Now that Liam is almost 6 month old, I figured it would be the perfect time to share our birth story. I’m usually a pretty private person when it comes to my family, but we had quite the story to share. I also love reading others birth stories, I found them to be educational and calming for me prior to having Liam to know how others felt in the moment and what women I look up to had gone through as well.
Liam’s due date was February 2, 2022. I loved the date (2-2-22). As we started getting to the end of January, I was starting to think maybe he would come sooner or even on his due date, but even at my last OBGYN appointment, we were only a few centimeters dialated, so we were scheduled for a C-section on his due date, February 2nd.
We arrived at at 6:00am on the 2nd, and headed to our room. I was quickly placed on pitocin and contractions started almost immediately – wow. I’ve had pretty bad cramps my entire life from endometriosis, so I thought I would have been able to handle the labor pains but boy was I wrong.
I lasted about 4 hours before I was given an epidural…. the first one didn’t stick, so they had to try again. Thankfully that one worked, but then a few hours later failed my left side – I could feel everything on half my body. While I was thankful for some relief that the epidural was providing, the pains were still very uncomfortable. I labored all day until I was at about 6cm dialated – my water still hadn’t broke.
My OBGYN came in early on the 3rd to break my water and found that Liam had moved his head up and we may not be able to deliver normally. Quickly, he progressed to 8 cm and his head was still bent too far back, so we were told a C-section was the only option to get him out safely. I was unprepared and pretty scared, but not too long after, I was in the OR and Liam was being born.
At 9:01 am on February 3rd, 2022 Liam was born and we were ecstatic. Abe was able to hold him while I was being worked on, and I was happy to see them together. After we were headed to the recovery room, Abe said I blacked out and everyone rushed my bed, while he was tending to Liam (I don’t remember any of this). But thankfully, I was quickly awoken and able to recover with Liam and Abe by my side.
A few hours later we were transferred to postpartum where I stayed for another 2 days. It astounds me how quickly they want you to move and get to walking after you just had MAJOR abdominal surgery. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t barely walk around my room or get to the bathroom, but I kept trying so that I could at least go home.
Liam was born on a Thursday, and by Saturday night we were discharged – we could finally go home. My mom and sister met us at the house where they were able to meet Liam and help me get to the bedroom. I couldn’t have been more thankful for everyone that week.
A special thank you to all the nurses and my OBGYN who got me through the process, Lisa in postpartum who was an absolute angel the entire time we were there, and my family for being the most supportive even when they weren’t able to come to the hospital because of COVID policies.
Welcome, Liam Abraham. We fall more in love with you each and everyday. 🙂