Y’all I’m a mom! It’s something I have always dreamed about and it honestly still hasn’t completely sunk in yet since it’s only been two weeks. It’s already hands down the hardest job I’ve had yet, but the most rewarding. Before sharing Landon’s Birth Story, I just want to start by saying that I know everyone’s story is different. I’m by no means trying to scare anyone or compare yours to mine. The point of this post is to just share my own experience with you all! And just to warn you – this post will be long and contain some graphic detail.
On November 4th, two days before Landon’s arrival, I started to feel contractions that evening after dinner. It felt like mild period cramping that was uncomfortable but bearable. The pain would come and go, and when I timed it from when it started to when it came back, it was not consistent. I immediately googled it and it said that it seemed like “early labor” signs so I just took a Tylenol and went to sleep. The contractions continued through the night and then the following morning of the 5th they started to get worse. I noticed they were now more continuous and started to be consistent (about 7-10 minutes apart). It was now 12 am at the time and I was pacing, contemplating what I should do. At my prior OB appointment, they told me the right time to head to the hospital would be when the contractions were 4-5 minutes apart for 1-2 hours. They were not like that yet, so I tried to go back to sleep and wait it out. Around 4:30 am the contractions started to get even more intense to where I couldn’t walk and had to stop, bend over and sway my hips for relief. I started to time them and they were about 5-6 minutes apart. I called my midwife and she said to head to the hospital so they can check me out to see if I was really in labor and not still “early laboring”.
When we got to the hospital, I went into Triage and they started to monitor my contractions and said that I was only 2cm dilated. This was considered early labor and they asked me to wait an hour and would check again to see if I was progressing. During that hour when they were checking my vitals/contractions, they noticed the baby’s heart rate was dipping with some of the contractions. Because of this and already being passed my due date, they decided to get me to the Labor and Delivery area to start talking about my options. When I got into the room, they said that they wanted to monitor my contractions, dilations, and see how the baby does within a couple of hours. If I wasn’t dilating on my own then they were going to have to induce me, which I didn’t want at all. So for the next 3 hours, I tried everything – walking, using the birthing ball, drinking A TON of water, etc. Each time they checked me, I started to dilate more and more and became 6cm around 1 pm. Then at 2pm, the contractions were so bad that I started crying in pain and asked for the epidural. The epidural was literally heaven and I immediately felt SO much relief, to the point where I couldn’t even feel the contractions anymore. At this time they also decided to break my water to speed labor up since it didn’t break on its own.
It took me a while to continue to dilate and then finally around 8pm I was dilated to 10cm, with contractions every 2-3 minutes, and that’s when I started pushing. I pushed for about 20 minutes but the doctors noticed that my contractions were starting to not be as consistent or strong, so they told me to wait a couple more hours when the baby was lower and my contractions were consistent and closer apart. They encouraged me to take a small dose of the induction med (Pitocin) to speed up the process and also said that if things didn’t change I might need a c-section. They continued to check my vitals and the baby for the next 4 hours – and at around 1:15 am it was time to start pushing again. This was when things started to get a little scary. During the pushing, they said again that the baby’s heart rate started dropping with some of the contractions so we needed to get the baby out as soon as possible, which could mean a c-section. Since the baby was low enough, they ended up deciding to use a technique called “Vacuum Extraction” instead of a c-section. For this, they had to attach a soft cup with a handle and vacuum pump to the baby’s head to help guide him out and get him out quick.
It all happened so fast and before I knew it, at 1:48 am, the doctors laid little Landon on my chest and it was love at first sight. While that was happening, the doctor told me that unfortunately from the delivery, I acquired a lot of tearing. It was considered a 4th-degree tear to be exact, which is the worst one you can get. I asked how many stitches and they just responded with ‘a lot’! Luckily, the epidural was still in full force so I couldn’t really feel any of the stitching and just enjoyed my first moments with Landon and Dan as a family of 3!
As far as my postpartum recovery, it was pretty rough in the beginning. I was in a lot of pain due to the degree of the tearing. Luckily, taking pain medication helped but it was still hard to walk, go to the bathroom and sit without being in pain. On top of the tearing, I was having breastfeeding struggles since Landon wasn’t latching well. I was being stubborn and kept trying to make breastfeeding work, even though I was in pain. After watching so many YouTube videos and researching, I realized this was something I couldn’t figure out on my own. We ended up calling a well-known, local Lactation Consultant to help. She came to our house that same night and gave me great “in the moment” advice and even showed me how to use my pump. If any of you reading this are having breastfeeding struggles, I HIGHLY recommend calling a lactation consultant to help. It was the best decision I’ve made and now breastfeeding has been so much easier and pain-free! Now being two weeks postpartum, I am feeling much more like myself. I’ve stopped taking pain medication due to the pain not being as intense. It’s still mild but much more bearable. The key for me during these past two weeks has been to continue to resume my daily activities. For example, I make sure to get up, take a shower and get ready. This little bit of “me time” makes a huge difference in my mood and makes me feel more productive and like myself. No matter how tough the new transition of being a mom has been, It’s all worth it when I see Landon’s little face each morning.
I hope this helped bring any insights into my labor story and as always never hesitate to reach out to me with questions!
Some of my favorite products during these postpartum weeks:
I think you did a fantastic job bringing Landon into the world! So thankful you both are happy and healthy.