The Birth Story of Ezra Charles

Finally after nearly 7 weeks Ive managed to write this out…. Here is a collection of what I can remember as well as a few cell phone/camera pics.

On Monday, May 8^th, I decided to try to infamous labor inducing pizza at Hawthorne’s. This pizza has been on the news reporting to induce the labor of a handful of women. I had been having contractions off and on for days so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try….pizza sounded good anyhow.

Around 3pm I went in and ordered the pizza to go and took it home. I had a few pieces for a late lunch and ate another piece before bed. Nothing happened right away and I honestly figured it was a bust. About 2 am I had some contractions that woke me from my sleep. They didn’t seem to be going away so I started timing them.

At approximately 6 am Paul got up so I told him what was going on and he went ahead and showered and got ready just in case. My contractions were consistent and about 12 min. apart. We took Pierson to my moms and called the doctor. I was suppose to have a doctors appointment that afternoon anyhow and wasn’t sure if I should wait or go in. They asked me a bunch of questions and told me that due to my past labor with Pierson they wanted me to go ahead and come in to be checked.

10:30am We headed to the doctor. On the way in to the office my contractions had slowed down tremendously (which also happened with Pierson once in Triage) and I immediately felt discouraged with flashbacks. Once the doctor checked me she said I was 2-3 cm dilated and even though my contractions slowed down she wanted me to head into triage and start walking for them to monitor me. My doctor was scared to send me home (again this is all bc of my previous labor experience).

We weren’t officially admitted but they went ahead and put us in a room. My contractions still hadn’t picked back up yet so we were walking and praying that we wouldn’t get sent home.

1PM. The doctor came back in to check me and said I was still 2-3 cm. Unfortunately if I hadn’t progressed by around 5pm I would probably have to go home.

1:30PM. We decided to do some walking around the hallways and this time my water broke. That was the strangest feeling! We went back to the room and paged the nurse. Once my water broke they had to admit me! I knew at this moment we’d be having the baby for sure!

It took some time to get admitted and I labored in the room and on a yoga ball for a few hours.

5PM. The doctor came by to check me and unfortunately even though my water broke I still hadn’t progressed. I could feel and track my contractions but the machines weren’t picking them up consistently. The labor was moving extremely slow. The doctor mentioned getting Pitocin to speed it up but at this point I just wanted to walk around more. Only being 2-3 cm still I was worried of the pain that would come with the Pitocin and wanted to labor un-medicated as long/much as possible.

6PM Walking the halls more. Walking those halls I think intensified my pain level. It went from manageable to unbearable. When one would come in the hallway I wanted to crawl into a ball and pass out. I told Paul we needed to go back, I just couldn’t walk anymore and being that far from the room felt like being in a dark tunnel and not seeing light.

Once we got back to the room I broke down into tears. The nurse came in to see how I was doing and I couldn’t even talk. My pain in the past 30 min. had increased so much that I physically couldn’t get comfortable and felt no relief. My body was so incredibly tense anticipating the next one that I couldn’t relax. I was physically sick (vomiting) and shaking uncontrollably from pain. I was having active labor signs but not dilating along with it. At this point I was so scared to get an epidural, fearful that if I still didn’t progress I’d have to have a c-section (epidurals are known to sometimes slow labor-and I surely didn’t want that), but I physically just couldn’t continue.

6:45pm. Once I finally decided to get the epidural we had to wait about 20 min. for the anesthesiologist. He arrived and talked me through everything (I was very nervous of getting it). Once the epidural kicked in, I stopped crying and could finally relax…. such relief.

7:30PM. They went ahead and started me on a little Pitocin to get my contractions consistent, slowly increasing it until I had a good labor pattern.

Approx.

9:00PM Once the doctor checked me again I was at 5cm. The nurse said she would drain my bladder (I had a catheter once I got the epidural). I told her that was a good idea bc I was having to pee a bunch and had been drinking a bunch of liquids. Sure enough, she drained over a bag full! She told me that if I start feeling pressure of any kind to let her know and she would check me again.

We sat and chatted about her delivery with her kids and after what felt like 20 min. later I told her I felt some pressure.

10:18pm She checked me and said “OK., We are ready”. Just like that everyone came rushing in and setting up.

The doctor came in and told me that when I feel the pressure to push. It only took two contractions and next thing I know….

10:28PM Ezra Charles Duffey was born! They put him on my chest immediately and I just cried happy tears. I couldn’t believe it…the best feeling in the world. He looked so much like Pierson but so different too. I didn’t want them to take him away for anything so we got skin to skin for hours…

He weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and 21 inches long.

Yall, this labor and Pierson’s labor were night and day. The only similarity is that I have weird labors. Pain and pain tolerance are tricky thing. I made it through 24 hr natural unmedicated labor with Pierson but had a huge meltdown this time around. It seems to take my body a long time to get to the point of dilating…but when it does it happens pretty quick. With Pierson it concluded in a home delivery and scary ambulance ride with severe blood loss. With Ezra it resulted in getting an epidural and having a more relaxed painless experience. Both labors were so very special in their own ways. I truly appreciate my unmediated birth with Pierson. I remember it actually felt good to push with Pierson…that part not feeling painful at all compared to the contractions. The joy of seeing him and holding him after was the same wonderful experience as it was medicated. I also truly appreciate my medicated birth with Ezra. Paul and I were so nervous and anxious about this delivery. I also was having such a hard time with the pain and knowing I was only 2 cm the epidural brought great relief. A break I needed to be able to fully relax. The recoveries were completely different with both as well. Due to all the blood loss with Pierson (I was one count away from needing a transfusion) I was very weak for quite a while afterwards. I remember not being able to stand for extended period of times for weeks. However, aside from that I had a wonderful easy recovery. With Ezra, I gained my strength back much quicker but my recovery has been much rougher. I had stitches, developed a blood clot and had to give myself injections for a month, as well as a few other things I wont list here. However I’ve made it completely through it all and have two beautiful boys. People ask me if we will try for a girl and my answer is no. I’m so happy being a boy mom and we think of ourselves as two kid parents, so we are content.

Since Ezra didn’t make his appearance until later in the night, Pierson came the next morning to meet his little brother. These are some of my favorite photos ever.

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