Baby Atticus has Arrived!
I’m beyond thrilled to announce that my sweet, new, bundle of joy has entered the world on September 3rd, 2021 at 12:47pm. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 8 ounces, 19 inches long and absolutely perfect.
Atticus was a surprise pregnancy who attempted to make his appearance one month early, eventually waiting it out until 38 weeks in my stomach. He knew exactly when he was needed in this world and figured out just how to get here.
The past month with our baby boy has been such a dream come true. I’ve always known I wanted to be a mom but I could have never imagined the amount of love I feel for my own son. He is so strong and hitting milestones way earlier than expected (he rolled from belly to back at just 3 weeks and can easily hold his head up for long periods of time!) I swear if he had the arm strength already, this boy would be crawling! I am constantly amazed by this baby.
Watching him grow has been the greatest joy. I can’t believe how quickly he changes! Right now he is loving bath time, Bob Marley, and car rides ❤️
Near the end of my pregnancy, I started paying a lot of attention to other women’s birth stories online to prepare myself for labor and delivery. I decided to type out my own birth story here, partially to share with others what helped me, but also as a diary entry because everything goes by so quickly and I never want to forget.
Keep reading for my [very lengthy] birth story and a gallery of photos from Atti’s first few days.
I was walking (re: waddling) around work visibly very pregnant. Everyone noticed my stomach seemed to pop out even further this week and was asking me if I was coming in next week. And I said, “Yep! Next Friday is my last day before maternity leave.” Spoiler: I never went back to work. Early in the morning on Sunday August 15, I lost my mucus plug and began labor!
Atticus wasn’t due for another month so as I looked down at blood in the middle of the night, I started to panic. I had learned about my mucus plug and the “bloody show” but wasn’t expecting it this early. I called my doctor and she told us to head over to the hospital to get checked out. I felt just fine and had no other labor symptoms but we decided to go to the hospital anyways.
When we got into triage, one of the nurses hooked up two monitors on my stomach: one to watch baby’s heart rate and the other to monitor contractions. This was the first time I even realized I had been having contractions. I didn’t know what they would feel like but I apparently I had been experiencing them for the past week or so (I just thought it was a stomach ache or baby was kicking me weird.) The nurse checked my cervix and I was only 1cm dilated. At this point Bruno and I assumed we would be leaving soon and starting thinking about lunch at home.
And then I threw up.
And there I learned that vomiting is a sign of active labor beginning so the nurses called my doctor and they ended up keeping us in the hospital for two days. Shortly after making the decision to keep us overnight, nurses moved me and Bruno to a labor and delivery room to get comfortable. I was still puking quite a bit when the nurses were hooking me back up to monitors in the new room so they had to put me on a liquid diet (which sucked.)
My baby was a wiggler from the very beginning, so it was hard to keep the monitor in place on his heart. Because of this (and I still don’t totally understand why) they didn’t want me to unplug each time I needed to use the restroom so I had to use a bedpan too.
But the craziest thing about our hospital visit was that the nurses were really preparing us to meet our son. The set up his bassinet in our room with the classic newborn baby hat, they had us fill out paperwork and printed ID bands for the baby. And then we waited and waited but I never progressed passed 3cm and after 48 hours, they sent us home. I was still early and my doctor was going on vacation later that day so she recommended I stay put at home for the next week to prevent going into active labor while she’s out of town.
I felt relatively good for most of my pregnancy and even continued working twelve hour days through my 35th week. But then as soon as we got home from our little “dress rehearsal” at the hospital, I was DONE being pregnant. I think it was a combination of physical discomfort (I was still walking around dilated to 3cm) and being sooo mentally done. The nurses at the hospital, as wonderful as they were, really convinced me that I was going to meet my son that day! I spent hours preparing myself to go home with a baby and then we had to go home and keep waiting.
September 1st came around and my OB was back in town, which meant… time to get this baby out! Bruno and I started going down the list of ways to induce at home — spicy foods, pineapple, walking up steps, having sex. And lucky for us, the last one worked!
