OUR BIRTH STORY | OLIVER ANTHONY

We have a healthy baby boy, and I couldn’t be happier! And while birth is definitely the most beautiful thing in the world, it’s also a little scary, kinda gross, and in my experience a little comical. If you’re not easily grossed out – read on. I’m sharing ALL.

OLLIE, WHERE YOU AT?!

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you know that Oliver came a little later than expected. He was due on June 19th, and while I fully expected him to be late, I didn’t realize how impatient I would get in the days leading up to his birth.

I had family fly out from Pittsburgh to Vegas so they could be here for his birth, so you can imagine how anxious we were getting when little Ollie man decided to cook for awhile longer. I was doing everything I could think of to get him out! Mike bought me an exercise ball, which I bounced on every day for about a week and a half. We went on daily walks, I drank Raspberry Leaf tea, ate fresh pineapple, doused my food with hot sauce, tried a special “labor inducing” salad recipe, and yes – we made whoopie consistently because we heard that was a sure fire way to get him out. None of it worked. There were also no signs of labor either. He hadn’t dropped, I never lost my mucus plug, I hadn’t experienced contractions, I wasn’t dilating, and my water didn’t break.

By this point I was 41 weeks pregnant and my  feet were so swollen I could barely fit into my shoes anymore. At one point while I was running a hose over my pudgy piggie toes my dad said he felt bad for me because my feet looked so painful – ha!

So, after discussing it with my husband and doctor we decided it was time to induce.

GO TIME

The night before I was induced we ate Chinese food and Mike and I sat up talking about how our lives were going to change forever in just a few short hours. We were excited and terrified at the same time. Also, Chinese food was a terrible idea, which I would find out later.

By 2am we were at the hospital. The nurses hooked me up to the monitors and asked me a bunch of questions, like if I had felt any contractions. I frustratingly told them I hadn’t experienced any contractions at all, not even Braxton Hicks. They then informed me that the monitor showed I actually was having contractions. In fact, I had four while we were talking!

Hallelujah!

In that moment, I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh. Am I Superwoman?! I’m going to be that unicorn who never feels a contraction and then out pops her baby. I can probably do this all natural.” I can tell you right now, I was wrong.

At 3:30am the nurse administered whats called Cervidil to help prepare my body for labor. I looked it up later, and it essentially administers a medicine which is similar to a natural hormone produced by your body that helps your cervix relax and dilate. I had to sit still for two hours while it worked it’s magic. Naturally, I had to pee within 30 minutes.

Since I didn’t want to mess up this “magic medicine” that was going to help get me my baby – I started screaming for Mike to grab the bed pan. I couldn’t hold off and ended up peeing the bed. Mike, being the sweetheart that he is, helped change my bed pad and sheets. Afterwards I just stared at ceiling until finally I started to feel something. OMG it was beginning! I was so excited. Only downside was, it wasn’t gradual at all. My labor pains hit me fast, and they didn’t stop.

LABOR PAINS

From 6am to 9am I was having 30 second contractions about every 45 seconds. That only gave me a few seconds in between to get a break. For lack of a better word… it sucked. I felt like I would have been OK if I could just catch my breath for a minute. Literally… just one minute would have been great! I blamed the “magic medicine” and actually screamed to Mike, “Get this thing out of me!” I also grabbed him by the collar at one point and wouldn’t let go. I’m sure it must’ve been tough for Mike to watch, but he was so helpful. He tried massaging my back, pushing on my hips – anything to help.

The nurses kept coming in to check and see how much I was dilated. It’s funny, when I was first changing into my hospital gown I was so modest. I even held the back of my gown so no one would see my hiney (which had drastically expanded in the last ten months. by the way). By this point, I was opening my legs to anyone that walked through the door. It could’ve been a pizza delivery guy for all I cared!

When our nurse walked in to check me for the third time I said if I hear the word “fingertip” (less than one centimeter dilated) again I was going to strangle someone. Thankfully, I was three centimeters and my hands remained by my sides and not around someone’s neck.

Finally I was able to get the epidural, and it changed everything. I was human again. I wasn’t the childbirth unicorn I once thought I might be, but at least I could breath now! Only downside about the epidural is you can’t get up. So, I didn’t just pee the bed this time. Yeah. You can fill in the blank. I actually debated writing about that part, but if I’m going to be transparent it has to go in this post.

Piece of advice? Steer clear of Chinese food before childbirth.

A SCARY MOMENT, WHICH IS NORMAL!

Now, there was one scary moment during this whole process. About an hour after receiving the epidural, two nurses ran into my room, flipped me on my left side and quickly put me on oxygen. Baby Ollie’s heart rate and oxygen levels had dropped. I remember being confused and terrified, but when I looked at Mike he was calm and extremely comforting. If you know my husband, you know he’s a big worry wart. So, seeing him react in a very cool manner in turn made me feel calm, which made our baby feel calm. Gold star for Mikey!!! After they flipped me and I had the O2 mask on everything leveled out.

I tell you this not to make you worry, but to let you know that things like that can happen during childbirth. My dad told me there’s always at least one scary moment during delivery, and it actually made me feel a lot better. So, if you’re going through the birthing process and something scary happens, just remember it’s not uncommon and your nurses, doctor, dula, midwife, etc. will help you and your baby through it. Try to stay calm, and do what they say.

PUSH IT

After that episode, I basically just took cat naps until it was time to push. Our family was in the room during this time, and I think I may have said about 5 words total during that time. I just got myself in this mental zone where I was thinking about our son being born. I pictured him healthy and happy. I envisioned what it was going to be like to hold him for the first time.

My nurse said when it feels like I really have to go to the bathroom, that’s a good sign that it’s time to push. She was right! We did a few practice pushes and she told me I was a “good pusher”. Being a Type A personality, I really appreciated the compliment.

I had to hold off pushing until the doctor came in, but my body naturally started to push him out! After awhile I was like, screw it. I’m pushing and someone will be here to catch him.

My doctor came in, told me what to do, and 15 minutes later our baby boy was out in the world! I did get an episiotomy, but didn’t feel anything because of the epidural. I was also on cloud nine because our baby boy was finally here! He cried and it was the most amazing sound I have every heard in my life. They put him on my chest and when his eyes opened I was in awe. I couldn’t believe how perfect he was (and is). I was instantly in love, and his little baby doll face reminded me of just how good God is. All the cliche things they say about meeting your child for the first time are true. There is no greater feeling.

NOW WE’RE A FAMILY OF THREE

This past month as a family of three has been one amazing ride. I still feel like I need to pinch myself when I look at Ollie’s beautiful blue eyes. I would do anything to keep him happy, healthy and safe.

This birth story is just the start of our adventure as parents. While this blog will still be heavily focused on fashion and beauty, I will also be occasionally posting about Mommy topics. Not too much, but if I find something worth sharing that I feel other mamas would find interesting or helpful I’d like to do that.

Thank you so much for following along through my pregnancy and I can’t wait to share more of these special moments with you all!

Love, Lindsey