Oaklyn Joy Moore: A Birth Story

I have read so many birth story blog posts over the years and I seriously cannot believe that I am actually now writing my own. Time truly flies. 

Especially since she's now a month old!

(disclaimer: this is really long and more for my personal memory but here it is! enjoy!)

We welcomed our beautiful little girl into the world Sunday February 22, 2015 at 10:54 am. She was five days late and weighed 7.8 pounds and was 19.5 inches long with TONS of fuzzy brown hair and truly perfect in every way. 

Saturday February 21st around 4:30 am I began feeling my first light contractions. They really weren't anything crazy but I knew they were contractions and I tried SO hard not to get my hopes up as I tried to fall back asleep. Hunter woke me up and asked if I wanted to go to the school with him to watch him throw around 10 am. I immediately said yes because I planned to walk around the field in attempts to get the contractions to speed up. I wasn't timing them but I knew they were getting closer. I texted both of our moms and let them know, but was still trying so hard not to get too excited because I had been let down too many times since I was now past my due date. Being that I was already four days late my doctor requested I go to the hospital for an NST to make sure little O was doing well. Before we left I decided to get a little more ready because I had this weird feeling that it was finally time to welcome our little girl into the family. As i stood there curling my hair, hunter timed my contractions. 3 1/2 minutes apart on the dot. And some were even just 3 minutes. Once we got to the hospital The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and left us alone for a bit. She came back and let us know everything looked good... Then she said "honey you're having contractions... And they're 3 minutes apart. Are you feeling them?" I let her know that I was in fact feeling them but they weren't hurting terribly. So she sent us home with tips to keep them going and the most encouraging words... "I wouldn't be surprised if I see you back here later tonight." We left the hospital both hungry and hopeful so we decided our last date together would be going to Costco to get all the samples we desired. Seriously, so many samples! I had to stop at every one of them and just breathe through the contractions. They were starting to get more painful, but not painful enough. 

We went home and I sat in a warm bath just trying to breathe but the combination of painful contractions and the reality of our little girl actually coming was overwhelming and my mind seemed to be racing. That was the last peaceful bath for a long long time ;) 

It was now around 5pm so I decided I should eat, but I was still nervous beyond compare. I must've walked into her room 100 times that night and just started bawling. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. We tried to watch a movie together to make the time go faster but I definitely wasn't paying attention because the contractions were now hurting enough that they were starting to take my breath away. I was so nervous that I would get sent home from the hospital if we went so I tried to do as much Laboring at home before we left. Around 10pm I couldn't take it anymore but I was still so nervous to leave. I told Hunter that it was time and we packed some last minute things in the hospital bag. Hunter then gave me a blessing and before we left we stood in the kitchen and just hugged just the two of us in our home for the last time. That was one of the sweetest moments in our marriage and I'll never forget it. Walking to the car was surreal to say the least. We drove to the hospital with a car seat in the back seat just waiting for our little girl. Even though I was five days late, I still was in shock that I was in labor. 

We walked into labor and delivery not really knowing what to expect, but reallyyy hoping we wouldn't get sent home. They checked me and I was only dilated to a three, which wasn't enough to be admitted. I sat there hooked up to the monitors for another hour hoping I would progress... Nothing. The nurse told me I could go walk the halls for another hour if I wanted but they still couldn't admit me. Hunter walked with me and let me squeeze his hand through the most pain I had ever felt in my life. My contractions were now two minutes apart and hurt like I didn't know was possible. Once an hour had passed I was praying constantly that I would be dilated more and that I would be able to get through the pain. The nurse came in... 3 1/2. I couldn't believe it. She told me they would be sending me home with pain medication and I could come back later and she went to go talk to the doctor to get me the medicine. I looked at Hunter with tears in my eyes "I can't go home, I'm in the most pain I have ever felt." I knew that our baby was coming and the thought of being sent home and not knowing when to come back terrified me. The nurse came back a few minutes later and told me the doctor said they could admit me and give me the epidural. I looked at her with wide eyes and almost shouted "yes! Let's do that!" She left the room and that's when reality really sank in. I couldn't help but cry because my contractions were making me miserable, I was SO scared of the epidural, I knew the only way this baby was coming out was for me to push her out, and I was suddenly feeling so unprepared to be a mom. Hunter came and sat by my side letting me squeeze his hand through each contraction and tried his best to keep me calm. I think we were both just shocked it was really happening. A new nurse came in with our hospital bracelets and taught me how to breathe through each contraction which surprisingly really helped. She said that the epidural was ordered and the anesthesiologist would be up any minute. When he walked through the door I was both incredibly relieved and terrified. They had hunter sit right in front of me holding my hands and distracting me from the fact that a strange man was sticking a huge needle in my spine. I tried so hard not to think about it and before I knew it, it was over and my pain level went WAY down. I don't care what anyone says, epidurals are the way to go! They hooked me up to my IV and at this point I really couldn't feel a thing. I looked at Hunter and said "okay, you can sleep now I feel great!" Which was relieving to both of us ha. I wish I could say that I slept well after that but I still had needles poking me and nurses coming in every hour. The first of many sleepless nights. Once I got the epidural and was able to relax I was finally beginning to dilate more. I kept staring at the clock wondering when our little girl would make her appearance. She sure took her sweet time but it all feels like a blur at the same time. Around 5am the nurse said I was finally to a 5. Suddenly I was then at a 7. Next thing I knew it was time to push around 9 am. I don't know why I was so nervous about pushing, that was probably the easiest part of labor for me. Each time a contraction came I was so motivated to push with all my might and just get her out. Until I felt some serious heartburn. That made pushing challenging because it turned into pushing and trying my best not to throw up. which is hard when you're using every thing in you to push a child out... still can't believe I did that. They wouldn't let me take a zantac and instead gave me the grossest little drink in the world. It was spicy, sweet, and sour all at once... so now I was trying not to throw that up. Around 10:30 the nurse called the doctor in and at that point I asolutely knew it was show time. At 10:54 am I heard the sweetest little cry in the entire world, it was my little Oaklyn. I looked at the doctor holding her up and instantly began crying. She was here and I loved her more than I knew possible. The nurses took her right away because she had lots of meconium that they needed to make sure wasn't in her lungs. I could only watch from the hospital bed as I saw my sassy little girl throwing punches at those nurses haha. Hunter was standing right by her telling me how beautiful she was. Once they cleaned her up we got to do skin to skin for the first time and my precious girl was hungry right from the start. She was practically sticking her whole fist in her mouth. Once her temperature went up they took her away with Hunter to do... whatever they did ha. 

We then got to the mother and baby room and they wheeled her in all clean and perfectly content with the cutest little bows in all of her dark hair. I looked at her and could not believe how perfect she was. And she was all ours :) the two days we stayed there everyone that came in kept telling us how beautiful and perfect she is. They said everyone on their floor was talking about her and all her hair :)
Oaklyn seriously is such a little joy to have in our lives. I have loved watching her and daddy bond together. It has truly made me fall even more in love with Hunter.

Having a baby is hard, and definitely a constant job. But, it is so wonderful and looking at her chubby little cheeks and snuggling her little self makes it all worth it.

I'm a mommy now! And I could not be more happy :)

All my love,

Aleigh Joy