Mama Mirocha: A birth story

To say I was ready for Miles to make his debut is an understatement. I was so excited to meet him. To hold him. To smell him. To kiss him. I'd say at around 37 weeks when I knew all of his important parts (lungs for example) were fully developed I was trying to do anything to get him OUT. A woman at my office had one of those chairs with a medicine ball attached and I would sit on it and lightly bounce or roll my hips. All. Day. Long. I looked RIDICULOUS but all the moms at my office knew exactly what I was going through so they didn't really blink an eye. Everyone else, I'm sure, thought I was crazy. I ate a LOT of pineapple. And drank raspberry leaf tea. I got a prenatal massage and told the lady I could go any time at this point and to focus on specific pressure points that could put me in to labor. I'd go on walks. Once I went to the bathroom at work and did jumping jacks when no one else was in there. I ate spicy food. I was craving BW3 one night so Dan and I went there for HH and we got spicy wings - they were DELISH. I carried the baby really high in my belly so it was getting really uncomfortable to breathe and sleep. I had major insomnia the last several weeks of my pregnancy...all the tossing and s-l-o-w-l-y turning from side to side. The moment we'd get home from work and all day on the weekends I would wear my comfy shorts and Dan's t-shirts because none of mine fit me. Like, his were even getting tight on me. It was comical, honestly. At night I would lube up my belly with oil and roll my shirt up under my bra to let it absorb and walk around the house (or sit on the couch) and it wouldn't even phase Dan. Thankfully, we don't have a picture of that (I don't think at least). All in all, my pregnancy was smooth sailing. I didn't have morning sickness, gestational diabetes or any other high-risk factors. My appointments were boring, more or less. Heard the heart beat, measured my growing belly, asked a few questions and that was it. Dan was able to go to every single one of my appointments with me. It was good for him to be there and to get to know my doctor and hear her answer questions, etc. At my 40-week appointment, my doctor scheduled me to get induced the following Monday if the baby wouldn't arrive by then. The appointment ended with her saying "I think I'll see you next Monday." Darn. Another week of me anxiously awaiting to meet the babes. The following day was my birthday. Dan made me blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then took this picture of me.

My pregnancy app said at 40 weeks the baby is the size of a small pumpkin. I thought it was very fitting!

We made plans to go to dinner (Italian, obviously!) and then come home and relax and watch TV. During dinner we talked about the baby. We wondered when he would come. We discussed what his name should be (our top choices were Miles, Gavin and Theo). We talked about how we want the labor/delivery to go down - because you can actually control that, right!???! Ha! We got home, put our cozies on and watched The Voice and I was so tired I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up and went to bed around 9pm. My cousin, Allison, and I were texting while I was lying in bed and all of the sudden I heard two quiet pops. I knew what was happening. I stood up without really sitting and realized -- yep, my water broke! I waddled to the kitchen and yelled for Dan. I told him my water broke and he came running upstairs -- he was so excited. He didn't seem nervous or anything. He said "Honey, it's go time!". I called my doctor with him by my side and let them know my water had broke and we'll be leaving soon for the hospital. The moment I hung up the phone I looked at him with tears in my eyes and said "I don't have to to go to work tomorrow!". Seriously? That's what was going through my head at the time?! I jumped in the shower, put on cozies and we left for Mother Baby Center. When we arrived they sent us to an assessment room to confirm I was in fact in labor. Yeah, lady. I guarantee my water broke and I'm in labor...we were in our labor/delivery room by 11pm and got settled in rather quickly with Bon Iver on the 'ol iPod. My goal for the labor was to have a calm and peaceful delivery. We had the BEST nurse I could have asked for. She was incredible. It was basically Dan, nurse Jenny and I in the room the entire time. I got an epidural around 1am and was about 7cm dilated. Once I got the epidural she told us to just relax and try to get some sleep. She came to check how I was progressing a couple hours later. Honestly, I didn't sleep at all but have no idea what time it was --- she said I was at a 10 so brought the doctor on call in to the room. He told me I needed to "labor down" which basically just meant to wait for the baby to get as far down in the cervix as possible before I started to push. He came back soon there after and I was ready to push! Dan was such a rockstar partner. He was calm and encouraging. He'd make me laugh when I needed to and was serious when I needed him to be. He was a champ! I pushed eleven times (22 minutes, Dan says) and baby Miles was in my arms at 6:27am! He had sandy brown hair -- so much hair (comparative to how I was at birth...and my nephews!). His cheeks were so chubby and his face was so round. Uh! I just loved him so much from the moment I held him. The day Miles was born was one of the most beautiful October days I could ever remember. It was in the 70s, blue sky and the leaves were at their "peak". I'll never forget how perfect of a day it was. We sure had angels looking over us.