Birth Story: Trey Elliot

Backstory 

The day before my actual due date was my 40 week prenatal appointment. My midwife checked things out and said I was 3-4 centimeters dilated and baby boy’s head was “right there.” Yay! I had experienced quite a bit of prodromal or false labor that week, (which was beyond frustrating and exhausting) but the contractions weren’t quite sticking yet. Ugh. 

Labor??

Later that day, I began to have contractions (again), but this time they seemed to be getting worse and weren’t fading away. I didn’t want to be alone with my 2 1/2 year old and 15 month old if something was about to go down, so I decided to drive to my sister’s (Bernadette) house, who lived much closer to the hospital. 

And yes, I drove myself while having contractions, which was an adventure in itself! But it also gave me chance to sit and relax since my other two kids were strapped down in their carseats! 

And in case you didn’t know, keeping up with two toddlers while 9 months pregnant is EXHAUSTING. 

Anyways, a few hours had passed and I felt pretty confident things were progressing. The  troops were gathered, the kids were set, and my husband and I were off to the hospital! 

We were checked into our own room, they hooked me up to an IV and began monitoring my contractions and baby’s heartbeat. Things were lookin good and I was so hopeful it was time! 

My contractions, however, weren’t as consistent as they “should have been.” As soon as I would relax they slowed down.. My nurse had me walk around the hospital for about an hour (all while hooked up to an IV) in hopes it would help dilate my cervix… 

But it didn’t. 

I was still dilated at a 3/4 centimeters and I wasn’t progressing as fast as they wanted me to be. SO, the midwife (not my usual midwife) decided to send me home. 

At midnight. 

All while knowing it was my 3rd pregnancy and that we lived 45 minutes away (without traffic). Oh and that I would need two rounds (preferably) of antibiotics since I was GBS positive, which could take hours. 

But we had no choice and they still sent me home. 

I cried. I felt defeated and so disappointed. 

I was exhausted and oh yea, in pain! Because I was still in labor! Sigh.

We got home at 1AM. 

I was starving, but could only eat a few grapes. I waddled up to bed and rested on and off through the night, breathing through each contraction and wishing I already had that dang epidural.

Labor!!!

7:00AM came and out of nowhere my contractions went full throttle! I was laying in bed crying in pain and felt my water break! 

It was time to go!

Taylor jumped out of bed and helped me to the bathroom. He got me dressed and had to carry me to the car. 

The pain was EXCRUCIATING and I knew we wouldn’t make it back to our normal hospital in time. 

This baby was coming, ready or not! I’m pretty sure I told Taylor that he might have to deliver this baby himself.. It’s funny now, but at the time I was 100% serious! 

Luckily, he didn’t.

He drove as fast as he could to the nearest hospital, while I yelled to drive faster (and probably some other choice words). He pulled right in front, grabbed a wheel chair and got me in a room right away.

All I had on my mind was, GET ME AN EPIDURAL ASAP! 

In seeing the amount of pain I was in, the nursing staff moved fast. One of the first things they did, was check my cervix. 

I was 7 centimeters! 

Woo! Almost there! But wait, what about that epidural ya’ll?! I was terrified it was too late. 

Dear God help me 

Shortly after they admitted me, my mom and sister (Rachel) had arrived to support me. I was in no way planning on having this baby without medication or an epidural, and was not mentally or physically prepared for what I was enduring. 

The thought about what lie ahead of me, was alarming.

And honestly, I was afraid.  

I hadn’t slept or eaten much the 24 hours prior to where I was at so my body already felt so fatigued. I didn’t feel like I had the strength to do what I needed to do…

So I kept asking (okay yelling) for some drugs! 

C’mon people!

In order to get an epidural, I had to finish one IV bag, as well as have my blood tested and cleared with lab work. Ugh. I was fearful I wouldn’t get enough of the antibiotics in time too, but the nursing staff was working fast (or so it seemed). 

As soon as the nurse put in my IV the needle hit a nerve and my whole left hand began to cramp and curl awkwardly. I literally couldn’t move it and pain was shooting through it (not as much pain as labor, but it was quite distracting). I yelled that something was wrong. 

They tried the other arm. It only took two more tries to finally get the damn IV going (insert eyes rolling).

Now I was able to focus (a little), until both of my calfs began to cramp. Again, not as bad as labor, but still painful and distracting! 

Luckily my mom and sister were there because I needed some help on those bad boys! Each were quickly (and probably not so politely) assigned to a calf. As soon as they would stop massaging them, the cramps returned. 

Side note- my mom is notorious for being one of the worst massagers ever (love ya ma) and today it was showing. The calf she was assigned to was not feeling great, so I yelled, “switch with Rachel!” (meaning Rachel needed to take over her calf because she was slacking). 

Apparently my husband, Taylor, thought that was directed towards him because he immediately put his head down and began walking away to “switch with Rachel.” I yelled for him to come back.

We all laughed at this later. Taylor said he thought he wasn’t doing a good enough job encouraging me and was getting demoted to calf duty. haha. He was really sad about it in the short moment. 

Anyways, about two hours had past and things were getting seriously intense.

With every contraction I gripped my husbands hand as hard as I could and cried, yelled, screamed, cussed, etc. (sorry for the things I said while I was in labor).

I was veryyy persistent in asking where the epidural was, but all I heard was that they were waiting for the esthetician. I probably asked about thirty times if they were lying to me. In my mind it was too late, but they didn’t want to break the news to me. 

So I continued to wait and labor through it.

The pain I was in is honestly indescribable. 

My body felt as if it were shutting down. I was dizzy, shaking and my face started to go numb. They decided to give me a dose of glucose in my IV, which burned all the way up my arm. This helped give me a little boost of energy. 

My nurse asked if she could check my cervix and If I had the urge to push, but I just yelled, “No! Don’t touch me!” 

Another hour or so had passed and I knew things were getting close. My husband was doing his best to coach me through each contraction, which felt like they were right on top of each other. 

All I can remember him saying was, “You’re doing great babe. Breath. breath.” And, of course, my response was, “what the hell does that mean?!” Again, we laughed at this later. 

4 hours had past and I began feeling like it was about time to push. The nurse asked multiple times if I felt that urge, but I didn’t respond. I was holding that baby in until I could get some relief. 

Baby boy was also posterior, which intensified labor pains in the backside.

Awesome…Not! 

It was truly unbearable. 

Luckily, the anesthesiologist fiiiinally arrived! Now all I had to do was sit up and stay still for her to insert the needle. Sounds easy enough right? Well, we didn’t know how dilated I was, and the nurse continued to ask if I could push. I refused to answer again.  

Yes, I probably could have started to push, but really didn’t have the mental or physical strength at the time. 

Shaking and crying, I sat up as still as could. Taylor sat right in front me to hold me up. I was so impressed with how calm, cool and collected he had been this entire time. I guess that’s what you get when you’re married to a police officer. 😉