Wyatt’s Birth Story
Wyatt Smith Cook arrived on July 18, 2022 at 9:53pm, weight 4lbs 12 oz. Our tiny, but mighty son.
This is the first time I have tried writing down Wyatt’s birth story. For the first few weeks and immediately after his birth, it felt surreal and almost ‘out of body’ that he was here five weeks early (his due date was August 19, 2022). It took a long time to fully process my birth experience because, in so many ways, I wasn’t “ready” yet, and nothing went the way I had planned. His nursery was far from finished; not an article of clothing was washed, and I hadn’t completed even one of the birthing courses I signed up for. In short, we were freaking out, but God’s plans are far greater than ours, and looking back, I know He was in every detail.
WYATT’S BIRTH STORY:
Our sweet friends threw us the most amazing Yellowstone-themed baby shower on Saturday (7/16). I remember being extremely uncomfortable during the entire baby shower, but I chalked it up to being overwhelmed, on my feet all day, and extremely hot. I thought at the time that I had Braxton Hicks throughout the day, but I know now that I was in the early stages of labor. Before going to bed that Saturday night, Jake and I were both exhausted but happy. The baby shower was over and we were ready to start truly nesting for our baby boy’s arrival.
The following day, I met up with friends to grab a coffee and was still feeling uncomfortable. Jake and I went to the pool that Sunday afternoon instead of working on Wyatt’s nursery because “we had plenty of time.” After the pool, we grabbed food from the grocery store and headed home to grill out. We ate dinner, I bounced on my birthing ball, and we went to bed relatively early. Around 10:00 pm, I got up to use the bathroom when I felt a gush. Being 35 weeks pregnant, I assumed I could not control my bladder (lol). For a moment, I thought it might be my water breaking, but it was way too early. I changed and got back in bed without waking Jake, knowing that if it was my water breaking, I would know soon enough and that my first priority should be getting as much rest as possible.
I labored throughout the night in denial that I was in active labor. I breathed through contractions and managed to get a few hours of sleep before waking up around 7:00 am on Monday morning and realizing that I had lost my mucous plug. One of my favorite memories is walking back from the bathroom into the bedroom and saying to Jake, “honey, I think you should work from home today.” I called my doctor to see what I should do, and he told me to head to Labor and Delivery to check everything out.
Jake dressed for the day, thinking he would drop me back home and then go to work. We made our way to L&D, around 10 minutes from the house, chatting about the week ahead, client meetings, and plans for the weekend, completely unaware that within the day we would be welcoming our son.
Shortly after checking into L&D - clearly the contractions hadn’t picked up yet
When we got to L&D, I texted my Doula, letting her know that we were on the way to get checked out, but I thought it would be a false alarm. She was leaving an overnight birth at a different hospital and said she would head my way just in case. After we got checked in, they ran some tests and set me up with a monitor for my contractions and the baby. The nurse didn’t think I was in labor, but I was increasingly more uncomfortable with every minute that passed. She started watching my contractions on the monitor (they were already 2 minutes apart) and commented that there was “a lot of uterine activity.” I remember visibly rolling my eyes and thinking, no, duh. The doctor came in shortly after confirming that my water had, in fact, broken. He looked at Jake and me and exclaimed, “you are having a baby today.” I was 2cm dilated and 90% effaced.
We both looked at each other in panic. We weren’t ready! A baby? We didn’t even have our hospital bags packed but jumped into action. Jake quickly reached out to his work and let them know what was happening. I reached out to my boss and let her know the same. At the moment, I can remember feeling so bad that I hadn’t prepped my accounts for my maternity leave. It is still hilarious that I was about to give birth within hours and was concerned about work. I’m not sure what this says about my personality.
We grabbed our things, and they officially checked us into L&D.
After settling into our room around 11:00 am, things began to get intense. Jake rushed home to pack and grab our stuff for the hospital, and my SIL came and sat with me while I labored through contractions. At this point, I thought I would deliver naturally (no intervention/no epidural). My original birth plan was simple: avoid unnecessary interventions and hire a doula for birth support.
Jake eventually returned to the hospital, and my Doula arrived (thank God). She immediately began putting up birth affirmations around our room and showing Jake pressure points to help me get through each intense wave. I went into "labor land," keeping my eyes closed while I breathed through each contraction. Things kept picking up, and I got to the point where I was begging my doctor to come back and check my position. He did around 2:00pm, and I was 4cm. He left, and I kept laboring.
