Emma’s Birth Story

Emma's Birth StoryI still can’t believe she’s here. One day you’re pregnant wishing for the end, and the next day your sweet little muffin is here, and all you want to do is hold her and stare at her beautiful face. I never shared Noah’s birth story on the blog, but so many of you guys have been following along during my pregnancy, that I wanted to share Emma’s birth story with you.

If you’ve been following a long during my pregnancy you know that I was dealing with SPD and Sciatic Pain during my third trimester. I was ready to give birth so the pain would go away, and so I could start to feel normal again. There were days when I could barely walk, and I was starting to get really frustrated.

Emma's Birth Story

During one of my check ups, my doctor mentioned the idea of getting induced a few days before Emma’s due date since I was in so much pain. She said she didn’t have a problem inducing me after 39 weeks because this was my second pregnancy, and I’d already had a healthy delivery the first time around with Noah. Granted, Noah was 10 days late when I was induced the last time around (he was a huge baby, 9 lbs, 5 oz).

We decided to move forward with planning the induction for 39 weeks and 4 days. This way we could plan on having my mother-in-law in town to look after Noah, and I could go into labor a few days early, and not go way past my due date like I did with Noah. I was comfortable with being induced, because I did it with Noah, so I knew what to expect.

Emma's Birth Story

In all honesty, I didn’t think I would make it do my induction date. I went into the doctor the week before my induction date, and was measuring 3 cm. I was having contractions often, and my doctor didn’t think I would make it either. Sure enough, Emma held on until the next week when we headed to the hospital to get induced. It’s crazy because I spent so many hours googling “How To Know If You’re In Labor” because I thought I was in labor so many times. I would always freak out thinking I would be delivering my baby in the car on the way to the hospital like every mom does.

We arrived to the hospital on Tuesday at 11 am. We felt so prepared, and ready to meet baby girl. We even packed a cooler of healthy snacks. When you’re induced, you have the opportunity to actually wake up, take a shower, do your hair, pack your bag, and head off to the hospital feeling prepared. The counter side to being induced is actually knowing “today is the day”… it’s kind of an odd feeling.

Emma's Birth Story

One we were in our room, we met with our nurse. Hands down to all of the labor and delivery nurses out there. You are literally amazing! We discussed my labor last time around, and chatted about how we wanted things to go this time around. With Noah, once they broke my water things got intense. Contractions came on really strong, and I was asking for the epidural. Our plan with Emma was to start pitocin around 11:30 am, and break my water around 1:00 pm. I decided I wanted to get the epidural right before they broke my water, since it was so painful last time around.

I felt the epidural going in much more this time around, because I wasn’t dealing with contractions yet. It was an odd feeling, and the anesthesiologist kept moving the needle around to get it into the right place… which wasn’t the best feeling either. I was a little worried that it wouldn’t work right because he seemed to have trouble getting it into place, but it worked, and I was worrying for nothing (like us moms do, lol).

Emma's Birth Story

Once I got the epidural, we continuously upped my pitocin level by 2 every so often which brought on stronger contractions. Quickly after I got the epidural, we had a bit of a scare. My blood pressure dropped, scarily low. Take into consideration that I normally have a low blood pressure, but this was scary low. My nurse said it was the lowest she had ever seen. Not only did my blood pressure drop to 57/28 (yikes), but I also had terrible labor shakes. The shakes were so bad that my jaw was in really bad pain. I had to have oxygen & more fluids to bring my blood pressure back up.

Once I got the epidural this caused my blood vessels to really relax and my veins to get bigger so therefore it caused my pressure to drop. To fight this, they started to give me something through my IV to tighten my blood vessels back up. I’m not sure why this happened, because it didn’t happen with Noah, but my body reacted differently to the epidural this time around. This is a rare side effect, so don’t worry that it will happen to you, but for some reason it was just my experience this time around.

Emma's Birth Story

This actually happened again when my blood pressure dropped really low, and they had to provide oxygen. It happened when I felt like I needed to switch positions, so I did, which brought the same problem on again. After the epidural evened out, I went from 3 cm-10cm in 4 hours. Since I had the epidural, I didn’t really feel the major contractions. I just felt some tingling and a little pressure.

Emma's Birth Story

I knew I was at 10 cm and ready to push, when I started feeling the pressure of actually needing to push. Once I was ready to push, Emma was ready to join us. I started to push through the first contraction. We counted to 10 while I was pushing, and once we got to 5 I felt like I was going to be sick if I kept pushing so I had to halt for a second while I got sick. I wanted to push her out, so we tried again. We counted to 5 while I pushed, and I got sick again. The third time I pushed and got sick, she came out. The puking actually helped push her out (gross, I know… but it worked). She probably would have come out during the first push, if I wasn’t afraid to push because of getting sick.

