We left off part one of Emma Kate’s birth story with me getting ready to get my epidural. I apologize for the wordiness and lack of photos until the end. Again, if birth stores aren’t your thing, feel free to skip this one!
As I said before, I was really nervous about this but knew it would make me feel better so I was as ready as I was going to get. The anesthesiologist came in a few minutes later, and the nurse helped position me on the bed and had me hunch over. Honestly, the anticipation was the worst part. It took the doctor about five minutes to prep his stuff (and me), and so I just had to sit there bent over with the nurse holding my shoulders down while I waited. Finally it was time and it was almost comical how much it DIDN’T hurt. It felt the exact same as the IV I had put in my arm that morning. I could feel pressure in my spine after the initial insertion, which was more weird/creepy than anything, but then it was done and within a couple of minutes I felt amazingly better. However, I had started having some slight nausea, and the nurse gave me some zofran in my IV. It never totally went away but the medicine did help take the edge off.
I was all set to take a nap, and my mom and Bobby’s mom and her husband came in for a visit. We chatted for awhile which helped the time pass, and it was so odd to look at the monitor seeing these huge contractions, but not being able to feel anything. (This was around 9:45). At 10:00 I was checked again, and was at 5 cm. Progress! Bobby decided to go grab some lunch while I had other family there, and I really don’t remember what I did between 10:00 and 12:00. My intention was to nap, but it never happened. I am fairly certain I was just playing on my phone and texting back and forth with friends and family.
At noon I was checked again, 7 cm! They wanted me to progress a centimeter every hour to 1.5 hours, and so far I was right on track. They estimated I would have baby M by mid afternoon. About this time, they put the oxygen mask on me for a few minutes as a precaution because baby’s heart rate was jumping around just a bit.
At 1:45, I was checked again and at 8 cm. A little bit slower progress, but progress none the same. About this time, I noticed that I could feel my left leg more than my right leg. It was a very noticeable difference, and since I have heard stories of people feeling everything on one side and not the other because the epidural didn’t work right, I got a little nervous. We tried tilting my body to the side but I actually started to feel more as time went by. Soon, I was starting to feel contractions in me left side, and I got REALLY nervous.
At 3:00, I was checked again as we were trying to decide what was wrong with the epidural, and the nurse said “oh, no wonder you are feeling it on one side, you are complete! 10 cm, time to push!” Basically, the baby was RIGHT THERE and that’s why I was feeling it on one side, she said once we started pushing that the pain should go away and I shouldn’t be able to feel anything. Whew!
I had no idea how the pushing part was going to go, as my only frame of reference was movies and TV, super reliable I know. I was surprised that it was way more relaxed and calm than I was anticipating. The nurse told me since I was a first time mom I potentially could push for 2-3 hours but since I was more in shape, it hopefully wouldn’t take that long.
Time to push!
She lowered this huge light down from the ceiling, and she sat on one side of the bed while Bobby sat on the other. The nurse explained to me the muscles I needed to use to push, which was pretty funny because I couldn’t feel anything! She would tell me “good, yes!” and I’m thinking “I have NO idea what I am doing because I can’t feel anything!” I tried to imagine using certain muscles, and apparently I did a good job because I only had to push for about 45-50 minutes, and the nurse said “alright let’s call your doctor, it’s time to have a baby!”
Apparently baby M was very very close to coming out, because the nurse and everyone that walked in kept saying “oh my gosh that baby has a head full of hair!” I seriously must have heard it ten times before I ever saw the child!
Soon my doctor arrived and the room got really busy. Nurses coming in and out, prepping the area, putting down tarps, gathering instruments, etc. Looking back it all seems like a huge blur and seemed to go by so fast but at the same time so slow. My old nurse Laura showed up just in time to help and watch as well.
The nursery nurse arrived since I wanted her to stay in the room with me for awhile, and soon my doctor had on her gloves (along with some big rain boots, we later figured out why…the birth process is quite gross and messy!) It was then time to push again, and I remember waiting for a contraction and the doctor saying she has been known to “scare contractions away”.
Every contraction I would push three times, each time with a count to ten. Again, this part is all a blur, I tried to “push” without being able to feel a thing, and on the third contraction and the first push of that contraction, out came baby M! My body felt so weird when she came out, like an instant void in my stomach, it was so strange.
After a few seconds she was crying up a storm and my doctor held her up for us to see and then cut the cord. She was brought over to the nursery nurse to be weighted and measured and her APGAR scores were great, a 9 and a 10. Everyone talks about this instant overwhelming love they experience, and honestly I didn’t have that right away. There was a LOT going on in that room, and I was really, really overwhelmed by it all and had not had time to process things yet. I was physically and mentally exhausted and getting more nauseated. I knew she was my baby and I cared for her, but my feelings at the time were…weird? I’m really not sure how to explain it! I think I was in shock.
