Welcome, Nolan! (A Birth Story)

Happy One Month birthday, Nolan!

On December 13, 2014 our Little Ox #2, Nolan Robert Oxford, came into this world!

At 36 weeks and 2 days, on December 12th, it was like every other day and I was at the table with Josiah (Little Ox #1) having lunch. I was struggling with him, trying to get him to eat what I had made for him (which is usually a daily struggle – unless it is pizza, noodles, or breakfast foods).

After feeling defeated, I got up from the table to throw his food away in the garbage and think about what I could feed him that he might eat. As I bent back up from throwing the food away my WATER BROKE at 2:00PM. I knew it the moment that it happened because the same thing happened to start my first labor – read about it here.

I panicked, left Josiah in his high chair, and ran to the bathroom. I laughed to myself for a minute because I was telling Mac for months that our baby would be coming that weekend. (I was joking, of course, because I knew that THIS weekend was probably the worst day for him to come). Mac has his busiest day of the YEAR coming up and my mom had an important day for her business that same day too.

I decided to call my mom first. She answered the phone and I said “I know you don’t want to hear this, but my water just broke”. She laughed and thought I was joking and said she would be there soon. Next, I called Mac, and I said the same thing. He worked an hour away, so I knew he was going to jump out of his chair and leave right away. After panicking on the couch for a few minutes thinking of our boy coming a month early and that he might have issues after birth, I came back to Josiah and called for my brother to keep an eye on him for me while I got last minute things together. 

I turned on Daniel Tiger for him, gave him a cookie, and headed downstairs. I changed and got things together while waiting for my mom to pick me up. I put Josiah down for his nap and explained to him that his baby brother would be here soon and that mommy had to leave for the hospital. I left him with Grandpa and took off to the hospital with my mom. 

We bypassed a triage room (since my water was clearly broken) and we stepped into labor room #8 and waited for Mac to get there. My friend Kendall arrived and we watched FRIENDS (again) and we all waited for my contractions to start. We pondered about whether he would be here on the 12th or the 13th – since Josiah came fairly quickly.

When I think about my labor with Nolan – sometimes I wonder how I even progressed at all. Throughout my entire labor, I did not have regular contractions – even up until I started pushing. I attribute this to him being late preterm. 

I came into this labor thinking that labor is labor and it would feel JUST like it did before. I came into this labor wanting to do it all natural, like the first time. However, once I realized that back labor is MUCH different than regular labor – my thoughts changed after hours of more pain than I experienced my whole labor with Josiah. We tried natural techniques for a while and the pain became unbearable. I asked for them to check me to see how close I was (even though my contractions weren’t normal like I said before).

I WAS AT 3. It was after midnight. I had already been in labor longer than I was for Josiah and I was only at 3. That’s when I decided that I wasn’t going to be a horrible mom if I got an epidural. I was not going to let myself feel guilty or like a failure because I couldn’t do it like I did last time. So I talked with Mac for a while and he told me he would support whatever I chose to do, so nervously, I asked him to tell the nurse for the epidural. Another factor for this choice was because of how late it was and the knowledge that we would be up all night long waiting for this boy to come.

The epidural was a lot less scary and a lot less painful than I had expected. After that, it was so nice to get some rest and sleep for a while. I could still feel the pressure that was coming from the pain masked by the medication. After quite a few more hours of NO regular contractions, I asked to be checked again – and I was at 8 cm around 5:00 AM. 

Coming into the final stretch – everyone was sleeping and I was laying awake waiting to get to 10 and dreaming of the little boy who would soon be in our arms. I thought about how BEAUTIFUL this labor was – even as different and unexpected as it was. It was crazy that how two very different labors could be equally amazing. (I know I am crazy, but I love being in labor). This made me think of every woman who has had the opportunity to birth a child – how each story is so perfect and different in their own way.

With the pain easing its way through the medication, I asked the nurse to get my midwife and check me one last time because I felt like it was time. She checked and I was at 10 cm and things were being brought in to bring our baby into the world. The nurse told me that when I feel pressure to push to call her, but that it might take a while to feel it. About thirty seconds later, I felt it and called her in. It was 7:50 AM and I was ready to start pushing. Since it took me an hour of pushing with Josiah, I expected it to be about half that time, but little did I know that in only 7 minutes and 2 and 1/2 pushes later – our boy was here. With the first push, you could see his head, the second, his head was out and The last push, he came so fast that the midwife almost dropped him, and I could not pull him out like I did with Josiah. 

Nolan Robert Oxford was born on 12/13/14 at 7:57 AM

7 pounds 4 ounces

19.5 inches long

Yes. You read that right. My little month-early-preemie was SEVEN pounds. I don’t want to think about how big he would have been if he had gone full term. Either way, my beautiful little baby boy was here. I loved my labor just as much as I did with the first. It was amazing and breath-taking. I love having Nolan in our life and looking down at him every day thinking he is just like a mini-Josiah. I swear they are twinsies. 

Either way- I am so thankful to be a mommy of my two amazing little boys.

Watch the announcement here: