Chase’s Birth Story: Part Two
Ryan and I arrived at the hospital at 4:45 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Ryan dropped me off and as he went to park the car, I waited for him in the lobby and paced around since it felt much better to walk around and move during my contractions than it did to sit down. The hospital security guard wished me luck and when I told him I was just really hoping this was the real deal, he laughed and told me about one woman who came to the hospital with labor pains three nights in a row before she had her baby. At this point, my contractions were strong enough for me to feel quite confident that I was in labor, but I was still nervous I’d be sent home because I wasn’t far enough along. The security guard’s story didn’t exactly give me a boost of confidence!
After we checked in and I signed some forms with the most wobbly signature in the world, we made our way to a delivery room and I was instructed to change into a hospital gown. My contractions continued to intensify and before the nurse came in, I told Ryan, “This seriously better be labor because I want these contractions to count toward something!”
I was then hooked up to a monitor and the nurse told me what I already knew: My contractions were very strong and coming every two minutes (or less) at this point. When the nurse asked me to rate my pain on a scale of 1 to 10, Ryan laughed because in the past, I told him that to me a level 10 on the pain scale is someone cutting off your finger. Ryan told me not to use my “severed finger scale,” but I told the nurse I was at around a seven and explained that the pain was increasing quickly. She then checked my cervix and told me I was only two centimeters dilated. I felt so discouraged and worried this would mean I would be sent home but the nurse told me she wanted to give me an hour and check me again since she had a feeling things were progressing quickly.
I spent the next 60 minutes walking around our room, groaning as the pain of my contractions started to completely overtake my body. (Do not be fooled by the smile in the above picture!) I never expected to be so vocal during labor but I could not stop moaning! I did my best to deal with contractions that began to feel closer and closer together and increasingly painful and while I always thought I’d be all about back massages and the birthing ball during labor, in the end, I wanted to be totally left alone to walk around and deal with the pain. Ryan kept asking what he could do to help but I was in my own little world and just wanted to groan my way through everything and try to figure out some way to make the pain less intense. (Not possible.)
An hour later, the nurse checked my cervix again and told me I progressed two centimeters over the course of the past hour. I was up to four centimeters at 6 a.m. and she assured me this was “go time!” HOORAY! Ryan then sent texts out to my family and our friends to keep them in the loop. Going into labor, I was already comfortable with the decision to have an epidural if I felt like I needed it at some point, so when the nurse brought up the option, I said yes and was given an IV and told I had to wait until the bag of fluids drained before my epidural could be administered. This took a while and I continued to do my best to deal with seriously painful contractions until around 7:30 a.m. when the anesthesiologist came in to give me an epidural. The pain relief was unbelievable and I was able to relax and rest for the next few hours after the nurse checked me again and told me I was up to 6 centimeters dilated.
At one point, I asked Ryan if I was allowed to just let myself pee because of the catheter they put in and he laughed and told me I already peed a few times now. Clearly I wasn’t feeling much down there at this point!
After a few hours, I spoke with my nurse and told her I thought my epidural might be wearing off a bit because I could feel my contractions again, though they were significantly less painful than they were before the epidural. My nurse told me this was a good thing and said that I’d likely soon be pushing whenever I felt a contraction coming on to get our baby out. I asked her a billion questions about what to expect, how to exactly to push (she said, “Like you’re trying to pass the biggest bowel movement of your life… Up and out!”) and how long she thought I could expect to push. She then checked me and her eyes lit up when she said, “Yep, you’re ready! Ten centimeters!”
At 11:20 a.m., my nurse encouraged me to try three “practice pushes” when my next contraction came on and after I did, she said, “Whoa! He’s coming right now!”
With that, more nurses began rushing into the room, along with my midwife who immediately sat down in front of me and, along with my nurse, coached me through more pushing as my doctor hurried into the room to join them.
I looked up at Ryan during a brief reprieve from pushing. He was gripping my left hand and we both said we could not believe this was happening. Ryan stayed up at my shoulders but when he told me he, too, could see our baby’s head, I saw his eyes absolutely light up and I felt a rush of emotions that were truly indescribable. I knew I was minutes away from meeting our baby and I felt more alive and alert than I ever have in my entire life. Our baby was right there. Ryan could see his little head and told me he had blonde hair! I couldn’t believe it!
