Remington's Birth Story

Going into Remington’s birth I had zero birth plan. A birth plan is a great thing for some, but for me I knew that it would not be the best option. With being one that suffers from anxiety I knew that if the so called “plan” was not going as planned it would cause anxiety and stress that I did not want to have that day. I’m not saying that I didn’t have an idea of things I wanted (like an epidural once I could not handle labor anymore) but… I did not have an elaborate list and map out how I expected the birth to go. I went into it open minded with complete faith in both my doctor and nurses, but especially Heavenly Father to guide them and us in what decisions would need to be made to keep both Remi and I safe.

With being a teacher it was planned that I would work all the way up until my due date. From the beginning I had a feeling that she would come early but with it being my first baby I thought it was crazy to even think that, since most first babies come late. That last week I ended up calling out of work each day. There was just no way I could go in. I was exhausted, so uncomfortable, had non stop cramping, and just felt terrible. Thursday morning (two days before my due date) I woke up to Kenny getting ready for work and decided to go to the bathroom and lost my mucus plug. I didn’t panic too much because I had lost some of it weeks before and I was still pregnant… So I figured I still had time. Around 7:45 I decided I would go hop in the shower and get ready for the day just in case. As I went to get in the shower my water broke. Thankfully Kenny had not left yet. We got all of our stuff loaded in the truck, said bye to Ruger, called our moms, and headed to the hospital.

By the time we finally got up to triage it was almost 9:00. It took some time to get me admitted because they had to run the amniotic fluid test multiple times. That became a little frustrating since it was apparent that my water had broken considering every time I bent over or even moved there was a gush…. But it was protocol so we waited. Once we got admitted our moms were able to come up to the room and time flew by. After hours and very little progress the nurse came in to let me know that the midwife that was on call from my doctors office had wanted to start me on Pitocin to speed things along. I trusted her and knew that it was the right thing to do but asked if I could walk the halls for a bit to see if there was any progress. Once the Pitocin started I would be stuck and was not ready for that. Even though the contractions came I was not progressing fast enough and after an hour of walking I was put on Pitocin.

I knew I wanted an Epidural but was being stubborn and waiting to do it until I could not handle the pain anymore. The Midwife eventually came in to check on me and asked if I would humor her and do some exercises with her before I got the Epidural. If it helped get Remi out and got me out of the bed I was all for it. By the end of it I had done many sets of downward dog, side lunges, and who knows what else all through contractions that were becoming stronger and closer together. By the last set of side lunges I thought that I was going to throw up and die. I knew then that I NEEDED the Epidural or I was not going to survive. While we waited for the Anesthesiologist to come the contractions were coming every minute and so intense I barely got a break to breathe. Let’s just say that the thought of the needle did not even scare me anymore and the Anesthesiologist was an angel. He got that Epidural in there so good that it took a long while after I had Remi to be able to feel my left hip. Thankfully I could still somewhat feel my legs and had some control of them so I did not panic.

Once they did the Epidural they came in and checked me. Turns out I was doing side lunges while dilated at an 8. After some time I was dilated to a 10 but instead of having me push right away they wanted me to labor down for an hour before beginning to push. I was all for this since I was not in pain anymore and could actually rest. After a little less than an hour it was game time. I figured I would be pushing on my back and it would be chaotic like what you see in tv shows and movies. Nope, not at all. The Midwife was in there the whole time and I did not push on my back one time. Instead they had me alternate pushing on my sides. The room was quiet and calm. Minus Kenny deciding to meow at one point while waiting for a contraction to start… Leave it to Kenny to be the jokester and try to lighten the mood. He was the hit of the floor with all of the nurses and my Midwife. In a little under an hour Remington Rae was born at 10:15 in the evening, weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces. It was such a special day for her to be born since it was Kenny’s late grandpa’s birthday.

Since it was so late at night visiting hours were long over so only my mom and mother-in-law got to meet Remi that night. I was so worried that they would be kicked out before I even started pushing, but thankfully they let them stay. They were such a huge support during this time and such a special experience. My mom went and picked up In-n-Out for us since I had not eaten all day and the cafeteria was closed. Once she left we were on our own for the rest of the night.

My birth experience was seriously the best and I am so grateful for that. You only ever hear the negative stories so it scares you. I didn’t know that I could have such a love for such a little thing. She has become my little best friend. It is amazing what a woman’s body can do and how I was able to create another human being.