Lennon's Birth Story

Lennon Danielle’s Birth Story

Estimated "Due Date": July 3, 2012

Born: July 11, 2012 / 4:19 AM / Covenant Harrison, Saginaw, MI / Dr. Stryker 

Gestational age: 41 Weeks, 1 Day

Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz

Height: 19.5”

I found out that I was pregnant in October 2011 while living in Alexandria, VA with Dan. Something didn’t feel normal, I was feeling sick, bloated, gaining weight and something inside of me told me that I just needed to take a pregnancy test. So, that’s what I did. Moments later I made Dan look at it and he came running into our bedroom happy as could be!

My next step was calling my best friend, McKensey to scream, cry, and ask for advice on how to tell my mother! Dan called his best friend Ryan, and his parents right away. The next day I called my mom, we bought a pregnancy photo book and then we called doctors in the area! At my first appointment we found out I was about 8 weeks pregnant!

Fast forward to July, 2012 and we were living back in Saginaw, MI. My due date quickly came and went. I spent that day leaving my last day of work for maternity leave, getting a mani/pedi and then relaxing at home. July 4, 2012 we spent the day celebrating, going to a pool party and then going to the fireworks where we ended up leaving early due to the onset of early contractions and labor signs. However it was a false alarm, which happened many nights leading up to Lennon’s arrival. I had no idea what “real contractions” felt like so many nights I was up tossing and turning, aching in pain in my lower abdomen and timing what I thought was the real deal before eventually heading into the ER. Once we got to the ER on those long nights they monitored me and the “contractions” stopped. I was sent home with high hopes it would happen again soon! That happened on and off until the day of July 11. A couple of days prior to July 11 my mucus plug came out in chunks, gross, and I had my membranes stripped at the OB office. Since I wasn’t progressing and there were no signs of real labor starting I was scheduled to be induced on July 11, 2012 at 7pm at Covenant Hospital when I was 41 weeks pregnant.

July 11^th arrives, it’s 8AM and I am pacing the house preparing everything I can for the arrival of baby. We planned on going to lunch for the last time alone, and then relaxing for the night before heading into the hospital. Well, around 2PM I was doing dishes in the kitchen while Dan was waiting to go to lunch. All of a sudden I felt like I was peeing my pants and couldn’t stop! I yelled to Dan that I think my water may have broken but then we both said, “nah, that’s supposed to be a big gush of water… maybe not!” so we went about our day. I (luckily) wore a dress to lunch, and a HUGE maxi pad! I soaked through it halfway through lunch and decided it was time to call the doctor. I called and they told me to come in right away because that’s my water breaking! So, after a trip home to grab our bags and car seat we were headed to the hospital and arrived around 4PM.

Upon arrival at the hospital I checked in and was given a room. I was immediately hooked up to the monitors for baby to be monitored, had an IV placed, and changed into my gown. We called family and friends to explain the news and waited for my doctor to come in. It seemed like hours waiting for my doctor but it was only about an hour. Dr. Stryker came in, checked my cervix and fluid levels. She explained that my cervix was firm and there was no sign of dilation, which was not ideal for my water breaking hours prior. The first thing she said was, “Well, how do you feel about a C-Section?” I was mortified. I wasn’t planning on my first birth being a c-section and I was already scared of what could happen! She insisted that they try Pitocin and Prepidil (a cervical ripening agent). I was given the Prepidil in my cervix and within about an hour I was having contractions that were 1-3 minutes apart.

Once my contractions intensified I was in a lot of pain, moaning and crying through each one. I was offered Morphine in my IV for the pain so I accepted it. Truly, it only really made me tired and groggy, it didn’t help with the painful contractions. I ended up getting out of bed, walking around my room for a bit and then asked to sit in the hot tub. I am so grateful for a room with a jacuzzi tub! Dan filled it with warm water and then once I was able to get in the tub I could only stay in it for a little bit because the contractions were pretty intense. By this time it was late, around 8PM and I needed to be checked again.

