Brooklyn’s Birth Story

Well here we are! I’m just going to start off by saying I HAD A BABY!!!! Ahhhhh! I’ve always dreamed of this moment and here it is. I still can’t believe I officially have a Birth Story! What a whirlwind it was and I’m here to share all about it. Heads up that there may be some TMI moments but if you’ve chosen to read this I’m assuming you’re interested in the real stuff.

A quick thank you to all that prayed for us and encouraged us during pregnancy and delivery! We have the most amazing support system and we are so grateful!

Due date

If you’ve followed along on our journey, you know that Baby Brooklyn was taking her sweet time to meet us! We were excited and expectant for her arrival. I personally thought that she would surprise us early and Ramiro thought she would come a couple days late. Her due date (Aug 3) came and went. The Wednesday after her due date I was still 1 cm dilated. So we scheduled to be induced the following Wednesday. I tried alllllll the labor inducing tricks. Walking, curb walking, eating spicy, eating pineapple, bouncing on my birth ball and all the others that I won’t say! Nothing worked! So we just continued to wait patiently. The Monday before, I had to go into the hospital to get tested for COVID. This is one of the safety guidelines in place to protect us during delivery.

Induction Day

We woke up on Aug 12 knowing that it could be the day that changes our whole world. Even though I was praying to go into labor naturally, I have to admit that it was pretty nice to know when it was going to happen. We woke up at a decent time, made pancakes from scratch, and tidied up the house. The office said they would call me between 11 am and 5pm to let me know when they were ready for me. Thats such a big window! So I wanted to keep busy. At 11:30 we got the call and we’re asked to be there in an hour. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening! We got dressed and did some last minute things before heading out. We made it on time and were brought straight to labor and delivery. I met my first nurse and things got started.

1:30 pm – When she checked, I was about 2 cm and not very soft (here comes the TMI). So they used a pill to help me progress. They planned to check back in 4 hours to see how things were. Those four hours were pretty chill. We watched Friends and spent the last moments just the two of us.

5:30 pm – After 4 hours passed, my doctor came in and said it was time to start the Pitocin. She broke my water (which was the weirdest feeling) and started the meds. For those that don’t know, Pitocin is used to help start contractions since your body isn’t doing it on its own. One of the main differences between labor starting naturally and getting induced is how quickly the strong contractions come. When your labor starts on its own, your contractions gradually get stronger over a couple of hours. When you get induced, the contractions come pretty quickly and increase in strength faster. And that’s exactly what happened. I had done my part to prepare for what to expect so I followed everything I learned (I’ll add my resources at the end)

I’ve always thought that I’d be the one with a worship playlist playing and a super peaceful delivery. But when it came down to it, I wanted to watch the movie Baby Mama and all the pregnancy episodes of the office! Haha. I tried to make jokes about sneezing and the baby coming out quickly! That’s not necessarily how it worked but it kept me happy. After about an hour, contractions really picked up and I needed to start focusing when they came. I can’t even explain how they felt. Ramiro was the absolute best. He helped with pain management as I sat on the birthing ball. He kept encouraging me that I could do it.

We kept it going for 6 HOURS! Contractions would come and go and the space between got shorter and shorter. I worked on resting between them and breathing through them.

11:30 pm – My nurse came in to see how much more I had progressed and said I was 5cm. Only 5CM! Ramiro encouraged me that I was doing great but it was ok if I wanted an epidural. At that point, I knew it would be best for me to request an epidural. Something I really didn’t want to do but I knew I needed a break. About 10 minutes later the anesthesiologist came in to give me the shot. Let me tell you… it hurts! The pain of the epidural was just as strong as a contraction. But it’s just for a moment rather than the ongoing pain of contractions. Within minutes, I felt this amazing relief. I could finally breathe and relax! Once I settled down I was about to rest and fell asleep. Around 2:30 the nurse came in and I finally made it to 8CM.

3:30 am – 10 CM and it’s go time! It was a party in my room and nurses that didn’t even have to be there wanted to stay! Haha. My nurse started to coach me on pushing before the doctor made his way in. Since I had an epidural, I couldn’t feel anything so I had to take direction from the team rather than following my body. After a few practice pushes everyone got into place. One surprise was that our nurse got Ramiro involved in the process. Not something we expected but such an amazing experience! He saw EVERYTHING! Haha. He held my legs and my head and pretty much worked as a nurse. He jokes that he’s gonna send an invoice to the hospital because of all his hard work. Haha.

Something I was not expecting was to push for 2 HOURS! It took 2 hours to get her out. I did lots of research before but one thing I wish I would have known (ladies take note) is that when you’re pushing, the baby’s head needs to come out fully for them to pull it out. When you push, if the head just peaks through, they have to push it back in and you push again! Totally did not know that! If I would have known, I would have been even more determined to get her out.

5:31 – The last push… and she was here! The most indescribable moment. I felt like I was dreaming. I couldn’t believe we did it and she was here. The brought her to me for a moment and then took her to the side to make sure all was well. Within minutes she was back to me and we soaked in the moment. She was perfect! Chubby cheeks and a head full of hair. Ps. Everyone made such a big deal about her hair. Doctors and nurses kept talking about how much she had. Ha.

After a few hours we were brought to our postpartum room and did our best to rest. We were exhausted! We had a full day of visits from nurses, doctors, consultants, and getting testing done.

Because of COVID we weren’t allowed visitors from family or friends. It was really sad to think about But I have to say this. (It might be an unpopular opinion. Haha.) It was a blessing in disguise. I don’t know how woman have visitors after having a baby. When I say we were exhausted I’m not exaggerating. Between all the medical professionals, learning new born info, and learning to take care of my healing body, I would have had no energy to entertain people. Now this could possibly be because of my 12 hrs of labor and having her at 5:30 in the morning, but I don’t think I would have been able to enjoy visitors the way I thought. We had lots of FaceTime calls with family to meet!

On to the next.. haha. Our first official night was so hard! Even though we were still in the hospital, we were so tired from being awake for almost 48 hours. We tried to take turns napping since Brooklyn kept waking up but it was quite difficult!

Even though we were exhausted, we were so in love with our sweet baby girl. She was beautiful and I just wanted to stare at her all day. I love everything about her! She was a promise fulfilled from Jesus and we couldn’t be more grateful. (See our pregnancy journey HERE)

Delivery is an experience I hope to never forget. Although it was hard physically, it brought the best gift into our lives and I’d do it all over again 100 times if that meant that I’d get to take Brooklyn home with me! Below I’m going to share some of the Instagram profiles as well as websites that helped prepare me for delivery. Also, check back soon for my Postpartum experience blog! I’m gonna share all the details and tips on how I made it through! If you are about to give birth in the upcoming months or weeks, I’d highly suggest doing research to prepare yourself. Reminder that you can do this Mama!

BUILT TO BIRTH | Bridget Teyler – YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM

MAMA NATURAL | Genevieve Howland – WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM