Everyone has a birth story

Everyone has a birth story. Here is Jellybean's.

That Afternoon

At 36 weeks pregnant, I was more than eager to have my little man out and in my arms. Everyone said I needed to cook him just a few weeks longer, but I was eagerly googling ways to bring on labor. That day at work, I took the medicine ball from the workout room and bounced...and bounced...and bounced. Obnoxiously exclaiming, "Come out Jellybean! Come out!" That afternoon, golf ball sized hail started to fall, and like a true weather nerd, I ran outside so I could take a picture.

Early Morning

Apparently, the combination of the passing cold front and the bouncing was the recipe I needed to get my little man to greet the world, and more importantly, ME! At 0330 on Saturday morning, 29 March, my water broke. A typical early morning trudge to the bathroom resulted in me wondering why I was still going to the bathroom when I was pretty sure I was done. A call to the nurse revealed that I needed to get to the hospital ASAP. In my mind that meant, take some time to finish packing my hospital bag, call Matt, eat a snack, and get some gas. At the hospital they confirmed my water had indeed broken and I wasn't going anywhere until baby Jellybean was in my arms. 

I must say my labor was relatively easy. My Texas friends came one by one to keep me company, and my girls texted me throughout the day cheering on our- yes I say our- little Jellybean. Danele checked on Abby and brought me my long list of essentials. Smelly came to visit and brought me a much needed extension cord for my charging my phone. Kate, a new mama herself, came to give me encouraging advice since she had just gone through the birthing process. All this while Matt was frantically booking flights and getting himself from D.C. to Texas so he could make it in time to see his son! 

By the time Kate left, it was mid afternoon, I was finally starting to feel some pain, and was dilated to about 4 or 5cm. I never spent the time to create a birth plan since I expected everything to change while I was in labor anyway. I anticipated opting for the IV pain killer and then bumping it up to the epidural. Never did I plan on going au natural! I remember the nurse telling me I was going to get sleepy with the IV and the next thing I know I'm waking up from my very long nap with shooting pains in my back. It was definitely time for the epidural! I was dilated up to 7-8cm and fortunately Fort Hood didn't have a "cut off" on when you couldn't take more pain meds. The epidural only worked on half my body and they had to re-stick me 45 minutes later. This second time worked a little better, but I could still feel pain in my left pelvis and back. As the contractions got worse, and  I was hating my "hot spot" where the epidural medicine wasn't working, Matt finally made it! I am so grateful to our dear friends the Clarks. Ben drove all the way down to Austin and back to bring Matt to me. 

I never yelled at Matt or told him I hated him for doing this to me. When the contractions came I squeezed his hand, closed my eyes, and said "oh f***" over and over again. Sorry Jellybean- I neglected to tell you ear muffs! 

My midwife (yes I opted for a midwife over a doctor, a decision I'm so glad I made), was about to call the anesthesiologist to fix my epidural when she chose to check to see how far dilated I was, and to our surprise said, "if you just want to push through it, he's ready. Otherwise, we can still call the anesthesiologist. " It was game time, and I can admittedly say I felt a wave of panic come over me. Now? He's coming now? I haven't even been in labor for 24 hours! Isn't your first time suppose to take DAYS?! We're having this baby now?! That panic only lasted a moment and Matt and I knew we were ready for this. Forget fixing the epidural, let's have this baby! 

PuuUUUuush! 

Pushing was a challenge I was not prepared for. I see why they grunt so much, get sweaty, red faced, and look exhausted on TV! I under anticipated how difficult pushing would be and definitely needed some encouragement and coaxing from Matt and my nurses. March madness was on TV and I remember the Arizona game was just about to start.  I recall seeing the big UofA logo on the TV screen mid push and thinking to myself, oh no! I hate that school, please don't go to UofA Jellybean! I pushed for a total of 7 minutes. When I was done, I mentioned how exhausting that was and the nurses just laughed explaining to me that most moms push for HOURS. HOURS?!?! I can't imagine having to do that, with a half working epidural, for HOURS. The birthing experience is truly incredible, and I am humbled by the magic a woman's body can go through to bring life into this world. 

Jellybean

When I saw Jellybean for the first time, at 1923 (coincidently the exact same time Matt was born), I was shocked. That overwhelming love that supposedly comes instantly took about a minute or two and first had to make way for "oh my gosh that tiny little thing is mine and my responsibility now?! Holy Cow!" Per my request, they cleaned him up, Matt cut the umbelical cord, and all those other shenanigans on my chest. I say other shenanigans because as soon as that baby was on my chest I focused on nothing else but him. (Oh....here's that overwhelming love!) The world really does fade away, sounds around me became muted, and it was just us two. 

Right as my little man had been cleaned up and we were recovering from all the excitement, my most amazing friend Brittany showed up. Her husband was in my squadron at Fort Hood. She's been a great friend to me, and.....she also happens to be a photographer! I was hesitant at first about having a photographer in the birthing room to capture those first moments but now, I'm so grateful she came to document such an important day. Her husband not only picked Matt up from Austin but also came to bring me dinner as I hadn't eaten since my "snack" that morning at 0330. He braved missing part of the Heat game, during finals, to bring me dinner! 

Aside from the epidural only half working, my labor was relatively stress free. Matt was able to make it on time, my friends were supportive through either visiting me or texting me non stop on the phone, my family couldn't contain their excitement, and most importantly, my sweet son was healthy despite being four weeks early. I can't believe how blessed I am.

Here are a few pictures that Brittany took from that night.