Our Birth Story & Hospital Experience
You can listen to the full birth story here!
water breaking / labor
DUE DATE: Since I shared our whole birth story over on my IGTV on Instagram I will try to keep this short - you can watch the full video there if you want to know all of the details about labor and birth and a little bit of postpartum as well. As many of you know Taya’s due date was December 1, 2020 and she actually came on her due date! I think one of the nurses mentioned that just about 3% of babies actually arrive on their due date, so we thought that was kind of special. After seeing the doctor early in the day on November 30th & seeing no progress on my cervix dilating, we were told to expect that we may have to get induced the following week.
WATER BREAKING: However after walking around the hospital and praying that Taya would arrive on time. My water actually ended up breaking later that evening and contractions came on quickly after that. My contractions feel a lot like periods cramps - they were really deep, sharp and strong in my uterus but I didn’t actually feel anything on my sides or in my back like some people said that I might. I feel like when my laboring started it threw me off guard a little bit because I didn’t know what to expect or how it would feel. Once we realized that my water had broke and we called the doctor to make sure it was OK that we came in, we left for the hospital around 11pm. They just had to test the liquid to confirm that it was indeed my water that broke. There was a short scare with Taya’s heart rate stopping & a bunch of nurses running in to try to adjust her so her umbilical cord was not tied around her, but it was quickly resolved and we were taken back to her own room where they could monitor us better and give me the fluids that I needed.
birth experience
GIVING BIRTH: After laboring for several hours through the night I ended up being able to get an epidural around 3am. The epidural itself was extremely painful and it was a strange feeling because you could actually feel the needle going down your spine - yuck. However once the medicine kicked in it definitely helped my labor pains to be dulled down. We were finally able to get a little bit of sleep that night since I was in less pain. And Matt was exhausted from pressing on my spine to counteract the pressure from labor pains. It was crazy painful and uncomfortable. We woke up around 7 AM feeling like my contractions were coming on stronger. At that point I think I was still only dilated to like a seven or an eight and you need to be a 10 or close to that before you can start pushing. They continue giving me Pitocin which helped kick in the contractions even more & helps your uterus contract to pull down baby. I think it was around noon where we finally text our families and told them we were at the hospital and asked for prayers. We had unintentionally decided to not let anyone know that we were at the hospital and to be honest it was kind of an enjoyable experience not having to text anyone updates. It was just the two of us and we got to experience the whole hospital & labor experience in our own way. It was around 1pm when I was able to start pushing I think I was about 9cm dilated at that time. I pushed until 2:53pm when Tay was born! She was 8 pounds exactly + 20 inches long. Man, it was very painful haha! I feel like the word pain doesn’t really even describe what you feel.. because it’s not even like it’s so painful it’s just that there is a lot of pressure on your body. It is also draining emotionally. The IV’s that were pumping through my arms felt as cold as ice and I could literally feel them running through my veins. Also had a slight fever and was shaking uncontrollably while in labor so that made it hard to push. I feel like that is something that I had not heard of yet or that I had not heard of anyone talk about. After Taya was born I had to get stitches.. and then asked for a lot of pain meds LOL.
HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE / HEALING: I think when I imagined what I would wear and how do use the items in my hospital bag that I packed, I imagined I would be getting up & showering and getting ready after giving birth. But in reality I don’t think I left the hospital bed unless the nurse was helping me up and I definitely didn’t change into anything cute. I was really thankful that I decide to shower before going into the hospital on the night of the 30th because I felt like my hair stayed pretty clean & I didn’t have to shower while I was at the hospital. To be honest it just sounded really painful after getting stitches down there and everything that you go through.. it just sounded like it would hurt a lot. I don’t think I even showered until I was home for a few days because I was so nervous about the pain. The nurses and hospital staff were awesome and extremely helpful with postpartum healing. Although I had packed a lot of pads and diapers and Tucks pads etc. the nurses really had everything there that I would need. They also showed me how to use everything and how to layer the Tucks pads over the diaper and how to use the Peri bottle. When we ended up leaving the hospital two days later they actually told me to take everything home with me because I had paid for in the hospital bill on anyways, & they were not able to reuse them on other patients. It was nice having some things left over from the hospital and also really nice to come home to fully stocked bathroom with most of the same products. You can read about my postpartum prep here! I am happy that I packed a hospital bag full of things that I miiiight need lol because I am just somebody who feels like I need to overpack all the time. If for some reason I had gone in my bag and looked for something that wasn’t there, I would’ve been really upset. I think the only items that I used while I was at the hospital were my makeup remover wipes, chapstick, and my blankie LOL that was a nonnegotiable haha.
