Writing about and sharing pictures from the day Blaire was born gave me such a flood of emotions! I knew I wanted to share her birth story, since I wasn’t blogging one year again when she was born. We knew Blaire was breach at about 32 weeks. We were given a few options: aversion, seeing a chiro, laying upside down on the staircase with something frozen on top of her head and I’m sure there were more. I had never seen a chiropractor before and wasn’t comfortable starting then. The process of the aversion freaked me out, and it would have had be done during the week Jason had to be in Brazil for work. I tried putting a bag of frozen corn on her head and while she did seem to get mad, she didn’t change her position much.
We decided we would leave it up to Blaire to get herself where she needed to be, and we just scheduled the C Section. I have noticed a giant push in recent years for natural childbirth and a lot of moms feeling like they’ve “failed” if they have to have a C Section. Well, I am not one of those moms! However you get your baby out, you still GAVE BIRTH! You carried a baby and brought a new life in to this world. So kudos to you, mama! I also know I would have had to have gotten an epidural because I’m a whimp. I’m a control freak, so being able to schedule the date and time, and knowing what date we would be leaving the hospital with a baby was comforting to me. (Obviously she could have decided to come sooner, but I just had the strongest feeling she’d stay put.) Before you see the next picture, let me provide you with a disclaimer. In my surgical paperwork that I had to sign off on ahead of time, it said I was not allowed to wear makeup or nail polish in to surgery. Therefore… I look terrible in ever photo taken this day. (It also said not to bring your wedding rings… which was stupid because they would’ve been super cute in her newborn photos.)
The day of my C Section we had to be to the hospital around 5AM to get all checked in and up to the room. I don’t think I have to say that we didn’t get much sleep that night. There’s something so exciting and frightening about knowing you’re leaving your house in the morning, and coming home in a few days with a baby. I had to get all changed in to my gown and get my IV hooked up. (I HATE NEEDLES!) They immediately started pumping lots of cold fluid through my IV and it made me shiver, which meant they brought me warm blankets to keep me cozy. The nurse hooked my belly up to a machine to monitor Blaire’s heartbeat and I was having some small c
ontractions (probably because I was so nervous!). About 20 minutes before surgery was supposed to start they did a quick ultrasound to confirm she was still breech. The worst part of the entire surgery was getting the spinal, and the fact that Jason couldn’t be in the operating room while they gave it to me. They literally tried about 20 times. It was terrible… but I knew if they couldn’t get it, then I’d have to be put under while they performed the surgery. Luckily they were finally able to get it and our beautiful girl enter the world less than 20 minutes later! She had red hair and was so tiny and precious. She also had the common features of a Frank Breech baby – a perfectly shaped head and she was amazing at doing the splits! ;) For those of you who don’t know, Frank Breech is just one of the different breech positions. It is when the baby is bent in half. Her head was up on one side of my ribs, with her hands and feet on the other side… and her little butt was down where her head should have been.
I was worried that they had to take her and Jason back to the room while they finished the surgery, but it was only another 10 minutes and I was in the room with my two loves. I also thought I would be much more aware of what was going on in the operating room. Between Jason and the anesthesiologist, they kept me entertained and I had no idea they had even started the surgery until the doctor said “We have two legs! Now we just need that little head!” And about 30 seconds later, we heard Blaire cry for the first time! In the end, it was an amazing, tiring day. The feeling of knowing you get to meet you baby within minutes is just the craziest feeling you can ever imagine. And all of the nice texts, posts and visits from friends remind you what a great group of people you have around you, helping you welcome that precious new baby in to the world!
There it is… Blaire’s birth story.
Were able to deliver vaginally or if you had a C Section. If you had a C Section – have you had C Sections with your next children or did you try a VBAC? xo
Carol davis
TRISTA, this is just so beautiful! This blog was amazing memories ! Absolutely love this !
Tiffany
That was so sweet! And yes, even with a c-section YOU GAVE BIRTH!! And i love that you can choose a birthdate! I however chose to give birth vaginally (since baby wasn’t breeched) with an epidural, although I did make it to eight centimeters dilated all by myself beforehand (probably because my water broke). I was really calm, excited, nervous, and scared all at the same time – I even took a quick bath before we headed to the hospital! With all the Braxton hicks I had the weeks following up to the “real” contractions, it didn’t seem as bad as I thought it was going to be, yep, those really do prepare you for the real deal! And did you know even orgasms during pregnancy can give also give you contractions too?! Anyways, my point was it wasn’t as bad as some ppl make it seem, or maybe I have a high pain tolerance, who knows. But I am so glad I still got the epidural! Huntley came out 8lbs 11oz (that’s almost near 9lbs!) I had an episiotomy, with a third (almost 4th degree tear), and took near an hour to stitch me back (which I’m glad my doc was a pro at!) Even right after giving birth I looked to Tanner and said, eh’ that wasn’t too bad, I can do that again. Lol!
Tiffany
Ps. Who has time for make-up anyways?! You’re about to have a baby!! Btw, you look gorgeous even without!
Isabel
I love your blog and birth story. My first child I had a vaginal birth. She was in the perfect position by 37 weeks. I did have an eperderial and my labor lasted about 14 hours with her. She was born on her due date which is rare. No tearing at all which was awesome. She was 7lbs 8oz. For my second birth I decided to go all natural. My son also came on his due date. I was in labor for 5 hours start to finish. I only had to push 3 times and he popped right out. Lol. I hired a doula and decided to see a midwife group. It was an awesome experience. I loved that he came into such a loving and clam environment. Also no tearing and he was 8lbs 5oz. Both of my birthing experiences where different and wouldn’t change them for the world. I have two beautiful kids and I am truly thankful for them.
Trista
IsabelCongratulations, Isabel! Thank you so much for sharing! Our birthing class instructor was a doula and she definitely convinced me that they make all the difference in the world… Especially if you want a natural, calm birth. I’m so happy for you, mama!