At one point, my midwife told me to stop pushing and I heard her talking lowly to my doctor but I wasn’t focused on what they were saying, as I was wrapped up in talking to Ryan and my nurse. Apparently this pause in my pushing was due to the fact that the umbilical cord was wrapped around our baby’s neck. This was handled calmly and efficiently – so much so that I didn’t event know it happened until Ryan told me after birth.
When it was time for me to push again, I could feel significant pressure and knew the head was coming out. I pushed again and could feel our baby come into the world as I heard his cry. I immediately started to cry as I looked for my little boy and looked up at Ryan to see his eyes fill with tears.
Our baby was here!
At 11:35 a.m., after 15 minutes of pushing, I was holding Chase in my arms. I could not believe it and am pretty sure Ryan and I repeatedly turned to each other and said some variation of, “He’s here! He’s perfect! I can’t believe our baby is here!”
Immediate skin to skin contact was really important to me and I spent some time with our little boy on my chest as Ryan and I soaked in the sight of our beautiful baby boy. I kissed the top of his head more times than I could count and stared at his sweet face until it was time for him to get checked out by the nurses.
Ryan stood over him and watched everything while snapping pictures for me to see later. I asked him repeatedly how everything looked and both Ryan and the nurses assured me that Chase was alert and healthy.
Chase was then placed on the scale and when I asked how much he weighed, I was surprised to hear 5 pounds 10 ounces. A little peanut! I knew I was measuring small throughout my pregnancy and a 36-week ultrasound told me our baby was on the smaller side, but I was shocked to hear he was so teeny! I couldn’t help but feel a little concerned, but the nurses said he looked fantastic and his head was a normal size for his gestational age. Plus, he was 19 1/2 inches long! (Fun fact: Ryan was 6 pounds and 20-something inches when he was born!)
We spent the hours after Chase was born holding him, kissing him and talking all about our incredible baby boy and his journey into the world. Chase came two weeks early and he came out fast and I could not have been more thrilled to meet our beautiful baby boy.
I wish I could truly capture in words what I felt the day Chase was born and the way I’ve felt every day since his arrival. He is an absolute miracle and the love I have for this little boy is so consuming. I feel more vulnerable than I ever have in my entire life as Chase has quickly become my entire world. I cannot wait to watch him grow, learn and play and know I will only fall more and more in love with him every single day. I can’t believe we have a baby!!!
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So happy for you and Ryan! Chase looks so healthy and adorable. 🙂
Congratulations, he’s so perfectly adorable!!!
I wouldn’t worry about his birth weight too much as long as he’s eating well, I was born at 5 pounds 15 ounces and I’m a normal size now 🙂 It’s crazy how fast they get bigger — I found a leftover newborn diaper and holding it up next to my 5 month old it’s hard to remember he was ever small enough to fit into it!
Congratulations to both of ya’ll! He is precious. I’m so glad labor went so well for you. I have really enjoyed reading your blog for years now and being able to follow your pregnancy was awesome as I am 21 weeks along. Reading this made me even more excited about having a baby. Also, don’t worry about him being tiny. I was born a month early and weighed around 5 pounds and I am totally fine had no problems whatsoever with development. He is perfect!
Thank you, Stacie!
CONGRATS! He is so tiny and so SO cute! Question for you- has the pain in your legs subsided? Was it painful walking around while in labor AND experiencing those awful hip and back pains??
I never ended up sharing a 38 week pregnancy update, but the craziest thing happened — a few days before I went into labor, my pain was almost entirely gone. It was CRAZY. I was telling some of my girlfriends that I felt the best I have all pregnancy in the three days before I went into labor (maybe this was the “lightening” feeling people talk about when the baby drops?).
Need. Waterproof. Mascara.
Sending love as always,
us
<3 <3 <3 Thank you, Janet!
Loved reading your birth story! It’s so incredible the way you have the baby inside you one day, and he’s out the next! It really is a miracle.
Question: since you were worried about labor pain and giving birth etc. (the idea scares me too), was the pain better than expected or worse than expected or just about what you expected? Wondering on behalf of all the anxious first time moms out there.