Her delivery was SO much easier than Noah’s. It was insane how fast she came. This time around I also had no tearing, which means no stitches, yay! With Noah I tore and had stitches which was no fun. I obviously could have done without the low blood pressure freak out (that was honestly a bit scary), but other than that Emma’s delivery was really smooth. Emma was born at 7 lbs 14 oz, compared to Noah being born at 9 lbs 5 oz. So her being smaller also made things a little easier.

Emma's Birth Story

As soon as she was out, I was able to hold her skin to skin, and she latched really quickly (Sing Praises!). Noah was taken to the NICU right after labor, because they feared he would get Chorioamnionitis, because my temperature went up during labor (basically 2-4% of full-term babies actually get this, so it was honestly silly to even take him to the NICU. Looking back at it, I would have told them no, but I was a first time mom, and had no clue. So unfortunately we didn’t get to have that breastfeeding bond from the beginning, which was possibly why we struggled to get his latch down in the beginning weeks. I feel so fortunate that Emma was able to latch, and that we’ve been able to breastfeed quicker this time around (even though it still kills most times, thank heavens for nipple butter)! I just picked up the Earth Mama Nipple Butter, and it’s actually been more helpful than the Lanolin, so grab this if you haven’t already!

Emma's Birth Story

I had Dylan in the room, and also my sister. It was nice to have them both there for me, especially during the spats with low blood pressure. My sister was awesome at massaging my head when I was having the labor shakes, and Dylan was a constant support system. He always remains calm, collected, and strong during times of craziness. He’s my rock, for sure.

Thanks for all of your sweet messages over on Instagram, and Facebook following Emma’s birth. You guys are the best! I have some content ready to go for the next two weeks that I worked on before she arrived, and I’ll also be adding in some real-time blog posts along the way as well. But for now, it’s time for some more sweet newborn snuggles.

MY HOSPITAL MUST-HAVES

XO,

Lee Anne

11 Comments

  1. Sofia on September 5, 2017 at 9:43 am

    Lee, thank you so much for sharing your precious moments! This is what i call miracle – a true gift, unconditional love and pure happiness!! Wishing you all the best! Emma is so adorable! It reminds me of my 2 girls deliveries.. I am blessed to have them in my life!

    • Lee Anne on September 6, 2017 at 9:36 am

      Thanks so much Sofia! It’s so nice to finally have her on the outside and home with us 🙂

  2. Ruthie Ridley on September 5, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    Love this so much mama!! Thank you for sharing this with us!!! She is everything!! So happy for your sweet family!!!

    • Lee Anne on September 6, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Thanks so much Ruthie!!

  3. Brittany on September 5, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    LOVED reading your story! Congrats to your little family, she is absolutely beautiful and I’m sure Noah will be the best big brother! xoxo

    • Lee Anne on September 6, 2017 at 9:37 am

      Awe thank you Brittany! Noah is a big fan already 🙂

  4. Ashley on September 5, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    I SO love reading these! That’s so scary about your blood pressure!! I’m glad it seemed to have recovered alright. Mine is always low too, and I can’t imagine. Isn’t it funny how we all have totally different birth stories, every time? That’s probably why I love reading them, it’s always an epic adventure! I was inspired to write my own daughter’s down for posterity awhile ago, because of all of other epic birth stories out there (warning that it’s long, but it’s at http://www.growingspangs.com/2016/09/19/olivias-birth-story/ if anyone wants another to read). I didn’t mention my Sciatica and heartburn though…seriously, I get you girl.
    Thank you for sharing all of that excitement! And I second on that NICU…I really didn’t want that experience. So glad Emma was term and so healthy!

    • Lee Anne on September 6, 2017 at 9:33 am

      Thanks so much Ashley! I love reading other birth stories too! Everyone’s is so different!

  5. Melissa on September 6, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    You are such a strong women!! Can’t wait to meet her , we love you

  6. Megan on September 23, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    Thanks for sharing Lee!! Did you have sciatica pain before you were pregnant? I have lower back pain flare ups and I’m so scared that when I do get pregnant it’s going to intensify. I have been loving all your insta stories about your motherhood adventures, #keepingitreal!!

    • Lee Anne on September 24, 2017 at 8:46 pm

      Hi Megan-

      I didn’t have sciatic pain before pregnancy actually. And thanks for your sweet words about my motherhood adventures! It’s fun to share and connect with so many other moms out there!

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