Honest Birth #4 featuring Lauren Elizabeth

Mama Lauren Elizabeth of Hello Whimzy shares the hospital birth stories of her three kids on the Honest Birth birth story series!

Hey mamas! Welcome to the fourth post in my Honest Birth series! I’m excited to share another real mama’s birth stories, because I think that it’s so important to share our childbirth experiences with each other. My goal with this series is to provide a place for women to share their birth stories without holding anything back, as well as compile stories for pregnant mamas to read in preparation for their own childbirth experiences. Every mama is different and every birth is different, and I believe that when we share our stories we help each other.

Today I am featuring Lauren Elizabeth and the birth stories of her three kids. Lauren’s husband and my husband went to the same graduate school, and we met through mutual friends! Lauren used to own a princess party company, and after her husband graduated and they moved, she sold it. She decided to start a lifestyle blog so she could still have some magic, whimsy, and imagination in her life! Her blog is called Hello Whimzy, and not only is it full of color and sparkle, but Lauren writes it from the point-of-view of a stay-at-home-mermaid (look for her gorgeous pink mermaid tail in the pictures)! And as if that wasn’t cool enough, Lauren ALSO wrote a book all about a fairy and a mermaid who are best friends (check it out here). She’s basically amazing.

Now let’s get to it!

The Birth Story of Baby Girl #1

Our first little miss was due May 27, but she took her sweet time getting here.

A few days after her due date, the doc told us to come into the hospital to get prepped so I could be induced in the morning. As my husband and I were driving into the hospital, I started feeling contractions. After the nurse got me settled and hooked up to the monitor, she noticed that my contractions were already a minute apart. She stepped out to make a call to my doc. Hubby and I waited patiently until she returned. She informed us that we wouldn’t be going home that night and we’d be having a baby instead.

Holy cow! Babies definitely do things on their own terms! We were thrilled.

My husband stepped out to call our family and ask if someone could stop by our house to grab our bags. Luckily my contractions weren’t too bad at first. We were able to laugh and talk and enjoy our time in the middle of this adventure. And after some time, the doc shows up to break my water. Um, is it supposed to be green?! Well, the answer is no. The baby had had a bowel movement and the doc said everything would be fine, but I wouldn’t be able to hold
her immediately after the birth because they’d need to get her on oxygen right away because it could cause
pneumonia. I was a bit sad about that, but I’d rather she be ok.

The contractions started coming stronger, and I was ready for my epidural. Me and my hubby were too scared to look at the needle, but after it was done, hubs went to sit down on the couch. The next thing I heard was this weird guttural sound and the anesthesiologist ask if he was ok. Yup, he totally passed out. And I’ll never let him live it down.

Then the family started showing up. At this point I was still feeling pain from the contractions, so the anesthesiologist came back and gave me a little more meds to kill the pain and I couldn’t feel a thing. The weirdest feeling was seeing the nurse move my leg and feel completely disconnected from it.

Things were going so quick. We had only been there for a few hours and I ended up only needing to push for half an hour. My green little baby popped right out and they whisked her away to get the meconium off her. Once the epidural started wearing off, I started shaking like a leaf. (No one told me this would happen.) I think that was more exhausting than pushing because you feel so spazzy. I was scared to hold her when she came back because I thought I’d drop her. But once they put her in my arms, the whole world got quiet and my body seemed to slow down and just take her in. Ten toes, ten fingers, long blonde eyelashes, the cutest little nose. I was a mother. And it was the best day of my life.

The Birth Story of Baby Girl #2

Our second little miss due two years later on July 31, 2014 but each doctor’s appointment prior to her arrival suggested that she would not be arriving in time. Unless you’ve been there yourself, I can’t tell you how awful it is to hear that when you are 9 plus months pregnant IN THE SUMMER. Many tears were shed in desperation to be done and meet my little girl.

My sweet mom and sister had driven across the country to help with the oldest and to be there for me. Putting up with me and my hormones were not easy I tell you. {Sorry guys!} They entertained my energetic two year old, they cleaned my house, they made dinners and did their best to keep my mind off of how freakin’ uncomfortable I was. Hubby was great too. So sweet and supportive even after working long hours at TWO pharmacies. Crazy boy.