So happy to read your birth story and to know that everything turned out healthy! Chase is a cutie, and he reminds me of you and Ryan AND a bit of your dad too, actually! What gorgeous eyes he has, too. Congrats again – many blessings to the both of you.
This is such a hard question to answer because I really feel like labor is almost an out-of-body experience. The contractions were definitely painful but there’s such an overwhelming layer of anticipation and excitement that makes it all more bearable somehow. Also, I cannot tell you what a HUGE difference the epidural made for me. I know they’re not for everyone, but oh my gosh it was so wonderful. The pain relief was almost immediate and when it came time to push, I felt more pressure than pain.
This is really really really great info. to know. You’re the champion/example for all us scaredy-cats out there, it helps to read what it was like for you especially. I’m glad to know that it almost transcends other medical experiences, maybe that’s how it works. You get something so amazing at the end (a child), and it must be almost primal – built into the DNA of womanhood. I.e. it’s more natural than, say, having an appendix removed! So that may be part of it – good to know, this is REALLY reassuring.
Hi Julie! I’m a longtime reader, and I just had my baby girl on August 1st (my 2nd baby)… with the first I didn’t get an epidural (I wanted one, but I went from 1 to 9 cm in three hours and it was too late by the time they checked me). This time I was able to get one, and I agree with you -it was WONDERFUL! I was able to rest and relax for the last hour or two before my baby girl was born. It’s funny because I also describe labor as an “out of body experience” and I brought along my bouncy ball and rice sock to my first delivery expecting to use them — only to spend time pacing around and moaning and not wanting to talk to anyone (even my husband). I was in my own world. This time I brought nothing and my husband wasn’t surprised when I was just pacing around moaning/groaning during contractions. 🙂 Next time you will know what to expect and it won’t be as scary!! Anyway, your baby is honestly one of the cutest I have ever seen. So glad your back is feeling better. Hope you are feeling great and you can get back to exercising soon – I ran up until 3 days before delivery and started running again 3 days postpartum (I know, somewhat insane, but my OB was fine w/ it because I feel great)! Congrats again to you and Ryan!
Wow what a beautiful birth story. I am so happy for you! The first pictures of a babies arrival are ones to treasure.
Congrats Julie!!! Chase is soooo adorable and I’m really happy for you and your beautiful family!
Thanks for this update, I was really eager to read your story after following your pregnancy posts with much interest as my due date is just two weeks after yours, so thanks for sharing everything! I have to say I got a little scared after I saw your first post announcing Chase’s arrival. Both my mom and my sister had their first babies two weeks ahead of their due dates, so if these thing really run in the family, I better get ready!!! Both of them also labored a long, long time, so I’m trying to get myself prepared for that too.
Enjoy your baby moon with little Chase! Looking forward to more posts about your life with an infant.
Thank you, Erja! And good luck to you!!!
Congratulations Julie! I’m not pregnant (yet…) but I’m glad to hear of another positive birth experience. I’m really hoping to have an epidural and I’m glad you weren’t able to feel anything – I pretty much want to be completely numb for the whole thing!
Beyond precious! XOXOXO
Holy Geez. I don’t know if it’s because I’m pregnant with my first (I’m guessing so) but I have never gotten so emotional while reading a birth story! I’m sitting at work fighting back tears of happiness for y’all, lady. Thank you so much for sharing so many details. Chase is just so perfect and darling. We all can’t wait to watch your whole family grow together <3.
Congrats to you, Ryan, and Sadie too! How is she taking it?
She is doing well! She is by no means thrilled — mostly indifferent/apprehensive — but she’s adjusting and embracing him little by little every day.
What a perfect birth story. Tears are a flowing over here!! He is absolutely beautiful and beyond precious. You are a rockstar Mama!! xo
Congratulations! It has been so fun to see how your pregnancy has evolved and see this cute lil guy make his entrance into the world. Thank you for sharing it all with us. Although we are strangers, I am really happy for you and your family — congrats!!! 🙂
Oh my goodness, that first photo of you holding Chase really made me tear up. So happy for you guys! 🙂
What a wonderful birth story! Congratulations, you did it!
AHHHHH! Feeling all the feels for you right now!!! He is so gorgeous and I am so happy for your family!
I can’t stop crying. What a beautiful birth story. I’m almost 36 weeks pregnant and can’t wait to hold my baby in my arms. Thanks for sharing!
