Awaiting the arrival of Elijah seemed to consume all my thoughts during the last three months of pregnancy. As all us moms know, we never forget our precious delivery day when we meet our little ones for the first time. This is Elijah’s birth story.
First off, my husband Jordan, was amazing those last few weeks of pregnancy when all I could do was wonder when Eli would make his grand entrance. He was supportive and listened to every explanation I gave after each Braxton hick and how this may be “the real deal.” HA. Those last weeks, I spent lots of time on our exercise ball, squatting and going on walks to try and help labor come.
After weeks of no real progress, we decided to induce me if Eli had not come by 41 weeks. I was nervous, excited and honestly not very well prepared for what was to come…labor or a newborn baby. The weeks came and went with nothing to show for it except anxious parents and 41 weeks came knocking on our door.
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The Birth Story Begins
March 1, 2017 – Jordan and I checked into labor and delivery around 10:30 am. We got settled into our labor and delivery suite (which was lovely.) Oh, and I did forget to mention about two days before induction I got a nasty cold. Like, nasty. I was coughing, sneezing, sore throat..the whole shebang. So, when I got to the hospital, not only did they start the induction but also gave me some Mucinex (facepalm). Anyways, I was given an IV and they hooked me up to the baby and contraction monitor. When the nurse came back in, she told me I was actually having contractions already! Since my body seemed to close to labor itself, they started me slowly on Cytotec.
After hours of pretty good contractions but no dilation to show for it…I got a dose of Pitocin as well. Kicking labor into full gear, I tried to keep up with all the BIG peaks and no breaks. We did this for 12 hours straight.
March 2nd, 2017- I was not even one centimeter closer to meeting my baby. All I could think was this is not how I wanted his birth story to go. How much longer till I can be done and meet our little Eli? I started to majorly doubt if I was even going to be able to do this much longer. Since I wasn’t dilating they kept giving more Pitocin to try and see some progress but all it did was make me even more miserable.
Not making Progress
We tried everything, birthing ball, bath, walks, different positions, peanut ball, bath, and nothing seemed to work. Jordan was an amazing husband throughout it all. He never left my side and tried everything he could think of to ease any pain.
After, 13 hours of the Pitocin, no progress and back to back contractions, I was told an epidural would be the best way to try and relax my uterus (from all the Pitocin) and see if we could get me to dilate that way. As a last resort, we crossed our fingers hoping it would work. If not, I would be sent off to the procedure room for a c-section. Even though the Epidural was on my “don’t want list,” I felt completely at a loss and was SO thankful for the relief it brought. After it was inserted, the break was amazing and I did slowly start to progress. After 12 more hours of waiting, I was FINALLY at 10 cm!
Time to Push
I remember an extra nurse came in and I was thinking to myself, “I am almost done! I get to meet my baby!” However…push after push the little guy was barely making his way down. By this time the epidural had worn off and I was very tired. I definitely was not prepared for pushing to take that long and be that strenuous. That is some hard work right there…no one really talks about pushing but it can definitely be a very physically exhausting experience! After about 1 hour and 15 minutes of pushing, they finally said, “one more big push.” Well, you can bet I pushed as hard as I could and still no Eli (they lied to me, haha)!
Eli is Born
At last, I did one more push and Eli came sliding right into the doctor’s arms and started crying right away. Eli was born at 10:59 am weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 3oz and 20.5″ long of pure perfection. This was his birth story. He was beautiful. We were completely in LOVE. All I remember after the final push was they handed him right to me and we did skin to skin with Jordan close by soaking it all in. We were a family of three and the feeling was so beautiful we both shared tears of joy. 
While trying to enjoy my brand new baby, I had to be stitched up for another hour after delivery. I remember it being so hard to focus and soak in my new little boy since I was still in a good amount of pain and much poking and prodding was still going on. I know my labor did not go how I had envisioned. Giving birth is beyond hard. It is the most difficult thing I have ever done and the most rewarding, all in 24 hours.
From handling the contractions to pushing…I felt like I had accomplished something amazing. Working in God’s design to bring this beautiful baby boy into the world. Those next days in the hospital were precious. As I recovered I had my husband, my new baby and our relatives all close by. I will never forget those days as a family-they are too precious to me. I also am eternally grateful for the amazing care we received from our doctor and all the nurses and staff. They truly helped me so much and were with me every step of the way!
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On Saturday, we got to take our Elijah home. He is our little angel and we love our family of 3. It wasn’t just his birth story, it was ours too and it was something we will never forget. Taking him home was just the icing on the cake, reminding us we get to keep him forever!
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