Emmett's Birth Story

Disclaimer: This post is super long. I am writing it all out so that I can remember all of the precious details of Emmett's birth, so just get ready for an in-depth story!

Emmett's journey into the world was not what I expected. Isn't that what you hear from every mom? When does it ever go exactly as anticipated? When does anything?

I'm so glad he came into the world his way...even if labor took 3 times longer than I thought it would. Even though I had to resort to taking medications that I was trying so hard not to take. Even though the pain was indescribable (and immediately forgettable).

December 8th came and went, and my hope that he would come on his due date proved false. Every day that week was agonizing, emotionally more than physically (although I was the size of a whale and every little thing took a ton of effort). I wanted him to be out so badly! I wanted to meet him, I wanted to be done being pregnant, I wanted to avoid being induced, I wanted his birthday not too close to Christmas. But that's a lot about me, and I figured out quickly that Emmett's entrance was, and should be, all about him.

My family made dollar bets about what day Emmett would show up. One by one, each day we had bet on passed by. The latest day that was predicted was by Jim, and was December 13. As that day came to a close, Alex and I felt so discouraged. Almost a week late and still no baby. Around 11pm we got in bed and prayed. It had been a while since we've prayed out loud together and I was feeling so down, I let Alex take the reins. He prayed that Emmett would be born soon. On God's timing, but soon. He prayed that I wouldn't have to be induced. He prayed that we would be healthy and safe. He prayed that we could meet our little one.

We started to fall asleep. After a couple minutes, at 11:30, I woke up with some cramp-like pains. I didn't admit to myself at first that they were contractions, I didn't want to get my hopes up. Alex started timing the pains, and after about an hour and a half they were 5 minutes apart and lasting for a minute. We woke up my mom, who's room is 15 feet away. (My dad was up in NorCal, but he got a call later on). I was moved downstairs to labor, and most of the next couple hours are a blur because I was so exhausted! We got zero sleep that night. Around 2:30, we let my doula, Betsy, know that labor had been consistent and contractions were getting stronger. She came over to observe and support. She told me to let myself melt into the pain. When a contraction would hit, I would breathe in and out very slowly and moan gently. I let every muscle in my body relax so much that I felt like I was just melting away. This technique helped me so much, and I continued to do it once we got to the hospital.

At 4:30am we left to go to Long Beach Memorial. I was placed in a triage room after a couple of minutes of waiting (which was horrible. No one wants to be sitting in a waiting room with contractions.) They measured me and I was 4 cm dilated and my cervix was 80% effaced. I could stay! I got placed in the delivery room and met my sweet nurse. My plan was all natural. No meds. Betsy helped with pain tolerance techniques, my nurse encouraged me, and I was confident. At first. I slowly dilated to 7cm over the next number of hours. I tried to walk around and do exercises. I sat on a yoga ball, I laid in different positions, I took a shower. After a while, all I could do was lay down. For a large part of my labor, Emmett was in the posterior position (sunny side up), and I was experiencing a lot of back pain. My nurse suggested doing something that she had done when her baby was born...we took a sheet and folded it up until it was a long strip of fabric (about a foot and a half wide). It was placed perpendicular to my body, underneath my hips. Two people, one on each side, would take an end of the sheet and pull straight up, so it was like my hips were in a tight hammock. This would push my pelvic bones together (since they felt like they were breaking open), and it would provide some relief during contractions.

My poor mom. and Alex. and Betsy. They did this for over 8 hours. Every 3 minutes. I could see their arms shaking. I felt terrible! But I also did not stop them, because it really did help. At first. Around 5pm, about 18 hours after labor started, I was still 7cm and told I needed to take a little pitocin to strengthen my contractions. I was so fatigued at this point that I was taking 3 minute naps between contractions. It's not that I could even fall asleep, I was just basically catatonic. I didn't want the pitocin because I knew I couldn't handle the added pain that would come with it. I just knew I couldn't handle more. I started considering having an epidural, but was terrified because of "The Business of Being Born" documentary. Alex was even more afraid than I was! This movie showed how in some cases, having pitocin and an epidural prolong labor instead of hurrying it along, and the mothers end up in a C-Section. That was something I was very much trying to avoid.

After talking about whether or not to get the pitocin and epidural for 3 hours, I finally decided to do it. I started with the epidural first at 8pm and a while later they gave me a small amount of pitocin. The epidural itself was AMAZING. The hardest part was sitting still during contractions as they put the needle in my back. They numb the area first, which was the only part I even felt. My legs started getting a little warm and tingly, but I did not feel like my whole lower half was numb. I did not feel the contractions nearly as much as I had been. Sometimes I would have to look at the screen to know one was happening at all! And they came fast. Hard and fast. The line on the monitor would go off the screen and they came immediately after one another. There was a tightness in my abdomen, but nothing like the pain I had experienced for those first 21 hours.

I was supposed to take a nap right after the epidural, but it gave me a rush of energy since I had been basically catatonic for hours. I was chatting with my nurse (shift change was at 7pm, so this was a new nurse). She went on and on about labor horror stories, which, looking back on, was super weird and unprofessional. Oh well, I was in such a good mood I didn't even notice! When my mom and Alex and Betsy saw me again, I could tell that they were relieved. I started dilating quickly and after a couple hours, was at 10cm. The nurse had me do some "practice pushing" and Emmett's head was showing! The doctor got there around midnight and helped me along. By 12:44am on December 15, Emmett emerged into the world. He was taken over to a table with doctors from NICU because there was meconium in the fluid and they had to make sure his breathing passages were clear. They were, and after a minute or two, they brought him to me and laid him on my chest. I was immediately overwhelmed with joy and so relieved to finally be done with labor 26 hours later. He was absolutely perfect, 21.5 inches long and 8 lbs 3 oz. Alex and I were just stunned looking at this small baby who was a perfect combination of the two of us, and at the same time, completely his own person. It was so easy when I was pregnant to just think of him as an extension of me, but now that he's in the world, it's even more of a miracle to think that he has his own personality and will have his own experiences and be his own person, just like me or Alex or anyone else.

He came out with wrinkly hands and feet, squinty eyes, a big ol' overbite, and a FULL head of hair. Way more than I expected! He had long fingernails and skinny limbs and slept about 20 hours a day in the hospital. He was a completely normal and exceptionally extraordinary baby. I love everything about him and am so blessed and happy and proud to be called his mom! I am thanking God for his and my health, for a birth story that is all his own, for protecting me when I was so afraid to take medicine. I'm sitting here now, looking at my perfect beautiful son and not remembering the pain or the fear, just the joy. That must be how women have multiple children! And while I hope to someday, I want to cherish the time I have with Emmett now to get to know him, to teach him, to make him feel safe, and to shower him with love with my complete attention.

What they say is true, having a baby changes everything.

|| Posted by Kate ||