We’re still three days away from our sweet baby’s due date, but we’ve already had our baby boy Skyler in our arms for about a week and a half now! No one was more surprised than us when he decided to enter the world two weeks early on March 15, 2018.
As most of you already know, I spent the majority of my pregnancy staying busy at work and saved my free time to rest and enjoy date nights, outings with friends, and things to do in New York City before the little one arrived. I planned on starting my maternity leave on March 18th, so I was optimistically banking on having two weeks to get our lives together and prepare for Skyler’s long awaited arrival. But, he had other plans, and I’m excited to finally share the story of how everything unfolded with you today.
Thankfully, we had everything we really needed ready to go by 38 weeks, but our apartment and his nursery felt far from organized and what I pictured bringing our new addition home to when it was time to leave for the hospital. Heck, I barely got our hospital bag together!
But, looking back, I’m content knowing that we can control what we can control and this is something that we certainly couldn’t. We have been completely blessed by this miracle baby, and the last week and a half with him has been absolutely magical.
Confusing, exhausting, emotional, and a complete blur, too, but magical.
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I tend to overshare, so in an effort to document everything that I want to include in Skyler’s birth story, I’m going to break it up into two posts and will be sharing the next one shortly. I’m currently typing this up with a napping baby to my right, tired eyes that are fighting a nap, and in between an endless routine of nursing, burping, and changing diapers, but I’m going to do my best!
Just Like Any Other Day …
My Wednesday started just like any other one had before.
I had a flexible work schedule my last week in the studio, so I took advantage of sleeping as much as possible and went in late-morning. I stayed through lunch and left for my 38-week doctor’s appointment around 1 p.m. I left feeling like we were on track for an on-time delivery (or perhaps a few days early), and I even discussed possible induction dates with my doctor to ensure that Scott would be around for at least a full week before he left for an overseas trip in early April. I was about 2 cm dilated, and my doctor said she didn’t expect to see me before our next appointment the following Monday.
I had every intention of going back to work, but instead of returning to distractions at the studio, I ate a delicious Mediterranean lunch and set my computer up at a Starbucks near the train station to put in a few hours of emailing and setting things up for when I leave. I went to the restroom, ordered a decaf latte, and knocked a lot out! It felt great.
Before heading back to Brooklyn, I went to the restroom again and noticed more than the predicted spotting after a doctor’s appointment. I had been talking with my friend Kelly (who was 40 weeks 1 day at the time) all day, so I asked her what she thought of it and she answered with what could have been my bloody show – which means labor isn’t too far behind. With that, I quickly packed up my things and caught the next F train home to our apartment. Man, that was the longest ride ever.
I went to the restroom when I got home and decided to call my doctor after that. She told me to monitor what was happening (to see if it lightened up or got worse) over the next hour or so, and to call her back if it didn’t go away on its own. Meanwhile, Scott was finishing up a homemade banana pudding to take to our weekly Dinner Party with church friends. He thought that something might be going on, but he didn’t think that it was labor. (After reading the whole birth story you’ll see that it took the doctor telling us that we were going to have a baby within 24 hours for him to realize it was actually go time. Ha!)
While Scott packed up and went to Dinner Party (it’s pretty close – so I wasn’t freaking out), I hopped in the shower and figured that it wouldn’t hurt to feel as clean as possible and finish packing our hospital bag, just in case. As I sat down to blow dry my hair, I started having contractions. I had experienced Braxton Hicks contractions a few times in the pregnancy, so I thought this might be another round of them, but when a couple turned into a consistent pattern of them over the next hour, I took them seriously and told Scott it was time to come home. I kept track of the timing of the contractions on my phone and sent him a screen shot around 9 p.m.
I didn’t track every contraction since I was scurrying to pack everything, but I came pretty close. (The gap in time from 9:55 to 10:29 is when we were getting everything together and making our way downstairs!) When the contractions got as close as five minutes apart and lasted 30-60 seconds each time, I called my doctor and filled her in. Luckily, Scott made it home by then with a plate of homemade pizza for me!
It didn’t surprise me when she said that we needed to come to the hospital. She said we could be going right back home or we could be staying the night, so I packed like it was the real thing and got most of the necessities I wanted together. Scott fed the pets and walked Roadie, and then we called an Uber to head to the hospital shortly after.
We called our families on the way over and let them know that it could be a false alarm or that we could be bringing our baby home sooner than we all thought! My mom went ahead and booked the next flight up to see us, and Scott’s mom wasn’t too far behind.
There were a handful of things that we didn’t get around to before this moment arrived, and testing out the carseat and doing a trial run to the hospital for timing (and to make sure we had the right location) was included on that list. My contractions started getting more intense on the car ride over, so I was very glad that we were on our way and that it wasn’t in the middle of rush hour.
About thirty minutes later and unsure of what entrance to go to, we guessed and ended up on the wrong side of the hospital for Labor & Delivery. We were guided to the other side of the building and it was getting harder and harder to walk normally. This is when I knew this baby was coming and that I was actually having signs of real labor.
We officially checked in right before 11 p.m. on March 14th. Not only had we not pre-registered (I was waiting on updated insurance information from work, so I was going to give it another week), but I also forgot my license at home in my backpack that we didn’t bring. The lobby in my doctor’s office requires you to show your ID every time you visit, so it was still in a pouch outside of my wallet from earlier that day. I have to admit that I felt embarrassed at how much we were obviously caught off guard and felt unprepared!
It wasn’t long before I was led into the triage area, changed into a hospital gown, and waited for everything to start happening. At this point, Scott (now) admits that he still didn’t believe that I was going into labor that night. It all finally set in about three hours later, and that is when the real fun began!
We’re getting pretty lengthly here, so I’m going to cut the first part of Skyler’s birth story here. I’ll be back with the rest of it very soon.
Thank you so much for reading!
… To Be Continued …
Tonya
You can’t just leave us hanging! Ha-ha!
My husband was the same way with our first when I went into labor at 37 weeks. The doctor said I was 8cm dilated and he said, so we’re having the baby today?! Lol. Men are so funny!
I can’t wait to hear the rest and see more pictures of your little guy as he grows!
Congratulations again and I’m so overjoyed that you have your little miracle rainbow! I can see how loved he is in your pictures!
Jacquelyn
I can’t wait to read the second half!!!!!!
Erika
Eek, I love birth stories!! It’s so fun reading about the various ways that babies enter this world! No matter how it happens, it’s always so magical. Can’t wait to read the rest!! Hope you’re getting as much rest as possible!
Emily @ Pizza & Pull-ups
I can’t wait to hear the second half! How exciting.
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Kristin
Even though I don’t and won’t have kids, I love birth stories! Congratulations!
Garrett
Love the story, excited for part two! On journeys like these, its best to keep your items in one place safe, so I bought an ANti-Theft USB charging backpack on discountretailed.com that keeps items safe and my phone charged for days!