I want to start this off by saying my birth story may be (and probably will be) completely different from yours. Just because I say something did or did not happen to me, doesn’t mean it will or will not happen to you with your delivery. I also want to apologize for the lack of professional photos during delivery. That was the LAST thing on my mind at this time. I had one of my best friends, who happens to be a professional photographer, take maternity pictures and our announcement pictures. If you are in the Charleston area, make sure to contact Sarah O’Neal for any photography needs! You can contact her, here.

The Scaries

I had my 38-week check up on Thursday, January 25. I figured this appointment would go like any of the others. During the other appointments, Dr. Weinstein would come in and say “You’re looking good and the baby is doing well.”. This appointment would be a little different. The baby did look good, but my blood pressure had spiked pretty high. So I had to lay on a table for a few minutes and get checked again. Because let’s be real…when you’re 38 weeks (39 weeks in 2 days) walking from the parking lot to the second-floor OBGYN office what quite an adventure. It also didn’t help that I was still teaching almost 30 Kindergartners at the time.

Anyways, the time came for my blood pressure to be checked again. It was still pretty high but had gone down slightly. I also found out I had protein in my urine. This is all a sign of pre-eclampsia; which is super scary to deal with.

After my blood pressure was still elevated, my Dr. told me to go downstairs and get my blood drawn to check for pre-eclampsia and then start resting as much as possible. This was all super scary because I knew it could be bad for my baby. So I headed downstairs and got my blood drawn. I think that was the longest wait…the time between getting my blood drawn and getting the results. All in all, I didn’t have pre-eclampsia. Thank goodness!

Friday, January 26 I spent the day home. I am so thankful I had such an amazing co-teacher, Sonie Conner, to take over for me on this day. Bless her for all she did during my pregnancy. Teaching almost 30 Kindergartners while pregnant is NOT an easy job. Anyway, I spent most of my Friday with my husband hanging around the house and resting as much as I could. Nothing too exciting happened.

The Big Day

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Saturday, January 27, 2018 will be a day that I will never forget as long as I live. Not only is it the day Kinsley was born, it is also my “Gee Gee”‘s birthday. It is so special that Kinsley shares the same birthday as such a special woman. I will start this off by saying that my husband was supposed to be 1-mile offshore duck hunting on Seabrooke Island, SC. This was about 1.5 hours from where we lived. Luckily he “had a feeling” that he didn’t need to go when he woke up that morning. At 6:14 AM, I woke up to a “POP” sensation with an urge to pee really bad. Not thinking anything of it, I got up to use the bathroom.

Little did I know that “popping” sensation was my water breaking. I had no contractions or any other symptoms other than A LOT of amniotic fluid coming out. After realizing what was happening, I yelled at my husband to wake up…IT WAS BABY TIME. Luckily I already had my hospital bags packed and ready to go in the car.

Once at the hospital (we used Roper St. Francis in Charleston, South Carolina), we were quickly admitted to our birthing suite. They started my Pitocin around 8 or 9 in the morning to really get things going. I was then asked a few hours later if I wanted an epidural. HELL YES I wanted it. I have never said yes so fast in my life. I knew from the very beginning of my pregnancy that I wanted the epidural. This, I know, is not for everyone and that is ok. It was just my personal decision. The anesthesiologist came in and put in the epidural. I was so excited…or so I thought. Yall the epidural worked for 5 minutes. After that, I felt EVERYTHING.

She’s Here!

Saturday, January 27, 2018 after 45 minutes of pushing and 12 hours of laboring with no epidural, Kinsley Blake Kirtley was born. Yall. She was the sweetest little burrito I have ever and will ever see. I can’t even describe the amount of joy and pure bliss that she brought us and has continued to bring us each day since. She weighed 7 pounds 14 oz and was 21.5 inches long. Pure perfection in our eyes. After she was born and the placenta was taken out, my delivery Dr. sewed me up (I had a fourth-degree tear) and I got to love on my little girl.

The next few weeks/months were spent healing and adjusting to our new lives as parents. No one can prepare you for the amount of time it takes to heal after giving birth. From the numbing spray you need to the Colace tablets (for the love of God, TAKE THEM), to the ice diapers, NO ONE can prepare you. But, you will make it through and you will do it for your child. I would go through all I went through 1,000 times over for Kinsley.

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Lastly

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY to my little angel baby. Mommy and Daddy love you so much. I am so thankful to be your mom.

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Enjoy reading my birth story!

You can read my previous blog post by clicking here.

birth birth story story