Special Delivery-- My First "Birth-Day"

I have so many things I want to share and post, but it doesn't feel right to not start with our birth story, and sharing all the unexpected things that occurred; the good and the bad. Here are five things I wish I knew before giving birth:

1. Not having a plan was the best plan!

I went through my entire pregnancy stressing over creating a birth plan and taking birth classes. Working full-time with a husband that lived in a different state during the week made it nearly impossible to find the time to attend a class. Looking back on it, I wish I saved myself the stress! Before we knew it, we were at my 38 week appointment watching my nurse's face turn bright red as she took my blood pressure. She quickly rushed to get the doctor, whom told Jarred to take me straight to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with pre-clampsia. An hour after being admitted, I was induced, three hours later they broke my water, and just 10 hours after my doctor appointment, we had a baby!

Tips:

- Still go to birthing classes and educate yourself beforehand, but at the end of the day, let go of all expectations, and trust your body, doctor and God.

- Have a hospital bag packed, and know exactly where to go when it's time!

- If you have a plan, be OK with it not going as planned. If I had taken the time to create a birth plan, it would have been useless. I would have never planned to have an unfamiliar doctor induce me, break my water, have two unsuccessful epidurals (ouch!), and a total of only 5 pushes before baby Maverick was earth-side. There was something SO BEAUTIFUL of letting go, living in the moment, and making all decisions based on how I was feeling and thinking at that exact moment.

2. Nurses are your BFFs!

Neonatal and postnatal nurses are angels on earth! At my hospital the nurses were trained to be both neonatal and postnatal, so they followed me throughout my entire stay at the hospital. They educated me on exactly what was going on, answered all my questions, held my hand when stressed, walked me through how to exactly push, placed my baby on my chest, guided Jarred to cut the umbilical cord, held me as I walked for the first time after giving birth, helped me take my first shower after birth, walked me through all postpartum care, taught my husband and I how to swaddle our baby, and basically taught me how to breastfeed. If you can't tell by now, they did EVERYTHING. They keep their composure, always have a smile on their face, and find a way to make you feel like your baby is the most important thing in their life. It's incredible. Note: My doctor spent a total of maybe 20 minutes with me in the hospital, and it wasn't even my own OBGYN (she wasn't on-call).

Tips:

- Ask all the questions, don't be ashamed to ask for help, and ask them for birthing tips! They have a bunch of tricks up their sleeves!

- Prep thank you gifts for your nurses. I saw others at the hospital do this, and I thought it was such a great idea. Check-out Pinterest for ideas!

3. The secret to my quick birth (it's not what you expect!)

Yes, I followed a work-out plan that assured to prepare and strengthen my body for birth (thanks to expecting and empowered- check them out!) for the first 8 months of pregnancy, but I give almost all the credit to a..... **insert drumroll**.... peanut yoga ball! When my nurse placed this huge inflatable peanut between my dead-weight legs, I thought she was crazy, however, after just one hour, I went from 5 to 10 centimeters! It was pure magic!

See below for a video of how they had me laying (not me):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSn_BWjL1nw

4. Epidurals-- you still can feel things!

I chose to have an epidural. I had made my mind up about this before entering the hospital, and after I was induced, I was empowered to ask for it anytime I wanted. I allowed myself to feel it all for five hours! I wanted the opportunity to feel my body take on the birthing process. Once the contractions became intense, I asked for the epidural. It took almost 20 minutes before the doctor arrived (keep that in mind, ladies!). I don't want to scare you, but after two attempts (a risk of an epidural), we finally had a successful epidural. What I was suprised most about was that I could still FEEL. You do not feel the pain, but you still can feel all the pressure- and let me tell you, its a lot of pressure!

Reliable Source for more info on epidurals: https://americanpregnancy.org/labor-and-birth/epidural/

5. Allow your partner to help- Jarred the "master diaper changer"

As a new mom, I wanted to do it all. I wanted to prove myself that I can be a supermom and conquer everything. But new mama, STOP. Let your spouse help! You have nothing else to prove. Jarred was so incredible, he jumped in and told me to relax many many times. I exclusively breastfeed, leaving him unable to help with feeding. Giving him a job helped give him the confidence needed to rise up to the new role as daddy.

Tip: Give him a specific job/responsibility (eg; person who gives bath, dresses the baby, feeds the baby, etc.)! For the 2.5 weeks Jarred was home, he changed 99% of all the diapers, even in middle of the night! Let me tell ya, he was twice as fast as me by the time he went back to work, and took so much pride in being the diaper changer (haha!). Giving him a job helped him form a bond and gave him the confidence to be such a good daddy. Watching your husband take on the role as a daddy is single handedly one of the best things of being a new mommy.

If you are a new mama and have more questions about the birthing process/postpartum, reach out! I am an open book :)

xoxo,

abi