Mason Sidney Epley' birth story

Mason Sidney Epley's birth story

My whole pregnancy was fairly easy. I was very sick in the beginning but then it evened out. Around 36wks into the pregnancy I was getting a little bit emotional and done with being pregnant but knew I had to just tough it out. We had an appt with Fran on Wed the 10^th of June and that night I was having consistent contractions but but they were not very strong. Those lasted until that fri. My pelvis started really really hurting about 5 days before I went into labor and I was beginning to not be able to walk or bend or function really. This is when I became done being pregnant.

The night of the 20^th was normal, we were eating dinner, I was having a few contractions but not enough to think anything of it. Around 8:30 I decided that we needed to go on a walk because if this was not the real thing then a walk would stop them and I could rest. We only walked for a block and my contractions at this point were every two min. In the short amount of time that it took us to get home I was not able to handle them that well. In the parking lot I had to lean on Bryan and breath. I remember there were a lot of people in the parking lot and I was wondering what they were thinking. We got inside and decided to start writing down when I was having contractions. We started this at 8:57 and they were every three min. When I sat down they started to slow down so I got a little discouraged about that. These were way more intense then Braxton hicks though, so I was thinking that this better be it or it better stop because this hurts too much. We tried to watch a movie and the first one we chose was really stupid and made me really mad so I told Bryan I wanted to watch the good movie now. He didn't want to because he had a feeling we wouldn't be able to sit through the whole thing. Well at this point I could not even sit down I had to get on all fours or something every time I had a contraction. I told Bryan that we should take a shower. So we all took a shower together and the water felt really good so I was feeling a little better. When we got out of the shower I was really hurting. We decided that we should call Fran and see what she thought. I really did not want to call her because I didn't know if this was the real thing and I didn't want to bother her. We called her at 12:10 and she said that it sounded like real labor and that she would be here in about an hour and a half. I called Salena and told her to come on over. I called my mom who I had been talking to throughout this whole thing, and told her that Fran was on her way. She said that she wanted me to call her when Fran got there because she didn't want to wake the girls too early. Salena got here about 20 min later (I think). She asked if I wanted back pressure during my contractions and I said sure. That helped a lot. My contractions were still coming every 3 min and they were not that bad at all. While Salena was putting pressure on my back Bryan was filling the birth pool up. We didn't have a hose so he had to use buckets and we didn't want to run out of hot water so he was using scorching hot water at first, so I could not even get in. I really really wanted to be in that water but I couldn't and that made me mad. The kitchen was really really hot because of all the hot water that was being put in the pool and I was complaining about that. Bryan grabbed a tupperware lid and fanned me with that while Salena put pressure on me. I decided that I wanted to be in the shower so Bryan and I went upstairs and I hopped into the shower. I couldn't stand very well while I was contracting and so I kept getting on all fours in the shower. I told Bryan that I felt like I should be pushing through my contractions but I didn't know for sure because of how I had pushed for so long last time and I shouldn't have been. When we got out Salena announced that the pool was ready. I ran downstairs (OK not really, but I walked through the contraction I had while going downstairs) and got in the pool. That felt good. Salena asked if I needed water, I did. She also asked if the lights were too bright and she got some candles and sat by candle light. Bryan was sitting on a kitchen chair on the outside of the pool while I leaned over the edge. Salena asked if I needed her in the pool to put pressure on my back and I said that I didn't know because I wasn't in as much pain now. We sat around while I contracted for a while (time was lost for me at this point) I told Salena I needed her to call my mom and tell her that I needed her to come because I needed the ice that she was bringing. My mom was on her way. A few min later Fran walked in a started business. She said it was too dark and started asking for things from the birth kit. I remember it seemed that every other thing that she asked for I didn't have yet. I told her that my hands were falling asleep and she said that means I was hyperventilating and told me to put my hands over my face and breathe slow deep breaths. I began to feel so much better having someone make sure I was breathing good, the pain was not as bad now, and it really helped me to focus on giving birth. Fran checked me and said that my body was pushing the baby out. I looked up at Bryan and he looked shocked and I remember thinking that Fran was supposed to say something like that otherwise I might get discouraged so I asked her “really?, I didn't think I was that close” She reassured me that I was. She told me I was a ten and I just had a little lip but as the baby moved down that lip would go away. I felt like I had been given permission to push so I did, but not more then maybe 1 or two times. She told me to feel where my baby was and when I did I felt what seemed like a jelly packet and then the baby's head. I said that the water bag felt gross. I pushed again and then the water broke and BOOM I felt the baby move down and it started really hurting but two pushes later and his head was out. One more and his body flew out. As soon as he was born he screamed, not a cry scream, but a terrified scream “AHH” and then he went to sleep. Fran apologized to him for startling him. She handed him to me and I checked to see what he was and announced that it was a boy, and apologized for calling him a girl. Five minutes later my mom walked in.......

I was amazed at how easy everything was, I keep saying that I could and would do that again. I felt great afterwards, no pain, no extreme bleeding, I had color in my face, I was not shaking, it was all around great. He was 7lbs 1oz of perfect and all through his checks and me holding him he was just talking and talking to everyone. He would do silly high pitched noises and then it seemed as if he couldn't breathe without making a sound upon his exhales. He is amazing and fits into our family like a glove.