i love reading other people’s birth stories and i shared atlas’s here, so today i’d love to share aero’s birth story to be able to remember vividly forever.
my due date was 8/25 & it felt like this pregnancy lasted an eternity! with the pandemic, a sweltering summer, being locked in the house for the most past & raising a crazy-ass toddler (more on that here) i was worn the F out and really just over being pregnant, especially towards the end.
at my 38 week appointment, my gyno & i decided on an induction date for the week of my due date so that i wouldn’t have to go past 40 weeks. so we picked his birthday to be monday 8/24 for no special reason, it was just when she was available. dek & i were to arrive at the emergency room ready to be checked in bright & early at 5 am & then i would be induced (they would break my water and start pitocin) that morning. luckily my mom lives close to us and was on-call to come stay with atlas the whole time we were at the hospital. but, my whole family was on pins & needles the week leading up to the 24th because it just felt like he could come at any moment. i kept thinking of everything as “my last” before our family grew, but he was not budging. i was not experiencing any braxton hicks or contractions, just a lot of discomfort, anxiety & emotions. i was especially emotional the day before (8/23) thinking how our lives were going to change & worried sick how atlas would take it. spoiler alert: it’s all good & he seems rather unphased by his new little brother! he was a little freaked out at first, but now kisses him and calls out “baby aero” when he sees him and brings him his paci when he’s crying – it’s really cute.
i was able to have a light breakfast of honey bunches of oats before we left for the hospital so i wouldn’t be starving because i wouldn’t be able to eat anything after they started the drugs. i was nervous as hell but also ready AF.
we checked in at the ER & they had us walk up to the labor & delivery floor and check-in there. one of the nurses came to get me around 5:45 & took me to room 403 (funny enough the SAME room where i delivered atlas!) to change into my delivery gown & get an IV in my hand. i was 3 cm dilated at this point. shortly after she checked me dek was able to come back in the room with me where he saw me laying like this, haha! i was so hot, but he said the room was cold…
we brought a clip-on fan because i just remembered being SO hot while delivering atlas and for that birth i had my sister fanning me the whole time, so figured i would need this since she couldn’t be there and it definitely came in handy!
at around 8 am my doctor broke my water & i was dilated to 4cm. i was starting to feel some contractions so i asked for the epidural because i didn’t want to wait until they were unbearable. at ~9 am i got it & in the pic below i couldn’t feel my legs or any contractions & was feeling reallllly relaxed! shortly after the epidural i was checked again & dilated to 5 cm.
it was a little before noon & i was sooo hungry! it felt like things were progressing nicely and i just kept wishing baby would come by 12 so i could have lunch already, haha! i was looking forward to the in & out burger and chocolate milkshake i was promised, the same post-birth meal i had with atlas. i just love it! the nurse brought me a popsicle & checked my dilation. i was 7 cm now.
i ate it laying on my side because the contractions were stronger on my right & they said the epidural worked on gravity so they propped me up to be laying on that side more because the pain was getting stronger.
around 12:45 the pain was really bad and they checked me. his head was really low, which was good but i was also feeling really intense contractions. with every one coming on i remember saying “ohh noooo” and then not being able to really talk through it and just breathing so deep and hard.
the pic below was taken at 2:08 pm and aero was born at 2:26 so it was just minutes before i started pushing. i was in a lot of pain at this point, i just tried to relax and take deep breaths. the nurse checked me and said i was 10 cm dilated. she seemed so calm & i remember telling her “my body is just ready to push, call the doctor!” the doc was 5 minutes away and they had me just breathe through the contractions and resist the urge to push as much as i could until my doctor arrived. i remember when she walked through the door i just cried out “yesssss!”
the doctor told me i could be pushing a little while she suited up and then suddenly it was go time and my body just knew what to do and i pushed like there was no tomorrow. i remember with atlas’s birth i don’t think i realized how hard you have to push and he kept getting sucked back up which was frustrating. my actual pushing time with atlas was well over an hour and a half and with aero it was like 20 minutes! i pushed with everything i had in me and what’s funny is that they asked if i wanted a mirror and i said no but my doctor was wearing protective glasses (#covid) so i could actually see him coming out of me in the reflection and it helped!!! i would glance at it every now and then but with a few pushes he was out & i was so relieved!
he didn’t cry at first so they were holding him to get him to cry & then suddenly we heard his little voice and i felt i could relax. he was out, he was ok! they took him aside to do his measurements and stuff and then brought him to me and placed him on my chest and i felt the purest bliss.
he was really bruised from being pushed out so fast they said, so his forehead and eyes were really red, purple and puffy but he was just tiny sleepy perfection!
a well-deserved, delicious meal…for both of us, haha!
proud dad
fresh little newborn baby aero
they tested him for jaundice the first night & his levels were slightly higher than “normal” so they wanted us to stay another night to ensure it wouldn’t get worse, so we stayed a total of 2 nights at the hospital. we didn’t even know what jaundice was and had to google it/ask all the questions. they just encouraged me to feed him often because it had to pass through his system & to sit by the window in indirect sunlight as much as we could throughout the day.
breastfeeding every hour it seemed like
those beautiful, sleepless nights
first night home… #swoon! we swaddle him in the nested bean swaddle (it’s so easy because it velcros) and he sleeps in a bassinet next to our bed for now. he doesn’t really seem to like a pacifier, but sure enough snuck his little hand up by his face for comfort, cutie!
so this is #twoundertwo – it’s wild & crazy but i’m so thankful for my boys!
thank you for reading!
