Our Birth Story

Ashby Ann Ragan
February 10, 2022 at 4:46pm
6lbs 4 oz/20.5 inches

She’s here! I’m not sure what is weirder to say.. she or here?!!? For those who don’t know, we opted to not find out if baby was a boy or a girl until delivery – and it was the sweetest surprise.

I was 39 weeks to the day! The closer we got to her due date, the more scared I became. Ready, but so scared. Questioning if I’d be a good mom, what life would look like, and how things would change. I wasn’t actively doing anything to get baby to come faster, and I was okay with he or she taking the time they needed.

I was incredibly fortunate that while my third trimester was uncomfortable (and increasingly so), it wasn’t unbearable. The week prior, I went in for my 38 week appointment, and I was not dilated at all. The doctor kept pointing out that baby was “lowwww” but that it could still be some time until he or she made their appearance.

The Night Before

The night before, I was with my mom and it was as if something shifted. I don’t really know how to describe it, because there wasn’t any contractions, or cramping, or water breaking.. it was just different. I told her that if baby doesn’t come within the next 24-48 hours, I will be shocked.

Throughout the night, I would wake up every now and then to what felt like period cramping. It wasn’t what I imagined “contractions” to feel like because it was never ending. Around 4:30am, I was very uncomfortable and noticed some bleeding – truly like a period.

The Morning Of

I woke Matthew up and then called my OB’s office to get connected with the doctor on call. She told me to come into the hospital indicating that those could be signs of labor.

It was a little bit of panic – Matthew hadn’t packed yet and was about to be on the way to work – so he had to call in. I was supposed to work at school that day. I desperately needed to shower and wasn’t 100% packed. It was like everything we knew went out the window.

They checked my dilation – 1cm, maybe 2cm – which could be signs of active labor, or just early labor. Aka baby could be coming today or baby could be coming in a week +. The hospital team wanted to monitor me for 2 hours to see if I progressed on my own at all. After about two hours, I had, but minimally.

The doctor suggested that they start Pitocin to get things moving faster, and then would eventually have to break my water. I knew I wanted an epidural, but I wanted to wait as long as possible. I didn’t like the idea of being immobile but the contractions were really starting to become too much. My biggest fear was not having the epidural before they had to break my water, but having the epidural too early can also slow things down – which is also not good.

I was able to get the epidural when I was around 5cm, and I told Matthew it was the best I felt all pregnancy. Honestly, I think it helped ease my anxiety and allowed me to just accept what was happening. When things were physically painful, it was easier to feel anxiety over the situation.

However, after about an hour and a half on Pitocin (and after the epidural), my water broke naturally. Matthew was on the phone with my friend and I looked at him and was like “I swear my water just broke.”

After my water broke, things happened very rapidly. I went from about a 6cm to a 10 within an hour and a half time frame. I was ready to push.

The Delivery

The nurse began pushing with me to get baby to a point where the doctor could come in and deliver baby. At one point, I truly thought I was going to deliver the baby without the doctor in. I pushed with the nurse for about 15/20 minutes, and then the doctor arrived.

My pushing with the doctor lasted about 10 minutes, and then I heard Matthew tell me, “its a little girl!” I swear it was the happiest moment of my life when they put her on my chest. After a few seconds, she let out her first cry. Matthew was able to cut her cord and watch her get measured, footprints taken.. watching him with her is one of the greatest joys of my life.

We weren’t allowed to have visitors with Covid protocol, and as disappointing as it was, it also allowed us to soak in those few days together as family of 3. We didn’t even tell our family if Ashby was a boy or a girl until we went home, and it was our own special little secret.

Thank you for loving our little family of 3 so well!

In case you missed it, here is when we announced our pregnancy – time flies.