Mommy's Favorite Things: Liam Everett's Birth Story



Sunday, January 19, 2014

Liam Everett's Birth Story



Liam Everett was due on January 14th. He arrived on January 12th at 7:16pm. He was 7lb 8oz and 21" long. My longest labor out of the 3.

I had my last dr. appt on January 7th. I was dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced.


For 4-5 evenings I was having contractions. Some were braxton hicks that were 3-5 minutes apart and others were a bit more crampy but were 12 minutes apart. Nothing ever regular and after going to bed they would dissipate.
Every morning I would wake up to go to the bathroom and hoped that it was contractions that were waking me, but indeed it never was.

At 6:15am on the 12th I woke up to go to the bathroom. I went back to bed and felt a bit nauseated and just a general uneasy feeling. I thought MAYBE it was the day. I quickly realized I was having mild contractions. I sat up and started timing them. They were right around 5-6 minutes apart and about 40 seconds long. But they weren't very strong. So I waited.

After about an hour and a half I woke up my husband and let him know, I also called my mother in law since she was the babysitter. My husband got in the shower and my mother in law told me she had no car :(. So I called my sister in law and she was on her way over.

I finished packing my hospital bag and got everything ready. Here we are at about 9am and my contractions weren't picking up much at all. I didn't really want to wait around the house though because I would feel terrible for having my sister in law call into work and have it not be the real deal. So even though not real painful, we headed to the hospital anyway.

We got all checked in, I got hooked up to the monitors and was indeed contracting regularly. They checked me around 10:15am and I was just over a 3 and 70% effaced. This bummed me out. I was in labor for 4 hours already and didn't dilate at all.

They told me after 30 minutes on monitors I could get up and move. I decided to walk the halls. I walked for an hour and they were going to check me again. If no progress I was to go home. So around 11:40 I was dilated to a 4. I was indeed in labor, but it was slow going. I kept walking and walking. They still weren't real painful, but I had to stop and breathe through them while walking.

I just kept on walking. It was hard, but they were less intense while walking as opposed to laying bed. And those ice chips?? GOD SEND! I also asked for a birthing ball around 1pm. Around 1:45 I was checked again and was a 4.5... So bummed out. I really didn't want to be in the hospital that long with no progress. I WAS making progress, but so slowly!

At this point I got back on the birthing ball. I wanted pressure to help this little boy make me dilate. But on the ball my contractions spaced to about 8 minutes apart. So I wasn't sure if having less intense, less often contractions was better than being in bed with them on top of each other and way more intense. So I switched between the 2 as often as I could. The ball was nice to get some relief, but I felt the bed contractions were doing more.

Around 3:30 I was checked again and was a 5. I can't believe how slow this is going. My daughter's entire labor was 9.5 hours and my first son was 6h 15m. Here I am at 9 hours already and only halfway there???
At this point the nurse said she could break my water, send me home for a few hours or I could wait it out. I decided to wait. I definitely didn't want to go home at a 5 and wanted to wait a bit for the water breaking.

It was at this point I decided to get in the jacuzzi. But the water didn't get real hot and I only spent 15 minutes in there before the water was cold.

FINALLY at 5 o clock I was a 6. At this point I was ready for the epidural. At 5:20 it was placed. RELIEF... I know that the epidural and eventually water breaking make me advance fast, so I knew it wouldn't be long after this.

At 6:45 the doctor checked me again. I was a 7 and she broke my water, it was then we learned he was sunny side up and this is what delayed my labor so much.

You ready for this? At 7pm exactly I told my husband, "I THINK I'm fully dilated. I feel the pressure on my cervix". But then said "let me see with the next contraction" sure enough. I felt pressure in my whole pelvis this time, not just my cervix. He went to the bathroom and I had another one, he got the nurse and sure enough at 7:05 I was a 10!!! I knew I progressed fast after water and epidural.

At 7:10 ish the doctors and nurses all got in the room and got prepped.
I started pushing right away. 2 contractions and 6 pushes later, Liam was born at 7:16pm.

It was a long labor, but I'm so glad the ending went so well and he arrived healthy. His apgar scores were 9 and 9 and everything was perfect.

I didn't even tear this time!!!

He started nursing just 30 minutes after birth and he nursed for over an hour constantly :)
He didn't have a name at all the first day. It was the next morning that we finally decided on Liam Everett. My husband wanted Liam Mason, but I wasn't feeling the double M.

We went home the next evening and everything has been going great. Nursing has been wonderful besides a cracked nipple and the older siblings have adjusted well.



1 week old today :)



12 comments:


Bryndi said...

So precious !!! Thank you for sharing your story!!!


Maria said...

He shares a birthday with my sister and my husband's cousin's husband! Congrats!!


Maria said...

P.S. your longest labor was shorter than my shortest! LOL!


Unknown said...

OMG he is so adorable and i love that name! Congrats!


Olivia R said...

Only a mom in labor for over 10 hours would know the play by play dilation (is that a word!?). I didn't know they let you leave without naming the baby. Thought you had t name them there for birth certificate..congratulations on your new beautiful little boy. Love his name, especially Everett


Unknown said...

Bless your family and especially little Liam! I love the name! My second child was much like this and also "sunny side up". He weighed almost 9 lbs and it was NOT fun. Every labor and deliver is different as are each and every little sweet soul that comes into the world!


Heather S said...

We named him and filled out the Birth Certificate the next afternoon. We were released that evening :)


Unknown said...

Congratulations! I love his name!


Anonymous said...

What a real sweetie! Big congratulations to you!


Tiffany Schmidt said...

Thank you for sharing your story. Every story is so different and special. Congratulations!


Puddles and Poop said...

Congrats! He is so handsome and I love his name. I am glad your delivery went pretty smoothly! Enjoy your beautiful little man.

Erin K. (erinknack08@yahoo.com)


Unknown said...

Congratulations! I discovered your blog via your Lug giveaway and I've enjoyed browsing through your entries. I'm a sucker for birth stories and I loved yours. Very happy ending!