Henry's Birth Story

I love giving birth.

Yep, I said it. I know it sounds completely insane but I find the entire experience totally magical. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t able to conceive without the help of IVF, but there’s something so empowering about birthing a child and watching my body completey transform. I would be remiss to not mention that I’ve been extremely fortunate to have healthy births for both me and my babies, which I know is such a privilege. Birth can be a very triggering topic so please do not feel that you need to read this if you feel triggered in any way.

Just as each pregnancy is vastly different from one another, each birth is as well. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to my 2nd pregnancy. Will I deliver naturally? Will it end up in a C-section? Will I push again for 2 hours? The possibilities are endless. It’s scary, nerve-racking, and the second those contractions start coming on my adrenaline is through the roof.

I woke up on the 38th week and 2nd day of being pregnant and felt emotional. I said to Jonathan at breakfast, “I’m getting really scared about having this baby. Everything is about to change.” About an hour later I started feeling contractions — isn’t the mind/body connection fascinating?

I wasn’t sure if these were braxton hicks contractions or labor contractions, so I continued my day. I was working from home on my computer most of the morning before my husband forced me to call my doctor as the contractions were intensifying. The doctor said I should come in to get checked out and bring our hospital bags just incase. Of course our bags were not fully packed so we quickly packed and off we went. My doctor said I was dialited a little but the contractions weren’t intense enough to go to the hospital just yet so they told me to go home and labor some more but it would likely be within the next day or so.

After retruning home, I got back on my computer and tried to wrap things up. I had dinner with my daughter and spent an extra long time putting her to bed. My husband went to his weekly volleyball game and returned home around 10PM. The entire time he was gone I was in labor bouncing on an excercise ball and sending last minute emails to clients saying I was heading out on maternity leave. Looking back now it sounds crazy but in the moment I wasn’t 100% sure it was actually happening.

Between 10pm - midnight my contractions continued every 5 minutes for 1 minute so I knew it was time to head in. Jonathan’s sister came over to spend the night with Daphne and we headed to Greenwich Connecticut to meet our baby boy!

We arrived to the hospital around 1AM and I was in triage. They told me I was only 2cm dilated so they wouldn’t admit me yet. My contractions were getting extremely painful so I had them check me again, but to my surprise I was told I was still at 2cm. At this point I was in full blown tears with each contraction and knew something wasn’t right. I asked for a different nurse to check me and sure enough I was 5cm (& it was 2:30AM at this point). They quickly admitted me and by the time the epidural was ordered and the anesthesiologist got to my room (at 3:45am) I was 8cm and in a lot of pain. Luckily I was able to get the epidural (it was almost too late), and that slowed down the contractions for a little bit so I could rest. Around 6AM they checked me again and said I was 9CM and that we’d be pushing in a little bit. Jonathan went to the hall to get a coffee. This was the first moment I was really alone in the room — no doctors and no nurses. At that exact moment out of nowhere I started to feel intense pressure. I yelled for Jonathan to come back but he didn’t hear me so I pressed the emergency button and told them I thought the baby was coming. Within a few seconds a nurse, my doctor, and Jonathan all ran into the room. About 30 seconds later our baby boy was here! I did one big push and he came out (thank god) because they said his heart rate was going down because of how quick the labor came on, so we needed to get him out fast. There was no time to prep the room, everyone just ran over to my bed and there he was! I pushed for almost 2 full hours with Daphne so this experience could not have been more different.

In terms of recovery, I had a grade 2 tear (same as with Daphne), so they spent some time stitching me up while Henry laid on my chest. Overall I felt so, so much better than I did the first time. We spent 30 hours in the hospital and then we were out of there. We wanted to get home and I was feeling well enough that I didn’t need to stay any longer. We were so excited to be in the comfort of our home and have daphne and Henry meet for the first time!

A common thread between both of my births was that I knew my body. When doctors told me I wasn’t ready to be admitted, I knew my body well enough to ask for someone to check again. It’s so easy to stay silent but as women, we have to remember that we know our bodies best and we have to speak up. This is not something that I’ve been good at in life, but that’s what our babies are for — to teach us how to speak up and be new better versions of ourselves.