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A Birth Story | Theodore Henry PERSONAL

Personal

May 28, 2020

Wow – this is a strange feeling to be writing again, but it also feels so good. My favorite thing to do is to write and not doing that for roughly two months has been hard. (PS – currently writing this right after Mother’s Day, but who knows when this post will be published & live for you to read!)
But, here we are, after nine months of growing my sweet baby boy, he arrived on March 28th at 4 AM. Our Theodore Henry Rivers.

THE BUILD-UP

Theodore’s birth was VERY quick for him being my first, but to get to that point felt like it took FOREVER. Not in the typical “I am so done with being pregnant,” even though I was at there, it just felt like he wanted to come but yet didn’t at the same time. Let me explain. At my last OB appointment, in mid-March, my doctor checked to see that I was 2cm dilated and 30 percent effaced. After that appointment, I started to feel what I thought felt like the beginning stages of labor.

At 11 PM that same day, we found ourselves in the L&D triage figuring out if I was in labor or not. By 2 AM, we were getting discharged as I only went to 3cm and 50% effaced but stayed there for the two hours I was there. Disappointed, we left, went home and slept the day away.

Over the course of the week, I would have what they consider “pre-labor.” Which is basically my body getting ready for birth but I was not in active labor. I won’t lie that there were a few moments that I felt really discouraged and defeated. To feel SO close to giving birth, but yet so far away was driving me crazy. Plus at this point, I was out on maternity leave and I already cleaned my house fourteen thousand times. (That wasn’t totally dramatic ha.) Yet, at my last OB appointment, my doctor recommended doing a schedule induction as he was already pretty low already.

So we had a plan for this type-A gal.

THE DAY BEFORE

Well, March 27th, our scheduled induction date, came and Theodore was staying put so we waited for my call. The call was telling me what time I could arrive at the hospital to begin my induction. Well, they said my call would be around 4 PM and to potentially arrive at 9 PM, thankfully we didn’t have to wait THAT long. I got a call at 12:30 PM asking if we could be AT the hospital at 4 PM – we said YES. So I took a long, hot shower, got ready, took a TON of last bump photos, said goodbye to Cali, texted my friend (who was watching the house), and shed a few “oh my gosh it’s happening” tears then we left!

THE BIRTH

March 27th at 4 PM: we arrive at UNC Women’s Hospital, check-in, get into our L&D room, and get settled. At 4:30 PM I was still 3cm, but now about 60% effaced. They start me on fluids and Pitocin and I begin to walk around and bounce for a bit. Jake and I even played some cards which I am thankful I packed! Around 6 Jake orders us some dinner! By around 8 I could really feel the pain starting to kick in, but it wasn’t horrible yet. I was only 4cm dilated.

At 10:30 PM, I received my epidural and BLESS. That stuff is magic once it is in! Around 11-11:30 PM, my amazing nurse Danielle, told us to go to sleep and shut off all the lights. I woke up here and there between then and 3 AM.

By that time, I called in Danielle because I was feeling this odd pressure. I just remember describing the pressure to her as she walked around the room doing things saying “mhmm, yeah, mhmm.”

Jake still asleep at this point, Danielle checks to see what’s going on and in the most casual tone ever, she says “yeah, you’re ready to push, I can see his head.” And I will never forget that feeling than laughing at Jake bouncing up out of the chair saying “what?!”

At 3:40 AM, I began to push and by 4 AM on March 28th, our Theodore Henry arrived weighing 7lbs 8oz.

I will never forget the amazing strength the Lord gave me to do something I had never done before. Birth is just such a powerful, awe-inspiring moment. Jake was also just an amazing coach who kept encouraging me from the beginning.

THEODORE’S NAME

Truly, this name was a piece of work to bring together. We didn’t have his full name chosen until one month before he was born, which is crazy to think about. I am truly a sucker for old school names and Theodore has always been my favorite. I love the full name but also all of the nicknames which can grow with him. Currently, we either call him Theodore or Theo, but I also love to call him my teddy bear, but that’s for when I am feeling super sappy.

Henry took a little bit longer to place because the popular middle name with Theodore is James, but I didn’t want his nickname to become TJ. So on the two-hour trip home from IKEA we set out to find his middle name. Also, PSS, don’t trust middle name generators – they truly don’t help! After talking out around 50 middle names, Jake said the name Henry and it truly just stuck from there!

We seriously could not be more in love with this little one and I cannot wait for all of the adventures we will have together!

CURRENTLY

Theodore is now officially TWO months old and I don’t even know where the time has gone!

Here is a round-up of all of our favorite things about our little one:

-whenever he cries he does a thing where it sounds like he is saying “haha”, no lie!

-he has started to smile!

-he is now over 13 pounds and is gaining weight fast! Love me some chunky baby rolls.

-Theo can raise his head so well (has been doing this for a while now) and HATES tummy time. He would rather lift his head when you’re holding him than being on a mat.

-he sleeps pretty well at night, bless, but he strongly dislikes daytime naps if they aren’t on someone

That’s it for now! You can find me on my personal Instagram where I post about him & our daily life together!

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