Today, November 9th, is a day that will always mean the world to me. It’s the day that I gave birth to a wild little boy, my August. As I think about this day, and try not to cry, I can’t help but reflect on my birth story. So, I thought I’d share:
I had a pretty normal and happy pregnancy, for the most part. Almost from the moment that I found out that I was pregnant I knew that I wanted to have a natural birth. After doing tons of research and crying at beautiful birth videos on YouTube, I decided that I wanted to have a home water birth. Sadly, my birth plan began to unravel once I hit 34 weeks.
There I was, sitting in my Bradley Method class with my husband and I felt a trickle of liquid come out, almost like I was peeing on myself. At first I chalked it up to pregnancy, but I kept feeling fluid coming out. I thought I’d better go to the bathroom so that I don’t end up peeing on myself in front of everyone. I went to the bathroom and that’s when I noticed that it wasn’t pee, it was blood. Bright red blood started gushing out through my panties and through my pants. Because I suffered a miscarriage a year prior I was immediately stricken with fear. I ran out of the bathroom, went to my husband and told him “I’m bleeding! We have to go, now!!” We rushed to the nearest hospital where I was admitted for pre-labor. I continued to bleed.
In order to stop the labor they gave me magnesium, which literally felt like fire going through my veins. It was a horrible experience, but it worked and three days later I was released. I thought I was out of the woods, but four days after that hospital stay I started bleeding again. I was passing mucus-y clots about the size of a half dollar coin. I sent pictures to my midwife and she advised that I get to the hospital stat! So I went to the hospital and they checked me, checked baby, and observed me for a few hours.
The doctors couldn’t explain why I was bleeding but because the baby was doing fine they released me the same day. A couple of days later the bleeding stopped. About two and a half weeks after that (almost 37 weeks pregnant), I was laying down about to go to sleep when I felt a gush of fluid come out. I’m talking Niagara Falls gushing. I looked down and there was blood, but it was different than before. There was much more clear fluid with the blood and the gush was more forceful. I thought my water had broken. I called my midwife that night and she came to check me and test to see if my water had indeed broken. It had. My husband and I were so excited, it was finally happening! She told me to keep her updated on my labor progress and she would come back once things had picked up.
Well, 24 hours later and no progress— AT ALL. Again my midwife advised that I get to the hospital. I went and was admitted. They checked me and checked baby. We were both doing great. They ordered a sonogram to check fluid levels and my placenta. After several hours I was told that although my amniotic fluid levels have decreased, my water did not actually break and they had no idea why I was still bleeding. They sent me home. That was on a Friday.
Fast forward to November 8th (Election Night), the following Tuesday. I went to bed to lie down after a long day of being pregnant and again I felt a huge gush of fluid the same as before. Again, I continued to bleed and pass mucus-y clots. I called my mom and told her what was going on and she became very excited. She rushed over and my sister in law joined her soon after. Because I continued to bleed my midwife delivered the sad news that she would not feel comfortable with me having a home birth and that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. I went to the hospital (begrudgingly) prepared for them to send me home. The doctor came in, reviewed my records and performed another sonogram.
He told me that I had a placenta abruption which is why I’d been bleeding since 34 weeks. My placenta, my baby’s lifeline had been trying to detach itself from my uterus. He told me that I was not going home and that I was going to have the baby that night! I quickly got over the disappointment of not having a home birth and began to prepare mentally for an unmedicated hospital birth.
Welp, they immediately started me on pitocin (so much for unmedicated). The pitocin sped things up a bit and I started feeling more intense contractions.
Oh yeah, this entire time I’ve continued to bleed. There was blood everywhere: on the bed sheets, the floor, the door, etc. I bled and labored for hours. Finally, the doctor (and my mom) said enough is enough. The doctor told me that I’d have to have a C Section right then or a blood transfusion. They rapidly began prepping me for surgery. 30 minutes later my baby boy was born! Not the birth story I envisioned, but I’m so thankful for my baby!
It is so incredibly hard to believe that it has been an entire year since August was born. What an awesome adventure it has been being his Mama! Happy Birthday, August!
My sister took birth notes on what happened once I was admitted into the hospital. I am so grateful that not only was she there, but she wrote down what has become my most precious memories. It’s because of her that I know that my baby’s first sneeze was on November 9, 2016 at 4:30 am. Please see below for her perspective:
Hospital with LO (Lauren)
Nurse in the room. She asked about 10000 questions. If she was married, not just married but legal. Is she abused… epidural or the hard way? Then the STD questions. Are you a drinker? LO said yes!!! Lol they took the test for the amino. Really? We know her water broke so let’s get this show on the road. Lol “take me upstairs 👆🏾”
It’s 1029 and the “mood” is set in the labor room. The midwife has set a lavender mister. The lights are dim and Lauren is relaxed. You can see the nervousness but the excitement on her face. She will soon see her boy. The midwife is massaging LO with lavender oil to help relax her. Mom is trying to keep her nerves calm (wink). The nurse is really sweet this go around.
DeAndre is over here straight relaxin!! Lol 😂 and then the bed broke!!!
Speaking of break. At 12:05am on the 9th of November 2016. “I feel wet like I need to change my diaper,” Lauren!! “Someone change my baby!,” DeAndre
Nope false alarm Augi strikes again. It’s all good. Just keeping the faith and relying on God. Lauren is having contractions every 2-3 mins. But the bleeding is continuous t
At 3:10 they came and got LO for her csection. DeAndre suited up and sat in anticipation waiting for LO to get ready. The nurse came at 3:33 to go with her to see August being born.
August is out!!! Head full of hair and smiling for all to see. Long legs and ready to take on the world. First sneeze at 430!!