My Birth Story | Brighton Rose

She’s finally here!!! My husband and I are so excited to officially announce the arrival of our gorgeous daughter, Brighton Rose Moore.

If you’ve been keeping up with me on social media (or in real life 😉 ) you know that I didn’t have the easiest pregnancy. From morning sickness to migraines, severely worsened asthma to extreme pelvis pain that made the simplest tasks like walking, climbing stairs, and rolling over in bed seem nearly impossible… I’m happy to say that life is SO much better with Brighton on the outside. Here is my birth story.

At my 37 week appointment, I was told that the baby was really low and I was a half a centimeter dilated. My doctor said she definitely didn’t see me going to 40 weeks, but you never know. I was thrilled to hear this information as my pain was severe and I was READY to get this show on the road. My doctor warned me that there was a good chance my pelvic pain could severely worsen after delivery, but with physical therapy I could eventually get back to my normal self. Fun stuff.

A week later, I arrived to my 38 week appointment with my hospital bags in tow. I totally thought the doctor was going to send me to the hospital directly from my appointment. I wasn’t so lucky… I literally made NO progress! As soon as she said I was still a half a centimeter dilated I started crying and begged to be induced. The doctor agreed I was a good candidate. She said they could induce me as soon as I hit 39 weeks and their office would call me to schedule it. Perfection, right?!

Except… it wasn’t perfection.

The doctors office called me the next day and said unfortunately, they only induce 14 women per day and they were fully booked. I was added to the wait list and was 16th on the list for Friday, June 29th. Awesome. I asked about Saturday, but was disappointed to find out they don’t induce on the weekends. The woman on the phone also said they book inductions about a week out and if I don’t make the cut for Friday my case would have to be resubmitted.

I don’t know why, but I pretty much told every single person that would listen that “if I am without child on June 28th, I am taking matters into my own hands.” I was prepared to do every single DIY labor inducing method known to mankind even though my due date wasn’t until July 6th. This baby needed to come out.

At 7:30 AM on June 28th, I was woken up to a GUSH of fluid between my legs. I’m not even joking, I tucked, rolled, and darted out of bed quicker than you could even possibly imagine. Not a drop of fluid got on my sheets. (Thankfully. Haha.) I ran to the toilet and fluid just kept pouring out of me. I couldn’t stand up without more coming out! Luckily, I had read a blog post suggesting I keep Poise Pads on hand just in case my water breaks at home. Chris grabbed them for me out of the linen closet and I called the on call doctor.

The doctor said, “Come on in and let’s do this! Take your time. We’ll see you in a few hours.”

Chris and I did light housework, had breakfast delivered, and contacted our VIPs. My contractions were minimal and we were both oddly calm.

By 10:30 AM, I had gone through FOUR Poise Pads. The fluid did not slow down at all. I started to freak out and told Chris we needed to go to the hospital ASAP. I lined the front seat with a garbage bag and a towel, hiked my dress up to my hips, and off we went!

We arrived to the triage unit and I could feel the water trickling down my leg. I was leaving a TRAIL of fluid! It was beyond humiliating. They took me back into a room and told me to change into a gown. I no sooner took my underwear off and GUSH. It was like a water balloon hit the floor. What the heck! I read a million blogs and forums on water breaking. Everyone said “it’s not like the movies.” This was definitely like the movies. The water continued to gush out of me every 2 to 4 minutes with each contraction. So nasty! Apparently this only happens to 5% of people…

When I was 4 cm dilated I was moved up to the labor and delivery floor where they immediately gave me an epidural. It took about a half an hour for them to place the tube in my spine. They had a little bit of trouble because my vertebrae were so close together, but once those drugs were flowing I was feeling great. About four hours later, the machine started beeping. Apparently there was a kink in the tube. The anesthesiologist came in, fixed it, and went on her way.

A few minutes later, the machine started beeping again. My pain level was about a level 2 which felt like a period cramp. By the time the anesthesiologist came back, my pain level was at a 6. All of this happened to go down during the shift change. The timing was impeccable. The anesthesiologist started troubleshooting my epidural. With every “troubleshoot” I had to wait 15 minutes to see if it would start working again. This went on for two hours. My pain level was at an 11.

I was in so much pain that I was violently shaking, sobbing, and throwing up. They sent in a midwife who told me I was 8 cm dilated and there was a good chance I was going to have to deliver this baby without drugs. Um, what?! No. That was not my plan. She started going through techniques with me to help minimize my pain and get me through each contraction. The baby was face up and my pelvic pain was horrific. Normally, you feel pain with the contraction and then a bit of relief when the contraction stops. Not in my case, I was in constant pain for a solid two hours. Finally the midwife told the anesthesiologist to pull the epidural and try to start a new one. THANK GOD. The new anesthesiologist was able to place the epidural in 5 minutes. He determined the original epidural tube slipped out of place and none of the medication was actually going into my spine.

This guy gave me a stronger epidural to help me catch up on pain relief and I finally started to feel a little better. A few hours later, my machine beeped again. Are you freaking kidding me right now?! I started to panic and called the nurse. And called her again, and again, and again. She probably wanted to kill me. The nurse came to my room and told me that the bag was low and she’d call pharmacy for a new one. Because I was on the stronger epidural, it could only be dispensed by pharmacy. Of course this would happen to me.

Well, pharmacy took forever. I called the nurse again and again. I told her I’m pretty sure I am 10 cm dilated and this baby needs to come now. WHERE IS THE NEW BAG?!?!?!?! She told me there was no way I could know that I was 10 cm dilated and asked me how I knew that. I DON’T FREAKING KNOW!!! The doctor was supposed to be back in the room at 2 am. It was now 2:45 am. No doctor. No epidural.

Finally, the epidural bag arrived seconds before the doctor. The doctor checked my cervix and confirmed I was 10 cm dilated (duh, I already knew that) and the baby finally turned into the proper position. All systems were a go except for the epidural. The anesthesiologist pushed an extra dose in me and we waited 15 minutes for it to kick in. I was probably 50% drugged at this point, but we had to start pushing.

I pushed for an hour and a half. It was painful, but I felt in control. Every push felt like I was having a brain aneurysm and that my eyeballs might pop out of their sockets. I threw up again, but overall I felt good. When the baby’s head and shoulders were out, the doctor told me I could reach down and pull her out. It was the single, most incredible moment of my entire life. I pulled my own baby out. I still can’t get over this.

Seconds later, Chris cut the cord and I delivered the placenta. I asked the doctor if I could see it. I am just fascinated that my body created an organ to take care of my baby in the womb. The placenta was huge and looked like a deflated basketball. The side that attached to me looked like a textured liver and the side that attached to the baby looked like a smooth cradle that the baby could snuggle into.

Unfortunately, I was running a fever and so was the baby. We had to be separated for a little bit. Once Brighton stabilized she was able to do skin on skin with Chris, which was very important to us.

I know everyone says having a baby will change your life forever, but no one can prepare you for child birth. Looking back, I feel like a warrior princess and have never been prouder of myself and my body. Looking ahead, we can’t wait to experience everything life has to offer with our new baby girl, Brighton Rose Moore.

XO, Lauren