Henley has arrived!!

I still can not believe that I had a massive belly one day, and the next day I had my tiny perfect girl in my arms. Henley is now 2 weeks old and I have loved every second of her snuggles and smiles. I thought I would share my birth story because I am in such awe of my body and what it was able to do!

So here is my story…

The good. The bad. And the “what in the heck is happening to my body.”

Two weeks leading up to Henley’s birth I had to remember to be patient. Pre labor “symptoms” were happening but I really did not know what to expect or what i was doing at all! With all the blogs I read, questions I had asked friends (daily), and googling you would think I would know, but seriously EVERY PART of pregnancy is so unknown and so different for every woman! Pre labor symptoms consisted of mild inconsistent contractions, losing my mucus plug (yes it sounds just as gross as it is), cramps, back aches, and just SO DONE being pregnant.
Friday, August 17th.
I went in for my weekly doctor appointment. I was excited to see if I had progressed from the previous week and I DID! I was 3cm, 50% effaced, and her head was at a -2. I was also able to get my membranes swept! I was crossing my fingers that it was going to put me into labor! The nest two days I did everything to get labor going! I walked stairs, did squats galore, rolled and bounced on an exercise ball, had sex, ate spicy foods, walked, and swam laps.
Monday, August 20th.
My contractions started up. I wasn’t sure if they were they were the real deal because I had been getting contractions for a while just inconsistently. As the day went on they ended up being 5 minutes apart for 2.5 hours. They weren’t super painful but I was like ummm this is the requirements let’s go in and get checked! They checked and monitored me but we ultimately got sent home. We got home around 11:30pm and from there the contractions just started progressing, getting closer together, and more intense! They were consistently 2-3 minutes apart and extremely painful! Like ripping my body a part. I couldn’t sit still through them, and was doing my best to stay calm and concentrate on breathing, but the pain was bad. At that point I labored at home for about 4 hours just waiting it out until I couldn’t take the pain any longer and we headed back to the hospital around 4:30am.
Tuesday, August 21st.
Once we got to the hospital the same nurses were there helping us out. They got the doctor in right away, I was 5cm dilated, and was admitted right away! I immediately  requested an epidural. About 2 hours later I was given the epidural and let me tell you that stuff is magical. The pain instantly went away and it was time to wait.
Around 1pm I was checked for progress. I was 8cm and they decided to break my water. The contractions then started getting stronger and I was able to start feeling some of the pressure, and a lot of back pain.  I had to wait it out even with feeling the pain again. Around 3pm I was checked for progress and I was 10cm! I was ready to push. 22 minutes later our girl made her way into the world!

I was so fearful for most of my pregnancy to give birth. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to take the pain, that I wouldn’t be strong enough, or that something would go wrong. I feel so blessed that it was just the opposite. My body was able to have a progressive labor completely on its own without the help of any other medication. I am so grateful for an amazing pregnancy, a great delivery, and now a healthy beautiful girl in my arms!