It is the best feeling in the entire world! So thrilled for you!
So so happy for you guys! Gosh, I got a little emotional reading this and waiting for my little man to make his appearance. 🙂 I’m due 9/13, but I have a feeling he may come a wee bit early.
This is so sweet! Congratulations! I’m sitting here wiping tears away as I recall the birth of my own babies and how special those first moments are. You are in for such an amazing ride as a mother. Can’t wait to read all about it!
So thrilled for you, Julie! I had the biggest smile on my face reading this (& remembering my own experience).
I’m curious–with your fear of needles, how was it getting your epidural?
Chase is so perfect. Do NOT be worried about his weight. My little man was 6 lb 1 oz and probably actually weighed less since I’d had last minute fluids and an epi. He is developing perfectly (although he still is small), is super active, and at ~10 months, hasn’t been sick yet. If Chase is already over 6 lbs, that’s a great sign.
Congrats again to your sweet little family!
I was nervous about the epidural going into labor but honestly by the time the epidural was ready, I could not have cared less about the needle. I just wanted some relief from the contractions! The doctor who administered my epidural was a little gruff which made it a little nerve-wracking, but it was so worth it for me.
And thank you for sharing a bit more about your son! I’m so glad you have such a healthy boy!
Gah! Congratulations! He is so perfect. Hoping all is going well and you are enjoying every moment. 🙂 Sending love from MN!
Beautiful story and thank you for sharing! I am due August 14 so it’s been fun for me to follow your pregnancy since it has been so close to mine. We are still patiently waiting for our little one. So happy you had such a good experience and brought such a beautiful boy into the world. Congratulations!
Congratulations to you!! You’re so close! Birth month is hereeee! 🙂
Congratulations Julie and Ryan! Chase is a beautiful baby- I’m a labor and delivery nurse and I can promise you not all babies are that adorable! He’s truly perfect. Your labor went amazingly fast and beautiful! Especially for a first time momma! Congrats and enjoy all of the sweet newborn snuggles!
Thank you, Kaleigh! And thank you for the work you do. I cannot tell you what a HUGE difference the nurses made during our experience!! They were wonderful and did so much to calm my nerves and make me feel comfortable and secure.
This is so beautiful. I’m so happy for you!!!
He is gorgeous! Congrats to all of you 🙂
Congratulations, Julie!! Sounds like as good of a birth story as you can hope for! I’m so glad everyone’s healthy and doing well.
I was due 3 days before you, and I’m still here waiting 🙂 I have to admit, it’s a little tough seeing you be done with labor and delivery and have your little one here already, but I know I’ll be there soon too, and I hope it will all go as smoothly as it did for you, with a healthy baby and mama.
All the best these coming weeks!!
GAH this is so wonderful. Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations!! I am SO, SO, SO happy to hear that things ended up going so well for you (I’ve used “so” way too many times in this comment haha). Being anxious is no joke at all, and to hear that you ended up having such smooth experience thrills me, because I think you deserved it! Chase is absolutely adorable. Congratulations again on your newest family member!
This is just so beautiful!! I love all the wonderful photos & the happiness you feel is just pouring out in your words. Love!
How special & wonderful that he came so quickly & fast. He’s such an adorable peanut! <3
Congrats to you and Ryan! I’m a longtime follower, first time commenter. We are expecting our first baby and are officially one day passed our due date! I’m glad to see your initial contractions are a lot like what I’m experiencing right now. Mine are pretty inconsistent also, so I’m having trouble deciding if it’s the real deal. I hope she’s really making her way into the world because we can’t wait to meet her!
Chase is such a doll! I hope Sadie has taken a liking to him 🙂 Best of luck to you guys!
Thank you, Chelsey! And congratulations to you — I hope you are in the beginning stages of labor RIGHT NOW! That is SO exciting. I am actually almost envious because I know you’re about to experience the most amazing thing SO soon! <3
Tears running down my face while at work. Beautiful.
July 29th is the best day to have a baby. My boy turned 6 last Wednesday.
Congrats!
Birthday twins! Happy birthday to your son!!
Such a wonderful birth story and I love all your pictures along the way. He is so beautiful!!
