Monroe's Birth Story
If you stuck around for Murphy’s birth story, don’t worry. This is going to be a quick one. Sort of. I’ll give you backstory to make it juicy.
Monroe, from the very beginning, told me that he was going to be early. I just knew it. I knew I’d never make it to my due date. He felt so low from the very beginning that my mama heart just knew he was going to be early. My doctor even said I wouldn’t make it to my due date! Either way, as we got closer to the due date, my doctor started checking my dilation due to the fact that I told him how much pressure I was experiencing in my vaginal/lower abdominal region. When I told him about it (around 34.5 weeks), it raised concern and he told me to stop walking so much with Murphy (we went on daily walks) and to not do anything extra around the house that would cause stress. Basically like bedrest without the bed. That killed me. Murphy and I were so active, always out and about just us two that it hurt to hear any restriction. I was even still exercising at that point so to completely stop moving my body broke my heart. But the doctor was concerned for the sake of Monroe and didn’t want me to deliver early. He said if we could just make it to 36 weeks, he’d be okay with me delivering because baby boy would be developed enough. Until then, we were careful. He also check my dilation/cervix and I was measure 3-4cm dilated and 80% effaced. He said that he would be surprised if he saw me at my next doctors appoint (two weeks later) and talk about raising some major anxiety for me! Luckily Matthew had just gotten home from his deployment because he was able to take a lot of the weight off my shoulders in regards to Murphy. Gosh was he helpful. Two weeks passed and I was back at my doctor (and fairly unhappy to be there frankly because he made me think I was going to have baby already)! At this point he checked me again and said I was 5-6cm dilated and 100% effaced. Basically, any time I left the house, I had to be prepared to deliver the baby! My water could have broken at any time. Also, the fact that the doctor told me how many centimeters dilated I was and was cool as a cucumber threw me a major curve ball because that’s how far along I was when I was admitted into the hospital with Murphy! Either way, my doctor said that if I felt any pressure at all, to go straight to the hospital. (If you think about it, being how far along I was, if I started contracting, it was go time!) He also said that he didn’t think he would see me at my next appointment and all I could think was that if I did, I was throat punching someone.
From that moment on, I was fairly content with having the baby and went about my regular life. Murphy, Matthew and I went on our usual walks and I had my hospital bag ready, in the car, and a blanket covering my seat in the car because we bought a new car with leather seat and I was not about to risk my water breaking on them. (Haha, ridiculous, I know.) There were nights when I was sure I was going into labor, times when Matthew was at work doing staff duty or tracing COVID patients and I thought I was having a baby alone and other days where I was just plain uncomfortable.
Our landlady had a biking accident on a Wednesday and we were trying to help out with her any way we could. That Thursday we made a “family dinner” and sat and talked and she made a comment about it being our “last quiet night” in the house. That same day/night, I was having a really bad back pain that I thought was just pain. Well, we went to bed and I woke up at 6:30 Friday morning with pressure. I first thought I just needed to use the restroom but once I tried, I knew it was TIME. The weirdest thing was that Murphy was awake when I woke up. She never usually woke up at that time so it’s almost like she knew too. I left in her her bed and ran to tell Matthew it was go-time. He totally didn’t think it was a rushing matter because homeboy tried to go to the restroom to do his business AND shower. I rinsed off my body quickly and told him that if he NEEDED to shower, I was going downstairs to let Rose Marie (landlady) that it was time, that I needed to go to the hospital and I gave her the baby monitor (because they were going to watch Murphy while we went to the hospital). She was ready for me because she heard me and Matthew moving around and I balled my eyes out.
Matthew and I jumped in the car and left! It went from me just having pressure when I woke up at 6:30 to contractions starting when we left the house at 7 and they were immediately 3-5 minutes apart if that much. When we got to the hospital, I was having to stop frequently just to get to the Labor and Delivery floor. They took me to my labor room, then to the doctors room to check how far along I was. This part is what got me:
The “doctor” that gave me an exam said that I was THREE TO FOUR CENTIMETERS DILATED!!! I hadn’t been told that in weeks. So with confidence, the doctor told me to head over to my L&D room to wait it out. (As if.) As I’m walking back to that room, stopping five times at least to get the 20 feet to the room, the midwife that was assisting me suggested we just head over to the delivery room. We walk over there, she recommends I go to the restroom, which I protested with all my might because I insisted that if I tried to go, I would push this baby out, and she says “yes, that’s okay, Just try”! So it did. And started pushing Monroe out! With absolutely no concern as I tell the midwife I’m starting to bleed, she tells me to come lay down to start pushing. Yes, PUSHING! I was extremely caught off guard because I wasn’t supposed to be doing that so I ask for my epidural with urgency. That kind woman tells me “Oh sweetie, it’s too late for that” and at that point I start losing it. Yes, I had fully anticipated that Monroe would come naturally because my doctor kind of prepped me for that mentality. But when the doctor checked me ten minuted prior to BEING READY TO PUSH, telling me that I was only three to four centimeters, I told them to give me the epidural because I was not going to keep going through this constant pain. At that point, I also mentally prepared to be on drugs!! I switched my whole mindset!! Then they go and do that?! QUIT PLAYING GAMES WITH MY HEART!! Anyway, the midwife tries to get me as comfortable as possible-trying to get me to consider sitting to birth, lay on my side, and a few other options but I kept quickly turning them down. Finally I snipped to Matthew, “I’ve done it once like this before, I know how. Let’s just do this”. So he calmly told her that I was good to go as is. At that point, I started pushing as it was pretty easy….until I felt something….weird. This part is “graphic” so men, read with caution. As I’m pushing, I start to struggle and feel what seemed like a large water balloon coming out of me. Turns out, my water hadn’t broken (I don’t know why I thought nothing of this until then) and I was literally pushing my sac of water out of me with Monroe!! It felt massive (which in reality they’re like the size of a small water balloon) and I could feel it jiggle. I started to lose my mind and screamed “what the FREAK is that?!” (You know, not wanting to curse as I bring a baby into the world and all). So my super sweet husband insists that I “shut up and keep pushing” as to which I did! And as I push the sac out, Monroe’s head is following right behind, so it pops coming out and his head gets drenched in my sac. Super. Poor dude did take all that liquid in but was fine after. It literally took me those two major pushes and he was here. The most perfect, stubborn, “I come when I’m ready” little dude.
Post baby, I did have some issues, as did Monroe. He had a tongue-tie that the pediatrician noticed right away before we checked out. They clipped it and he was good as new thank goodness. Me, on the other hand, had SEVERE hip pains until three weeks post birth. Literally just up until Matthew had to go to work. Like, it hurt so much that if I walked around too much, I would cry in pain. Even just walking around our house! All the pain was said to be because Monroe dropped and came out so quickly that the pressure actually hurt my hip/back. Wild.
Regardless, we had our perfect boy and Murphy got to meet her lifelong best friend and they have literally been inseparable ever since. They’re madly in love with each other as I am with them. My family is perfectly complete. For now anyway.
xo,
mk
