I am so excited to share my birth story with you. It was such an experience and I am just glad that everything went according to plan. On 10/24 at 1:05am a healthy baby girl was born. Here is how she entered the world…

On the evening of 10/22- I noticed some abdominal discomfort that was coming and going. That day I was running errands and had been on my feet all day. I remember talking to one of my best friends and mentioning that I was feeling crampy but thought it was just braxton hicks contractions. I was 39 weeks pregnant and I knew that she could come any day. But I went home and did things as usual. I even attended my virtual prenatal yoga class that evening. But then I realized that the crampiness was now coming at regular intervals and become harder to ignore. I didn’t want to panic but I felt like this could be it.

I cautiously told my husband what I was feeling and he prompted me to call the doctor. I told him I will wait a while to see what happens because I didn’t want it to be a false alarm. I took a shower and tried to rest but the cramping got more intense. I called my doctor around 1am on 10/23 and she said it sounds like I am starting labor and that I can come in whenever I wanted. She was fine with me laboring at home at long as possible but said once I find it very difficult to breath through the contractions to come in.

By 7am I told my husband let’s go. I couldn’t sleep the entire night. Contractions were coming at regular intervals of 5-8 minutes. Plus we had an hour long commute to the hospital so I didn’t want to cut it too close. Feeling both nervous & excited, we made our way to meet our little princess.

The Hospital

We got to the hospital and I was only 2.5cm. Say what?!?!? I thought I was much further along especially after being 1cm for the past 2 weeks! They said they would give me some time and re-check me. I walked around the room, bounced on the yoga ball, did squats- anything to open me up and encourage dilation. 2 hours later I progressed to 3.5cm and I was officially admitted.

Progress was slow but every time they checked me there was at least some dilation (like 1/2 cm). They allowed me to have intermittent monitoring so I can move around. I did hip opening yoga postures, I put music on and danced a little bit. I was determined to keep moving to hopefully get baby to drop more. Hubby was there encouraging me every step of the way.

By 6pm- I was only 5cm. I was feeling like I had such a long way to go. I didn’t know if I could make it. After seeing my disappointment, my doctor offered me an epidural. But I really wanted to stick with my birth plan of going natural. I decided to stick it out a little more.

Out of nowhere- POP- my water breaks. This was only minutes after the nurse gave me the peanut ball. Once that happened, I was in ALOT of pain. The small breaks that I was getting between contractions were no longer. The doctor checked me and I was just 6cm. They offered me the epidural again and I truly considered it this time. But I said I will hold on a little longer until I truly couldn’t bear it anymore. The time was about 11pm.

The Home Stretch

By now I was no longer able to walk around the room. I was barely able to sit up on my own anymore. My husband sat right next to me placing cold compresses on my forehead and replacing the warm compress on my lower belly. Some people have ‘back’ labor- I felt it where I would normally feel menstrual cramps but 10x worse! I was literally passing out between contractions. The combination of sheer exhaustion and the pain was gruesome. But I kept telling myself that I can do this and that my body is made for this!

Out of nowhere again- a SUDDEN, INTENSE urge to push came upon me. It was so intense that I shouted out. It literally scared me. My husband panicked as I shouted at him to call the nurse. THE BABY WAS COMING!!!

My doctor was on call that night and left the building. The nurse who was certified to do cervical checks went ahead to check and said the head was ‘right there’. Oh gosh. And the doctor was not there. They lowered the head of the bed and told me to breathe through it and try NOT to push. This was the absolute worst. It felt like a bowling ball was trying to come out of me but I couldn’t let it out lol. At some moments I found myself pushing involuntarily because my body just took over. I honestly thought the nurses were going to be delivering my baby.

After what felt like an eternity (turns out it was actually like 5 min), my doctor arrived ready to go. The first push- I was a mess. Wiggling all over the place and trying to close my legs lol. I had no idea what I was doing and it was the strangest feeling ever. The doctor looked at me with a serious look and basically told me that I needed to stop playing around haha! She coached me on how to push and I pushed like my life depended on it with each contraction. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. No one could have prepared me for that PUSH. I focused, held my legs back and let it all go. After 3 more pushes she made it earth side.

She’s Here!

The sound of her crying voice was everything. Seeing my daughter for the first time was amazing. I couldn’t believe I did it. Even though it’s been done a thousand times before it feels like I did something no one else has done. Kira Olivia Taylor born 10/24/20 at 1:05am weighing 7lbs 2.6oz and 20.5 inches. This is my birth story. We thank God for it all.