My Full Birth Story

Okay here we go!!!

First off, my birth plan did not go as planned, which is not abnormal haha. Anyway, Ian and I had taken a hypnobirthing class because I really wanted to try for a natural birth. So what does that even mean….I wanted no drugs or medications, no iv’s(unless medically necessary), and no epidural. After taking the hypnobirthing class I was feeling confident as ever. I would set aside time in the afternoon to relax and listen to a meditation app called Freya which I absolutely loved and it got me into a deep relaxation state; I planned to have that on in the room while I was in labor. I also practiced different breathing techniques that are intended to help during labor(I DID USE THESE ANYWAY!) which I was happy about lol.

Anyway as time went on I was feeling so great about this decision to go unmedicated and let my body do it’s thing. We had one last ultrasound to see baby girl at 36 weeks which we were extremely excited about because we would basically get to see what she looked like. Technology is insane these days. We showed up to the ultrasound and our follow up with our midwife was directly after. We were told our baby was breech and I’m pretty sure I immediately started crying because I knew what that meant for my natural birth. I was also terrified of having a c-section. I could tell the midwife felt really bad and she did her best to give me hope. We discussed different resources to try and get baby to flip within the next couple of weeks. She mentioned we could schedule an ECV where they try and manually flip the baby but that was a no from us because we didn’t want to put our baby in distress and have an emergency c section come out of it. On the way home I cried more and let myself feel all the emotions. I wasn’t giving up yet but I was also thinking realistically. We did everything to try and get Harlow to flip and I mean every exercise that’s supposed to flip a baby! It was absolutely exhausting. We then had ultrasounds weekly to check her position and each time we went in hopeful but every time she was in the same position. Stubborn little girly didn’t want to flip so we took that as a sign that something is preventing her from flipping so we just want to get her out safely. I had accepted the fact that I was going to have a c section. I was still very sad about it but was also grateful I had a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy. We scheduled the c section for 39 weeks which was the following week because they didn’t want me going into labor and having to have an emergency c section. I agreed I’d rather have it planned than be in a traumatic situation. I just tried my best not to think about how I was about to get cut open lol sorry for that. The night before we both couldn’t sleep. For me it was a mix of anxiousness about the procedure but also I was super excited to meet my baby.

So now I’ll get into that story!

We left our house around 4:45 a.m. and arrived at the hospital at 6. We got all checked in and they took us to our room. They sent in the ultrasound tech one last time just to see if she flipped but she hadn’t. Dang it. I was already mentally prepared anyway so it was all good. Our team of nurses, drs, midwives, and every one else were amazing! They all knew the situation and also how big of a baby I was with needles lol. Yes I knew having a baby would mean needles at some point but your girl is still a big baby. The anesthesiologist came in to go over the spinal and when he asked if I had any questions all I said was PLEASE DO NOT LET ME SEE THAT NEEDLE. He laughed and said he wouldn’t let that happen and I won’t have to see it. It was time for me to go back and get prepped and Ian wasn’t allowed to come which was not my favorite but my midwife was with me and held my hands while I got the spinal. The anesthesiologist literally walked me through everything that he was doing/how it would feel which made it not too terrible and I practiced my breathing techniques from my hypnobirthing classes so that helped a ton!!! Once I was numb we were ready to roll. They brought Ian back and I was laying there with tears running down my face. He thought I might be in pain or scared and he held my hand. I was so excited to meet Harlow they were tears of joy. I couldn’t believe the day was finally here after carrying her for all those months. I already felt such an immense bond with her, it’s really such a wild feeling. I’m not sure how graphic to be in this or not and I don’t want to scare anyone but since this is my story here we go….I remember as they were doing the procedure I could feel a ton of uncomfortable pressure, not pain, just pressure and it was uncomfortable as heck and I remember thinking to myself omg I am never doing this again lol. But the second they pulled out my baby girl, that feeling went away and I was like ok that was so worth it and I’d do it over a million times. Ok maybe not a million but you get the point. It only took about 5 minutes from the time they started to when I saw her for the first time. It was insane!!!!!! She was the most beautiful baby and I’ll never be able to explain how I felt in that moment. I’ll never forget that.

It took much longer to put me back together(lol idk why I worded that like that but it made me laugh). I was anxiously awaiting to hold my little baby for the first time! I got to see her and touch her and then Ian got to do skin to skin back in our room. Once I got back in the room I got to hold her and do skin to skin and it was just the best. She was so freaking tiny and cute and all the things! We kept her in our room the entire time. All the nurses were obsessed with how cute she was. Ian became a swaddle master over night. Also, another thing I can’t even explain is watching your husband with your baby. I am not a big crier but I really don’t think I have ever cried so much in my life after having her. Cries of happiness and joy. I knew we were going to be great parents and a great team and I was/am so happy to be doing this whole parents thing with my absolute best friend.

Looking back I wish my future self could have told my past self everything was going to be fine and recovery wasn’t going to be as hard as I thought it would be by having a procedure like that done. Of course it was no joke and I give all the credit to my easy recovery to myself for being healthy and fit through out my whole pregnancy and also before I even got pregnant. Recovery can be a different story for a different day! Hope you enjoyed this!

Also!!! Lastly, I forgot to mention a very important part! When we took it as a sign that she wasn’t flipping for a reason, there was a reason! Nothing alarming or scary but her cord was just a little short so it wasn’t giving her enough room to flip. It’s so crazy how babies just know!