Andee’s Birth Story

Hey there y’all and welcome to Warm Beer, Cold Coffee. I can hardly believe that it has been a year since my sweet baby girl came into this world. She has rocked my world, but for the better in every way possible. Andee by no means had a traumatic birthing story, but it was still such a special moment that I feel it is important to document and share.

It all started around 10pm on July 30th, my brother’s birthday. I started having contractions that were 6 to 7 minutes apart. I had never felt a contraction before, but there was no denying what this was. Around 2am the morning of July 31st, I could no longer take it. I was contracting every 3 to 4 minutes at that point, so Keenan and I decided to go to the hospital. We had our bags packed and ready to go, and Keenan’s dad came and got our dog.

When we got to the hospital, the doctor checked me out and I was only 2cm dilated! I thought they were joking, but they weren’t. So they gave me a shot of morphine and GRAVOL and sent us home around 7am to try to get some sleep. Ha! This definitely didn’t happen.

I was in so much pain that sleep was completely out of the question. Instead Keenan and I walked up and down the side walk in front of our house for about an hour. I was hopeful that this would alleviate some pain and get things moving along. We paused about every 2 minutes for me to lean on Keenan and contract. He would rub my back and sway with me through the pain until I could continue walking.

Eventually I tried a shower to help with the pain, but soon decided enough was enough. I had to get back to the hospital. We arrived around 10am, and they checked me again. And guess what… I was still only 2cm dilated. I couldn’t believe it. There was no way I was in that much pain, contracting once every minute for a minute long each time to only be 2cm!

So they did another membrane sweep (literally so uncomfortable!), and I popped open to 5cm! This finally meant that I could be admitted into a delivery room and get an epidural… or so I thought. Unfortunately it seemed like every pregnant person was having a baby at that time. So I had to wait about 4 hours to be admitted to a room and get the drugs I needed.

The doctor told me to try to go for a walk again to hopefully help with the pain. So we tried, buuuuttttt not only was I contracting once every minute, I started vomiting regularly from the pain.  We basically only made it as far as the parking garage and turned back around to get some laughing gas in the triage room. I used the laughing gas during each contraction, and then passed out once the contraction was over. This happened over and over again for about an hour or two. It was all a complete blur to me at that point, but Keenan said I was a laughing gas fiend. Lol!

Eventually a room opened up, and I was admitted! I got the epidural around 3pm. It wasn’t super comfortable to get, but it was AWFUL having to stay still during contractions while it was put into place. Once I started to feel the medication, I wasn’t allowed to leave the bed. They put in a catheter, which I felt none of, so I could still pee. Fortunately the epidural worked pretty well for me, and I was able to get an hour or so of sleep… Keenan got more. 😜

The epidural did, however, slow down my contractions, so the doctor had to break my water for me. She said I should expect a little trickle of water, but the next thing I know a huge gush of fluid went all over her. Like her face and everything! Thankfully she had a great sense of humor and we all had a good chuckle about it.

Then by 7:30pm I was still only 5cm dilated, so they gave me oxytocin to help move things along. They checked on me periodically to see how much I progressed. And finally at 11:30pm, it was time! I was 10cm dilated and ready to push!

The nurses and doctors got everything ready around me and instructed me on how to push correctly. It was pretty intense, partly because I was fighting off a migraine and because I feelin’ all the feels of being so close to meeting my baby for the first time. Side note: after the first few pushes I ended up throwing up in the tiniest cardboard bowl. It was so small that my vomit just circled right back up and hit me in the face… can someone say gross?!?!

I continued pushing and was even able to feel Baby P’s head at times. My doctor and nurses were unbelievable in providing me direction and support, but Keenan’s voice was the one I kept hearing. He was helping hold one of my feet as I pushed and he could see our sweet baby making it’s entrance into the world. He was so encouraging and loving, I couldn’t have wished for a better partner during this time.

After almost 27 hours of contractions and 41 minutes of pushing, our baby made it’s grand entrance into the world at 12:45am on August 1st, 2020. Keenan announced that we had a baby girl, and my heart melted instantly for my sweet Andee Lynn. She was placed on my chest and I knew that would forever be the greatest moment of my life. My world was forever changed.

I also knew right away that she was meant to be my daughter because the first thing she did was poop all over my chest. It even got on my face. Lol! But I didn’t mind one bit because I had never felt happier.

The nurses took Andee to clean her up and take her measurements. And Andee just smiled through this entire process. She weighed 8lbs 15oz at first, but then she took another big poop and dropped down to 8lbs 14oz. The nurses were happier with this weight because it meant they wouldn’t have to monitor her more closely for things like diabetes. She was a chunky, but healthy baby girl whose mama and daddy couldn’t wait to snuggle. She was then placed in her daddy’s arms for the first time. I didn’t think it was possible for my heart to melt even more, but it did. I knew right away that Keenan would be the best father to our little baby.

We stayed in the hospital that night and nurses checked on us once every 3 hours. That day was long and very little sleep was had by any of us, but we were over the moon for our baby to be healthy and happy. We eventually went home that night around 10pm, though we were scared of our first night at home with our precious baby by ourselves. We had no clue what we were doing, but somehow we all survived.

Our lives have never been the same, nor would I want it to be. Andee has blessed me in more ways than I can count, and I still can’t believe I get to be her mom. I never knew my heart could grow this big and that I could love someone this much. But, man I do. I love my little baby girl more than I could ever imagine. I am one lucky lady, and I will forever wear the title of “mom” loudly and proudly.

I love you, my sweet Andee Lynn. Thank you for being you.