Surprised By An Early Arrival (My Birth Story)

Hi Mama,

If you’ve given birth then I’m sure you probably looked back on your birth plan and laughed. Not because it was a bad birth plan, because I’m sure it was absolutely perfect. But rather because you know now that babies don’t like to follow our well thought out birth plans. My daughter sure had other plans for me!  

This is the second post in my five-part birth story series.

My birth story in chapters:

1. Deciding between the ECV and a scheduled C-Section
2. Being surprised by my daughter’s early arrival
3. Emotions in the hours and few days after birth
4. Recovering from my C-Section
5. My birth plan went out the window (and I’m okay with that)

And so, the story continues….

Surprised By An Early Arrival (My Birth Story)

If you read the previous post in this series then you will know that my daughter was breech at 37 weeks. This left me with a tough decision: to get an ECV or to schedule a c-section for 39 weeks. I was so scared but in the end I decided that the ECV wasn’t the right choice and I was planning to call my doctor on Monday to schedule the c-section (it was on Friday January 24th when I made that decision).

The following day was Saturday. I was more at peace since I knew that I didn’t have to worry about making the choice anymore, and could focus on mentally preparing to have a c-section instead of a natural birth like I had hoped.

Since I was getting so close to my due date, my husband announced that he would be doing all of the cooking and cleaning from now. He wanted me to just relax while we waited for our baby’s birthday to come around. In the morning we went to the grocery store and we talked about what day we wanted to choose for her birthday. We were thinking February 8th would be a good day to have a baby.

Since Huy was so excited to do some cooking he asked me if I wanted to have a roasted chicken with all the fixings for dinner that night. I absolutely love chicken dinner so I agreed. He made a baked chicken with mashed potatoes, homemade gravy and broccoli. I had a HUGEEEE portion because I was so excited! As we were eating we laughed because this was the exact meal that I said I planned on eating during early labor before giving birth since I knew I would need energy to push out my baby girl. “Imagine if I went into labor after eating this.” We laughed.

After dinner we were cleaning up in the kitchen. Well, more like I was eating leftover mashed potatoes out of the pot while putting the food away. We were planning to go to the mall to walk around since we had been doing that every evening after dinner in a last ditch effort to get baby to turn. We laughed saying that Huy was going to have to roll me there because I had eaten so much food!

I did a couple of dishes before Huy shooed me away. I was standing in the kitchen and then suddenly I felt a pop low in my belly. I thought I’d better go to the bathroom because it felt like some kind of discharge was coming out.

I walked upstairs to the bathroom and on the way there I felt like I was peeing my pants. This wasn’t too surprising since I had leaked pee many times throughout my pregnancy. But this, this was different. As soon as I sat on the toilet a gush of water came out without me even pushing. That’s when my heart skipped a beat because I knew what this was. We were going to have a baby, TODAY.

“OH MY GODDDDD HONEYYYYY!!!!”

Huy came flying up to see what was wrong.

“I think my water broke!” I yelled.

“Well call the doctor!” He yelled back.

I already had my phone in my hand.

I called and described what happened and my doctor was like, “yup, sounds like your water broke. Head to the hospital.”

Related Video: My Water Broke Early!

Luckily we already had the car seat installed and the hospital bag packed and in the car. I just grabbed a few last minute items and called my doula, then we left for the hospital.

On the way to the hospital I called my family to let them know I was in labor and heading in. It was so funny because I wasn’t contracting yet, just wetting myself and laughing in disbelief! I texted my co-worker: “Welp. Might not be coming to work on Monday. My water broke so I’m heading to the hospital.” I was planning to start my maternity leave a week later so I never finished tying up loose ends. Oops!

We got to the hospital and they gave us a wheel chair to wheel me in. When we were checking in to the hospital they asked if I was “the one who was coming to get induced”. I was like, “no my water broke.” Apparently the hospital was SUPER BUSY that night. We were lucky to get a room!

They took all of our information and put me in a labor room. The nurses needed to check me to see if my water broke. When they did I spewed water in their faces. I told them it had broke but I guess they didn’t believe me. Hahaha

Related Video: Fawny’s Birth Vlog

Since my baby was breech they knew I needed to have a c-section. They asked me when was the last time I had eaten, which as you know was right before we came to the hospital. And it was a lot. Since I had just eaten I was going to have to wait 6 hours before getting the c-section because they didn’t want me to throw up during the surgery. That meant I was going to be waiting until 2am before giving birth!

Knowing that I had to wait made me a little nervous but I had Huy and my doula, Amber, by my side. Around 10pm I started feeling contractions. I was planning on going natural for my birth so I was mentally prepared for the pain that would come with the contractions. They offered me to get the epidural early but I elected to wait for the spinal block when I went in for my c-section.

The contractions were no joke. They got stronger and stronger as the hours passed. Around 12:30am they were getting really strong and closer together. To cope I was breathing in a way where I would audibly hum to myself when I breathed out, keeping my eyes closed. After each contraction I went back to chatting with Amber and Huy. They massaged my legs to comfort me.