Sure enough, that night I started having contractions. They were so sporadic at this point and averaging like 20 minutes apart, so I knew I had awhile to go and went back to bed trying not to get too excited yet. The next time I got up to use the bathroom there was more blood. Now this was definitely my mucus plug. I thought I lost it before and maybe I did lose like a piece of it but this was like a lot of mucus-y blood (I’ll spare you any more details). Contractions were still sporadic so I waited.
Thursday morning I was starting to feel a lot of pre-labor anxiety but I was ready for it! We went to my sister in law’s house to take her puppy for a walk, did a final load of newborn laundry and made sure our hospital bags were all packed up. I was in early labor all day but it was bearable. I was definitely uncomfortable during the contractions but could still talk through them at this point and then they would go away and I would have about 10 minutes of just regular pregnancy discomfort.
We went to bed that night and I knew I was going to have my baby in the morning. Of course I couldn’t sleep. My contractions were about 8 minutes apart and I was so miserably uncomfortable and thrilled at the same time.
We called the doctor at 5am on Friday morning when I was having contractions every 5 minutes. She let me know that the hospital has limited staff and that if I should continue to labor at home until I was ready for my epidural.
So I kept waiting. We live about 5 minutes from the hospital and although the contractions were painful at this point, I could still breathe through them. It felt like sharp pangs of a horrible stomach ache but there’s nothing to do about it, haha. I took a shower to try and relax but the contractions were so strong I was beginning to feel nauseous so I jumped out of the shower half washed and ran to the toilet. I got pretty used to nausea during this pregnancy but unlike most other times, this did not ease up after I vomited and I was puking until all that was left was stomach acid. I tried to continue laboring at home a bit longer but it wasn’t much longer before I was ready for pain management.
We left for the hospital at 8am and I had to bring a puke bucket with me in the car. This was the most painful stage of my labor for sure and I was miserable. At this moment I thought to myself “I never want to do this again” (Spoiler alert: I already want to do it again.)
I was pre-registered at the hospital to save some time and I recommend everyone do this if you can. Bruno got me a wheelchair (required) at the front door and rolled me through admissions while I was still throwing up in my to-go bucket. I was so out of it I hardly remember these moments but they quickly rolled me to triage in a small room with 3 beds separated by curtains. A nurse greeted me and asked me a few questions I don’t even remember. I had such a hard time trying to answer her between heaves (Bruno answered most for me). You can tell when I’m really feeling rough when I’m not my cheery and kind self to hospital staff. I actually saw that woman after I had my baby and she said “Oh, you’re so much different when you’re comfortable!”
They checked my cervix again and I was only dilated to 4cm but effaced 80% and at +2 station. So I had to dilate further still but things were progressing quickly and they moved me right away down the hall to labor & delivery. I was still in pain and occasionally throwing up but Bruno and I were getting SO excited at this point because it was feeling so real! A couple more nurses came in to hook up my monitors and I told them I was ready for the epidural as soon as possible.
I didn’t know Bruno wouldn’t be allowed in the room when the anesthesiologist was placing the epidural which worried me at first because I was sooo nervous about it. Like I knew I wanted the drugs, I just wasn’t too thrilled on how it was administered. But surprise! I handled it like a CHAMP! They gave me a pillow to hug against my stomach and curve my back forward. I did my best to stay calm and relaxed while the anesthesiologist did his thing back there and I almost didn’t even feel it! I loved my epidural. I don’t think I would have enjoyed Atticus’ birth as much as I did without it. And honestly as cringey as it is to think about the placement of that needle, the contractions are SO much more painful. And the medicine is like an immediate relief. I still felt my contractions but they were much more manageable and I was able to relax and enjoy these final moments with Bruno before our little one arrived.
Here’s where things really started — and it was FAST. My water sack had broken and a nurse had to pull it out of my vagina! It was a strange feeling to say the least. While she was in the room she checked my cervix again — 8 cm! She helped me get into a twisted stretch that would get me to dilate further. I was in this position maybe 10 minutes before I had to call someone back in. It was a different nurse this time and she tried to reassure me I probably still have a way to go since it’s my first baby and I likely won’t progress this fast. She left and 5 minutes later I had to call again. “Umm… I feel like I’m ready. It feels like I have to poop out of my vagina!” I guess those were the key words I needed because the other nurse came in this time and did check my cervix. Sure enough, something was coming out of my vagina!