At around 5:00 pm, I was screaming to get through each intense wave. My Doula and Jake were doing everything to help me through each one, but I remember feeling exhausted. I thought I would have more time between contractions to catch my breath, but all day long, I was experiencing contraction after contraction without relief. The second one would end, and another one would begin. My doctor rechecked me, and I was at 8cm. So close, but so far away.
Leading up to birth, I imagined I would have at least 5-10 minutes between each contraction to catch my breath. However, because my water had broken and Wyatt's position, I experienced back labor and contractions that were incredibly close together. At this point, I just needed relief and asked for an epidural. My Doula asked me if I was sure, and I was adamant that I needed the relief after so many hours of labor. My first priority was getting Wyatt here safely, and I couldn't do that if I was too exhausted to push.
The nurses put the order in for the epidural. I waited until around 6:00 pm when the anesthesiologist made her way to our room. It was challenging to sit still long enough for her to administer the medicine, I was gripping Jake for dear life, but the epidural was instant relief. I relaxed into the bed and waited for my body to continue progressing. I could still feel each contraction, but the edge was off and felt amazing. At around 7:00 pm, my doctor came in to recheck me, and it was time to push, baby!
I pushed for about an hour (give or take), and the nurse could see his sweet head for a few seconds with every push, but then he would pop right back in. I tried to remain calm and continued to talk to Wyatt, affirming that I loved him and would meet him soon. I remember looking at Jake between sobs, thinking there was no way I could do this. I was exhausted, my last meal had been the dinner the night before, and I didn't think I could push another second.
The doctor noticed that he was "sunny side up" and would need some assistance getting below my pubic bone (hence, why his head kept coming out and popping right back in). My heart dropped when I heard this, having heard horror stories about suctions. I pushed for another 15 minutes before he grabbed the whole team of doctors and prepared to assist Wyatt. For context, because Wyatt was early, we needed to have all the specialists in the room in case he came out not breathing or had issues with his heart, etc. While everyone was setting up, I closed my eyes and held tightly to my Doula and Jake.
After that, everything happened so fast, my doctor gave me the cue. I pushed with my last ounce of effort and a few choice words (I could feel almost everything, even with the epidural), and Wyatt was born at 9:53 pm.
The doctors immediately whisked him away to confirm everything was okay. Jake walked over to be with him while I delivered the placenta with my Doula. I could hear Wyatt's screams and couldn't help but cry in relief. He was here, he was okay, and he was clearly breathing without assistance.
One of the nurses walked over with Wyatt in her arms and asked if I wanted to hold my baby… Cue more tears. I held Wyatt to my chest and whispered I love you repeatedly as I kissed his head. I had never felt more accomplished, more exhausted, or more exhilarated. It was like the past 12 hours of intense contractions had never happened.
Wyatt, our sweet "35-weeker," didn't need any time in the NICU, and he was perfect. They cleaned up the room and left us. For the first time, our family of three. We cried, breastfed, and we both did skin-to-skin with him and thanked God for his goodness.
Headed home with our boy!
Even though Wyatt was early and so tiny, we received the green light to head home within 48 hours. We couldn’t wait to get home to our own bed and start life with our newest family member. We are now three months in and grow more smitten with him with every passing moment.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Next time around, we are packing our hospital bags early. There were so many items that we didn’t have at the hospital that in hindsight would have made the entire stay more comfortable. I also plan on buying and taking preemie clothes with us. We literally had nothing that would fit our new baby and he ended up coming home in a hospital outfit. This obviously isn’t the end of the world, but I still would have loved to have him in a few personalized items for pictures.
We were on the fence about getting a Doula, but now that we have had one, there is no way that I will give birth in the future without one. She was truly such a resource to have in the room with us during labor both for her medical knowledge and her emotional support. She kept Jake sane and also helped me so much through contractions.
Breastfeeding is much harder than I anticipated, but hiring a Lactation Consultant helped tremendously. My only regret is that I didn’t reach out to her sooner. If you are local to Charlotte, I have an excellent recommendation.
I always thought people were crazy when they said that you almost immediately forget the intensity of birth after you are holding your baby in your arms. I now understand this sentiment and would go through labor a thousand times over for this baby.
I have such a newfound respect for myself and every other woman after creating life and giving birth. and now sustaining life on my own breastmilk for the past three months. Women are absolute superheroes.
A huge thank you to Natalie Ray Photography for the newborn photos of Wyatt. I will share more in a separate post!