Morgan Jean’s Birth Story

Family of 3

Even thought she is ALREADY 15 months old I just wanted to get this out so I wouldn’t ever forget the day (or really days) leading up to the greatest joy coming into my life on a cool November day in 2021. Morgan Jean came into our lives on November 4th,  2021, almost 2 weeks late, and she still did not want to come out.

                Baby girl’s due date was on her daddy’s birthday, October 24th but she seemed to want a day all her own because she was born nowhere near that day. On November 2nd at 7pm at night we were scheduled to go in to begin the induction process by having a balloon inserted to start dilating me. We were then supposed to go home and sleep then come back in the next morning. Now I say ‘supposed to’ because I was a week and 2 days late and not dilated even the tiny bit needed to insert the balloon without too much pain. So, we ended up being admitted to start medication. We were brought to a L&D room and I was hooked up to a portable monitor so I could actually walk around, etc without issue. They gave me my first dose of medication to start the labor process. My husband, Matt left for a little bit to get the dogs situated because we didn’t have anyone to watch them that night, and then he came back with a burger for me haha. Every 4 hours I think it was I was given another dose of the meds after being checked to see what was happening. 4 doses was the max I could get and that’s what I got because nothing was really happening.

After that I was started on pitocin to try to get me moving because I wasn’t feeling anything at this point other then maybe a little twinge here and there. This was at about 12pm on Wednesday, November 3rd. I sat around bouncing on the ball, and calling all my siblings trying to get them to take care of the dogs overnight. Matt had went and spent the morning with them so we just needed some night time help. With Covid restrictions he was only able to leave the hospital once a day.

Around 10:30pm that night I laid down to try and sleep. After laying there for about 10 minutes I feel an actual contraction. Matt had just gone into the bathroom so I don’t say anything because I’m not sure what I actually felt at that point. Then a minute later another one comes and I feel this painful pop. I lay there for a few seconds thinking it was my water breaking but I don’t feel any water leaking so I was like no it was just a contraction. A few seconds later another one comes as Matt comes out of the bathroom and I ask him to help me up. When I stand up I feel a little bit of water so I now know my water did actually break. We call the nurse and she goes and gets my midwife who comes in and helps me through the laboring process. After almost two hours I get checked and when I’m only at 4cm I know the epidural is going to happen. The midwife walks me through how it works and get the doc to administer it. It was glorious haha. I had wanted to go without but because everything happened so quickly it didn’t work out that way for me but that’s okay. While sitting for the epidural I feel the gush of fluid you always expect when your waterbreaks and the midwife was too. I warned her about it so she steps back and lets me know its okay. I still overhear her tell the nursing staff to make sure to wear booties because I still look like I’m carrying high so there was probably a lot of fluid at the top that will gush out at the end. Anyway, back to the epidural, it wasn’t as bad as expected, especially for someone pretrified of needles ha.

About a hour later I start feeling pressure, this was at about 1:45am. They check me and I’m at 9cm, 100% effaced. I go back to sleep after they tell me they want to wait for the baby to get lower so I don’t have to push so long. I wake up again around 3:15am with more pressure so I call the nurse back in (Matt is sleeping at this point). The nurse gets my midwife and she checks me and says she pretty low down and I’m ready to go if I want to start pushing. I tell them okay. They start gettiing everything ready and I screem for Matt to wake up. He seems out of it but goes to my bedside. I start pushing at 3:35am. I remmeber because they have that huge digital clock right in front of me haha. After a few pushes I look at Matt and I can tell he looks like hes about to pass out because of lack of sleep and eating so I make him go sit back on the couch. I don’t even feel any contractions coming so the nurses just tell me when to push. What I can feel is every time I take a break Morgan pushes her feet back up into my ribs. Like I said she didn’t want to come out.

After about a hour the midwife says she needs to do an episiotomy because her head has been sitting down low for too long. I’m scared but Matt is like just do it you wont feel it. So I tell her to do it I don’t feel it. The next set of pushes her head comes and they turn her. They said once the next contraction comes I can push and she’ll be here. My contractions were so irregular the whole time with sometimes five to ten minutes in between so I finally just say “ Can I just push now?” and they seemed shocked I ask but say go ahead and shes here.

They put her on my belly and I’m just so shocked that I don’t register anything around me other then her little face, while shes still attached to me. It’s a crazy thing. Once the cord is cut I snuggle her then they take her to weight her and check her over. I make Matt go and take the weight pictures and all those just born photos for me while I get stitched and cleaned up.

After a hour and 45 minutes of pushing Morgan Jean was born on a cool autumn morning Thursday, November 4th, 2021 at 5:20am, 7lbs 7oz, 21 and half inches long and she is the most greatest gift and joy to come into our life.