The Story of You: Maija Rose
Just over a month has passed since our beautiful baby girl was born, she’s grown so much already! During that time we’ve adjusted to a nice routine and I’m able to carve out a bit more time for myself; feel like I can finally reflect on the final weeks of my pregnancy and the details from the day she was born - best day ever!
Maija’s birth day was nothing I could have ever truly planned for not predicted what it would be like, it was an experience I can really only best describe by living. It was fast and furious yet at times felt like i was never going to get through, intense, painful but achievable, miraculous and beautiful all at the same time - and I don’t have to voice it to anyone but worth every second, what a beautiful little human we made. Words cannot describe the overwhelming amount of love that is had for her, you just don’t know you can love that much until that tiny person is laid on your chest.
It was Wednesday, March 28th, 3 days past our due date. Considering a few high blood pressure readings and the fact that our doctor was on call on Thursday, we were scheduled to be induced on Thursday, March 29th.
Colton and I went out for dinner one last time as the two of us and afterwards Colton headed to a friends house with intentions of hanging out for a few hours.
About 30 minutes after I got back home, my water broke - it was obvious. Not only did I not expect for my water to break because it only happens to one in twenty moms, but I definitely didn’t expect it during these last remaining before we were supposed to go in to get induced! I was at peace with our plan and was just settling down for a night of full sleep when baby decided in the knick of time to come on their own, which I definitely can’t complain about but find it quite telling of her sassy personality.
I called Colton to tell him his evening plans were changing, I believe his exact words were: “no shit?!” - my water breaking was kind of the last thing we expected in the eleventh hour, but she was just keeping us on our toes! I called the clinic and spoke to the doctor on call, Dr. Ormsby and since I wasn’t having contractions we were told to take our time coming in, within the next four hours. Our doctor, Dr. Hanno was supposed to be on call the following day and I asked if she would be able to be on our service to deliver the baby. Dr. Ormsby informed us that Dr. Hanno would most likely be the delivery doctor, being that it was already so late into the evening and we probably wouldn’t deliver until the following morning.
We finished packing or hospital bags, and killed a few hours watching the Timberwolves game. Around 10 PM we finally headed to the hospital. I still wasn’t having any contractions but figured it was time to go... Upon arriving at the hospital the nurses wanted to give me a PH test to make sure my water had broke, I politely informed the nurse there was probably no need for that... but she found out for herself soon after. No doubt about it that my water broke, I will keep it at that.
We were quickly moved into a labor and delivery room around 11 PM. I thought at this point, "Maybe I’m one of those people that doesn’t feel contractions", NOPE. We settled into our cozy delivery room, set up my essential oil diffuser, prepped my affirmation cards and kicked back - I was about 3 cm dilated at this point.
About an hour later, those contractions kicked in full force! All my affirmation cards, position notes and birth plan notes went by the wayside... that’s not to say that all my planning didn’t pay off because what I learned definitely kicked in mentally; I kept all those affirmations and positions in mind but at the end of the day my body just took over and I ended up focusing on whatever felt right for my body in the moment - for me it was leaning on the birthing ball and deep BREATHING through everything, which Colton made sure to remind me of throughout.
By about 1:00AM I ended up getting sick and the pain was unbearable. I remember saying to Colton that I didn’t think I could do it for 6+ more hours if that was how it was going to be. He of course reminded me of my intentions for a natural birth plan and kept to his strict instructions! The nurse had left us alone for a while, informing us that first time moms take a long time to labor and I was told that I wasn’t yet in active labor yet... Colton and I begged to differ! By 2:00 I felt like i was dying and couldn’t go on any longer; I didn’t want to be around anyone so locked myself in the other room trying to push through... I was told I was making dinosaur animal sounds... I was already having the urge to push. When our labor nurse returned to the room, Colton was frantically paging through our birth plan notes and trying his damndest to convince the nurse that I was in active labor, another hour went by before they finally checked me and sure enough I had jumped to 9cm in an hour!
Everything seemed to be escalating so fast! After everyone finally agreed I was in transition, they called the doctor. I sat at 9cm for about an hour... the worst of all of this was when they told me my body was progressing like I was having my third child; my body was READY but I had to resist the urge to push while we waited for the doctor! Breathing is really the only thing I could do without drugs. I sucked on nitrous for a good 45 minutes until they traded me for free oxygen... nitrous definitely does not take away any pain but helps you relax a bit so after I had a taste of that I was hanging onto every bit I could get and getting free oxygen in return was quite a let down! Ha.
My body finally dilated to 10 cm, Dr. Ormsby showed up (the doctor I talked to on the phone ended up delivering after all!) and it was the beginning of the end. FINALLY, they told me I could stop holding back pushes and start PUSHING, biggest relief ever. After a handful of positions and 30 minutes of pushing, things got a little heated and baby's heart rate started to drop a bit. Out of no where it seemed that we went from 2 nurses to 10, and even in my distracted state, I knew something was up - mostly because of the look on Colton's face, analyzing the room. The doctors brought up using a vacuum to get baby out since she was in distress. I knew going into delivery that I didn't want to use forceps or vacuum if I could help it so we made sure this was our only resort. I was in so much pain and it was very hard to focus at this point - I remember asking the doctors "please tell me what to do". Dr. Ormsby looked at me and said: "It's either the vacuum or we're doing an emergency C-section to get baby out". At that point, I got an extra wave of energy and motivation; there was no way I was heading into surgery after all this hard work.
After a few pushes and some assistance from the vacuum, baby was out and a wave of relief came over me - she got out safe and my body finally relaxed. Colton announced with a big smile (an "I knew it would be a girl" look on his face) "It's a girl"! Our babe was born at 4:21AM on March 29, 7lbs 30z and 21 inches long. Very long hands and feet, not sure where she got that from...
I am so proud of myself for powering through and doing things naturally, just how I wanted to - but I certainly have more than a lot of appreciation for mommas and natural child birth - it's no joke. I also pass NO judgement on anyone who wants to be medicated, it's kind of an indescribable pain.
Things are a bit patchy for me but Colton was in tune with the whole thing. Baby's cord was extremely short so she wasn't able to be placed on my stomach immediately but we heard her cry within a few seconds, Colton was able to still cut her cord down (not the very first disconnect) and she was on my chest within a few short minutes. I still remember trembling but having this overwhelming feeling of relief and joy holding that little baby. She was absolutely PERFECT. They say babies don't coming out looking perfect, but I think ours did.. A perfect combination of the two of us, glowing skin and eyes that I could stare into for days.
The three of us, as a new family laid together for 2 hours in pure bliss as we sat on a name for this beauty. Around 6:30AM we moved up to our postpartum room - I decided to walk and was pretty proud of myself after that feat.
A few hours after moving up to our room we officially decided on "Maija Rose" - we fooled ourselves and pretended like there was another contender but I think we both knew Maija would be her name. Because Maija was born at 4 in the morning, we were up for about 36 hours straight between the nurses coming in and baby girl waking up. I'm not going to lie, I was counting down the hours until her 24 hour checkup so the nurses could take her and I could get 45 minutes of sleep! Her early morning birth seemed to set her mental clock and for the first month it seemed that her favorite time to be awake was between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00am. For the most part I think we've readjusted her schedule but whew, that was a trying time!
We were very pleased with all the nurses, doctors and staff at The Mother Baby Center, they were so patient and comforting and I have a strong appreciation for all they do. I also left with a greater appreciation for moms... for all they sacrifice, endure and all of the love they give. It's true when they say you don't know how much you can love another until you hold your own child. We have so much love for you Maija Rose, you may never even know how much!
