Hi everyone. We are home. I have so much to share with you from the last few days and I thought I’d start with the day I went into labor.
As I mentioned last week, I was schedule for an induction on Friday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. I knew that Thursday was my last day of pre-baby life so it was a really weird day for me.
I got eight hours of sleep on Wednesday night, which ended up being a blessing because I wouldn’t sleep again for a very long time. I got up and made a smoothie bowl and drank some coffee. I did a check-in on the internet but couldn’t really focus on anything so decided to go for a walk.
I walked the girls 3.5 miles and then stopped at home to drop them off and go to the bathroom. Walking felt so good and was such a nice mental distraction. I made a few calls, listened to some podcasts and just enjoyed being outside. I ended up walking another 3 miles.
During my walk I noticed that I was having really frequent contractions but they still felt like the Braxton-Hicks variety because there was no pain associated with them. They were coming every 3-5 minutes.
After my walk I made a salad with quinoa, lentils,, avocado, hummus, radishes, arugula, cilantro, tomatoes and feta. Next I ran to the grocery store to stock up on a few things and to get some baking supplies.
When I got home I baked chocolate chip cookies and a batch of homemade granola. My mom was due to come in that afternoon so I was trying to pass the time until her arrival and I knew she’d appreciate some sweet treats.
I showered, dressed and took a bump shot. I knew my days with him on the inside were numbered and this thing was BIG! 🙂
My mom got in around 4:30 and we sat on the couch talking and having a cup of coffee. While we were sitting there I commented to her that “something was going on.” I was still having contractions but again, nothing felt painful. I told her I’d like to go out to dinner that night as a “final outing” before baby.
It was nice to do my hair and makeup and dress up the bump one last time.
We went to Rooster’s and sat outside. It was such a pretty evening. I had the seared duck breast and a roasted cauliflower side dish that was really delicious.
We shared two different desserts, Rooster’s famous coconut cake and the most amazing brown sugar pound cake with praline pecan ice cream.
While we were at dinner I was still having painless contractions (boy…sure wish they would have stayed that way!) and on the drive home, I noticed that the back of my skirt was the tiniest bit wet. TMI…pregnancy comes with a lot of discharge…but I’d never had it go through to my clothes. I thought, “hmmm” as I was walking back into the house. This was at about 9:15 p.m.
Tanner and my mom watched a show for an hour but I was distracted and couldn’t really focus on it. I edited the pre-dinner photo you see above and posted it to Instagram with the caption, “Dinner with my mom tonight @roosterssouthpark. Tomorrow night I will be in the hospital starting my induction. He will be here by Saturday. I am so, so, so grateful that my mom flew in today to be with me for birth. What an incredible experience its been to grow this child inside of me. I can’t wait for the next step of our journey together.”
I posted that at 9:43 p.m. We all went up to bed around 10:15 p.m. I took my makeup off, put on my pajamas and walked into the guest room in tears. I gave my mom a hug and told her I was scared. She reassured me everything was going to be okay and said all those great mom things.
I got in bed to read and about 5 pages in I felt a “POP” inside of me. I bolted out of bed and onto the toilet where my water broke!
Next up starts Finn’s birth story!
So happy for you, Tanner, and Finn! Grateful that everyone is healthy.
Ahhh, how exciting… cliff hanger! 😉
I cant wait to read Finn’s birth story!!
I’m glad Finn let you have a last night out dinner before the arrival. The birth story sounds like it will be an interesting one.
I love how you are turning this into a story on the blog! Very excited for his birth story, it was so lovely to finally “meet” him on IG on Saturday and seeing all the updates 🙂 Sounds like everything is going well for you all <3
So excited to read his birth story! That photo of you and your mom is so sweet. What a great memory 🙂
Can’t wait to hear. So happy for you!Love the little guy’s name?
Omg I remember that pop! It’s the strangest oddest feeling! I can’t wait for the rest of the story- hope you are all doing well xoxox
Aw, the part about being scared made me all teary eyed. Moms always know how to say the right things. ❤️
Oh I remember that pop well from my first birth! Congratulations! He’s beautiful and I hope settling in well at home.
It’s funny how excited I was for you when I saw your Insta story about being in labor and then giving birth considering that I’ve never even met you in person! I suppose that’s the magic of blogging. All I can say is that I’m so happy for you and can’t wait to continue to follow your journey.
I’m so excited to continue reading. And so glad your mom was there too – what a blessing.
aww so exciting! Can’t wait to hear the rest!!
I had a very similar day with my first son when I went into labor with him. I was due the day before, a Friday (Valentine’s Day), so I worked the whole day, hit the grocery store on the way home, then my husband and I picked up the rocking chair and lugged that thing up to the second floor. The next day, I debated going to the Y for my usual workout but decided instead to work on Connor’s room a bit, do laundry, make sure the house was in order, take the dogs on a long walk… I finally started having contractions late in the afternoon so I showered and told my husband, “You can keep washing cars, but I think we’ll be at the hospital later.” I labored at home for several hours (contractions are no joke!) before making the 30-minute drive to the hospital. Longest drive ever! As I was getting checked in and asked a million questions, writhing in pain through each contraction, my water broke and the nurse asking me all the questions seem to finally get that I was really in labor, not some silly lady thinking I was. She finally checked me and said, “You’re a 10, you’re gonna have a baby!” Um, ya think?! The doctor literally showed up in time to exchange her coat for a hospital cover-up, had me push for three sets of three pushes, and Connor was born! So less than 4 hours total of what I call “real labor” plus about 10 minutes of pushing and I had a baby. My second son, a year ago, took longer and was probably more like Finn’s birth with laboring through the night, all without any drugs. I was awake from Wednesday morning around 5 (and worked all day) until I had Austin just after 6 a.m. Thursday morning, and didn’t get any sleep until Thursday night. And by now you know what kind of “sleep” you get in the hospital after having a baby. I think I’m still making up for lost zzz’s 13 months later!
Can’t wait to read Finn’s birth story! Best of luck to you in these early days. They are somehow amazing and awful at the same time.
How wonderful that your mom was able to arrive before you went into labor! That must have been so great for you to have her there.
Congrats!! I’m so glad he is here. I’m currently pregnant and have really appreciated all your pregnancy posts/updates. I was reading week 18/19 update and you said you would do other things during the core part of yoga class. Did you ever write a post on what you did? I’m intimidated to go to yoga because I don’t know what I’d do when the class starts core work, but I know actually going to yoga would be so wonderful for me. Thanks!
I have 4 children and my water broke in the middle of the night with only one… my Finn! Maybe it’s a name thing! My Finn is now 18 and heading off to college next year. Congratulations!
When I had my Finn a year ago, we went in to be induced and about 5 minutes after they started pitocin, my water broke! I guess he was gonna come that day regardless! Can’t wait to hear the rest of the story!
OMG Can you say cliffhanger??? Can’t wait to hear the rest!!
Can’t wait to hear this story!! Congratulations, he is one handsome little boy!!