Doctor came in to check my cervix and I was already at 4CM dilated, the gel was working and I could definitely feel the pressure. She explained an epidural to me, the benefits and risks, but mostly that it would really help with the pain and let me sleep before labor began. I gave in, even though it was NOT in my plan. The process of getting an epidural while having contractions so close together was excruciating. I remember sitting on the edge of the bed, bent over with my head in my nurses’ chest and hubby holding my hand. The worst part was being told not to move when the contraction started because the needle could paralyze me. How scary is that? I held on so tight, the anesthesiologist was there to assure me everything would be great and it was in within 5 minutes. Once the epidural was in I couldn’t even tell it was there.

After the epidural was placed I was told that I couldn’t get out of bed. I had not researched epidurals too much since I wasn’t planning on getting one, so I had no idea what they entailed. Not that I really could get out of bed anyway because my toes and legs were completely numb, and that was the worst feeling in the world.

My mom arrived later that night to sit with Dan and I and stayed until about midnight when I was ready for some sleep. I fell asleep in my bed around that time and Dan fell asleep on the couch. Before falling asleep the nurses checked me, I had dilated to about 7CM and she explained the feeling I would get when I was ready to push. All she said was, “you will feel immense pressure and feel like you’re going to poop! When that happens page us ASAP!” So the night went on, sleeping sound in my bed and then it happened just like she said it would. I was woken up just after 3AM by intense pressure, the worst contractions I had felt yet, and it seemed to be all on my left side and it was not stopping!

I paged the nurses and I was screaming for Dan to wake up. After throwing a few spoons, Kleenex boxes, and then a book at him he woke up oblivious to what was going on around him. The lights were on, the nurses were in the room, they were checking me, prepping the room for delivery, etc. I was a nervous, miserable wreck but he was so supportive and stayed by my side the entire time! I was surprised to not see my doctor but was greeted by a resident, whom I had never met, dressed in green scrubs with a mask on like he was attending a surgery. He introduced himself and checked my cervix. I was completely dilated at 10CM and he said I was ready to push! I was crying from the pain and told Dan to text my mom to come back NOW as she had gone home to sleep.

Go time! It was 4AM, I had my legs put up – a nurse holding one and Dan holding the other since I could not feel a thing - then the bed was dropped down, trash bag looking things placed under my butt and a flock of nurses rushed into the room. I told the nurse I needed to push and I was told to wait. I screamed to her that I couldn’t wait, there was NO chance I was waiting, I had to push! I began pushing and as I did my mom was outside the door asking to come in… there was no way I wanted more people in the room so she waited down the hall in the waiting room where she said she could hear everything I screamed! Oops! I had no idea what I was doing. The nurse standing next to me was more than wonderful, she coached me through each contraction and told me exactly what to do. Instinctively I wanted my head back in a comfortable position but they insisted I place my chin to my chest, breathe deep and push as hard as I could. I was screaming through each contraction, as I could feel all of the pressure, pushed my chin down and pushed. I pushed a few times and then my actual OBGYN came in the room, stood in the background and coached a few pushes. Then, I felt the head pop out and the nurses asked if I wanted to touch her head, feel her hair or see her with a mirror and I was too focused on pushing to even talk to anyone! After a few minutes of pushing I gave one final huge push with all of my strength and I felt all of the body come out and heard little but loud screams and cries. I remember looking at Dan and just smiling thinking, “we did it!” as she was placed on my chest.

She was born at 4:19 AM, after less than 20 minutes of pushing.

A few minutes went by and Dan cut the cord while I delivered the placenta and was being stitched up from a small internal tear. After the cleanup, my bed was put back together so I could lie down and relax with my baby girl on my chest. She was so sweet, so calm and closed her eyes right away. My doctor looked at Dan and I and asked what her name was. Up until that moment we had been going back and forth about her name as I was passionate about one and he loved a different one. He looked at me, smiled and nodded his head. I cried, and told her “Lennon!” then he said, “Danielle” as her middle name. We had never discussed middle names but I was happy as long as I got my little Lennon!

This birth was not ideal, wasn’t perfect, was so painful and confusing, and miserable at times and I wanted things to go much differently but in the end it was beautiful, our little girl was here and we were overwhelmed with happiness.