Lainey Rae’s Birth Story

January 27th was a Friday so Caleb had work off and my mom just so happened to be off too because of kids being sick. She came over in the morning and we spent most of the day trying to induce labor. At this point I was 40 weeks 3 days and verrryyyy over being pregnant. My mom made us breakfast burritos and I got to bouncing on her exercise ball. The night before I had lost my mucous plug so thought for sure this was going to be the day. For hours I bounced, watched Netflix, went on a walk around the neighborhood, did squats, and drank my raspberry leaf tea. Up to this day I had been having super irregular contractions and as the day progressed my contractions got more intense and closer together. At about 3pm we all began getting ready to go to my dads basketball game as nothing seemed to be happening. As we were getting ready I had contractions within 2-3 minutes of each other. Instead of going to the game we gathered up our hospital bags and the three of us left for the hospital. This was it we hoped!

At about 5pm we checked in to the hospital and they brought us into the smallest delivery room I’d ever seen. I informed the nurse I had been leaking quite a bit that day so they tested the fluid for amniotic fluid to see if my water was broken. If it was we would have to stay, if it wasn’t we would go home. At first it came back negative, but the doctor thought that was odd considering how much was coming out. So they retested and sure enough it came back positive! The nurse came back in and said it’s time to have a baby. We ordered some dinner before the cafe closed – I ordered a chicken sandwich, and that would be my last meal in over 24 hours. We waited in that small room for a couple of hours before our nurse moved us into a bigger room! I was only 3 cm dilated but with my water being broken they suggested starting Pitocin to get things moving, so we started that at about 10 pm. I took a short nap and called my doula that was also our photographer at about 11 pm. She arrived at midnight.

From about 12am to 5am I was walking around and bouncing on the labor ball to regulate contractions. The monitor showed contractions every couple of minutes that were getting more intense but I could hardly feel them. At 5:15am I  felt them more than I had been and decided to get in the bath for some relief. Caleb held my hand while “Lord I need you” played in the background. I stayed in there until the water got cold. When I got out I felt exhausted and thought for sure I was progressing quickly. I asked for them to check my cervix again and couldn’t stop the tears from swelling out of my eyes when they told me I was now at a 4. 1 cm in over 12 hours. At this point I was emotionally drained. That’s when Dr. Torres broke the rest of my water and within 20 seconds I felt the most intense contraction I had felt so far and every couple of minutes they were just as intense. My body was already so tired and I knew I had a long way to go so at 9am Saturday morning I got the epidural. The insertion of the epidural was at this point by far the most pain I had felt. I leaned over the side of the bed on to Caleb’s shoulders and let out a scream at each numbing shot. Probably the worst pain I’ve ever felt.

Around 1pm I was feeling a lot of pressure and requested to be checked again. I was at an 8! 4 cm in 4 hours. This brought me so much relief that I was finally progressing and I was going to meet my baby girl soon- Possibly on her dads birthday! At 9pm I felt like I was really close and had the midwife check me one last time. I was finally at a 10. She told me to try and take a nap so I would have a little more energy to push so I attempted one for an hour and at 10pm it was time to push. I pushed for a little over 2 and a half hours but it did not seem like it. That time flew by. With each contraction I pushed 3 times for 10 seconds each and I can whole heartedly say that with each contraction I pushed as hard as I possibly could. I was so exhausted I would literally fall asleep between each contraction and wake back up as I felt one coming on. Maybe that’s why it went by so fast and I felt like I was in a dream half the time. Caleb and my mom were on each side of me cheering me on the whole time. I remember hearing my mom say she has hair. We were almost there. I finally pushed her head out and heard the nurse yell we need medical and told me not to push in a semi concerned voice. I was so scared I didn’t know what was happening just that there was a lot of commotion going on and she was close to being out. I asked if she was stuck and next thing I know the midwife was back in the room and assured me she was not stuck and told me to give a big push for her shoulders. I did and in one push I felt my daughter be born.

They put her on my chest and I was uncontrollably crying. Fear. Adrenaline. Relief. Happiness. She was here. Lainey Rae Carlisle made her arrival at 1:47am on Sunday, January 29th. I laid with her for awhile while they stitched me up and then Caleb got to hold her. She weighed 9 pounds 12oz. and was 20 inches long. By this time it was 3 something in the morning and we said goodbye to Katie and my mom and Caleb and I got settled in to a new room.

He was the greatest partner and cheerleader I could of ever asked for. I couldn’t have done it without him. And we were so grateful she was delivered by our favorite midwife Emily, who was a total rockstar and delivered the only other baby on the floor that night 2 minutes after Lainey. The nurses and midwives were incredible and after 38 long hours of labor I got to hold my baby girl in my arms. She’s more perfect than we could ever even imagine.