Walker’s Birth Story

Inside: Our baby boy is HERE and I’m sharing with you all the details of our (unexpectedly a little wild) birth story!

I am so sorry that I am just now getting around to writing Walker’s birth story. It is something that I have wanted to write for so long but I haven’t had much down time and anytime I have, I’ve had to prioritize resting because life with 2 kids is no joke y’all!

But it has seriously been amazing and I am SO thankful for our sweet boy. 

Okay, now onto his birth story!

December 5 – Early AM

I went in to see my OB to get a membrane sweep on December 5th. I still was only 38.5 weeks but I had already been 4 cm dilated for weeks now and Harper came 2 weeks early so I think I was just really mentally ready for him to be here.

My OB said she would be more than happy to do a membrane sweep to help to try and induce labor so we went in that morning to get that done.

By the way, I am not sure if I ever told you guys about my experience but I wouldn’t say membrane sweeps necessarily hurt but they feel REALLY weird. I was super uncomfortable during the whole thing and it was just not fun at all. I wouldn’t say I was in pain though. I would just say that I was super, super uncomfortable but definitely worth the minute of being uncomfortable if it does actually help to induce labor! 

My blood pressure ended up being high the day I went in to get my membrane sweep which is so unusual for me. My OB performed the membrane sweep and I remember her telling us that she thinks I will probably go into labor that same day but that if I didn’t then she wanted me to come back first thing the next morning to check my blood pressure again because it was so high that it definitely could have caused issues if we didn’t monitor it.

I was also 6 cm dilated that day and she did tell Cam and I that if we did go into the hospital that they weren’t going to send me home since I was already 6 cm dilated. 

On the way home, I started having back contractions (just like I did with Harper). They weren’t super painful but I definitely knew something was happening to my body and that the membrane sweep was definitely helping to induce labor.

Cam and I decided to just go ahead and go to the hospital since I was already 6 cm dilated and feeling some sort of contractions. I didn’t want to risk dilating to 10 cm super fast and having the baby at home.

Harper came SO quickly so I always knew I had to get to the hospital quickly with our second because they say the second always comes even faster!

We went home to grab our hospital bags and said bye to Harper. Our nanny watched her for the next couple of days while we were in the hospital. 

December 5 – 11am

We got to the hospital and we went straight into triage. They saw how dilated I was and were so glad that I came in when I did and said “congrats, you will be having your baby today!” This was around 11 am when we finally got to the hospital. My membrane sweep was early that morning.

My mom was not able to be in the hospital room with me when I gave birth to Harper because of COVID so she came to the hospital to be with me for Walker’s birth and it was so special having her there with me.

I always knew I wanted my mom in the delivery room with me and I was so thankful she was able to be there with at least one of my kids. 

We left the triage room and went into the labor and delivery room and I got my epidural. I was so glad I was able to get one. My biggest fear was that I was going to be too far dilated by the time I got to the hospital to get one.

The doctor who adminsited my epidural was SO nice and he did such a great job and it took on both sides (yay!).

Once I got my epidural it was just a waiting game. I definitely didn’t fully dilate with Walker as fast as I did with Harper. I went from 4 cm-10 cm with Harper SO quickly, like within an hour or two.

With Walker it was a little bit of a slower process. I remember my nurse telling me that she would come check on me every so often but if I felt a pressure down there to push to call them and let them know and they would come in immediately.

Well, it wasn’t too much longer after she left when I started to feel that pressure that she was talking about. I knew he was right there and my body was wanting to push so bad. So I called my nurse, they came in and sure enough, I was 10 cm dilated and they could see his head!

But this is where things got a little scary. 

I started pushing on my back and for some reason anytime I was directly on my back pushing, I would get SO light headed and I would feel like I was going to pass out. We still aren’t really sure why I was getting light headed on my back but we think it was either how Walker was positioned (he could have been on a certain blood vessel) or it was the way the epidural took.

