The Beginning (Birth Story)

Of course we start with the "Birth Story". I think the hardest part about this is where to begin.  Let's see....

Jimmy, my boyfriend and Ava's dad, were given the due date of Nov 12th.  We had our pregnancy photos done with that date.  Jimmy made sure we had bags packed the week before.  My mom had a flight scheduled for the 15th. We had a dog sitter on standby for our amazing dog Jake. Nursery set up because WOW! nesting is a for real thing.  Barely any food in the fridge because we knew we would be out of the house for a few days and would just food shop when the babe was here.  Well, the 12th came and went. Every movement I would feel from baby girl I would get excited.  "This is it!", I would think but it wasn't.  Ava hung out in her cozy little womb for 8 extra days!

Now, being past due is very common for first time moms.  You will read that a million times but never think it will happen to you.  Well, it does!  Then you start to hear all the different theories on how to get the contractions started.  Walk as much as possible, bounce on an exercise ball, drive down a bumpy road and one of my absolutely favorites, have sex.  Are you freakin kidding me??? I am the size of a house, exhausted and have the body temp the same as the surface of the sun.  That is literally the last thing I want.  I can barely have clothes touch me.  So, I walked a thousand miles and bounced all day and night.  Nada!

During the last 3 days leading up to Ava's birthday I was having some serious contractions but listened to the midwives that you should stay home as long as possible.  I also thought they might just be Braxton Hicks contractions.  I was doing my best to walk through them and keep trying to motivation our little lady on out.

On Sunday before Ava's birthday, my mom, Jimmy and I were at the mall and I had a contraction that was pretty intense and then I thought I peed my pants.  Sorry if that is TMI but, if you're reading a birth story that's what you get.  Jimmy thought my water broke but in my mind it's supposed to be like a waterfall.  It couldn't be!  Fast forward to Sunday evening and contracts are so intense they are waking me up and I'm having trouble talking. 

We called the hospital to talk to the midwife on call.  I explain what happened at the mall and she suggests we stay home.  Chances are I just peed my pants.  The contracts get even more intense and we call again.  The midwife suggest coming in but thinks we'll be sent home.  We go in that evening.  The universe is so amazing in that we get admitted to the hospital by a friend of ours. 

The nurse coming in to check and see if I'm dilated and I'm only 1 cm.  AAAHHHHH! But then, she notices there is no sack for Ava.  She asks, "Did your water break?"  My answer is a shrug.  She calls in the midwife and they leave the room to check the fluid.  They return with the news, "You guys are having a baby tonight!"

We had prepared to try and go as natural as possible but one thing I really learned from becoming a mom is you can't prepare for most of what is going to get handed to you.  We start with Cytotec to get everything rolling and the contractions got intense FAST! Luckily, we had an amazing nurse who was all for the natural way until she heard they had to induce me.  She gave me the best advice I could ever get.  Get an epidural. And so we did.

After the epidural, they started my Pitocin and things moved pretty fast from there.  The best thing, I totally lost feeling in my left leg.  I would try to move it and nothing happened.  It was hilarious but really difficult to feel when a contraction would happen so I could start to push. They backed down my dose and things started to get real. 

The nurse called Jimmy over and had him grab a leg.  At one point it was just me and Jimmy and he was holding both legs!  The nurse started to show Jimmy Ava's head as it was making her way on out.  It was the most amazing hour of bonding with him I have ever had in our 4 years together.  We were working together to bring this beautiful soul earth side.  I don't think I could have that much love in my heart until they place that beautiful girl on my stomach and I heard her cry.  I still get weepy thinking about that amazing moment when all 3 of us became our family.  Ava was 7 lbs 13 oz of beauty with a full head of hair.