Our Birth Story

Here is the story of the birth of our first born <3. I should mention this post may be a bit graphic, however I think it is semi-important to share our story. I wish I had read similar stories so I knew what to expect with the whole journey!

Things started Wednesday & Thursday (3/30&31) when I felt like my mucus plug had come out. Unfortunately this isn't really a true sign of labor, as some people lose theirs and don't give birth for up to 2 weeks. By Friday, I had started to feel slightly different, but because I am on the small side and it was my first pregnancy I had been told there was a good chance I would be going over my due date. So we thought we had plenty of time to be lazy.

As we were casually sitting around on Friday, March, 31 watching the Penguins game and eating frozen pizza, a weird feeling came over me. I went to the bathroom and felt a strange pop. All of a sudden this liquid was pouring out of me. I panicked - was this my water breaking? I hadn't had a single contraction, besides my typical braxton hicks. I called to Dustin who was watching the game (we had always joked I would go into labor during a Pens game). We searched to find the paper with the labor directions and I called into the office. A few minutes later the doctor on call returned my call and told us to come to the hospital. Dustin immediately sprung into action collecting our bags and grabbing the items on our list that needed grabbed. I casually took a shower and took my sweet time getting ready. I would have guessed it would have been the opposite! We had planned on laboring at home as long as possible, but that option seemed to be out of the picture. We called our doula/midwife/nurse/my mom and she was in Ohio visiting my sister. Everyone packed up and headed towards State College!

We are officially being admitted!

This is obviously before any kind of pain kicked in!

Ice chips are a girl's best friend!

We drove to the hospital and they check to see if it was indeed my water. The test confirmed it was and they admitted us to Labor Room 2. The doc checked me and I was only 3 cm, we had a long way to go! Shortly after being hooked up, little man's heart-rate dropped quickly and we had to be hooked up to the internal heart-rate monitor. So with wires hanging out of my hoo-ha, we lost the ability to walk around the hallway. So there went our second plan of action. I started my IV and had a million gallons of penicillin (I had Group B Strep). Because I wasn't very dilated and my contractions weren't really being felt, they gave me some low-pain meds and told us to try and get some sleep.

Dustin helping me through some early contractions

Around 9am, they started a pitocin drip. From 9am (3cm) to 11am (9+cm) we moved pretty quickly! We were so excited and thought he would be here soon! I got my epidural sometime before 9, details are a bit vague by now. At 11:28 we started pushing. At first, the epidural made it really difficult for me to feel when contractions were happening. My nurse also mentioned down the line that the first 2 hours of my pushing were useless. I semi-attribute this to the epidural, semi to my unawareness of what labor actually was/is. With Dustin on one side and my mom on the other we pushed through contractions for 3.5 hours. The doctor had to do an emergency c-section and 2 other women were near delivery, so they offered me an opportunity to take a break from pushing. After 3.5 hours, I was beyond exhausted and took them up on the opportunity. However, I still felt every contraction and had the urge to push. So that only worked for about 15 minutes. We started pushing again and this process lasted between 6-7 hours. Around hour 4 & 5 I asked for a c-section. With the amount of exhaustion I was feeling coupled with my terrible nausea (I have a huge fear of vomit), I was just ready to get him out. Because he was maintaining a stable heart rate and was "so close", they would not even consider the section.

Getting to hold my baby for the first time!

First moments as a family of 3!

After being told a million times "just a few more big pushes and we can get the doctor!" the doctor finally came in and the whole crew was assembled for the delivery. After 7 hours I was SO exhausted. I honestly blacked out for most of my actual labor. It was so exhausting and with each contraction I continuously asked myself how could I do this? But the second he was born I forgot all about that. Apparently his head had been stuck in my pelvis, but once he was ready to come it happened pretty quickly. They ended up needing to use the vacuum to get him out which also contributed to his slightly misshapen head. I really should have received an episiotomy, but ended up with a level 4 tear (worst/most severe).

Dexter James Cozad <3

At 6:36pm on Saturday, April 1, 2017 Dexter James Cozad was born. They placed him on my chest as I sobbed about the reality of it all. I could not believe he was finally here and that I was lucky enough to be his mother! Dustin cut the cord and they let us snuggle for a bit, before they wanted to check him out because his breathing seemed labored. They kept him in the room under the giraffe unit and Dustin stayed with him and calmed him down while they delivered my placenta and stitched me up. This was significantly more painful than anything I had ever heard about. It was just as bad as pushing through the contractions. He measured at 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds 4 ounces with lots of blonde hair and grey/blue eyes. He was so long and skinny!

After they cleared him to be okay, we got to do some skin to skin and tried breastfeeding for a bit. Then we let the family come in and meet him! It was such a surreal time for us. Dustin did some skin to skin and they let the two of us spend some quality time in the laboring room before we had to move across the hall. We requested Jimmy John's sandwiches for our first meal in over 24 hours (ah lunch meat!) and ate a small dinner at 11pm before heading over to our smaller, postpartum room.

snuggled up

Daddy's first diaper!

Over the course of the weekend, we had some wonderful nurses, meals, experiences and visitors at Mount Nittany Medical Center. I was slowly learning how to deal with the crazy amount of pain and bleeding. I had no idea it was that rough. Thank goodness for the granny boy shorts, peri-bottles, tucks pads, and dermaplast. Also shoutout to my favorite nurse Rachel for showing us how to make "ice diapers" where you tear open a diaper and add ice chips. Those things were a lifesaver. My entire body was sore. Muscles I didn't even know I had hurt. My cheeks were in pain from the grunting - no exaggeration that everything was feeling that labor. Not sure if it was a compliment or what when many of the nurses who came into our room said 'oh wow you were the one who pushed for 7 hours! You were such a trooper, that was a super rough birth!' Breastfeeding is so much harder at first than anyone tells you. I felt so inadequate providing milk, even though I had a higher level of colostrum that average. We were told he had lost too much weight so we had to supplement with formula, which made me feel like a failure. However, it was a mis-weigh and he did not actually lose that much weight.

Little man loves his hands!

Fam squad who was there to support us.

Our fancy last meal before we left :)

By Monday AM they had told us we were cleared to be discharged. It was a scary feeling knowing we were 100% responsible for him once we left the hospital doors. We were so prepared with out frozen meals and checklists, but nothing can really prepare you for becoming a parent for the first time. His weight was still a bit of a concern and he was a bit yellow, so we had a follow up appointment with his pediatrician two days later. He has since continued to drop on the jaundice scale and his weight has continued to increase!

All ready to go home!

Mustache outfit for the little man <3

We have gotten into our little routine at home and are adjusting to having a 3rd roommate. We have googled more than we should and questioned decisions we probably don't need to, but I think that is all part of the process. Even though the birth was rough, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to get a little nugget as amazing as Dexter is. We are sooo in love with him and cannot wait to see what his future holds in this little family of ours. <3