it’s taken me a few times to sit down and write this all out…but i wanted to share my birth story today with you guys! i had our little rainbow baby on 8/18, two days past her due date. and i gotta say, the birth did not go as i had planned and was very different than what i was expecting. but at the end of the day…we got a beautiful healthy baby girl out of it (and healthy mom) so truly have zero complaints, and feel so thankful!
i’m documenting my birth story for those of you who asked about it but also for my own personal memory so i’m gonna make this more detailed than what you probably want to know, just fyi haha.
thursday morning i woke up and noticed i was bleeding. and i kind of freaked out. i texted my doula and called the midwives right away to tell them about it. they asked about how much blood, was i having contractions etc and basically to just keep an eye on it / keep them posted. i was having some contractions but nothing super consistent or intense at this point. they said it could be the start of labor / blood from cervical changes and to try and just carry on my day like normal.
so i instantly got my hopes up that ‘this could be it! today could be the day!’. i carried on my day like normal and tried to stay preoccupied. i took shiloh to the mall, we had a lunch date, got some work done, went for a walk…all the while still having random contractions. around 5pm though the contractions totally stopped. i didn’t have a single one so around 9pm i texted my team and my fam and said ‘never mind. looks like baby isn’t coming today. contractions have totally stopped’.
michael and i were watching a show and around 9pm i felt a contraction. then about 8mins later felt another. and another about 8 mins after that. and these felt more painful…i tried going to bed around 10pm but the contractions were super painful at this point. i started timing them and they were all about 5-6 mins apart and super painful so i was thinking “THIS IS IT!”. i called my mom and asked her to come ASAP to stay with shiloh bc we needed to get to the hospital.
we left for the hospital at 10:45pm – my contractions were 4-5mins apart and very intense (i couldn’t talk through them). got checked in and the midwife was gonna come check me. i was SURE i would be at least a 5 or 6. everyone told me things happen a lot faster with baby #2 and my contractions had been going on for about 2hrs at this point and were super painful. the midwife checked me and said….i was about a 1 1/2. i felt so defeated but at this point still thought “okay, we can do this. things will pick up”.
i continued to labor (unmedicated – bc that was my goal. i did an unmedicated natural labor with shiloh and that’s what i wanted to do for baby #2). my contractions were horrifically painful. i was throwing up from pain, screaming from pain, the whole 9 yards. they were veryyyy close together and very painful so i was thinking “surely we are making progress here”. (side note – i was also having major back labor which is a b!tch ha excuse my french).
it was now 5am. i’d been having these super intense contractions for about 8hrs at this point. (and all night long. from 9pm to 5am). i got to a point with my pain that i knew…if i’m not at least an 8 and close to pushing…i can’t do this. and it didn’t feel like a “eh i’m giving up i don’t wanna do this” decision. it felt like “i know my body can’t keep going like this if we’re not almost there.” the midwife checked me around 5:30am and told me i was a 3.
at that point, i had no doubt in my mind i had to get the epidural. i couldn’t take the pain any longer and for whatever reason…my body was not able to relax and dilate through these contractions. things weren’t progressing but the pain was overwhelming. i felt so bummed / disappointed to ask for the epidural but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it’s what my body needed. the midwife and doula (and michael lol) all agreed with and supported this decision. the midwife said she thinks my body really needed to be able to rest and relax in order to dilate. (we also found out later lyla’s head positioning is part of why i was having such awful back labor and not dilating).
so i got the epidural around 6am and holyyyyyy molyyyy i’ve never been MORE THANKFUL for modern medicine in my life! i went from a pain level of 10 on a 10 to a 0 on a 10 lol like they told me i was having a contraction but i legit felt nothing. i asked how i would know when its time to push and they said ‘you’ll feel a lot of pressure and we’ll know its time to check you to push’.
so i got the epidural around 6am and rested (i couldn’t sleep) until 8am. my doula came in and asked how i was feeling and i said ‘i feel fine. but i don’t feel any pressure or any contractions so idk if its gonna be time to push’. she seemed a little worried that things hadn’t progressed and mentioned the idea of maybe needing pitocin to get this show on the road (which at this point, i would have been fine with).
the midwife came in to check me and said “well. your baby’s head is right here, you’re a 10, and ready to push!’. i literally just got chills even typing that out because i have never felt more relieved / happy / surprised in my life! my body just needed to relax and then instantly dilated to a 10 and i legit felt NOTHING!! no pain, no pressure, it was incredible.
i got a little nervous when it was time to push 1) bc i pushed for 4hrs with shiloh and it was brutal and 2) i couldn’t feel ANYTHING below my waist so i thought i wouldn’t be able to do it. but boy was i wrong lol. she told me to push and i pushed lyla out in TWO PUSHES and it took probably 4 minutes !!! and again…i felt NOTHING! no pain whatsoever. WILD !!!!
after that it was just pure bliss / relief / gratitude / aaaallll the emotions in the whole world and such a beautiful, spiritual moment.
i mentioned at the beginning that this labor was so different than what i was expecting. people told me “oh if you did natural with baby #1, this one will be a BREEZE! second babies come so much faster!” and that just wasn’t the case for us. so i kind of wish i didn’t have that expectation going into it haha just something to keep in mind if you’re expecting with baby #2.
overall, my labor and delivery went so smooth and i’m so thankful that we had no complications and a healthy baby girl. i’m still battling a little bit of disappointment and thoughts of “man. i gave up. i couldn’t do it”, but again…i have zero regrets because i know the epidural was exactly what my body was needing! and i’m so thankful that my recovery thus far has been smooth sailing!
so to recap…we went to the hospital at 11pm on thursday night and lyla was born at 8:20am on friday morning! i’m so thankful for my midwife, doula, the nurses…and michael who were all just a God-send throughout the entire experience!
tried to keep this relatively short haha but let me know if you guys have any questions or want more info about my story! happy to share. thank y’all for reading and for all of your encouragement and love throughout this season!
follow along @laurenkaysims
xo Lauren
