Labor…& the birth:
By: Erika Casillas
Tags: Baby, Birth, Labor, Motherhood, Labor And Delivery

Labor…& the birth:

Thinking of having to give birth eventually to let this little baby girl out of me, always freaked me out. Like I knew the day would come but the anxiety was real! I thought oh my gosh what if my pain tolerance is so low that I pass out? Or what if I just can’t do it?

Let’s rewind to a Thursday night on December 3rd 2020. Mama craved that McDonald’s like Krazy, so of course the Hubbs came through that night bringing me that quarter pounder with cheese combo! I was so excited to eat my not so healthy meal when suddenly felt a contraction come on. It was so strong that it made me stand up and put my burger down. I don’t think I even finished my well desired food. However my contractions weren’t at the pace they needed to be so I slept through them. Waking up the next morning. (Friday the 4th) and doing my usual virtual school with my three other kids, I realized those contractions were back and closer together. As I timed them I knew this was potentially it.

I made sure I showered and put a very light amount of makeup on. I woke up my husband and told him I felt it was time to get up and get to that hospital. We left in a hurry leaving our home a complete disaster .🥴 Luckily being the planner that I am, our hospital bags had been packed for weeks!

We get to the hospital and after filling out paper work, they put me in a small room to check if I’m really in labor. The nurse asks if I’ve lost my mucus plug and I replied yes. She then asked if my water has broken, and according to me I felt it did during my shower as I felt a slight gush. She checked and said it had. I was already 3 cm dilated so they decided to admit me. The contractions at that point felt like menstrual cramps and started feeling very uncomfortable but still bearable. When asked if I wanted that epidural, ya know I said yes! I was not going to test my limits with seeing how much pain I could endure. No thanks, not trying to brag to anyone, so give me all the drugs! That was my mindset. The epidural felt interesting for sure but I sat like a rock through it all. I was calm and collective even though my anxiety was very present. Once the epidural hit I felt decently okay and only felt pressure from the contractions.

By later that evening, I had dilated to a 5 and then to a 6. I was like wow this is it, I’m moving quickly. Until I stopped dilating! I stayed at a 6 for what seemed like an eternity. I slept through that night as best as I could since nurses are constantly checking and machines are beeping left and right.

It was nice that wonderful husband was allowed to stay by my side the entire time. We did have to keep our masks on and weren’t allowed visitors but that was okay. As long as he was there that’s all that truly mattered to me.

It was now Saturday morning and guess what? I was still at that 6 cm! I was starving, had terrible acid reflux and was ready to get this baby out. Time kept passing and I wasn’t dilating. A nurse came in with a peanut shaped ball that looked similar to a yoga ball. She put it between my legs as I laid on my side and said women swore this helped. I started to dilate to about a 7 so maybe it did help. Then my water broke! Wait what? Hadn’t it already? Well apparently not…It wasn’t till that moment I felt all the warm liquid run down. The doctor then gave orders to give me Pitocin to increase my contractions. They increased alright! 32 hours in labor had me feeling exhausted! I was instructed to do practice pushes while my husband held one leg and the nurse held the other. I had no idea how to breathe exactly so my first pushes sucked. But then I got the hang of it and began to push. By this time my wonderful epidural friend was beginning to wear off… Push Push Push was all I heard as I kept my eyes tightly shut. Still practicing here. But then there it was, the top of baby girl’s head was starting to peep through. They ran to call the doctor and told me not to push. What? How? Why? I felt like I couldn’t stop myself from pushing! I was ready! Baby was ready! Hurry up!! Doctor finally came in, I did a couple of pushes and at the time didn’t think about the pain, all I could think about was getting my baby out and being brave! My husband stood there by my legs watching the entire thing, being his calm self and coaching me through. He was my biggest cheerleader and kept me feeling calm through the chaos around. My last push, feeling completely drained, there it was. That little cry I was longing to hear. My sweet Emilia was put on my chest and everything felt right again. But then I saw the doctor doing some sort of bibidi-bopiddi-boop with a very long needle. I heard “she’s bleeding a lot” but I tried to not pay attention to the background noise and focused on my baby. She was perfect. I felt like an extreme bad ass completing such an achievement. My baby was healthy, and that’s all that mattered. I felt like one blessed mama.

What’s next? Postpartum.