Announcing the Arrival of Our Little Guy + Birth Story

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So if you follow me on Instagram this is old news but for those who don't I am SO HAPPY to FINALLY announce our little guy, "E" arrived last Wednesday, 6/25. He was 7 lbs. 4 oz. 20.5 inches long with a full head of hair! He is perfect in every way! I am SO incredibly thankful to God that He blessed us with this little guy- it was quite the delivery but "E" was totally, completely worth it! 


Now for the birth story and some more pictures...

Tuesday, 6/24, I simply didn't feel good...plain and simple...I went to work and when the hubby and I got home from work we went to our church small group. The entire small group I just didn't feel myself (no contractions just felt icky). Thankfully, when we got home I took the following picture because I felt HUGE. I told my husband that I was not sure how much longer I could take pregnancy and we went to bed (ok he went to bed while I laid in misery). Uniquely enough this is also the evening I wrote this post about how miserable I was and asking for prayers for the baby to arrive soon. 



At 2:30 AM the start to my dreams came true. My water broke. Ya'll this was no small amount of water. I thought that it wouldn't be a lot from what I had read but it was a lot (by the way did you know once your water breaks it continues to leak until baby is born? I didn't but it does). I screamed a yell of joy and woke the husband up who asked me if I was sure it had broken until he looked down....he jumped out of bed faster than if he had seen a snake! HAHA! I called my doctor who, much to my surprise, told me I needed to come in immediately. I was surprised as I had always heard that you wanted to labor at home as long as possible before coming in but she explained to me that once your water broke they had 18 hours to get the baby out before things get really risky. So we loaded up and headed in...I was in no pain...no contractions....in fact on the way to the hospital we sang to Izzy and I texted my family and close friends. We arrived at the hospital at 3:28 AM. 

We had to enter through the emergency room and people let me tell you something. ER folks FREAK OUT when they hear a 40 week preggers lady with a broken sac enter. They do not want to deliver any babies. They INSISTED I get in a wheel chair and it was all I could do to beg them to wait 2 mins for my mom to run in before they wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery. 

Once we arrived in labor and delivery they took me to triage and did a few checks to determine that yes, in fact my water had broken. Bad news is I was only 1 cm dilated (had been this way for two weeks) and still no contractions. An hour later the contractions started and they decided to take me to a room.  We checked in and like clock work about 4:15 the contractions stopped. They decided to start me on pitocin. The doctor kept coming and doing checks and they starting slowly but surely upping the dosage of pitocin they were giving me. My doctor went off call and another doctor in the practice came on. When he checked me he told me I was going to have a very small baby he guessed 6 lbs. and that delivery should be relatively easy. He said I can guarantee you that you will not need a c-section which everyone knew was my #1 wish. Never make a guarantee. At 7 AM I was offered the epidural and around 9 AM I accepted. Ok, I am going to make a risky statement here and say you are nuts if you don't get an epidural. I don't know why everyone makes them in to such a big deal. Really getting the actual epidural is not bad....the worst part for me was by this time the contractions were coming in BIG time and you have to sit totally still for about 20 minutes while they do it and sitting completely still bent spine over the side of the bed while contractions are hitting you is no joke. Try AWFUL. It took 20 minutes for the epidural to do its thing even though it is supposed to take 5. I was happy again and able to text friends. Until about an hour later when it COMPLETELY and totally wore off.
Long story short turns out that I have a VERY VERY high drug tolerance and my epidural was not taking. I ended up having 8 throughout the course of labor and was still in LOTS and LOTS of pain...much more than I should have been according to everyone. The doctor told my hubby that I had enough drugs in my system to kill a racehorse yet I could still feel everything EXTREMELY WELL! 

At 10 AM the doctor came back to check me again and found out I was dilated to a 6. He also told me that he had bad news and had been very wrong previously and that I had very small hip bones and that a vaginal birth was going to be nearly impossible. He told me there was above a 90% chance that I was going to end up with a c-section. I cried. Then I wanted to punch him for promising me earlier I wasn't going to have too...he also told me he was now able to see I had a bigger baby than he thought I had and it wasn't going to be a very easy delivery after all. 

That's when I texted every single pray warrior I know and asked them to pray and pray hard. Pray for a vaginal delivery. The pitocin dosage kept getting upped. They kept giving me a more and more meds. I was in serious pain and scared out of my mind. 



As things progressed it got scarier and scarier. My blood pressure was out of control. It was 193 over something at one point. The doctors and nurses were worried. My hubby and mom were REAL worried. I could see it all over their face. Doctor told me I would be holding my baby by 3 PM then that changed to 5 PM then that changed....then it changed again. At 2 PM the doctor tried to convince me to go ahead with the c-section. You can either wait until 8 PM and push for three hours and then still end up having to go back for a c-section or we can go ahead and take you now and you can be holding your baby in a couple hours he told me. He said it would be a miracle at this point if I were able to deliver vaginally. I opted to wait it out. I prayed and asked everyone to pray harder. More high blood pressure. Medicine to try to get my blood pressure down. More epidurals. More drugs. Lots of contractions.

At 6:15 he checked me and told me I was dilated to a 8 and that it would still be a few hours so he was going home to get dinner. At that point the anesthesiologist came back and told me that since the epidural was not working he needed to redo the port. He explained to me that in the case I needed to have an emergency c-section which was likely my current epidural would not suffice since it didn't take. I was in such pain and just didn't feel I could sit still for 20 mins through contractions so I begged him to come back in 30 mins. At that point the doctor came back in and checked and said we need to push now.

