Labor and Delivery Story
Hi friends! Today we are celebrating Jonas being in this world for one month! I cannot believe that I have been a mommy to an entire little baby boy for a month! Justin and I made a point before Jonas was born that if we just kept a standard to keep Jonas breathing and not have super high expectations on parenting a newborn, we’d be just fine – and friends, we are doing just lovely.
Motherhood is a dream – now, just as it is filled with so much beauty, there are also lows as well (mostly just learning to do something I’ve never done before whilst being EXHAUSTED)! However, I wouldn’t change being Jonas’s mommy for the world. The moment he was born, I knew God chose Jonas for me and vice versa – we are two peas in a pod.
I am writing today to share with you all my labor and delivery story. I know a lot of new mommies go into the last days of pregnancy SUPER ANXIOUS because we really have NO idea of what to expect. A lot of us go to birthing classes, CPR classes, breastfeeding classes… and even through doing all of our research and learning beforehand, there is nothing that matches your own experience.
Y’all – I went to the hospital two times before I was in “active labor.” Mostly because HOW IN THE WORLD WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT LABOR FELT LIKE!!? Here I am, never being in labor – not knowing what contractions feel like, not knowing what discharge is considered a mucous plug or what liquid is broken water. To take matters further, I naturally have horrible menstrual cramps, so I don’t know what contractions are supposed to feel like when everyone is always saying, “contractions feel like strong menstrual cramps” (spoiler alert – they do NOT! They are much worse).
With that said, the first time I went to the hospital, I was panicked. My grandmother called me early one morning to check on me and I expressed that I was cramping… Long story short, she explained that I should call my doctor. I did and my doctor advised that I come into the hospital so that I could be monitored and we make sure that I was not in labor (I wasn’t). The second time that I went to the hospital, I was convinced my water broke in my sleep because… I was just trying to have the baby (It didn’t).
Friends, I am not ashamed that I went to the hospital twice before Jonas was actually ready to be born. Mostly because I wanted him to be here and secondly because I would have hated for me to have missed any birthing issue because I didn’t go to the hospital when I was noticing change. Another funny thing is that I tried like eighteen million old wives’ labor induction methods – I tried eggplant parmesan (though delicious, Jonas said “mum I am not coming yet”). I tried bouncing around on an exercise ball, I tried expressing colostrum, I tried pineapples, I tried raspberry leaf tea, and though I was already walking at least a mile a day… I tried walking multiple miles a day. I wanted my baby HERE! I am here to say - none of these methods worked.
Monday, December 17 at 9:00am – I sat up in the bed and started doing work. As I sat there, I started to feel like my stomach was about to be ripped from my body. Friends…. Labor started. At this point, my contractions would come every fifteen to twenty minutes and then sometimes they would just subside altogether and I wouldn’t feel anything for a few hours (which is okay with me because contractions are not what I wanted to feel). I pretty much just went about my day. A nurse from one of my visits at the hospital told me to just wait it out at home until my contractions were so frequent and strong that I couldn’t ignore them anymore, so I decided to just try my hardest to ignore them. I eventually called Justin and told him that I started to feel labor contractions and that I thought Jonas would be there either Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. Justin did NOT believe me because we had already gone to the hospital twice, haha. Nonetheless, this time I was NOT CRYING WOLF!
Tuesday, December 18 – My contractions were starting to become crippling. I was able to ignore them most of the early part of the day. In true "Joy" fashion, I had to get my hair blown out and silk pressed because I was not going to give birth nappy headed (I also got my lashes done the day before, but that’s a secret). I even went to get my nails and toes done. The ladies at the nail salon were shocked that I was nine months and that my due date was that coming Sunday, December 23… But friends, I had to be cute. It was a mental thing; look good, feel good. I made it through the entire Tuesday and by the evening, my contractions were between seven and eight minutes apart. Child, I felt like my uterus was having everlasting Charlie horses and I just could not. Justin decided that he was going to go ahead and not go into work the rest of the week so that he would be with me in the event that labor happened (labor was happening).
Tuesday night…………………… This is all I can really say. The pain that I was feeling was so intense. I wanted to just go to the hospital at this point but I was determined to wait until the morning so that I could get our dog, Jax, checked into his doggy hotel, get breakfast and alert my doctor that I was heading to the hospital. I didn’t sleep the entire night. Each contraction started almost moments after I’d get back in the bed from pacing the room (the only thing that would help me feel better). Y’all I was out of it. I literally did laundry because I was in so much pain from the contractions that I just wanted to do anything to distract myself. I used the restroom seventeen thousand times because of the pressure I was feeling – it was team too much.
