I can’t believe my baby is 6 weeks old today. Time is flying by!! I’ve had some people ask about Charlie’s birth, so I figured I’d share it here as a way to document and remember the details. Plus, I’m one of those people who loves birth stories!

There’s also another reason I wanted to share the story of Charlie’s arrival. I feel like most women, before giving birth, only hear the horror stories. Everyone seems to have one to share. You never hear about the ones that go perfectly. And since mine really did, I wanted to share for any mamas-to-be out there to prove that labor is not all bad. So here goes…

Tuesday, February 27

10:30 a.m.
At 4 days past my due date, I went in for what felt like my 187th OB appointment. Although I was dilated a whopping 4 centimeters, the doctor didn’t feel like the baby was really in a hurry and suggested we schedule an induction for the following Monday. I decided that since everything was medically fine with both me and the baby, I wanted to wait and let him come on his own. Although I was soooo tired of waiting on Charlie to arrive, I knew that my labor would go smoother if I avoided an unnecessary induction. At this point, my guess was that he would arrive on my dad’s birthday: March 6. I am SO glad I was wrong!!

6:30 p.m.
After a day of feeling pretty low and just generally being over this whole pregnancy thing, I decided I wanted Italian food. We randomly decided to go to Olive Garden for probably the first time in over a year. I had shrimp scampi, which was delicious, and Charles tried to take my mind off of the waiting game we were playing. After dinner, I took a nice long bath, then got into bed early to try to get some sleep (which was few and far between at this point).

9:00 p.m.
I felt a really tight sensation in my stomach and a lot of lower back pain all at once. At first, I chalked it up to gas pains, but when another similar pain hit about 10 minutes later, my interest peaked. Charles had just gotten in bed, so I decided to quietly get up and start timing them, thinking I’d let him sleep in case this was the real thing and he wouldn’t get any more sleep for a while. I went down to the den, turned on a movie (I still for the life of me cannot remember what I watched and it’s driving me crazy!), bounced on my birthing ball, and timed my contractions for the next couple of hours. I was surprised that they were not incredibly painful, but I knew I was just gearing up.

11:30 p.m.
By this point, my contractions were varying between 5 and 6 minutes apart. I figured it was time to wake Charles up, so I went upstairs, crawled into bed, gently roused him and said, “Babe, I’ve been having contractions for the past few hours. I think this might be it.” He somewhat excitedly said, “Oh wow,” and then promptly rolled over and went back to sleep. I busted out laughing, and woke him up again to tell him that I was serious and it was time to get up. That man could sleep through anything!

Wednesday, February 28

12:00 a.m.
I called the OB line and waited for a call back from the doctor. When he called back and heard how everything was moving along, he suggested we go ahead and get to the hospital. So we finished packing up, spent a few last minutes with Sully, and hit the road for the 5-minute ride to the hospital. (By the way, I’m so thankful we live close to a hospital. I don’t know how people who have to drive an hour do it…contractions in the car are brutal!)

1:00 a.m.
We arrived at the ER and I got checked in and wheeled up to a labor and delivery room. My contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart at this point and getting fairly intense. After hooking me up to all the monitors and an IV drip, the doctor checked me to find that I was dilated 6 centimeters. This was definitely the real thing and I knew baby Charlie would be here soon! I tried several different positions, including the birthing ball (awkward photo below), but found that laying on my side and holding on to the bed rails during contractions was the most comfortable.

4:00 a.m.
Sweet relief! Let me just tell y’all…the epidural is an amazing thing! I don’t know why there’s this stigma around getting an epidural, and why women judge other women for not giving birth “naturally.” (Which is a whole other conversation…because all birth is natural in my opinion.) Epidurals are incredible and I would recommend it to anyone giving birth.

5:00 a.m.
My parents arrived at the hospital. We had called them on our way to the hospital, but made them wait until we knew it was the real thing before they got on the road. By the time they arrived, my epidural was in full effect and I was feeling pretty good. It was really nice to have that time to relax and just hang out together. I even called and talked to my brother for a bit and he couldn’t believe I was calling during labor.

8:00 a.m.
For about the past hour, my contractions had been getting more intense, even with the epidural. I was having a ton of back pain, but still no urge to push at all. The nurse came in and asked everyone but Charles to leave so she could check me. To our surprise, she calmly said, “Well, your bag of waters is almost out and you’re fully dilated. Are you ready to push?” What?! How did that happen?! We were totally shocked. Charles and I exchanged a look I’ll never forget. No words, just a look that said, “We’re about to meet our baby boy.” Then we took a selfie.

8:45 a.m.
After just 10 minutes of pushing, Charlie made his big debut and showed off his healthy lungs immediately. The nurse placed him on my chest in a moment that can only be described as indescribable. He was finally here!

He arrived weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces and measuring 21.5 inches long. I knew that my delivery had gone well, but it wasn’t until last week when my mom mentioned that I did everything exactly according to my birth plan that I realized just how well. I’m incredibly grateful for that, and even more grateful to my delivery nurse (named Joy…how perfect!) and doctors. But most of all, I’m grateful to my husband, who was the best coach and partner from start to finish!

We are so in love with this little boy that we brought into the world, and can’t remember what life was like before he was here. But hey, maybe it’s just the sleep deprivation talking.

And of course, no birth story would be complete without lots of photos of the little nugget!

To see more of Charlie and how parenthood is treating us, follow on Instagram and be sure to check out my stories!

Beautiful newborn photos by Jacqueline Kannan.