Asa James O'Brien

I want to preface this by saying, if you are uncomfortable talking about/seeing labor and birth and anything of the like, you probably shouldn't read this. I'm not going to get crazy and show the world my business but I am going to post a few pictures from when I was in labor and when my son was born.

It's been eight months since Asa was born. I can't believe it. But I want to take some time and go back to 8 months and 2 days ago.

October 24, 2018. 40 weeks, 4 days pregnant.

1:00AM

I began having period like cramps. They started out mild so we turned a movie on and I tried to get some sleep. I wasn't able to get comfortable enough to get real sleep as the cramping was happening about every five minutes.

5:30AM

After having period like cramps and not getting much rest, I began having actual contractions that were 4-5 minutes apart.

7:30AM

Levi called the on-call midwife and she advised that we come in for a check up.

8:20AM

I was having consistent contractions and was dilated to 1cm so we were sent home to continue laboring. When we got home I was able to somewhat take a nap between contractions.

11:30AM

I woke up from my nap, took a shower, and was having contractions lasting anywhere from 30 seconds -2 minutes that were 15-20 minutes apart. By this time, my sisters-in-law, Sabrina and Kristi had come over to help distract me and be extra support; my nephew Truman came too. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and my brothers had come over after they got off work. We basically had a labor party.

9:00PM

After having contractions all day, with no real progress, we decided I should try and get some sleep and see what the night would bring.

October 25, 2018. 40 weeks, 5 days pregnant.

12:00AM

My husband called the on-call midwife because I was unable to sleep or get comfortable. My contractions were intense. We went in to the birth center to have me checked. I was dilated to 2cm. My contractions were 6 minutes apart and lasting about 2 minutes.

12:30AM

I was given a shot at the birth center that was supposed to ease and possibly stop my contractions so I could go home and get some sleep. The shot was the most painful thing about labor up to this point.

1:00-4/5:00AM

I would sleep between contractions that were 8-10 minutes apart. They were intense and the shot only seemed to make them worse. I had leaked some fluid during the night and I was extremely drowsy from the medication they gave me. I vividly remember this night because I would sleep, wake up during my contractions, and shake violently while going through it. The only relief I got was speaking, more like screaming, in tongues while contracting. I don't know for sure, but I'm betting our upstairs and downstairs neighbors probably heard this happening all night because I was was loud. (After Asa was born, Levi told me that this night scared him. Because of how violently my body was shaking during contractions he thought I was having a reaction to the medication I was given and that my life was at risk.)

8:30AM-3:00PM

My contractions were still intense and were still 8-10 minutes apart. Kristi was at our apartment again to be support and to help make sure I was staying hydrated and eating. At 3:00 we decided to call the midwife again because my contractions had picked up in intensity, which I didn't think was possible since they were already SO intense. She listened to me go through a contraction over the phone and told us to come in to the birth center because it was time. We loaded up our bags and drove the 20 minutes there.

3:45PM

I was admitted to the birth center and when the midwife checked me I was dilated to 6cm. My husband was there with me as well as both my sisters-in-law, and one of my friends, Beth. We spent the next almost 3 hours working through my contractions as they'd come, laughing and having a good time in between contractions. At one point, the midwife came in to check on me and made a comment about how there usually wasn't that much laughter in the middle of labor. As each contraction would come, I would try new positions for comfort, Levi would rub my back or breathe through them with me, Sabrina, Kristi, and Beth took turns massaging my legs and back, rubbing my head, and reading scriptures and declarations over me and Asa.

6:30PM

The midwife checked me again and I was still dilated to 6cm. We decided to break my water to see if that would help progress things.

8:30PM

When they checked me again I was dilated to 7cm.

10:00PM

I was checked again but there was no progress, I was still at 7cm. At this point my midwife recommended that we go to the hospital so that I could get an epidural and get some rest. The 12 minute drive to the hospital was the longest 12 minutes of my life. At the birth center my contractions had been 5-6 minutes apart. As soon as we got in the car to go to the hospital they were 3-4 minutes apart. Once we got to the hospital and they got me up to labor and delivery, I had to have blood work done and take 2 liters of IV fluids before they could give me the epidural. While I was being hooked up to the IV I had to answer a thousand questions, work through contractions, sign a thousand pieces of paper, work through contractions, try not to lose my mind while waiting for relief, and work through contractions. It was at this point that I had the only painful contraction of the whole process. Relief was in sight but it still felt so far away with all of the hoops we had to jump through and I let my guard down, I let my mind take control because I was so exhausted, and I didn't focus on taking things one contraction at a time. Sabrina looked at me and said "If you don't focus and keep your mind right your contractions are going to be painful, you can do this." That helped me get back on track and hang on until I could finally get the epidural.

October 26, 2018. 40 weeks, 6 days pregnant.

1:00AM

I finally got the epidural. I remember sitting there on the hospital bed, trying not to be scared because I only ever heard horror stories about the epidural needle and how terrible it was to get. But I managed to gather my thoughts and tell myself it couldn't be worse than the shot I had gotten the night before, and it wasn't. I barely felt the shot they gave me to numb my back and then I didn't feel the epidural needle go in. After they got that taken care of, I was finally able to relax. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor, they checked me again and I was dilated to 8cm.

1:30AM

I was given a very low dose of pitocin to help things move along. Asa was in a little bit of a funny position which we later figured was because I was so small and he was over 8 pounds. I was finally able to get some sleep despite having to lay in a runners position with a peanut ball between my legs. I would wake up every so often because I'd start to slightly feel contractions but they gave me a magic button that allowed me to give myself a little extra epidural medication which made it to where I couldn't feel anything from my belly down.

