Oakley Rhodes: Birth Story

Life with a newborn is definitely busy! I finally got this post typed out to share with you, only two weeks later haha. It’s a long read, so grab yourself a little snack and get comfy 😉  

Up until the first contractions, I did not experience any pre-labor symptoms at all. I went to bed with bad lower back pain (like a dull ache) which I’ve had before in this pregnancy, but for some reason it felt different this time. At 2:00am on Thursday, February 21st, I was woken up by increased pain in my lower back. The pain or “contractions” I was feeling weren’t consistent and I was able to kind of go back to sleep for an hour. Around 3am they kept getting worse. It felt like someone was sticking a knife in my lower back and twisting it around. Tanner had school that morning and we both thought it was just Braxton Hicks because Oakley wasn’t due for another 2 weeks! I told Tanner he should go to school because they might go away, but at 5am I text him to come home because they were coming every 5min. Once he was home, we gathered our bags and carseat and headed to the hospital. They didn’t admit me right away but they did have me in a room to be evaluated first and to see how dilated I was since my water didn’t break. I was 2cm at that time and they monitored me a little more until the nurse told me to walk around the hospital for an hour to see if that will increase contractions or not. Walking around was torture! I had to lean on Tanner with every contraction because I could barely stand up. Back contractions are no joke! It felt like I was paralyzed when a contraction was happening because I couldn’t move. No position was comfortable for me. Eventually they gave me the option to go home to labor and try to eat something or stay at the hospital and not get to eat and just wait around for things to progress. We decided to go home since we lived close and I was able to eat a little something and even got a bath, although both of those things were not as enjoyable as I thought because my contractions were intense. 

While I was laboring, Tanner deep cleaned the entire house and set up some things in our room that we needed for Oakley when he came home since he would be sleeping in our room. Remi was so concerned for me as I was laboring. I literally had to yell out in pain at this point because they were only getting worse. He never left my side:) After a couple more hours, it was finally time to go back to the hospital as contractions were every 2min apart. Once we arrived, I was admitted right away and they checked to see how dilated I was. I was 4cm at 2:00pm, and the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural, which I quickly said “yes” to. I wanted to try delivering without an epidural before I even started laboring. That was always my plan, but since I was up from 2:00am-2:00pm and my contractions were the worst pain I’ve ever felt, I gave in and it was the BEST decision I made. Getting the epidural kinda hurt in my opinion, mostly because I couldn’t stay still and would jump each time he tried to stick the needle in, but I wouldn’t of gotten any sleep without it. They had to break my water a couple hours later and two hours after that I was 10cm dilated and it was time to push. 

I totally didn’t think much of the pushing process because I assumed I wouldn’t feel anything. Oh how wrong I was haha! By that time, I was feeling contractions again (not as bad as before) so I knew when to push. I was still numb down there though. Tanner was so involved in the birthing process and was counting to 10 with the nurse and made sure to keep a cool rag on my forehead. Before I started pushing I took my hair out of my pony tail which I regretted because I was a sweaty mess at the end of it all haha. I pushed for two freaking hours! It didn’t feel like two hours, but I remember thinking multiple times how I just wanted to get  a C-section so he would come out already haha. The nurse kept saying “just a few more pushes”, “he’s almost here”, but I still pushed for another 30 minutes after that haha. I was getting frustrated that it was taking so long. As soon as I pushed him out (at 8:35pm), he started crying and that was the first time I cried and I couldn’t stop. I was so happy he was finally out and that he was actually here and healthy! He was 6lbs 4oz and 19in long 🙂 It was such an empowering experience and I honestly couldn’t believe I went through all of that and survived! I was so sore after birth. I’m not exaggerating when I say I had to have help to sit up in bed, go to the bathroom and even flush the toilet. Next pregnancy I’m definitely going to try to work out haha. My arms felt so weak and everything hurt and burned down there. I did tear 2nd degree and even got an episiotomy, so I was feeling pretty sore for the next week and half. I was, however, up and walking the next day even though I felt like my insides were hanging on for dear life, so that felt like a victory haha.

Oakley’s blood sugars were low and weren’t getting better each time the nurse would check, so finally they decided to take him to NICU around midnight to manage his sugar levels and make sure he’s eating enough. I was so exhausted and honestly wasn’t sad they had to take him because I knew he was in good hands and I assumed he would get to come home with us when we were discharged. The next morning, they told us his blood sugar levels were still low and had to stay there until they were higher. He also got jaundice too which extended his NICU stay. After 5 days, he was able to finally come home with us on my birthday! It was the best birthday present ever!

My birthing experience went nothing like I envisioned it and I didn’t get any of the hospital photos that I wanted, but all that didn’t matter once he was home 🙂

Photos taken by: Ivorydarling