My due date was the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 27. I knew from the beginning that I wouldn’t have my baby until after that date so I wasn’t surprised when Thanksgiving day came and went. Somehow I knew that I would be having a December baby. On that first of December and the baby still hadn’t come, i was started to get incredibly anxious. I felt like I would be pregnant forever and there were no signs that the baby was getting closer to coming. I was scheduled for a non-stress test due to low fluid levels and at that point, i was getting scared that something was wrong. Deep down, i knew that everything was fine, but after having a complication-free pregnancy, hearing the words “we just want to make sure your baby is okay,” i was very nervous. The tests were great and the baby is happy and everything looked just fine.
I had made arrangements to work from home until the baby came so on Monday, Dec. 2, I woke up, worked and had a fairly normal day. Another non-stress test in the afternoon and again, everything looked great.
On Tuesday morning I woke up around 6 to start working. I had been having braxton hicks contractions off and on for days but this particular morning, they felt different. More intense. More regular. I decided not to work and instead, i started tracking my contractions. 10 minute apart. Okay, that’s still pretty far. Mason was scheduled to go to work at 10 but I told him that he should probably stay home. He asked me if I was in labor. I wasn’t sure so my response was, “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure we are going to have a baby today.” He smiled and called into work.
I got in the shower and got myself ready for the day. I was still tracking my contractions. Still 10 minutes apart, regularly. Every once in a while they would jump to being 3 minutes apart, then 5, then 7 and back up to 10. I packed my hospital bag, got the baby’s last minute items and packed a few things for Mason while he watched “Sargent Bilco” on Netflix. I only saw parts of it, but that show is weird!
Once I was ready, I called the on-call midwife. I didn’t really know what to say and felt kinda silly calling and when the receptionist answered, all i could say was “I think I’m in labor”. She got my name and said the midwife would call me back. I was super hungry at this point so Mason went and got some pizza for lunch. Hawaiian, my favorite. The midwife called me back and asked me to come into the office to get checked to see if i was in fact, in labor. We left the house around 12:15pm, bags in tow, just in case.
The office was quiet and I remember feeling pretty nervous. There was only one receptionist working at the time because it was lunch and it was taking a really long time. As we were waiting in line another couple came in and asked if they could go ahead of us. The man explained that his wife was in labor. Before I knew it, we had moved out of the way and let them go ahead of us but the whole time i stood there thinking, “I’m in labor too!” Eventually, we made our way back to the midwife. She checked me and the results were in. I was in labor, but it was slow. It could still be a while. I was dilated to a 4.5 and about 90% effaced. My options were a)stay at the clinic for half an hour and then get checked again b)go to the hospital and most likely be admitted and have to wait out my contractions there or c)go home, labor in my own environment and go to the hospital when my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart. We chose option C.
Because the hospital is so close to my in-laws, we decided to go there. At this point my hips were starting to open up and the pain in my hips was so intense. I was pacing around the house, leaning over, bouncing on an exercise ball, trying to do anything to get this pain to ease up. Nothing was working. Mason was feeling helpless but I honestly didn’t know what he could do to help.
Around 3:30, i finally gave in and told Mason that it was time to go to the hospital. He gave me blessing to have strength and stamina and as soon as he was finished, i felt ready.
The first big storm of the year was coming in and the low pressure had sent a lot of women into labor. The L&D floor was full and I was asked to wait in a triage room to be monitored before being admitted. I was hooked onto the machine and we sat in that room, watching Seinfeld and listening to the rhythmic thump-dump of the baby’s heart. I laid on that hard bed for what felt like forever. All I wanted to do was get up and move but with the monitors on my belly, I was afraid that even the slightest movement would set the alarm off. I was also having the most intense heartburn. Pizza for lunch was not a good idea. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I was not going to be able to have the baby with this pizza in my stomach and i asked Mason for a barf bag. Surprisingly, I felt so much better after getting the pizza out of my stomach. The midwife on call came to see me. I had never met her before, which made me nervous but she was great and after talking with her for a few minutes, i felt totally comfortable and that i was in good hands.
Around 5:30, I was checked again and had progressed to a 5. I was officially admitted to the hospital and taken into a labor and delivery room. I saw that the room had a tub and I really wanted to get in but the pain in my hips was too much. I was kneeling on the bed with my bum in the air doing anything i could to relieve the pressure in my hips. At this point, I was in a lot of pain. I knew i was progressing but I was about to the point where I wanted to give up. I wanted relief. I was exhausted.
My midwife came in to check me and just before I was going to lay down, a hot gush of water ran down my belly. “I think my water just broke,” I said. I was checked and sure enough, my water had broker and i was on my way. The midwife was assisting another woman who was about to deliver and went to check on her. 10 minutes had gone by and when she came back, I had the sudden urge to push. “I think I need to push!” I said. My midwife checked me. I was fully expecting to hear to say that i was at a 6 or 7 but when she asked me, “How far away is your photographer?” I was completely shocked. “Is it time?!” I said in surprise. “YEP!” she said with a smile. Things were about to get real.
Mason called Hannah and told her to come to hospital. She was about 5 minutes away and I had to wait for her to get there to start pushing. I hardly remember Hannah coming in but as soon as she was there, I started pushing. With each contraction I gritted my teeth and pushed with all my might. Mason was such a good coach and told me how good i was doing. He stroked my hair and held my leg. The nurse assisting me held my other leg when I was too weak to hold it up any more. My midwife encouraged me and told me to slow down my breathing when I started to pant and breathe too fast. Mason looked me in the eye and told me how close I was, that he could see the baby’s head.
With each push, the pressure built. 30 minutes in, i knew the baby was close. I was crowning, the baby’s head was nearly out. More contractions, more pushing. Nothing. I was breathing too heavy, I couldn’t catch my breath, I was starting to panic. All of the sudden, it was as if the room went silent and all I could hear was my name being called, it was my midwife, “Lindsey” she said, “take a deep breath and push as hard as you can!” I did exactly what she said. I gathered up all the energy I had left, I took a deep breath, and I pushed. I pushed harder than I had ever pushed before suddenly and all at once, the pain subsided and at 7:32 on the first Tuesday in December, he was here. “It’s a boy!” Mason said. I had asked that Mason be the one to announce the gender, but I already knew. Somehow I knew I was having a boy from the beginning but hearing Mason say those words, with tears streaming down his face, is something I will never forget. Our precious boy, perfect and pink. He was laid on my chest and i was in complete shock. Had I really just given birth to this tiny little person? He was so small but had the biggest hands, the wrinkliest skin, and the scrunchiest face when he cried. His head was covered with a thin layer of dark brown hair and his eyes were dark, just like the nights sky. As soon as I saw him, I knew his name. Milo. Milo, my precious baby. My whole world. He came in weighing 7lbs 4oz and was 18 inches long. He was the most perfect baby I had ever seen.
Seeing Mason hold Milo for the first time was the sweetest thing. You could see the love in his eyes and Milo was looking up at his dad like he has known him for ages. From the moment he was born, the two of them have had a special bond. The three of us laid on the bed together and took in the events that had just taken place. it was a whirlwind. It was the longest 13 hours of my life but it all happened so fast. We are parents, he is our son. We are a family.
