Daphne's Birth Story

Tuesday May 24th

I woke up and had my 38 week (and 4 day) OB appointment, which came at a great time considering I felt really sick the night prior (very nauseous). My doctor checked me and let me know that I was 3 CM dilated and 75% effaced. She said I would likely be delivering within the next few days and to hang in there! I quickly called Jonathan after leaving the appointment to let him know that we needed to prepare as it could be anytime (aka - please pack the hospital bag I’ve been asking you to pack for weeks!) I spent the rest of the day trying to get as much work done as possible and decided to go for a walk in the late afternoon (I realized I walked 18K steps on this day, no wonder I went into labor!). Around dinner time, I started feeling really nauseous again and I started to get a lot of back pain. By the time I would normally get into bed, I was having pretty consistent cramping as well. This is when I started googling “what do contractions feel like”, “is back pain normal?” And “is nausea a sign of labor”. Everyone says you will just know when you’re having contractions, but let me tell you, I definitely did NOT know I was in labor for probably a full day at this point.

A few weeks earlier, I had downloaded the app “contractions”, so I opened it up and started timing the crampy sensation I was having. At this point, they were pretty far apart (about 8 minutes on average), so I decided to triple check my hospital bag, forced Jonathan to start packing his, and I quickly took a shower and blew out my hair (priorities, am I right?) As my contractions started to get closer and closer together (on average 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute long), I called Cornell and talked to the doctor on call who told me it was time to come in.

At around 11:30PM Jonathan and I grabbed our car from the parking garage and drove across town to Cornell. They took me to a triage room to assess me and see if I was far enough along to be admitted. At this point, I was 4 CM dilated and 90% effaced. To my surprise, they asked me if I’d like to go home to finish laboring for a while longer. They suggested this as I had told them I didn’t want to be induced with Pitocin. This was tricky… Do I stay at the hospital and risk a potentially slow progression and potential pitocin induction (which I had learned in one of my classes can be a very difficult drug for some women) or do I go home and risk contractions all night long? Ultimately Jonathan made the call that we’d both be too anxious at home and he was totally right. So, they quickly admitted us, and I’m glad they did because I started progressing quickly…

Wednesday May 25th
By 2AM, we were in our labor and delivery room, feeling much more intense contractions, and trying to stay calm. I felt super emotional during this time — full of nerves, anxious, scared, excited. Little did I know that this would be the start of a week long high of adrenaline! Around 3:00AM, they came in and checked me again. I was 5 CM dilated, so they broke my water. My contractions started to get a lot more painful so I opted to have an epidural at this point so I could sleep and rest a bit (who was I kidding, I didn’t sleep a wink!) From 4-8AM nurses were coming into my room constantly to check up on things. At 8:30AM the doctor said I was 9.5 CM dilated and 100% effaced and in Position zero. She said it was time to prepare and I’d be pushing in the next hour! I will never forget that moment — Jonathan and I both looked at each other like OMG, here we go!!!

After an hour and 20 minutes of pushing, our sweet angel, Daphne Lee Jacobs arrived at 10:45AM. She was a small but mighty 5 lbs 6 oz of pure perfection! We did skin to skin before she was measured, weighed, and daddy cut the umbilical cord. The entire labor experience for me was pure magic. Because I had such a difficult time getting pregnant, I had assumed I would have a difficult birth. I was praying for a vaginal delivery (not that there is anything wrong with a c-section at all) and I’m so thankful that my body fully cooperated and allowed me to have such a seamless and enjoyable birth experience. It was more than I could have ever imagined and it felt like true redemption for my body (after feeling like it failed me before).

Thursday, May 27th

I don’t think I slept more than a few hours the entire time we were in the hospital but the adrenaline your body creates is next level! The recovery was very difficult, much harder than I anticipated. The next morning I truly felt like I had been hit by a bus. I couldn’t walk or do anything, but the nursers are amazing and do a great job of helping with recovery, all while teaching us how to take care of this new baby who is OURS!

Friday, May 28th

The following day we left the hospital and headed home to our apartment. Jonathan drove as slow as possible across town that evening — and he put nursery rhymes on in the car for her — so cute! My parents had flown into town that morning, so they picked up all of our packages and got our apartment ready for her arrival. It was such a special moment introducing Daphne to her grandparents and to our home as a family of three!