It’s a little past due but I wanted to share Joel’s birth story with everyone!
His due date was Friday, October 26. That day came and went with no sign of him coming. Earlier that week my doctor made an appointment for us to go to labor and delivery for a non-stress test to make sure he still looked good in there if he went past his due date. She also scheduled us to be induced on October 31 if he didn’t come before then.
October 27. That Saturday morning we went into the hospital to get checked out. They hooked me up and monitored things for a little bit. The nurse came back into the room and asked me, “how are you feeling right now?”
“Totally fine. Why?”
“You’re having contractions right now! You don’t feel that?”
“Holy cow, really? I don’t feel anything!”
I was shocked that I was having contractions and didn’t feel them at all! The nurse was pretty sure we were going to have the baby that day. But after she spoke with the doctor on duty, they decided to send us home and keep waiting things out. And to keep our induction date if he didn’t come on his own.
October 28. My 30th birthday. Being extremely pregnant I was not in the mood to celebrate at all. But to keep myself distracted, we had lunch with my in-laws and dinner with my parents. Still no sign on baby coming.
October 29. Monday arrived and I still felt normal. Maybe a few cramps here or there but nothing consistent to be a sign of real labor. I even ended up going to my Monday morning work meeting, again just to keep myself busy and my mind off the fact that baby still wasn’t here.
October 30. Tuesday morning rolled around, and around 11 a.m. I started feeling what I hoped were contractions. They were pretty consistent and a little painful so I started timing them on my phone. After about an hour of this, I told Miguel I thought I was having contractions. He decided to call the doctor’s office to get their opinion on what we should do. They told us to come into the office to get checked out.
We got to the doctor’s office and at this point I was pretty positive the pain I was feeling were contractions and I was praying that this baby is coming today. The doctor there checked me out and I was about 4-5 centimeters dilated and almost 100% effaced. She sent us down to labor and delivery and they admitted us! Hallelujah this baby is coming today!
We got settled in our delivery room and Miguel called our parents to tell them the news. At this point my contractions had gotten a lot stronger and I told them I absolutely wanted the epidural. They also had me use a peanut ball to keep labor progressing.
By the time I got the epidural, I was up to 7 centimeters dilated. The nurses were so impressed I made it that far without any pain meds! Apparently I have a high pain tolerance. The epidural was pretty amazing. Literally the whole lower half of my body was numb. I couldn’t move my legs. It was a pretty strange feeling and I felt a little buzzed right after. I told Miguel I was feeling great and gave him a thumbs up.
To keep things progressing, they gave me pitocin and broke my water. When I reached 10 centimeters they had me start pushing. I pushed for two hours straight. It was probably one of the most exhausting things I’ve ever done. They tell you to push with the contractions but I wasn’t feeling them at all so they had to monitor them on the screen. The nurses and doctor were so awesome and encouraging. So was my husband. He was extremely sweet and supportive the whole time.
Two hours had gone by and this little boy was not any closer to coming out so the doctor made the decision to use a vacuum to help him out. She also had to do an episiotomy to make more room for him. They’re allowed to try the vacuum three times. First time, no luck. But the second time, with my pushing, he came out! (If he wouldn’t have come out on the third attempt they would have done a C-section, still so thankful that didn’t happen.)
The moment they pulled him out of me I bursted into tears. So did Miguel. That moment is so indescribable. Such raw emotions, relief, excitement, exhaustion. At 10:55 p.m. we welcomed Joel Thomas Caballero into the world.
Since there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, the nurses had to take him right away to make sure he was okay. Miguel got to see him first. They cleaned him up and took all his measurements. 8 lbs 15 oz, 20.7 inches! Wow! Everyone was shocked! We truly had no idea he was going to be so big… it’s no wonder it was difficult getting him out! The doctor who delivered him told me next time I’m pregnant not to go past 39 weeks, totally fine with me!
After he was cleaned up and given the green light that all was well, I finally got to hold my sweet boy. Truly love at first sight. Hi Joel, I’m your Mommy.
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