Either way, I was getting so light headed and ended up having to push on my side. This was crazy to me because I didn’t even know you could push on your side but here I was doing it and it was working! With every push he kept getting closer and closer until all of a sudden everything changed for the worst. 

I was on my side pushing when all of a sudden the nurses told me to stop pushing. I remember looking at their faces and they all looked pretty scared. I immediately knew something was wrong.

Honestly, everything was such a blur in that moment and I am trying to remember what happened as best as possible but I do remember not being able to hear his heartbeat on the machine. I asked them what was going on and they said they were having trouble locating his heartbeat and told me to get on my hands and knees.

Those words “we are having trouble finding his heartbeat” were the scariest words I have ever heard in my life.

My body went into fight or flight mode and all I cared about was doing anything I could to fix this. There was no way he didn’t have a heartbeat right?? You hear about it happening to other people but you never think it’s going to happen to you. The unthinkable, worst news you could ever receive. 

I got on my hands and knees eventually. It was really hard because I had so many IVs and cords hooked up to. I remember panicking and yelling “get these cords out of me” because I couldn’t get on my hands and knees and I knew that every millisecond counted.

As soon as I got on my hands and knees my nurse calls over the hospital monitors, “We need all nurses on the floor in room and we need a doctor ASAP”.

Those were also the scariest words I’ve ever heard. I knew something had to be wrong if they were calling in every nurse on the floor and the doctor. 

Within seconds, the room was flooded with nurses and doctors.

I remember the doctor telling me that his heartbeat had been found but that it was really low and I needed to stay on my hands and knees for as long as possible. Just to hear that they could hear a heartbeat at all was the best news that I could hear in that moment.

I looked at the doctor and with tears in my eyes I begged her not to leave the room and she promised me that she wouldn’t, that she would be in there for the remainder of the delivery. I was so, so scared in that moment.

I was probably on my hands and knees for 5-10 minutes before his heartbeat eventually got back to normal.

I didn’t know it at the time but my mom said she saw his heartbeat go from like 160 to 40 (something like that). Basically, his heartbeat dropped extremely low which meant he was in obvious distress which is really scary when delivering a baby. 

December 5 – 6:49pm

Once his heartbeat was stabilized I got back on my side and pushed 2 more times and he was out.

He was 8 pounds 15 ounces, 21 inches long and born at 6:49 pm. When I finally heard him cry, it was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard in my life.

I couldn’t stop crying. My mom couldn’t stop crying. We still don’t really know what exactly happened but the doctor said it could have been that he dropped fast and gripped onto his umbilical cord which caused less oxygen to get to him which in turn caused his heartbeat to drop really low. They also did say his umbilical cord was knotted one time when he came out which could have also been part of the problem. Either way, my baby boy was in my arms and honestly the feeling is indescribable. 

I don’t know if it was the traumatic birth experience but I have never been more thankful for anything in my entire life than to have a healthy baby. I think feeling like I almost lost him made me just so much more appreciative.

I haven’t had any postpartum depression this time around and everytime I look at Walker I swear I tear up and I am just so thankful. Him and Harper are the best things that have ever happened to me in my entire life and I just could not imagine life without either one of them.

I also could not imagine losing a child. I have seen stories like mine end up so tragically different and my heart absolutely BREAKS for those parents. I cannot even imagine what they are going through and the pain that they have to suffer through every single day.

That easily could have been our story and I thought for a second that it would be and I thank God every single day for this amazing gift and for being able to hold my baby boy. 

Walker’s birth story was super traumatic to say the least and I definitely think that if I ever gave birth again I could definitely experience some PTSD from it but I am so thankful he is here and that we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy.

I think the experience has made us be that much more thankful for him and has made us realize how short life can be and how nothing is guaranteed.

Walker has been the most amazing addition to our family. He is the happiest, smiliest baby and brings us so much joy. We could not be more thankful for him!

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Wood circle name sign

Walker’s swaddle