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May 19, 2017

Finn’s Birth Story | Birth Center to Hospital Transfer

My Birth Story

This is the story of Finn’s birth. This is also the story of the hardest day (and a half) of my life. Almost two years ago I experienced the most exhausting and humbling 36 hours of my life. My whole world was completely changed after my first birth experience. I hope you enjoy reading our story:

family hospital birth

My “due date” was May 14th, 2015, which was a Thursday. Everyone throughout my pregnancy told me that they thought my baby would come early. Even though I KNEW that most first time moms go past their due date, I had let them all convince me and I was met with disappointment as my “due date” came and went. I had had some contractions a few nights in a row, but they’d always fizzle out by morning. By now it was Tuesday and I was emotional and impatient. No matter how much you learn about due dates and how inaccurate they can be, those last couple of weeks are HARD!

On Tuesday (five days past my due date), I had spent a nice day at home and gotten some good rest. Around 3pm, I lost my mucus plug! I know, it sounds quite disgusting, but it’s a good sign that things are happening and labor may start soon so I was SO excited! About 30 minutes later, sporadic contractions started and I asked Vaughan to pick up dinner and come straight home after work. We ate our Chili’s takeout (with my mom who was in town) and watched Friends – I’ll never forget the excitement as we ate our last dinner before baby!!

Early Labor

Around 8pm, the contractions began to get stronger and much harder to deal with. As we had learned in our Birthing From Within course, I started to breath through each wave and use low “moaning” sounds to keep myself from freaking out. I leaned on Vaughan through each contraction and imagined my baby moving down – such a helpful visualization!

We decided to call the midwife and she recommended that I rest, drink a glass of wine, and take a bath. At the time, I did not want to be “drowsy” during labor and felt like drinking a glass of wine was a bad idea (lesson learned: always listen to your midwife!). I got in the tub and tried to rest in between my contractions – it helped a bit but I started to get overheated.

We labored at home for about 12 hours. I tried to put on some makeup (we hired a birth photographer and I wanted to look my “best” haha) and ate a popsicle and half of a peanut butter sandwich (funny side note: my sister went to our house to pick up some stuff for us later and apparently, we left the tub full of water and half the peanut butter sandwich on the counter. I guess we were really ready to get going! Haha). By 2:30am, we felt like things were picking up and we met the midwife at the birth center around 4am. The contractions were 3 minutes apart during the 40 minute car ride – one of the hardest parts of my labor!

At The Birth Center

birth center labor

When we arrived at Baby + Co, the midwife checked to see how dilated I was. I remember feeling like I was holding my breath waiting to heart how far I’d progressed. When she told me I was only at 2cm, I felt more disappointment than I think I’d ever felt in my life before. Everyone kept telling me that I was 90% effaced and that was the “hard part,” but I just remember feeling like I should’ve been SO much further along at that point. I think I would refuse cervical checks with any future pregnancies. They can be such a huge disappointment and a misleading guide.

Even with the disappointed, I brushed it off and decided we were going to kick it into high gear! The midwives were nice enough to let me stay and labor (even though we couldn’t “officially” be admitted) so that’s what we did. We walked and I drank a protein smoothie and I did lunges and sat on the ball and got in the tub. Things were happening!

At 8am I had to receive an IV of Penicillin because I had tested positive for Group B Strep. If you know me, you know that I am awful with needles and had been really worried about getting the IV. So to help deal with it, I used some Nitrous Oxide. This was a wonderful option that they had at our birth center! They even had to try a few times to get the IV in and I barely noticed. The nitrous took the edge off and helped me so much!

baby and company labor

Active Labor

My favorite spot was in the shower on the birth ball. Vaughan held the water sprayer over my belly as the shower head sprayed water on my back. I would lean over the bar as the contractions hit and I’m pretty sure I could’ve stayed in there forever! Poor Vaughan got yelled at if he tried to move or take a break, though – don’t mess with a woman in labor! ;)

After a loop around the building, the midwife checked me and I was at 5cm (around 9am). At this point, I started to feel totally overwhelmed and felt like giving up. I couldn’t believe I was only halfway there! It took everything in me to focus on getting through each contraction one at a time. I knew I needed rest so I decided to lay down. While it was nice to get a tiny bit of sleep in between contractions, I would wake up in the middle of them (at the worst part) and they were much harder to deal with while laying down. By 11:15am, my contractions were 4 minutes apart lasting 2 minutes each.

