put on medication to balance it out. The minute I was put on medication, our “birth plan” changed. We had attended hypnobirthing classes and wanted a calm and unmediated birth, but instead I had to be induced at 39 weeks (unless I went into labor naturally before then) because it was best for baby based on my diagnosis of GD.
So 39 weeks came around, I called the hospital at 9pm to confirm my induction at 10pm on June 26th. They said come on in. We show up at 10pm to start the induction process, the nurses start my heplock (it took them 3 different times to get it, OUCH!!). I was at 1cm when they started the first induction agent (cervadil), which is a 12 hour process, so we slept through the night. The next morning on the 27th, they checked for dilation and I made it to a WHOPPING 1.5cm. Yes you heard that right, 12 hours in and I had only gone to 1.5. They start the next round of induction agents, the cervical gels. 3 rounds of gels which lasted about 6 hours, this by far was the worst pain I had felt up until this point in my life! After 6 hours and 3 rounds of gels, you guessed it I was only at 2.5cm! This little boy of mine was just too comfy to come out. The night of the 27th, I was put on the 3rd induction agent, Cytotec, which is an oral pill and I was bed ridden for 12 hours because of it! I woke up the morning of the 28th after a restful night of sleep (because my contractions had COMPLETELY stopped at that point!) Totally discouraged and thinking this was never going to end! Was there even really a baby boy inside of me?? The doctor on the morning of the 28th said we are going to give the Cytotec some more time to work, so it was nothing but a waiting game for now! My mom, sister, and niece came to visit me late that morning and left at 11:30am. Immediately after they left, I got up to go to the bathroom, at which point my water breaks!! Yes, finally. Praise the GOOOD LORD, my water breaks!! It is GOO time! Not 30 minutes after my water breaks, I am in the worst pain because of the contractions that keep coming and coming and coming…and coming! I tried EVERY laboring position known to man and nothing, literally NOTHING helped the pain.
My sweet and supportive husband at this point said to not be a hero and get the epidural if I was in too much pain. We had been in the hospital close to two days at this point that I could not physically or mentally go through these contractions. I asked for the epidural and my husband said I was a completely different person after it kicked in J trust me, get the epidural. I was. After the epidural was in full effect, they started me on the lowest dose of Pitocin, to push things along. At the time they started Pitocin, I was 4cm dilated. They told me to take a nap and 5 hours later I woke up! When I woke up, I was still at 4cm (UGH HERE WE GO AGAIN, thinking there wasn’t going to be any progress). This is where I praise Jesus for my nurse, Casey! I will forever remember her and how she pushed me through this rough time mentally. She advised me that I would be using a peanut ball and I would flip sides every hour until we made some progress. So I laid on my side with the bright yellow peanut ball between my legs for an hour, then the most amazing thing happened!! The nurse checked me for dilation and asked us what number we thought I was at. My husband guessed 8 and I agreed. I WAS 10CM and complete and was told we would start pushing in 1 hour!!!! The nurse set everything up, called my doctor, called in the pediatric nurse. I was about to meet my baby boy for the first time!!
After 40 minutes of pushing, my son Owen Matthew was born at 10:19pm on June 28th. He was 6 pound 7 ounces and 19.25 inches long and I was crying like a baby!! I couldn’t believe and I suddenly forgot EVERYTHING I have been through to get there in that moment. I was a momma!! My husband was the greatest support system and also cried like a little sucker when he saw Owen for the first time!! They tested Owen’s blood sugar 3 times after birth and he passed with flying colors. With me having Gestational Diabetes, it was a concern that Owen would have blood sugar issues when born. We thank the Lord every day for the happy and healthy baby boy we have!"
Until next time, much love,
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