Marley’s Birth Story

August 16, 2020

Our story actually begins at 37 weeks of pregnancy. Once the second week of July rolled around, we started to brace ourselves for the birth of our daughter, Marley. I went to my 37-week appointment, and they did a pelvic exam and they told me I was not dilated but my cervix was soft and head was down. I was thinking, “Dang, already?!” Since that appointment, I started jotting every single thing I felt and when I felt it. This is our first and I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

Before my 38-week appointment came, I started to feel some pressure in my pelvic area along with lower back pain. I didn’t think anything of it and just thought this comes with the territory. At my doctor’s appointment, I had another pelvic exam and the midwife said I was 3cm and 70% effaced (thinned out). She did a membrane sweep, which is when they take two fingers and rub along the cervix and amniotic sac to speed up the process of labor. The next day, I lost my mucus plug and proceeded to have that same inconsistent pelvic pressure with back pains. I also started to notice my discharge was a lot more than usual. Or so I thought…

I ended up going back to my next appointment, still being at 3 cm but this time 90% effaced. I received another membrane sweep and actually felt we were progressing.

Calm before the storm

On Saturday, August 1st, the pressure and back pain was happening a lot more. I remember contemplating if I should go to the hospital because I was afraid my sac had ruptured since I was leaking fluid in greater amounts and more often. Also, in Florida, we were expected to have a tropical storm and we didn’t want to go into labor in the middle of a hurricane.

I woke up the next morning at 8:30 am, brushed my teeth, and felt another big trickle of fluid. I immediately told my husband and we grabbed the bags and went to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:45 and were sent to Labor & Delivery. They settled us into a room, hooked me up to a monitor to look at the baby’s heart rate and contractions. The nurse put some sort of stick in my vagina to test if I was leaking fluid. She arrived 30 minutes later and informed us that my sac had indeed ruptured. Here we go, the moment we’ve all been waiting for!

Around 12:30 the doctor came in and informed us that they were going to start a low dosage of Pitocin to start quickening laboring and getting my contractions closer together. Oh, yea, that pelvic pressure I was experiencing… those were contractions! I was shocked because I was expecting contractions to feel similar to a tightening in my stomach similar to a poop cramp or period cramp. Nope! I had been having contractions for 2 weeks and didn’t even know it!!

Eye Of The Storm

At 1:00, the IV of Pitocin began. Around 2:30, the contractions started to ramp up and get closer together. I started to tell my husband how close they were getting as I couldn’t manage to talk through them. Our plan was to hold off on the epidural until I absolutely felt I needed it, so we opted for the nitrous oxide (laughing gas). Although the laughing gas does not take away the pain, it takes away the anxiety of labor. Because I couldn’t talk through the contractions, my husband suggested starting up the laughing gas to help focus on my breathing.

Also, the doctor didn’t want to continuously check for dilation because they weren’t sure how long my sac had ruptured and didn’t want to increase possible infection. Before the laughing gas, they checked and I was 6cm dilated. I couldn’t labor in the hospital bed and tried so many different positions. My back was hurting so bad and I was getting tired that I wanted to sleep. I turned over onto my side and threw up all over the ground. My body was gearing up for labor and the baked chicken I had for lunch did not agree.

Eventually, the nurses were gracious enough to bring in a peanut ball (nursing ball) for me to sit on to relieve the back contractions. My husband said I labored on the ball for five hours along with inhaling the laughing gas. Big breaths in and long breaths out as I rested on my husband’s knees after coming down from a contraction. Let’s just say I was high as a kite, that I even offered my husband to take a hit! Lol, But nonetheless, I was relaxed and fighting through the contractions with ease.

Pressure Before The Promise

By 8 o’clock, the contractions were so intense that I told my husband that all I could say was “they hurt”. He then said, “okay, time to get the epidural.” I calmly said “okay” with no reluctance. We told the nurse and they called the anesthesiologist. Because I was getting the epidural, I had to stop the laughing gas so they could put it in. For whatever reason, they told my husband to step outside. It took about 30 minutes for them to put in and I fought through the contractions with the nurse supporting my breathing.

Then, I felt the urge to push! The nurse said, “no, don’t push yet!” I said, “okay.” A few minutes went by, I yelled “I GOTTA PUSH!” The anesthesiologist finished taping the epidural in my back, they called the midwife and checked for dilation. I heard the midwife say “okay, dad you stand right there.” In a daze, I asked “How many centimeters?” She eagerly said, “You’re 10 centimeters!” I yelled, “Are you kidding me?!” I was in shock that the epidural didn’t even have time to kick in!

The midwife instructed me to hold my legs back and push when I felt like it. I began pushing and said, “Um, I think there is a big poop coming out of my butt.” The midwife said, “ Nope! That’s your baby’s head!” I kept pushing and the next thing I know she said “Chelsea, open your eyes.” I was in labor for 8 hours and pushed for only 10 minutes until we saw our baby girl. The midwife and nurses were all praising how I rocked birth because most first-time mothers push for at least 2 hours.

The Birth Of A Movement

I had a second-degree tear which they stitched right up as my husband held our daughter. It was honestly the most insane moment of our life. I remember the day so vividly and often think to myself, “I can’t believe I did that!” I was so terrified of birth, going natural, and getting an epidural. It ended up being everything that we prayed for and wanted.

We are so thankful to finally have our daughter in our arms. She has already flipped our world upside-down and inside out. She’s showing us our new normal and we’re not mad about it. The unspoken prayers of my heart are unfolding before my eyes and I’m overcome by the presence of GOD. Our Father in heaven is faithful! He spoke it into being and He gave us our heart’s desires in the birth experience, and better yet… He gave us Marley.