Our baby girl’s birth story:
January 1, our insurance changed and we had to find a new doctor and new hospital which was very stressful since she was due that month. I had been preparing to give birth unmedicated again so I was hoping my body would go into labor naturally. I went to my 38 week appointment (I was 38 + 5 days) and the midwife stripped my membranes. I was already dilated to about a 6 (which is insane!) and she was so sure I’d go into labor in the next 12 hours but I was very skeptical because I had my membranes stripped twice with Simon and nothing happened. The midwife even introduced me to the midwife that would be on call that night – Janessa. They were both certain I’d be back later. Janessa even said since I was almost dilated to a 6, if I went to labor and delivery at any time, they wouldn’t turn me away. But I knew I wasn’t in active labor and wanted to wait until I was.
So I went home and we had a normal Friday night. We went to Cafe Rio, got Simon an ice cream cone and watched a movie. I was feeling crampy and Dave was timing them wondering if they were contractions. They were consistently 20 minutes apart, then 15 minutes, then 8ish minutes. We were a bit excited but just went to bed around midnight.
I woke up 45 mins later and felt different. The contractions packed more of a punch and I was shaky and flustered. We timed them for a bit and I called my mom to tell her Idk what’s happening but maybe pack a bag just in case. I called the midwife and she said she’d go into the hospital but I was still in denial so I told her to wait.
A few minutes passed and we just decided to have my parents come over. I’m glad we did because when they were on their way over the contractions started getting more intense. About 4 minutes apart. They got to our house just after 2am and Dave and I immediately left to the hospital. Dave took two wrong turns(!!). In his defense he had only gone to our new hospital once. We arrived at the hospital at 2:24am. We walked into labor and delivery (stopping during contractions) and filled out the paperwork. We got to the room and I had dilated to a 7. I worked through the contractions by standing by the bed leaning over with my hands on the bed. The midwife told me, “If I break your water, this will go really fast.” I knew my contractions would be way more intense if she did so I asked for her to come back and ask me in 20 more minutes. So she came back after 20 minutes and checked me and I was at an 8. She offered again and I told her to give me 20 more minutes. So she did. Then she checked me again and I was at an 8.5.
I finally let her break my water. I had two or three really intense contractions and then needed to push. I got on the bed on my hands and knees and screamed as loud as I could during the 3 or 4 pushing contractions and she was out!
It went fast – she was born at 4:21am. I got a bloody nose while pushing but could care less. I just wanted her out and in my arms! She was crying and so sweet. She immediately peed on me haha. For the first hour or so she was trying to figure out how to breathe which scared us a little. She could only breathe if she was crying. If she stopped crying, she would hold her breath. But a nurse worked with her and she figured it out.
We are so in love with her! We decided her name is Eloise Rain Steiner and she is as perfect as can be! Those first moments with her are ones I will always cherish. It must be so scary coming into this big, loud and bright world. The mother instincts kick in hard.
My parents brought Simon to meet her and he was interested for as long as you think a 2-year-old would be haha. He brought her a book and “Mousey-Mousey,” which was a stuffed mouse we bought months ago for her. And she “gave” him an ice cream truck and a marble run. So so many pictures, but I hold them all close to my heart.