That's when the hardest most exhausting thing I have ever done kicked in. I pushed for three hours. With my hubby on my left side giving me oxygen between contractions and my mom on my right side feeding me ice chips because I was totally parched. I couldn't talk. I simply started at the bed they would put my baby in and focused on praying in my mind, breathing, and one thing and one thing one...get this baby out vaginally. The entire time the doctor kept telling me it really was not working. I was regressing. 


FINALLY after about 2 hours and 50 mins (I was exhausted and simply could not push any longer) he asked me if I was ok with the risk of trying the vacuum (while pushing I never got a break I was pushing for the length of contractions and he was stretching me with all kinds of tools in between). I could not talk but nodded. He put it on I pushed and he said we had finally reached the turning point and he said it might just work. My husband, mom, and I all bawled. Minutes later my little perfect guy was laying on my chest as they cut the cord. He did not cry. At the time I was in too much pain to notice. In rushed in a huge array of people (the respiratory team). Thankfully they got him breathing and when I heard him cry my entire life changed. It was magical! I was crying. My wonderful husband was stroking me, also crying, telling me I was his hero. My mom took off to follow the baby. The emotions that filled me I have never felt. His time of birth 9:02 PM. 

However, it was not over. I tore in three places. Two level three tears and one that he called a complex tear that is beyond a rating up in my fat layer. The next two hours I under went surgery to fix things. It was really rough. Thankfully I got to hold my little guy through part of it but it was bad. There were people everywhere...tools, things flying. FINALLY about 11:15 it was over. The doctor told me what I had just undergone was probably worse than I c-section but I was sown up and fixed up and my wonderful baby was here! I was happy! 


It was the most pain I had ever endured but it was so totally worth it!

I believe with all my heart that God answered the prayers of all those praying for me to have a vaginal birth. I am overwhelmed once again in my life by the power of prayer and the power of my God. He allowed this magical moment to happen.

It's hard to believe my little man will be a week old tomorrow. We are in absolute total love and still praising God each and every minute for the biggest gift He has ever blessed us with! If this little dude isn't a testament to faith and power of prayer I don't know what is...

Here are some more photos of the little guy:




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About the Author

Married Filing Jointly is a lifestyle blog that chronicles the everyday adventures of a wife/mommy/friend and the lessons learned along the way. Here you will find posts on everything from traveling tips to home remodel and DIY projects to stories of motherhood and relationships.!.

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24 comments

  1. Hey! I was just out browsing some new blogs and came across yours from the Wake up Wednesday hop! So glad I found your blog :) I'm excited to be following along via Bloglovin and GFC. By the way, you'll be super glad you recorded the birth story. You'll look back and realize how many little details there were and they're easy to forget if you don't write them down!

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    1. So glad you found me! Thanks...I was trying to record it within the first week so I didn't forget anything although it feels like a blur already. Thanks for following!

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  2. Little E is adorable!
    What a story!
    I can relate to some of what you went through because I did as well.
    Congratulations!

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    1. Thank you! Sorry to hear you went through a similar experience but they make it totally worth it in the end! :)

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  3. Congrats!!! You will be so glad you recorded your birth story! I still go back and read ours! Also, I love that UGA onesie… my husband and I wen to UGA and our little has lots of Georgia outfits!

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    1. Ah I went to UGA as well. I tried to record it as quickly as I could. :)

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  4. Girl, that is ROUGH. I wanted to just shake your doctor reading this story!
    Your little guy is absolutely beautiful and I, too, know what a relief it is to finally have him home with you after such a long ordeal (my birth story is on the blog, if you need some reading). :) Blessings to you all...and hopefully a little sleep!
    Thanks for joining Wakeup Wednesday!
    www.notefromheidi.com

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    1. Thank you and yes it was a relief! Would love to read your birth story!

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  5. I found your blog through the wake up Wednesday linky party. Thank you for sharing your story. Your little guy is adorable! xo

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  6. Wow, that was quite a delivery! But you have a beautiful little guy there. Huge congratulations!

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  7. Congrats on the little guy! How adorable is he? :) (Stopping by from Do Tell Tuesday.)

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  8. Oh, Chelsea! He's so handsome!! Congratulations!! Thanks for sharing at Make it Pretty Monday. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  9. Awesome. Just awesome. Congratulations, Chelsea! There's nothing better than that. ♥
    Enjoy your precious gift.

    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick®

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  10. What an awesome little man you have! He is gorgeous! Your post is fantastic and I am so glad you shared it with us at Wake Up Wednesday Linky Party. Your handsome little man will be featured in our upcoming weeks party. Congratulations and enjoy every moment.
    Angel

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  11. Hi! I was just browsing around on the Wake Up Wednesday and found your blog. Congratulations on your little man! My own "E" was a pretty traumatic birth as well so I can fully understand! God's blessings on your new journey into motherhood!
    www.pinklady08.wordpress.com

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    1. So glad you found me! Sorry to hear your experience was traumatic as well! At least they are all worth it in the end! ;)

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  12. He is just BEAUTIFUL!!!!! So sorry you had to go through all that. On the epidural, out of my three births I had one epidural. It didn't even take effect until I was halfway done with pushing, and then it caused me SO many problems afterward, that I had my next baby without and would not ever have another. But a lot of people really love them. Congratulations!!!!!! He is so adorable!

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    1. Thank you so much, Jill! Oh gosh. I don't think I would have had another epidural if I experienced problems from it afterward either. Bless your heart!

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