Aw congratulations, he is so perfect and beautiful!! Love the name as well 🙂 x
Chase’s story is amazing and brought me to tears. I am so happy everything went so smoothly and well for you. I am so happy for you and Ryan!
I too have fears of giving birth and reading your story made me feel some relief. I actually teared up reading your birth story and am so happy to hear everything went smoothly. Congratulations to you and your little family! By the way, How’s Sadie holding up? 🙂
Thank you!! Sadie is doing well! She’s definitely not Chase’s BFF yet and is a bit apprehensive around him, but she is getting more curious and tolerant every day. She’s a little trooper. 🙂
Congratulations, I am so happy for you! Becoming a mommy is the most amazing thing in the world. It changes everything about your world for the better. I have a 4 1/2-year-old and one-year-old twins. They make life incredible and every day better than the one before. Don’t you just look at your little man and feel so proud of yourself for growing him? You’re right, he is such a little miracle – and you did that! The best is yet to come!
Congratulations! He’s so perfect and beautiful! I just gave birth to my first baby, a baby boy too, in June. Reading this story brought me back to his birth and I started to tear up! Lucky for you, that was a quick labor/delivery!
Such an amazing story! Thank you for sharing it with all of us! Congratulations again!
Congratulations to you and Ryan! Beautiful post! Beautiful family!
Just a gorgeous recap of the day. I’m so happy for you both.
This brought tears to my eyes! Chase is so precious! Enjoy this special time <3
Congratulations Julie and to your entire family! I’m due August 13th and have been following just a few days behind you on all your posts.
Question for you: who was taking the pictures? Was that Ryan? I want to capture those initial moments but also want my husband to fully experience them as well and am nervous him fiddling with a camera will be distracting. What dother you think?
Ryan took most of them, but one of the nurses was kind enough to offer to snap some as well!
So much happiness for you and your family, Julie! Congrats! And welcome to Chase! 🙂
Congrats – that is awesome! Chase is adorable! So question – why did you have both a midwife and a doctor? I’m intrigued – I always thought a midwife replaced a doctor. My husband and I want to have kids in the very near future so I like to learn as much as possible 🙂 Thanks!
Congratulations Julie! He is beautiful! Your birth experience sounds so similar to mine I almost feel like I wrote your blog! Welcome to motherhood! It is the most beautiful, exhausting, and rewarding thing you could ever be blessed with! Enjoy your little peaunt❤️ Ps wish we lived closer bc I’m pretty sure we would be friends?
I loved reading this and I’m so thrilled that your labor was relatively quick. Such a blessing! Your photos make labor and delivery look like a breeze. All smiles. 🙂
Enjoy these first few weeks with your little nugget. He’s precious.
Congrats again to you and Ryan.
First of all congrats on your bundle of joy! I have been following your blog for a couple years and was thrilled to see that you were expecting your first child. My husband and I are expecting our first. Our due date is August 9th. It is was really motivating to have a simliar due date as you. Currently, we are still waiting for our arrival.
I have never commented on your blog before but I wanted to comment on your post regarding the level of pain your were expecting during labor. My pain scale was exactly the same as yours, 1 being little to no pain and 10 having your finger cut off. I had a terrible accident in the beginning of my pregnancy and unfortunately had to have part of my finger amputated in December (bc it already was mostly severed through all the bone and tissue). They couldn’t save it because I was pregnant. This was probably the most painful experience of my life and I keep wondering if labor will hurt more or less. I was anticipating labor to hurt more, but I will hopefully know sooner rather than later. I will let you know if your pain scale is accurate:)
Oh my gosh!! That is so scary! I am glad your are doing well now and wish you the best of luck during the rest of your pregnancy. Good luck to you and congratulations!
I shouldn’t have read this at work…I’m sitting here at my desk with tears!! Congratulations to all of you, he is just precious!!! Can’t wait to hear how Sadie is dealing!!
Congratulations!! You looked beautiful the whole darn time!
Did they have to break your water? My water broke on my own but that was one of the most uncomfortable moments ever. It is no fun “peeing” yourself 😉
Mine actually broke on its own as well, but it didn’t happen until AFTER the epidural, so I had no idea it even happened until the nurse checked me and told me my water broke and the bed was wet!
I got chills as I was reading this! You and Chase are absolutely beautiful!