Ezekiel's Birth Story

I never knew how passionate I was when it came to Ezekiel’s birth. Looking back on my previous pregnancy I cannot recall a moment I ever thought about it. Honestly, I was pretty naïve about the whole thing. My entire pregnancy was non eventful, besides the first trimester, that it made me think delivering my sweet baby boy was going to be the same. Of course, joke was on me when the induction quickly turned into an emergency C-section.

Given that I had a previous c-section I knew I had to quickly educate myself on VBACs. I joined a FB group about vbacs to get more oriented on the subject. My previous OB did not support vbacs but was kind enough to refer me to a practice where all the doctors had experience with them. Al though my MFM (maternal fetal specialist) was not going to be a part of the delivery equation I also discussed my wishes with her. At the end of the day I was glad I did because she turned out to be one of my greatest supporters throughout my pregnancy.

My pregnancy with Ezekiel was a tiny bit harder given that my OB was careless, or should I say in a hurry, that my complaints were always normal. I quickly realized that she would turn out to be one of those doctors who push you towards a csection at the end of your pregnancy. Sooo at the last month of my pregnancy I started with all the crazy attempts so baby boy can come into this world on his own. Monday through Friday I walked a mile which included stairs and up hills. If I could not walk outside, I walked on the treadmill. Squatting was also something I did regularly before going to bed and occasionally I would sit on the floor in the butterfly position. Starting at 35 weeks, I began drinking Earth Mama Third Trimester Tea. First week was once a day then increased it to two and finally three by week 37. The tea would increase the intensity of my Braxton hicks but they were not painful. The taste in my opinion wasn’t horrible that I drank it by itself, plus it made me feel relaxed. Other things I tried were dancing until I was tired as well as some weird but funny little routine that included walking/ stretching in the most uncomfortable way.

On January 3rd I went in for my last weekly check up until my scheduled c-section date. My doctor wasn’t available so that entailed seeing another doctor. I left almost crying when she told me there was no progress. During my appointment, she asked if baby boy was moving a lot. When I responded with a yes she smiled and said he could be here at any moment. Her words didn’t comfort me at all that I immediately texted J to venting on how I wont be getting my vbac. At exactly 12:30 am on January 4th I woke up with contractions. Since I had been getting on and off Braxton hicks I wasn’t really concerned over them. Even with doubt on my mind I started timing them and text my cousin who just had her baby girl 2 weeks prior. She quickly called me to ask where I was feeling the contractions. During our conversation, I became silent that it made her ask if I was getting a contraction. Once it passed, I said yes but they were bearable. She kept insisting I go to the hospital since my contractions were already 4-5 minutes apart. I finally decided to tell J he needed to take me to the hospital. While he got ready to leave I gathered all the hospital stuff and called my mom so she can take care of my first born. I ended downloading an app which tells u when u should be heading to the hospital. The minute I started using it my phone kept alerting me that I needed to go right away. By 1:40 am we were finally on our way. The hospital is a good 30-40 minutes away from our home. During check in J had to fill out the little form and answer any questions they had. The contractions were intense that I preferred not to talk through them. It seemed like the nurses didn’t believe I was in full on labor. Heck, if I am being honest I still believed they were going to send me home. They set me up in an evaluation room to monitor my contractions prior to admitting me. In the eval room next to me was another woman who was in tears. Once again my mind was back to thinking I was going to be sent home since I was not experiencing excruciating pain. All I needed was to squeeze J’s hand every time a contraction came on. I was able to speak through them when the nurse finally came in. Prior to her doing a cervical check, she asked how apart were my contractions. At that point, they were every 1 to 2 minutes. Cervical check indicated I was going to be admitted since I was already 5 cm dilated. I was extremely shocked that a couple hours prior I was not even 1 cm dilated. By the time they moved me into my delivery room I had dilated to 7 cm. The nurses asked if I wanted an epidural which I answered yes to, not because I was in pain it was more for fear that I would regret it once the pushing part began. By 7 am the new doctor on call came in to check on me and I was still at a 7 cm with a bulging water. He broke my water and by 11 am Ezekiel was born and placed in my arms. Tears of joy filled my eyes. The emotions that ran through my mind were surreal. HOLDING him alone was surreal!

Soon after I began hemorrhaging… I could see the fear in Js eyes when a swarm of nurses and doctors came into the room trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I only remember bits and pieces of that moment as I was in and out of conscious. What I do remember is thinking that this part was worst than my entire labor. Since I had to be in recovery baby boy was sent to the nursery for a couple hours until I was doing better. When we were finally reunited I held him while admiring how beautiful he looked sleeping. Ezekiel wasn’t latching on to anything. We tried the nipple shield, formula, and finally sprinkling a bit of formula to trick him on latching. Once they saw he was making an effort eating we were released from the hospital. When my milk finally came in he became a pro at breastfeeding. At his first doctors check up he had gained all his birth weight back and some.

I love my new life being a mom to two beautiful boys. Although at times it can become hectic, I wouldn’t trade these moments for anything in the world. I thank God for giving me the strength and guidance throughout our journey to becoming parents. It wasn’t easy but definitely worth it.