Birth Story - Part Two

Hey there! 

Ready for the second half of Sage's birth story?  It was much more enjoyable, and much quicker than the first part.

We left off at 3AM when the doctor told me that when he came back in an hour it would be time to try to push.  I tried to rest some more for that next hour, but I don't think I really fell asleep again.  I couldn't help but think what pushing was going to be like.

The doctor and nurse returned about an hour later and I told them that I was experiencing a feeling of pressure building inside me. The nurse told me that the epidural would not hide the pressure at this point. I was going to feel the contractions and I had already started feeling the pressure to push.  The contractions were not nearly as painful as they had been hours ago, but they were present.

Let me begin by saying that my husband is a champ.  He was entirely in on the action of my pushing and delivering our baby.  He held my leg the entire time and saw it all go down. That is not something I would've been able to witness, however, he said it was remarkable.  It made it all the more special that he helped bring our boy into the world.

The doctor and nurse had to guide me through pushing as obviously I had no idea what I was doing. When a contraction came they told me what to do.  As soon as I started pushing I really didn't notice any pain.  I didn't even notice the contraction except for when it began because all I was focusing on was putting all my energy into getting our baby boy out.  

Pushing did not hurt at all.  This really surprised me.  It was just really exhausting. More exhausting than any 20 mile run I've done.  It took extreme focus.  I had the best coaches though between my husband, the doctor, and the nurse.  They encouraged me from the beginning and after each pushing segment told me how great I was doing.

About a half hour in the doctor let me know that he may need to leave for an emergency c-section.  He brought in another doctor that stood by just in case he had to leave suddenly.  This encouraged me to work even harder.  I literally was giving each push everything I had and it paid off because at 5:24AM on August 11th our baby boy was born.

I think I pushed for about a total of 45 minutes.  By the end when baby boy was super close to being out I didn't even need to push, literally my contraction did the work.

They placed Sage on my stomach and in that moment I had never experienced such joy as when I felt his skin against mine and saw his beautiful face.  I really don't have much recollection of delivering the afterbirth or anything that took place after baby boy arrived (I got a few stitches I'm told) because I was totally and completely focused on him.

My laboring journey started at 3AM on Sunday and was complete at 5:24AM on Monday.  

Sage, our love, is here.