Wednesday, December 19 at 3:45a, I broke down and let Justin know that we HAD to go to the hospital that next morning. I was SICK, friends, SICK! And here comes another contraction… Justin asked me if I wanted him to get up and walk it out with me… Guess who wakes up? Jax. He said, “don’t mind if I do mom and dad (TAKE ME OUT!).” HAHA
Anyway, at 7:30a, I got up and took a shower and Justin set out to take Jax to his doggy hotel and pick us up some breakfast from Chick-fila (my favorite food during pregnancy). Justin made it home to me at around 8:30a and we were pretty much all set to go. Our hospital bags had been packed for weeks as had Jonas’s car seat been set up in the car. As soon as Justin called my doctor, why did I throw up all of that delicious Chick-fil-A chicken biscuit?! It was to be a long, hungry road eating some petty hospital crushed ice all day (SIDE EYE!!!!)!!!
We finally headed to the hospital and made it there at 10:00a. We had to wait for about an hour and a half before my labor and delivery room was ready because there were so many women with scheduled inductions and c-sections as well as the fact that it was December (people were trying to have their babies before the year ended). Once we got settled into our room, we had to answer lots of questions for intake with our nurse. Friends, I had the BEST nurses during my stay at Northside Hospital – the bedside manner was impeccable. After intake, my nurse checked me to see if I was dilated at all. She had explained that I would be staying in the hospital because she could see my contractions were coming about five minutes apart. After my exam, she informed us that I was four centimeters along. She called my doctor who gave the okay for me to go ahead and get an epidural but that she wanted to come over to see me first. Once my OBGYN got to me, she broke my water bag and told me she’d be back in a few hours to check on me and my progress. The anesthesiologist came to get my epidural all set up for me shortly after my doctor left ------ the immediate relief I felt is unmatched. For those moms who are able to give birth without epidural – I salute you because this girl was getting an epidural even if labor didn't hurt! After getting an epidural, I had the best experience with labor. (I also don’t mind sharing that you are literally going to pass gas and urinate so much with an epidural and not even see it coming. I felt so bad because I was tooting every time the nurses moved me and I couldn’t stop it, HAHA).
Justin started calling our tribe (family and friends) to let them know that we would be having Jonas within the coming hours. After a few hours of hanging out in the hospital, Justin and I finally fell asleep. My doctor came in and checked my progress and I hadn’t dilated anymore – the epidural was slowing down my laboring. She explained that the doctor on call from our practice would be delivering Jonas if I delivered overnight (I was relieved that she was my other favorite doctor from the practice). My doctor also ordered the nurse to give me Pitocin to help pick the pace up of my laboring again so as not to harm myself or Jonas (you have to deliver within a certain amount of time of your water bag breaking).
The nurse started to give me Pitocin and guys, out of nowhere, I started hearing Jonas’s heart rate picking up on the monitors which scared me so much. His heart rate went from about 140-150bpm to 200bpm in moments. The nurses rushed into my room and just started connecting different things to my IV, checking my vitals and they weren’t really telling me any news at all. After a little bit, Jonas’s heart rate went back to a normal rate and in the same moment, I started to feel like I had to poop my pants.
I told the nurse that I thought I’d have to start pushing soon and she looked at me in disbelief. She got everything set up to give me another exam and found that I was nine centimeters dilated. I literally threw up from being nervous AND hungry. The nurse had to give me a little baggy to just puke my life away. I was sitting there thinking – how am I about to push this baby out!?
She informed my doctor and started getting the team into my room to get everything set up for delivery. Justin and I had the lights dimmed in the room, turned Isn't the Name by Covenant Worship on repeat and said a prayer together. The nurses came in and got me set up and told me that we’d go ahead and start some practice pushes (which ended up being real pushes). We started pushing at 10:00p and it wasn’t so bad. I actually couldn’t feel a thing. Justin had a cold rag for my forehead, crushed ice with a spoon to feed me and a fan to cool me down because it was so hot! My doctor had the most soothing voice and continued coaching me through every push and every moment of rest to help keep me in a serene state. After about 40 minutes of pushing, I saw Jonas’s little head come into the world, then his left arm flew out, and then his entire body flew out – in seconds.
I could barely process that I was finally meeting my sweet angel baby Jonas. He was born at 10:42p on December 19, 2018 and has been the best thing that has happened to me! I am so blessed that Jesus saw me fit to be Jonas’s mommy and so grateful that both of us are here and healthy (and getting as much sleep as possible) a month into this journey.