Baby M weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 21 and 1/4 inches long. Bobby stood in between me and her taking pictures as I got stitched up. However, it seemed to be taking a really long time…
Happy Birthday Emma Kate Montgomery!
The rest of the story will be in part III, with a lot more pictures, I promise!
QOTD: How did you feel right when your baby was born? Happy? overwhelmed? Anxious? Do you ever remember? How long did you push?
I remember when they put Milo on my chest, the first thing I said was, “wow, you’re kind of gross looking.” The doctor and nurses laughed and cleaned his face off a little more. It was weird- husband and I didn’t cry at all and I didn’t feel and overwhelming emotion like I thought I would. He’s grown on me now
we didn’t cry either. Not really our style 🙂
so happy for you! i keep wondering if mine will have hair 🙂
it’s fun to think about what they may look like!
I’m so glad that you had a good birth experience! As a girl who is terrified of childbirth pain, it really made me feel better to read that you couldn’t really feel anything with your epidural.
OMG I grew up SO TERRIFIED of labor. If your epi works correctly I promise promise you won’t feel a thing.
I was exhausted from over 3 hours of pushing (and starving) but I was in love with her right away, and crying because Pat was crying with happiness. She was placed on my chest immediately, and stayed there for over an hour. They wiped her off and we did skin to skin contact for over an hour, including breastfeeding, so I think that helped us bond right away. They didn’t weigh her or measure her or bathe her until after Pat and I had our alone time with her…
But, like you said, most of what you hear about labor and delivery is nothing like what you actually experience!!! And a lot of it is a blur later on, so its so great you are documenting as much as you can!
they weighed and measured her and wiped her off but then I got her back right away for an hour, then they took her to give her a bath, etc. etc. so while there was about a 5 minute delay, we still got skin to skin and she ate right away. 🙂 I still mentally wasn’t “feeling it” I think I as just so overwhelmed and a bit in shock! (I think bobby was too haha)
I had an emergency c-section 2 weeks before you had your baby. We were definitely emotional and happy, but it took a few weeks to truly fall in overwhelming love with my baby! Like you said, I cared about him, but I didn’t know him yet!
Yes! Going through that now but I love her more every day!
When I finally reached 10, I was informed my doctor had gone home to have dinner with her family. I was at 10 for an hour by the time she got back. I only had to push twice. White it was aggravating at the time, it did make for an easy delivery.
oh wow!
Glad your birth experience went so well (except that scare with the epidural)!
Knowing I could deliver any day now makes reading your story so surreal. I have so many mixed emotions–and I can imagine myself feeling very much the same way!
As for the rain boots? I had no idea about that one…at least now I won’t assume my nurse came from a shrimping excursion if she’s wearing them too! 😉
I had no idea either! I figured maybe they put those little protective booties on…
So glad things turned out well! I ended yp pushing for just less than an hour nut only once with the doctor! She didn’t even have time to put her protective boots on. Ha! My nurse kept saying I was pushing like I’d done it before, which obviously I hadn’t. I had the same thought as you about it. “I’m glad I’m doing it right because I can’t feel what I’m doing!”
As far as “love at first sight,” I was definitely afraid of not having any sort of feeling. I didn’t really have any feelings of that while I was pregnant but as soon as I saw him I had a giddy like feeling. I just wanted to laugh. I had a similar reaction (except a little less) to what I had at our first ultrasound. I laugh cried. That feeling has just grown. I can be frustrated and tired when he starts crying but as soon as I pick him up to feed him all I want to do is cuddle and kiss him!
haha yes! It’s so hard to know what muscles you are using!
Ah I love reading about other mama’s birth experiences – it’s such an intense experience that ends with such joy! Congrats!
thank you!
Ahhh – so precious.
I think everyone has all sorts of different reactions. It is overwhelming in that room – a lot to take in… not to mention the trauma your body is going through.
Cant wait to read more.
exactly. It is so mentally overwhelming and physically exhausting!
So exciting! CONGRATS!! She is darling <3
Having baby L was one of the best moments ever! I did feel it all b/c I had no epidural, so it was intense & I was so ready for her to be out, but of course it was crazy worth it!
xo
oh wow. You are a beast, I don’t think I could do it with no epi!
When I had the twins I had a c-section. I was so terrified that I didn’t feel the overwhelming love right away. It took some time. It was such a weird feeling knowing that these 2 little humans were mine!
