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  • Writer's pictureMelissa Cotton

Flashback Friday: Labor & Delivery


Thanks for Coming back to the house! As promised in the previous post, I’m going to share the story of LeMel’s birth!


So it was Sunday May 12, 2019 at 3:00 am - if you recall the date that’s mother’s day — so I was feeling like I was having pains, so I woke my husband up saying I think that I’m going into labor because I had been timing and it was around 5 mins apart & of course I don’t really know what I’m supposed to be feeling since this was my first rodeo. So the race begins we grab all the bags and get in the car to start our way to L&D. We’re in the car and I’m doing my breathing techniques because yes I feel cramps pains so this has to be it.. it feels different than those Braxton hicks I had been getting. So the emotions are running high I’m both excited and nervous because this could be it! 😅 So, hubby gets to the garage parks the car and we get out - the bags stay in the car because we want to make sure that we’re going to be admitted before we bring them all up - he holds my hand and walks me to L&D and they check me in. At this point what I thought were contractions don’t feel as bad anymore and aren’t as consistent but they are still there. I mean even if they aren’t that bad right now I’m pretty sure I’m like at least 5 cms so I should be admitted right?! Big fat WRONG — I get to the back and they hook me up to the machines to monitor my contractions. Now I forgot to mention I had been to L&D the week before for sharp stomach pains that would not go away which apparently was gas 😐go figure. So this time I was already making comments saying I pray we didn’t come all the way here again for no reason.. the hospital we chose was about 25 mins from the house.


So back to the story.. they are monitoring my contractions and they leave me alone for a little while & then they come back and make me drink some orange juice because baby boy is real sleepy.. that made me nervous cause I’m like why is he so sleepy! Anywho, drank the orange juice and sure enough that woke him up! I felt him moving all around! So the L&D midwife finally comes in about an hour later and says my contractions aren’t regular so they don’t think it’s active labor but there gonna check me & when she checks me she says oh your 3 cms and 60% effaced.... my face was like 😲what!? That’s what I was a WEEK ago! I was so upset 😭- I was going to be sent home for the 2nd time! & of course she says to me.. you’ll know when your having real labor & all I could think in my head is like LADY I thought this was real labor now soooo 🙄 oh and I didn’t mention that my mom rushed in her car all the way with us... So since I apparently wasn’t in labor we walked all the way back to the garage, got in the car and made our trek back to the house pretty disappointed and very much tired.


When we got home it was 5:30 am... I mentioned it was mother’s day right? We were supposed to be going to brunch... so you bet your bottom I asked if we were still gonna go cause a girl gotta still eat right!! LOL 🤪 my mom thought I was crazy & said no we will eat at the house... now mind you I still was having some crampy pains but I wasn’t in labor soooo... we went back to sleep - fast forward 4 hours to about 9:30 and I wake up, mind you still with the crampy pains so I decided to take a hot shower. It was amazing I just stood in the hot water for a while n just let the water run all over my body especially my back cause I could feel the cramps there too (hmmm prob a sign).. when I got out & this maybe tmi but I notice a little bloody discharge so I put a light pad on and my clothes and went back to the room. Said my prayers thanking God for another day but also asking if his will to help LeMel make his debut this week soon. Got up and sat back in bed because I was STILL having those like crampy feelings. So I put on my wireless headphones n I open my Freya app - ladies if you are pregnant I highly recommend this app as it has really calming voice guided breathing techniques to help u get through contractions . So here I am in the bed doing my deep breathing and timing the pains I’m feeling cause it’s not going away & to me the feel like it’s getting kinda worse! I had to be doing this for about 25 minutes and then the next thing I swore I heard something go POP! Confused at what that sound was I decided let me go to the bathroom & as soon as I got up .... I felt it. Hubby looked at me nervously and asked if I was alright and I said.. I think my water just broke. I went to the bathroom and pull down my pants and underwear and water just started pooling on the ground.. yep it definitely broke! It was about 10:15 am and this was really it this time.. time to go to the hospital.


So here we go our second time to the hospital today and I knew for sure this time that we weren’t going back home. On the way to the hospital the contractions were surely coming consistent and oooh man these were definitely more painful than before. It’s true what they say, when ur water breaks and that cushion of the water is gone.. the pain is worse! So we get back to the hospital same procedure but this time hubby drops me off at the entrance so he can park the car... oh man I’m feeling the pains.. so much so I’m clutching my belly and a man asks me if need to sit down in a wheel chair.. at this point I can barely speak. So he just grabs me the wheel chair. He asks me how far apart they are n I say about 5 minutes... he goes first baby & I nod my head yes.. & he goes on to say you have a long way to go... gee thanks sir! So finally both my mom and hubby walk with me down to L&D and this time they just wheel me back, I get check to make sure it was truly my water that broke and if I’m dilated anymore and sure enough it was my water and I was dilated 6 cm and 70% effaced...I was being admitted!! Super fast progression from this morning I felt!