By the time 2am came my contractions were about 15 seconds apart and lasting a little over a minute each. I was in my zone and I actually didn’t mind it. Yes, it was painful but I was so excited to meet my daughter that I think the pain was dulled by the Adrenalin. I remember complaining though because it was 2am and my doctor was late. I wasn’t taken to the OR until 2:10am.

I wanted to be strong and control what I could about my birth so I decided I would walk to the OR rather than get wheeled in there. I had on my socks with the no-slip grip and a nurse held on to me. I was contracting as I walked but I didn’t care. I felt so strong and empowered in that moment, despite the fact that I was literally walking into one of my biggest fears: the spinal block/surgery.

When I got there the anesthesiologist was there to give me the medicine in my spine. He had me sit hunched over a pillow while he administered the spinal block. I was so scared but also in a lot of pain at that point so I didn’t feel so bad for getting it. To help me through it I was hunched over talking to my baby girl in my belly.

“I love you so much and I can’t wait to meet you.”

Once the medicine was in it took effect right away! I could feel the numbness all the way down to my toes in a matter of seconds. Next they had me lay down to prep for my birth. I was so nervous looking up at all the bright lights. I was shaking because it was so cold in there and also because of the medicine. It took them a while to prep and I was getting nervous.

“Where’s my husband?”

“He’s coming soon.”

Huy came into the room and I felt a bit more calm having him there with me. He comforted me and “distracted” me the same way he used to when I had to get my blood drawn (lol yes I am the biggest baby ever!). We were talking and laughing as if I WASN’T in the middle of getting cut open while being awake!

I don’t remember what we talked about or how long it was, all I remember was hearing Mia’s cry for the very first time! Honestly it happened so quick and I didn’t have any warning that she was being born so for a second I thought it was someone else’s baby!

I gasped!

That’s MY baby!!!!

I couldn’t see her but I could hear her. They called Huy over to come and cut the cord and they weighed her. My sweet little angel was 6 pounds 5 ounces and 19 inches long. I could hear her crying and I was calling out to her, “Baby! Mommy’s here! I love you!” I was so desperate to see her, to hold her! I needed her!

It was 13 minutes after her birth when Huy finally brought her over to me to see her. She was so incredibly beautiful, I couldn’t believe she was mine! One of the medical staff took our family photo together and suddenly Huy and Mia were leaving! I had to stay and get stitched up while they took Mia to get her vaccines. 

But wait. 

Why didn’t I get to hold her?

Why did they have to leave me alone here?

I laid there under the bright lights listening to the doctors discuss what they were doing.

“Stitch the muscle right there.”

“Where are my scissors?” 

It felt like an eternity. 

Finally they were finished and they lifted me on to the bed to take me out to the recovery room. When I got there I was suddenly feeling very nauseous. It was the medicine. They gave me something for anti-nausea but it wasn’t helping. I felt dizzy. 

Mia was in a bassinet under a heat lamp. I wanted so bad to hold her but I was so dizzy and throwing up. I couldn’t even turn my head to look at her. I was tired. I was sick. I was missing my baby. I wanted her so bad. My heart was breaking with every minute that passed where she was not with me. 

Finally, I asked to hold her. The nurse brought her to me and I held her but had to give her back right away because I was about to throw up again. 

Honestly the moment I got to hold her is such a blur. I can’t even remember it well. I just remember it was around 4:40am (she was born at 2:43am). I didn’t want another minute to pass before holding her. 

After a while I told them I was ready to go to the postpartum room where we would be staying for the next 3 nights. The nurse wheeled my bed and Huy wheeled Mia in her bassinet. As we were going down the hall I had to ask them to stop and sit me up so I could vomit. Again. I felt so defeated.

When we got to the room my doula came back to be with us for breastfeeding. At this point it was around 5:30am. I was fading in and out of consciousness because I was just too exhausted. They tried to help me breastfeed but baby wasn’t really latching and I had no energy to figure out how to help her. At this point I passed out.

I woke up 2 hours later to see Huy sitting on the couch holding Mia. He saw that I had opened my eyes. 

“Can you call the nurse?”

“Okay… why?”

“I’ve been holding her for 2 hours and I’m afraid to move.”

He was so afraid of holding her because she was so small! My sweet sweet petite!!!

Finally I got my chance to hold her. I was in heaven! Breastfeeding was hard in the beginning but the nurses were helping. The staff was so kind and made me feel comfortable (even though I was NOT comfortable!!).

So in the end I did it. I faced my fear of the c-section and I birthed my baby in the safest way possible. She is 100% perfect and I feel so grateful to have the sweetest angel baby in my life.

I’m going to share more details about my feelings after birth and the recovery in some upcoming posts so this will be the end of this chapter of my birth story.

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If you’ve read this far then leave a comment answering this question: what’s one thing that surprised you about your pregnancy or birth?

Until next time!

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11 Fun Activities To Do With Your Newborn Baby

xo

Mother of Fawn