I had to wait for my doctor to get back to the hospital (thankfully she was just a few blocks down the street). As soon as she got in she had me start pushing! It was difficult but I felt so strong!! Bruno, my doctor, and the wonderful nurses on staff were the perfect support team, helping me breathe and cheering me on! I felt my body knew exactly what to do which was really cool. When my baby’s head became visible, my doctor asked if I wanted a mirror to see! I was surprised at how non-squeamish I was during the birth. I think because it was my own body and I was so thrilled to meet my baby, I wanted to experience it all.
I labored on my back with my feet in stirrups the entire time. Since I had the epidural, my legs felt weak and it was difficult to change positions. The epidural helped so much with the pain but I still felt the sensation of the contractions and my baby moving down. Atticus was head down but face up in the womb, so I was still able to deliver him vaginally but he almost got stuck under my pelvic bone! It was hard to continue monitoring his heart rate from there, so they had to stick these little monitors on his head while he was still inside me! That part was weird but necessary to make sure he was safe. I ended up only pushing for about 45 minutes before his head was out and the hard part was through. As they pulled him out, he peed on everyone as they laid him on my chest! The pain immediately subsided — my son! Slimy and blue but the greatest treasure I had ever seen ❤️
After Atticus was born, we did skin-to-skin and delayed cord clamping for 2 minutes. Then they gave Bruno the scissors to cut the umbilical cord. They took my baby to a cot in my room to take his measurements and preform a few tests while my doctor delivered the placenta and stitched me up. I had a very minor tear and only required one stitch. I barely felt her working as I was so distracted by my beautiful wriggling baby.
We stayed in the Labor & Delivery room for another hour or two after his birth. The whole thing seemed to go by in a blur; I couldn’t believe that I had just delivered this beautiful baby — my baby. Bruno was calling and FaceTiming our families to show him off but I only remember this from seeing pictures. I was so preoccupied with Atticus. He was so small, the tiniest baby I had ever seen in person, but somehow, so alert!
My Hospital Stay
I was able to stand and walk a few hours after delivery but my legs were still wobbly from the epidural so Bruno took me and Atticus upstairs to the recovery room in a wheelchair. When we got up there, the nurses let me know that I needed to pee to make sure everything was still working down there. Well when I went to use the restroom, I was immediately surprised by how much blood there was. I knew postpartum bleeding was a thing and I even prepared for this at home but I guess I expected something like a heavy period? This was A LOT. I made such a mess, haha. Very glamorous. This bleeding last for about 2 weeks and gradually got lighter.
I don’t remember many details of our stay here. We stayed in the hospital until the following day at 5pm. Nurses came in periodically to check my vitals and pain levels, take baby for a bath, help with breastfeeding (which was hard), hearing test for baby, paperwork for baby’s birth certificate, a pediatrician visit, more test for baby. It all blended together. It was so hard to sleep that night because all I wanted to do was hold him and watch him sleep.
As we were about to be discharged, our nurse came in and informed us that Atticus was fine yesterday but is now showing as borderline for jaundice. She assured us that this was so common and such an easy fix, but wanted me to feed him plenty so he would, essentially, pee the jaundice out. This was tricky because I hadn’t yet got the hang of breastfeeding. The lactation consultant at the hospital recommended I try to pump and we determined that I was producing a good amount of colostrum, but Atticus was having a hard time latching. We bottle fed him the expressed colostrum and decided to supplement with formula as well. We have been combo feeding ever since while slowly increasing his breast milk intake as my supply increases and his latch improves. Anyways, we were discharged from the hospital and told to bring him back the following Monday to see how the jaundice was progressing. After the blood draw they determined he was back in the “green” level and all was good!
Atticus has been growing so strong and healthy since we brought him home last month. He really is the perfect addition to our little family. Bruno and I have been taking in ever single moment with our perfect boy. I couldn’t imagine my life any other way 🖤
