For my first post on the Louisville Mom Collective, I wanted to share a birth story about my son, Solomon Marcel. On March 28th, 2023, just 3 days before my due date, I woke up feeling pretty tired and rested most of the day. My partner, Christian, went into work around 3:30pm. I decided to get out of the house to get Jackson (my now 6-year-old!) a birthday present. I walked around in Target, then felt a big urge to go to the bathroom. I went, then I started walking around again.
Right as I get back to the toy aisle, my water broke! At first, I thought, I just peed myself, even though I just went. So, I kept walking, and my waters kept leaking. I quickly left the store… Sorry, Target, clean-up on the toy aisle! Haha! I called Christian and told him, “Solomon is coming; please come home!”
He got home around 6pm. We just hung out and watched some movies. My contractions still hadn’t picked up at this point, which is kind of odd for me. Around 10:30pm, I texted my doula, Maddie, to tell her that my water broke, and I wasn’t having contractions. We decided to head to the hospital around 11pm. I was admitted around 11:30pm, and still no contractions. I was dilated to 3cm, which was very disappointing because my other kids came so quickly!
The hospital was especially busy that night, and there weren’t any delivery rooms available. I did some positions to try to help speed things up, and still nothing. I labored in triage for 12 hours. Finally, on the 29th around noon, they put me in a delivery room! My doula and I agreed to ask for Pitocin to help re-start contractions since they fizzled off. The nurse started Pitocin around 1pm, and it wasn’t too painful in the beginning.
Around 6pm, I’m finally dilated to 6cm and in a lot of pain. I was begging for some pain relief at this point, knowing I had planned to go natural. I opted for the Nitrous gas to help, and after an hour, it left me feeling the same. I then requested the epidural to get some immediate relief. I was a complete mess at this point, disappointed labor was taking this long and in so much pain from the Pitocin.
Finally, around 6:30pm, I was in pure bliss from the epidural. I rested, I laughed, and I was at peace. At about 9:30pm, the nurse came in to check me. She said “Well, do not move; the catheter is the only thing holding in this baby! I’m calling in the midwives.” I couldn’t believe it! Finally! I started pushing at 9:45pm. After just 5 quick pushes, Solomon came out at 9:51pm. Christian caught him, it was the most amazing moment of the whole birth. Solomon came out all cheesy with lots of vernix!
After 30 hours of labor, sweet baby Solomon Marcel entered this world! After such a wild ride, I don’t think I’ll be having any more babies anytime soon! Haha!! Solomon is now a spunky, alert little one at 2 months old! This was certainly a birth story to remember, and I’m honored to be sharing it with all of you.
