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Today I am sharing my birth story including how I only pushed for 15 minutes!

I can’t believe my little man is here! Drake Robert entered the world on July 5, 2018 at 10:13 PM. I still cannot believe that I’m NOT pregnant (definitely missing those big kicks and my baby bump). My delivery day started out completely normal. I woke up to my husband kissing my head and asking me how I felt. “Fine – I don’t know I guess today could be the day but probably not.” He laughed and went downstairs to work while I pulled myself somewhat together and chatted with my nanny downstairs.

Fast forward a few hours, I was sitting at my desk working to create a bunch of Facebook content when I started having light cramping. It wasn’t anything severe but it was definitely noticeable enough for me to pull out a timer to start tracking the mini contractions. A little while later I went to the restroom and noticed that I had some slight spotting. I texted my mom that I had been having contractions and she told me to call my doctor to see what I should do. I really wanted to just go in to get checked by my gyno, but after talking to a nurse and chatting about my symptoms she recommended that I went to the hospital. I REALLY did not want to go because I was only about 50% sure I was in actual labor and I hated the idea of pulling my husband away from work and leaving while my toddler was out with my nanny.

Getting Admitted to the Hospital

BUT – I also knew that if I WAS in labor I needed to get to the hospital and stop messing around in case baby decided to come swiftly. So, I knocked on Nick’s home office door and told him I was having some minor contractions and the doctor said to go in to the hospital to get checked. Nick opened the door and literally went straight upstairs, got himself ready in point two seconds and put all our bags in the car. He recommended that we grab lunch before we went to the hospital in case I was in labor and didn’t get to eat for the rest of the night. We stopped at Subway where I indulged in my last pregnancy tuna sandwich and finally went to the hospital. We got there around 2:00 pm and after a quick check of my cervix and contractions, the on call doctor confirmed that I was in labor and would be having the baby. About 30 minutes later the doc broke my water and then everyone pretty much left me alone for a few hours.

I remember laying in the hospital bed and thinking “I’m not REALLY having a baby” and “OMG how am I having a baby already?!” My pregnancy went by so so so fast and as it turned out so did my labor. My cervix was dilated to a 5 when I was first admitted to the hospital. After about 2 hours, my cervix progressed to a 6. I was starting to feel pretty heavy contractions and finally asked for an epidural at 7:30 pm (so about 5 1/2 hours after arriving to the hospital with contractions). The epidural was really no big deal and I felt like a million dollars when the medicine set in. I will say that when I gave birth to Lincoln I was so drugged up with my epidural that I could not even feel my toes. This time, I felt like I had body awareness and could slightly wiggle around which I figured would help me be able to push better.

Active Labor

After getting my epidural, the nurse and doctor checked my cervix again and let me know that I was definitely progressing but asked if I would be against going on the lowest drip of pitocin to help dilate me some more. Since I had experienced pitocin with Lincoln and neither of us had any negative side effects, I agreed to move forward with getting it done. 2 hours later – things started to get real. The nurse came in and told me that my cervix was at an 8 and that she would come back in a bit to get the room ready for delivery. Well, pretty much after she left my epidural completely wore off. I don’t know what happened since it had only been administered 2 hours prior – but literally I could feel every contraction. I asked Nick to go get the nurse again to help give me some more medicine. The nurse came in and said that the button I had been pressing to deliver the extra epidural looked like it was working and that the pain should go away soon. Yeah – well that was a load of crap. The epidural never worked again AND even though I had just been checked 10 minutes prior I knew the baby was coming and fast. I yelled at Nick to go get the nurse again because I felt this ENORMOUS pressure (basically the biggest urge to poop… sorry but that’s what it feels like) and I told him to tell the staff that baby was coming NOW! I don’t know that Nick fully believed me so he was kind of taking his time getting out of the room when I started yelling “GET THE DOCTOR NOW!!! THE BABY IS COMING!!!” That pretty much put a pep in his step as he ran down the hallway to get help 🙂

The nurse came back into the room and I could definitely tell she didn’t believe me (since she had literally just checked on me) but after doing another cervical check she proclaimed, “You’re a 10! Baby is engaged. He’s coming!” A few other nurses and my doctor came into the room to start the delivery process and at the same time my contractions went from uncomfortable to THIS IS THE WORST PAIN EVER. I’ll save you all the details and things that I said and what ran through my head, but there was a point where I was screaming like a crazy person and begging anyone to help me birth this child (well beside myself). Pretty funny to look back on now – definitely not funny at the time. After pushing for 15 minutes (I pushed nearly 3 hours with Lincoln), Drake Robert entered the world and we’ve been head over heels since.

I still cannot believe that my epidural wore off – it was pretty much the biggest nightmare ever but hey, I survived and I feel super tough now. My recovery this time around has been SO great. After doing skin to skin with Drake and breastfeeding him, I literally got up out of bed and walked around my room for about an hour (that’s also how I know I had ZERO epidural left in my system). Drake has so far proven to be a great eater and a decent sleeper and honestly such a great addition to our family. I was honestly concerned about whether my heart would be able to expand for a second child since I love Lincoln SO much – but it has somehow doubled in size.

Lincoln is still getting used to baby brother but everyday he is doing better. He likes to give Drake kisses in the morning and at bedtime and likes to rock his bassinet (although sometimes way too eagerly). The only time Lincoln seems to get upset about baby is when I have to breastfeed. I am sure he will continue to get more and more comfortable with Drake in the room until one day when they’re little BFF’s.

Okay guys that’s it for now! I do want to let you know that I am hosting a FREE 6-week postpartum recovery challenge starting in just a few weeks. This is good for ANYONE who has had a baby (even if it’s been a few years). The course will focus one day a week on pelvic floor and abdominal strengthening and 2 mini resistance circuits a week (15 minutes each). The whole challenge will be hosted inside my free Facebook Group (I’d love for you to join) and my online personal training app. If you want to join me (yes, I am doing it too) then please sign up below and I’ll email you before the course launches.

Until then – thank you for reading my birth story and please pray for lots of sleepy dust to head mine and Drakes way!