spencer’s birth story

The days leading up to my actual labor and delivery were pretty full of activity. I intentionally walked a lot and spent quality time with the girls knowing our time as just us ladies was coming to a close.

Monday night (5.24.21) I went to bed cramping, only to be awoken a few hours later and deciding to go into the hospital.

We pulled into the parking lot at 4:30am on May 25th and got checked into our room. When we walked in, it felt bigger than the previous ones we had been in, so when my doctor arrived to check on me, I asked “are all the rooms the same size? Because this one seems bigger.” She smiled and said “yeah this one is our biggest room. It’s super nice. This is actually the room where all our staff has their babies.” My eyes grew with a smile as I said, “oh, so it’s like the VIP room!?” while Aaron quickly followed up with “we’re just cashing in our Loyalty Rewards!” And the whole room broke out in laughter.

I was 2cm dilated and definitely contracting, so my nurses took steps to get me ready. Since I’ve done this before, I was very forward to share what I needed.

1. The IV has to go in my right arm and I needed someone who would get it in the first try (in the past I’ve been stuck several times and it was miserable)
2. Anytime they checked me I told them I’d need to put my fisted hands under me to make it less miserable (because I have a really high cervix)

After I was settled, the nurses, Aaron and I had a great time chatting while we got to know each other. A couple hours later, my water broke (which I honestly barely felt) and I was 5cm. Instantly my contractions became so intense. Aaron was so faithful to encourage me to take multiple deep breaths through each contraction and feed me ice chips. I had ice packs on my thighs, back of my neck and a cold wash cloth on my chest that I occasionally whipped on my face as well.

I tried my best to just let the contractions flow through me like a wave. When I felt myself struggling, I’d say this in my mind or mumble –

My body is strong & God gives me peace.

Spencer is safe & I will hold him today.

I was made for this!

I had worship music playing too but I found myself asking the following songs to be played over and over:

• The Blessing by Kari Jobe & Cody Cranes
• Never Will by Life.Church
• Reckless Love by Cory Asbury
• Quiet by Elevation

My next check was 6cm and I couldn’t help but tear up as I endured the pain. I was exhausted & wanted the pain to stop. My nurses were incredible and so kind of talk me through the peak and decline of each contraction while reassuring me I was doing an incredible job & reminding me of the pure joy of having a son.

After a few more contractions, I felt a lot of pressure down there but I didn’t say anything because I had just been deemed a 6 and I really didn’t want to get checked again just to be given the same number. The next contraction however was even more pressure so I decided to mention it to my nurses. They whooped my bed back with such speed and checked me before frantically running out the door while saying “she’s there! We need a doctor now. Don’t push Sarah!”

I honestly wasn’t sure how plausible not pushing would be, but I tried to think of something other than bearing down. I looked at Aaron and asked, “is he coming?” And Aaron smiled with a nod. The next contraction brought on an uncontrollable push (and a scream from me) only to prove that not pushing was unlikely.

Another close contraction and an uncontrollable push led to my nurse catching Spencer – leaving me partly hyperventilating and partly trying to catch my breath as I marveled at my son fresh out of the womb.

“Oh my gosh!!!!” I said between gasps. “Is it still a boy?” “Haha yeah – it’s still a boy!” He said with a huge smile.

The following minutes were spent with a lot of nurses in my room all doing different things. My doctor eventually arrived and buttoned up some things but we later found out the front desk had never even paged my doctor even though my nurse had frantically told them to. I apologized for not being able to not push and everyone, including my doctor agreed that was a very unrealistic thing for me to try to prevent and I did an outstanding job.

Adrenaline shook my body as I got to hold my son for the very first time.

From walking through the door to his birth time, labor totaled about four hours.

I pushed three times & he was here.

From there our day was spent so peacefully – food (I was so excited to eat haha), naps, follow up checkins on me and numerous “congratulations” from the staff.

We texted family and FaceTimed briefly but Aaron and I agreed we’d wait to show the girls their new brother until we were there in person to keep the moment sweet. Besides, a FaceTime viewing would likely result in tears and toddler-desires to hold their baby.

Wednesday (5.26.21) was another blissfully relaxing day with intermittent staff checking boxes, nursing sessions and naps.

Thursday (5.27.21) morning we checked off some more hospital boxes before loading up and heading home.

stay tuned for my next post for adorable pictures & stories of the girls meeting Spencer for the first time.