breastfeeding
BREAST FEEDING: Right from the start Taya did not latch very well & I had to use a nipple shield. I think from the start it was pretty frustrating just imagining that the experience would be different than it was. But she was so small and she was still able to get what she needed at the time. I feel like thinking back on those first two days in the hospital it feels a bit overwhelming to remember everything. Is it it is a lot of emotions and feelings that are of course really exciting and positive, but also overwhelming and just learning so many new things. We were able to leave the hospital three days after she was born; they actually had to keep me one day extra because of the slight fever I had while giving birth, and they wanted to keep their eye on Tay and make sure she didn’t have any infection. We were obviously super happy that she was healthy and everything was great with her; that is all you can pray for as a parent.
leaving the hospital
HEADING HOME: It’s a funny feeling when you leave the hospital because you have had a car seat in your car for several days with anticipation that your baby will be arriving sometime soon - but it is a whole new experience to actually put them in the car seat and drive it with them for the first time! I think the fiiiirst thing that we did we got in the car was drive to Chick-fil-A and get myself a spicy chicken sandwich. That was my biggest craving in pregnancy and so we joke that Taya is going to grow up craving them to haha. Because I had an epidural I wasn’t able to eat or drink anything after getting it, and since we got to the hospital so late the night of the 30th, I really hadn’t eaten much since dinner the night before until birthing Taya the next day. The hospital meals were actually really good I remember having a meal that resembled Thanksgiving turkey dinner and it was delicious but nothing quite like my Chick-fil-A sandwich lol.
EXPECTATIONS: I think I had this expectation when we got home that she would be right on a nap schedule and fall asleep right away and eat really well but of course that’s not a great expectation for a newborn. I actually set a bunch of alarms on my phone when I went to bed that night thinking I would need to wake Tay up to feed her every two hours haha.. if only I could tell myself now how unnecessary that would really be. Taya was basically up the whole night I don’t think she slept one wink. I felt frustrated because I was severely lacking sleep and didn’t know how to stop her from crying all night long. Of course that’s just what newborn life is, and just like Matt and I were adjusting to a new life - so was Taya. I think that newborn phase lasted for the first month or so where we were up all night long & couldn’t get her to go to sleep at night. It was almost like we had to try to swap her days and her night since she would sleep so much during the day and never at night. It just took time. But looking back in hindsight of course things just takes time and that was one of the things that we just needed to wait out. Also in hindsight I know that she maybe wasn’t getting enough breastmilk from me because when we swapped to formula around the two month point she really started to sleep much better and her attitude around feeding & napping became so much easier.
EMOTIONS: Thinking back to our birth story and hospital experience in general I feel like there wasn’t anything I could’ve done to prepare for the intense emotions & feelings and change that happens when you give birth to a child. It’s just about the most incredible thing you can imagine. Your whole life changes really instantly. At first you think you may never sleep again, it can feel frustrating and new and sometimes you can get down on yourself. But I’ve had six months now to look back and reflect on those first few days and weeks as a new mom & new parents, and it really is an incredible experience. When you realize that when a babies cries it is just them communicating with you, and that you are the one they want to help console those cries, it’s pretty special. I can’t even believe how much Taya has changed our whole life. She really makes everything so much more fun, she has the best personality, and the sweetest demeanor. I do think it’s hilarious that she came out looking exactly like Matt lol even though I was the one that carried her for nine months c’mon!!
If you are pregnant, or praying to become pregnant, or maybe you’re just reading this because it’s interesting to you, thank you for taking the time to read part of our story and to get a glimpse into the best day of our life. xx