4:30AM

I woke up feeling a ton of pressure in my pelvic area and no matter how many times I pushed that magic button it wouldn't go away. Kristi was sitting in a chair beside my bed and one of the monitors kept beeping so she had called the nurse in to stop the beeping but I mentioned to her that I felt a lot of pressure that wouldn't go away. When the nurse came in, Kristi told her about the pressure I was feeling so she decided to check me. She almost immediately said "Oh, I feel baby hair." She had me do a practice push to determine if she needed to get my midwife yet and when I barely pushed she stopped me and said she'd be right back. I looked up at Kristi and said "Am I about to have a baby?"

5:00AM

My midwife was there at this point and Asa was starting to crown. His heart rate was slightly high but not enough for my midwife to be concerned and I was running a slight fever.

5:28AM

Asa James was finally here; I had only pushed for 30 minutes. I had a second degree tear but I hadn't felt anything because of the epidural. I remember being so exhausted that I was emotionless when they laid him on my chest, but my sisters and husband had enough emotion for all of us.

6:15AM

At this point, Asa had started making a weird grunting sound so a NICU nurse was called back up to the room to check him. They ended up finding out that he had some fluid build up in his lungs and his oxygen was a little low so they took him down to the NICU to be treated and put on oxygen.

6:30AM

I had a low grade fever and by 6:45 my fever was just over 100 degrees. I was given tylenol at 7:00 but by 7:30 my fever spiked up to 103 degrees. I was freezing but the nurses wouldn't let me have any blankets and they put ice packs around me to help get my body temperature down. I was able to fall asleep for a while and by noon my fever had broken and my body temperature was back to normal.

The week that followed Asa's birth was a roller coaster. After doing multiple blood draws on me, they determined I had a uterine infection which had caused my contractions to be non-productive, which is why I ended up being in labor for 52.5 hours straight. They could never determine exactly what the infection was but with labs and the fact that I spiked such a high fever, it was evident there was some kind of infection. Asa also developed an infection and we were told he'd be in the NICU for at least a week so he could receive antibiotics. They were never able to determine what kind of infection he had either but his CRP level (C-Reactive Protein-a number marker indicative of infection) came back at an 8, a normal CRP level is 0.5 and his white blood cell count was a little off. He was also put on oxygen for a day or two because of the fluid in his lungs. The NICU doctor performed a lumbar test on Asa's second day in the NICU to rule out meningitis which thankfully came back negative. By the third day, Asa had been weaned off of IV fluids and sugar water, which meant that we could start breastfeeding. I ended up having a lot of pain where I tore but my midwife checked me and said everything looked normal except that between two of my stitches the skin had come apart which meant I had to be aware of how I was sitting or laying in the hospital bed so that I could heal properly. By day 4, Asa's CRP level was down to 6.2 and they allowed him to room in with Levi and I. Day 5, Asa's CRP was down to 3.7. They wanted his level to get below 2 before they would consider discharging him from the NICU and thankfully a week after he was born his level was down to 1.5 and we were finally able to go home.

My experience with labor and birth was nothing like I thought it would be. We had been praying specifically that my labor would be quick and birth would be easy and pain free. We prayed that there would be no complications, no medical intervention necessary, and that we'd get to deliver at the birth center and be going home just a few hours after Asa was born. Going through labor and birth wasn't easy, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, but looking back on it I can see that God was in the middle of it all with me. I had zero pain which was a miracle. I will admit though, for a while I wrestled with why all these complications had happened and why nothing I prayed for came to fruition, but after a while I was able to see that the things that matter and will last happened. We prayed for Asa to love God and be a worshiper - he LOVES being at church and he loves worship music. I also prayed for him to not have brown eyes and I got a perfect blue eyed boy. And we prayed for him to be full of life and joy and he is one of the happiest, most peaceful babies I know.

If it weren't for the incredible team I had at the birthing center and for the incredible midwife who went to the hospital with us, things would have turned out much differently. The hospital nurses I had were fantastic, with the exception of a couple who tried to push my midwife into prepping me for an unnecessary c-section and a NICU nurse who treated Levi and I like we were 12 year olds. I also cannot say enough about my support team: Levi, Sabrina, Kristi, Beth - I would not have made it through without them. They held me up spiritually and prayed for me, they sacrificed a lot of time to be with me for over 2 days, and they reminded me that no matter what happened, I was strong and could do this and that my son would eventually be here. I also cannot say enough about the numerous people who were texting my support team asking how I was doing, praying for me and for Asa, my family who was out of town praying for us. There were so many people reaching out over the weeks and days leading up to Asa being born and the days and weeks after that I don't even fully know who all reached out or prayed for us, but I am so thankful for all of you and appreciate you more than you will ever know.

I don't want anyone to read this, especially first time moms or women who want to have kids, and be scared because of my experience. I hope that my story is an encouragement and a testimony of Gods goodness and faithfulness. In every moment of the 52.5 hours He was there. Yes, I had a very detailed birth plan and prayed very specifically about what I wanted to happen, but ultimately I had to put my trust in God that he would get me and my son through this and trust that if things didn't go the way I wanted them to that he was still going to be there taking care of us, which is exactly what happened. Thanks to Beth, I had written out ALL of my fears about labor and birth, all of my worst case scenarios, and I laid them before God, I wrote out a plan of action for each of the scenarios so that in the event they happened, I wouldn't be caught off guard and go into panic mode. This was a life saver for me. Had I not taken the time to do this, my whole world would have crumbled because nothing went the way we planned or prayed it would, but I never once felt disappointed over it. I look back on my 52.5 hours of labor and all I see is the goodness of God and every time I look at my sweet boy I am reminded of God's faithfulness.