Well the due date came and went with no progression. If I didn’t end up going into labor on my own, my doctor said they would induce me a week later. {?!#&*#*} After a long week of walking, bouncing on a yoga ball, crying, pretty much everything they tell you to induce labor, nada. We scheduled the induction for Aug 7th. We headed into the hospital on Aug 6th to the cervidil started and planned on starting the pitocin for the morning.

We got all settled and had a nice nurse (at least I think we did). Honestly, it’s amazing how much you forget so quickly. We took it easy and tried to get as much sleep as we could before game time. I actually slept better that night than I had the last few weeks of being pregnant.

We started the pit around 6 am and the contractions were slow going. It wasn’t until about 10:00 that I asked for my epidural. The anesthesiologist was great and was able to get it done quickly and I was on cloud nine after that. (Oh and hubby didn’t pass out this time.)

My nurse was really fantastic. I wasn’t progressing very fast so she had me lay on my side for a bit. Hubs was pretty hungry so he was going to run down to the cafeteria to grab a bite. When the nurse came back to check on me, I had gone from a 6 to a 10 super fast. My mom had to call him to come back because we were ready to push. I honestly don’t remember how long I pushed for but it felt much longer than with my first. I was having a hard time breathing and pushing at the same time so in between contractions, so they have me on oxygen. Man, I don’t know what crap it is we breathe everyday, because that stuff was goooOoood.

I was getting pretty exhausted so I would get my oxygen and close my eyes and just focus on taking deep breaths. After what seemed like forever, I had one final push and there she was! They pulled her right out and the doc asked who was going to cut the cord, but little miss already had a firm grip in the scissors like she was ready to cut her own cord. They put her on my chest and I immediately felt my heart double in size. She was beautiful! All this dark hair and rosy round cheeks. She was perfect. Born 8-7 and was 7lbs 8 oz (notice those inverted numbers?) She was born at 2:20 pm and was 20 inches long (the numbers again! It’s cool but now I can never remember which number is associated with what now.)

It was a great experience but NOTHING could have prepared me for how incredibly wonderful it is to see your babies meet your other babies. Seeing my sweet daughter reach out and want to hold her new baby sister and talking to her in a cute quiet voice is my happy thought. THAT was pure happiness.

The Birth Story of Baby Boy

Our third time around ended up happening sooner than we anticipated. Our little boy was due in April and when the doc heard how late I was with the last delivery, he gave us the option to be induced a week early. I couldn’t say yes fast enough. We chose the date, 4/5/16 because that’d be easy for me to remember.

My mother-in-law came into town to watch the girls and it was just the hubby and me this time. I wasn’t dilated much (ok, at all) but was about 90% effaced. The pitocin was given and we were instructed to just wait.

Can I just say how awesome it is to just hang out in a quiet hospital room with your hubby?! We ate popsicles, watched our latest Netflix tv show obsession (White Collar.) We discussed names and laughed when we told the nurses fake names we were considering.

It was about 10:00 when the contractions started getting really uncomfortable so I asked for my epidural. (PS. Did you know if you’re bladder is full, your contractions come faster and more painful!? Uh, yeah. Weird.) Anyway, after realizing a full bladder did that, the contractions slowed down and eased up a bit but soon picked up again and that’s when the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the drugs. Man, I love that stuff! I was then able to take an hour nap while hunny ran to get lunch. After that glorious nap, they checked me and I was at a 6. Because I went from a 6 to a 10 so quickly last time, I suggested they check me again. BAM! Not even 20 min later and I was ready to push. It was now a little past 2:00 and after a few pushes, little man was born at 2:27 pm.

He came out screaming like a banshee and they plopped him on my chest. My favorite part was when I started talking to him and he immediately stopped crying and looked right at me, deep into my soul. I always knew I’d have a son, and I was in awe that I was finally meeting him. My second favorite experience is when the girls met him for the first time. Why is this always so emotional?! Just kidding, I know why. Seeing my babies meet my other babies for the first time will always and forever touch my heart. They were both so sweet and gentle and so excited they had a little brother. I swear I’d keep having kids just to experience this over and over again (but seriously).

The rest of the hospital visit was a dream. The nurses were all so wonderful, he nursed like a champ and I got some quality time with my wonderful husband. I am so glad he was the one by my side through all of this. What a champion hubby and what a rockstar baby. We couldn’t be happier!

You hear about some crazy birth stories, but I don’t feel like you hear about mellow ones too often. So these
are for you!