Around noon, I started to tell Vaughan that I just needed a break. I knew that the only way to get a break was to get an epidural, and quietly considered it, but never said anything out loud. At 2pm I was checked again and was still at 5cm. That was the moment when I felt completely defeated. I had not progressed in 5 hours and I felt like there was no light at the end of this tunnel. I remember telling our midwife that I needed something to work towards, some kind of hope. I’m not sure what I wanted her to say to me, but I was desperate.

baby and company cary

birth center transferTransfer to The Hospital

After about 24 hours of labor, our midwife sat down and talked to us about the option of moving to the hospital to get an epidural so I could get some sleep. She thought that if my body could rest, labor may progress a lot more. This was the beginning of the break down of our birth plan. We decided to take her advice and were admitted to the hospital at 3:30pm. I was crying, Vaughan was crying, my mother-in-law and mom were crying. It was emotional and scary but it’s what I needed at the time.

labor outside hospitalwakemed cary laborhospital checkin labor

I don’t remember walking into my room at the hospital or changing into a hospital gown. I had pretty much mentally given up at this point. Once the decision was made to get pain medication, it’s like I couldn’t handle the pain for another minute. I laid in the hospital bed and let the contractions wash over me for about 2 hours before the anesthesiologist was available to place the epidural.

After I received the epidural, my family came in to say hello and it was so nice to see them. We were able to rest and now it was just a waiting game until we got to meet our baby! At some point, they started Pitocin and broke my water (details get a bit fuzzy after 2 years!) and things were moving along. When my water was broken, they found meconium (which means baby pooped in while still in my uterus). Because of that, they would have to monitor him closely after he arrived which most likely meant no immediate skin-to-skin.

hospital laborepidurallabor hospital friendhospital epidural

 

Finn’s Arrival

As we got closer to meeting our baby, the contractions were getting really strong. They were so strong that I got sick even though I couldn’t feel them! We watched the monitor and rested when we could and basically just waited until it was time to push! Around 2am, my midwife said that I could try pushing if I wanted to – of course I did!

This is the one time during my labor when something actually happened quickly! I pushed for about 40 minutes and FINALLY found out we had a SON!! My Finn bug was born healthy and perfect. When they finally laid him on my chest (after making sure he hadn’t swallowed any meconium), it was the most perfect moment of my life. I rubbed his tiny back and everything else faded away.

pushing stage of laborhospital birth pushingbaby born hospitalhusband wife hospitalnewborn baby warmernewborn baby boyskin to skin hospitalFinn Harrison Thomas – Born at 2:55am

7 lbs. 12 oz. | 21.25 inches long

Vaughan got to go out to the waiting room and tell everyone that we have a BOY! I wish I could’ve been there but I’m so happy to have these photos! We’ll definitely announce it differently next time :)

hospital waiting roomhospital birth newborndad and baby in hospitalmom and baby in hospitalnewborn eyelashesnewborn baby boy

After such a long labor a huge change in our birth “plan,” I struggled for a long time. I couldn’t accept my “birth story” and felt like I’d given up. This is where God found me and pulled me back up. If it weren’t for this very experience, I don’t know where I’d be and I really mean that. I came to know Jesus through all of this and for that I’m so grateful.

Even so, it took over a year to really move past it. I had so much guilt surrounding my experience, but eventually realized that it’s something that can help me someday. It’s a tool in my tool belt now. I know what I want, what I don’t want, and how to feel empowered through it all. I hope this will help someone in a similar situation. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like to talk!

Click HERE if you’d like to listen to me share my story on The Birth Hour podcast!

All images by Amanda of Raleigh Birth Photography!

  1. […] that I went to the Baby + Co. in Cary when I was pregnant with my son (read the full birth story here) so I have a soft spot in my heart for all of the ladies involved in this amazing […]

  2. […] pink lines back in June of 2017, I started to pray for a better birth experience this time around. Finn’s birth was not what we planned or hoped for and it took me a long time to come to terms with it. We hoped […]

  3. […] the birth of my first son, I started to go back over the events of our labor and thinking through what I could do differently […]

  4. […] I do them justice and don’t forget any of the details. You can read Finn’s birth story HERE and Rory’s […]

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