When I had Riley it was different. I was more comfortable being a mom and I was able to have a VBAC. When he was born it was emotional and my husband and I cried and bonded right away. I think it’s just because you know what to expect the second time and the idea of being a mother isn’t foreign to you at that point.
With Riley because I had a VBAC I also had the same weird epi thing that I could feel my left side. I think I pushed maybe 20 minutes? I just remembered one of my friends who had a vaginal delivery told me to push like you’re having a bowel movement. It seemed to work because he popped right out!
Yes it takes awhile for it to set in that I’m a mom!
That void feeling must be so strange! I often wondered how that feels when there’s no baby in there for the first time, but atleast she’s beautiful and healthy and LIVE and in person now!
It’s a very odd feeling and I would forget I wasn’t pregnant anymore for days!
Welcome to the world Emma Kate! I can’t wait for part 3!
thanks!
With my first child I pushed for 3 hours and 46 minutes and then they used forceps to get him out. I was exhausted! With my second child after half a push he was out lol! Quite a different experience! I think it took a few hours for me to experience that love at first sight feeling because like you said it was so busy in there! Can’t wait to read part 3!
oh wow that’s a lot of pushing!
I had an emergency c section, like, one minute in the delivery room chilling and trying to find a good show on TV with my husband, the next minute naked on an operating table (no pushing, though!). I was all excited for that “love like you’ve never known” feeling. I didn’t see or hear my baby for awhile after he was born (he had to have some medical treatment, but he was fine!), so by the time they brought him over to me, I was coming down from insane fear/adrenaline, strung out on painkillers, shaking uncontrollably, and couldn’t move or feel anything but my head. I was happy, but more relieved and really more confused than anything else. A long way of saying it wasn’t that storybook moment for me either! I had that feeling a couple days later when I was no longer on narcotics, but the delivery room was not magical. Congrats again! I love reading birth stories. It definitely is a lot going on in there no matter how your delivery plays out!
So glad I’m not alone! Delivery room was def not magical lol. I was shaking uncontrollably too! Lasted several hours, it was awful!
It’s great you didn’t have to push for that long…love the look on your face! Haha! Glad everything went so smooth…can’t wait for the next part! 🙂
When Abbie was born, I had been in labor for 31 hours (awake for close to 40 at that point), and it all ended with a c/s. I was so insanely exhausted, and I wasn’t planning for a c/s. They also took her from me immediately because I had spiked a fever, so they needed to,get antibiotics in her ASAP. Overwhelmed is a very good way to put it.
With Jake I had a planned section, and it was just so different. It was so much calmer, he came to recovery with me, whereas with Abbie I was totally alone. I definitely felt much differently after his birth than Abbie’s. It was easier for me to process that I had another baby.
oh my goodness what an ordeal!
I would definitely be nervous and excited like you as well!! I can’t wait to see all the pics in part III!
I had a similar experience with the “overwhelming emotion”, or lack there of. I had a 16hr labor with 4hrs of that in active pushing. I was EXHAUSTED. plus my epidural failed about half way through pushing, so i felt A LOT. I was induced at 8 am and didn’t deliver until 11:27pm. I loved my baby girl, but didn’t feel that expected “bond” for about 2 weeks honestly. I felt like there was something wrong with me for that. I think (esp with your first born) it is such a life changer that it takes a while for your heart to catch up with your head. On a positive note, second delivery went much smoother and faster (except that darn epidural failure again). She is beautiful~~Congratulations!
I totally agree. Mentally and emotionally it was such a HUGE shift in my life it has taken some time to adjust but I love her more every day!
I remember feeling exactly the same way when Joshua was born, I was so exhausted by the time I had Joshua (I pushed for 7 hours) but there was no way he was coming out without help, I had to get ventouse. I know what you mean about that void too, I felt sadness after he left me, like a part of me had gone, it was really weird! I was so grateful for the epidural too, my experience was similar to yours, I barely felt it going in and everyone tells you horror stories about it! Well done on the birth though, it sounds as if you took it in your stride.
7 hours! wow!
Aww, Heather!!! This post made me cry! (Which is something I never was before having a baby!) I didn’t think I would be very emotional because I’ve always been one to be pretty stoic about things but that sweet little boy broke something in this Momma! I was a mess…and combine that with mental and physical exhaustion. It’s comical what I cry about sometimes now. The “littles” will do that to you!
oh the exhaustion haha
I remember my daughter’s birth being slightly awkward at the moment of delivery, but that was mostly because I was a surgical delivery.
I’m glad I finally got to read part 2 of Emma’s birth story. Looking forward to part 3 now.
I will have part 3 up this week!
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