When I got up into the room I had to sign paperwork, get hooked up to monitors and IV and start the process of labor! I was asked if I wanted pain medication and I said not now.. I didn’t want any epidural because I had a plan to do it naturally! I did however ask that if it got to rough I’d like the dosage of the IV pain medication. The IV pain medication helps to give you a relief from the pain for about an hour, it doesn’t take away the pain like the epidural would but it would give you a break & I definitely wanted to have the option of the break if needed! I had done a little research before going into labor on how to help you have a natural birth.. I had wanted to get a doula but that was a bit expensive. I had gotten to seven centimeters by the time I got into the room by the way. My mom stepped in as my doula and set the mood for me to do the work.. to LABOR. I had lavender essential oils diffusing, dimly light room with LED Candles, worship music and music to help me zone, Gatorade to keep me hydrated and I wanted only her and my husband in the room! When I needed motivation, she read scriptures that motivated me, fold me my body was designed for this and my hubby held my hand and empowered me.


Now I had been in labor for a few hours now and it was getting to point where it felt like it was getting very difficult to do this laboring without something to help me so I was like gimme the IV pain meds.. now my nurse Chloe, who was amazing by the way, let me know that the medicine might make me feel loopy so she wanted me to stay in the bed for a little bit in the beginning of it. That was cool with me.. I’m sure I’d be alright. So they put the medicine into my IV & instantly I was like WHOA.. I felt like I was high.. ibr never been high in my life but this has gotta be what it feels like! Things are blurry here but hubby says I kept saying oh my gosh this is amazing! Lol I definitely wasn’t feeling any pain! After a while I got in the birthing ball roll my hips around and loosen things up I also started feeling a little bit of pain and pressure again so I had hubby putting pressure into my back because that’s where all the pain was accumulating. Now that small dosage of pain meds was already wearing off about 40 mins after I got it and it was like a ton of bricks was hitting me in my nether regions lol! The doctor came in and I was saying this hurts too bad idk if I can do this anymore.. I was considering the epidural... even though my whole wish was to go epidural free and naturally. My doctor says well let’s check you and see how far along you are now... got back on the bed & got checked and she says well momma we are 9 cms.. all I have to do is push the little bit left aside and we’ll be ready to push. Oh My Goodness, this is it I thought. It was GAME TIME. So they started getting all the stuff ready and at this time these contractions are coming like boom 💥 boom 💥 boom 💥 one after the other. my doctor is explaining to me ok when a contraction comes your gonna take a deep breath and hold it to push through your bottom with all you have - like you have to poop. In my head I do NOT want to poop sooo I’m trying to make sure I don’t lol.. but it became counter productive because I was pushing in my face.. which was not good because I ended up with broken vessels by the end in the form of freckles. So pushing is really hard and you get extremely hot, like it feels like you're in a sauna. They put a wet washcloth on my head to help cool me down. Well after about 30 mins of pushing and taking breaks because I was struggling... she says to me ok he’s right there and he has so much hair!! They turn on the light and ask me if I wanted to see.. WHAT noooo I don’t wanna see down there lol my mom is like all up in the sauce and she’s saying she sees his head and he has a lot of hair etc. Hubby on the other hand is wise and stays towards my head hold my hand and helping me to breath and push. So instead of seeing she says give me ur hand so you can feel him.. which I did and boy that was weird to feel that but honestly I believe it gave me motivation to push through the pains! Next she tells me that my next push will be him crowing and that’s what they call THE RING OF FIRE and that I will feel like I want to runaway from the pain but I shouldn't and just use it all to push as hard as I could. So I’m like ok... so here comes the contraction and I start to push and OH NOOOOOO THIS PART HURTS! it literally felt like 🔥 and they say no no don’t runaway from it use it.. sooo with all my might and even some screaming I push with everything and out come his head.. and then they say just a little push more to get his shoulders and body out and boom 💥 here he was! But the craziest thing is that as soon as he came out.. the pain stopped!

So about 1 hour of pushing, 6 hours of labor & our most prized possession was born! Melvin Eugene Cotton IV made his appearance at 3:56 pm on May 12, 2019. My mother’s day gift! He was born at 4 lbs 14 oz full term, small but a healthy baby boy! He gave me a small 1st degree tear that I had to get stitches for but nothing major. He had a short cord n smaller placenta (we still dunno why to this day) but everything else was fine, daddy just had to go down to cut the cord.


A hard experience but so rewarding! I didn’t think I could really do it naturally, but God & my family got me through it! Honestly, my whole birth experience though painful was amazing! I wouldn’t have done it any other way!! & even thought through out the whole experience I told my hubby 1 & done.. once I saw his precious little face... I said I’d do it all over again.


But seriously... only two kids 🙂

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