Well, hello friends! We’re officially at Shep’s 5-week mark (which is a little insane to me!), and in the last two weeks or so I’ve really felt like I’m coming back to myself and getting more adjusted to motherhood. I’ve wanted to sit down and write out our birth story, but truly just haven’t had the time until now. We are very much so still in this precious newborn bubble that in so many ways I never want to leave, but I don’t feel as stressed out and tired as I did in those first few weeks. There’s no other way to put it than drinking from a firehose!
I’ve had many people ask about our birth story and lots of repeat questions about the things I did to prepare for birth, so I figured I’d pull together a post on all of that in one place! I did post a very general update on stories that I’ve left up as a highlight on Instagram if you’d like to peek at that here π
Our Birth Story!
Shep was born at 37 weeks on Sunday August 25th, so I definitely thought I had a little more time to prepare! π Looking back, I am beyond grateful for our early bird who decided to share his birthday month with his momma. The day before, John and I were out all day shopping for living room furniture that was about to be finished the following week or two. I had contractors at our house working on our downstairs fireplace, and was getting a little antsy that the job wouldn’t be done before Shep arrived. Hilariously, it was not! We ended up bringing our baby boy home in typical Echols fashion – in the middle of a home improvement project. Thankfully, it was only for that first week and a half, but my gosh that was tough to not have our home to ourselves in those early days.
I was a little crampy throughout our Saturday errands, but nothing crazy. We laid down to watch Netflix that evening, and around midnight I remember sitting up in bed, looking at John and saying “I think something’s happening?” because I felt a small rush of fluid. I texted our Doulas who said to keep an eye on it, get some rest and check back in the morning since I wasn’t feeling any contractions (or so I thought!)
The next day, we were cranking through our to-do list. Hello last minute nesting! John installed the CAR SEAT (lol), I was just now getting to laundering his little baby clothes, and I started feeling both exhausted and overwhelmed to get everything done. Between napping, I hopped up and cleaned our couch upholstery?? Don’t as me why. I called our midwife at the hospital who — like myself and my Doula — wasn’t overly concerned that this was full blown labor, but still advised me to head to the hospital to get swabbed to see if I’d lost any amniotic fluid just in case. She even asked me if I wanted to get my cervix checked and I told her no because I thought it was too early and didn’t want any interference just yet. I had most of our bags packed and ready to go, but thought it was so silly to bring them with us… so glad we did!
We got to the hospital around 3:00 and I was wheeled into triage for my swab. At this point I was feeling more consistent cramping every 10 minutes or so, but it wasn’t painful. This first-time mom is SURE it was just pre-labor, and I had another week or two. They asked again if I wanted a swab, I ended up agreeing, and we waited for the Doctor. She came in to check me while John was in the waiting room, and says “Well! It looks like you’re about 5-6 centimeters dilated! Call your husband, we’re going to get you ready to move to labor and delivery!” I responded with “SHUT. UP.” John came in a few minutes later and we just sat together in disbelief. There’s something about that first baby that feels so surreal when delivery is right around the corner. I will never forget that feeling of anticipation, nerves, hopefulness, a little fear, and so much excitement.
Let’s go meet our Shep!
After getting to the birthing room, I had about 20 minutes all to myself when John went to go grab our bags from the car. I remember praying and pacing, just taking it all in. We called our parents and texted some friends the news, and everyone was SO surprised!
During pregnancy, we did a few birthing + parenting classes that I got so much out of. I didn’t put much expectation on how exactly I would labor or deliver because I knew I just wanted to go with my body, but I am so thankful for all of the education that helped me feel a little more… I don’t know… in control of my options. I thought I would’ve loved the water and was going to be in a pool or shower for the bulk of my labor, but all I wanted to do was pace the room in my big cozy robe and slippers, and bear down on either John’s shoulders or the wall during the end. And that’s exactly how I birthed!
I could write a book on how I lucked out with my husband, but nothing will beat how he supported me during delivery. It was the coolest and sweetest experience of my life to have him literally a part of the whole thing. As things progressed around 7:30pm, I was so back and forth with getting an epidural because the pain was getting pretty intense, but it was still manageable enough that I wanted to keep going. In the moment, I couldn’t think of anything worse than sitting down in the bed long enough to get one – haha! Labor was a lot of walking around, breathing deep with my headphones on, guzzling water, and grabbing John to hold onto during a contraction. It was beyond helpful to keep reminding myself that I could get through anything for 30-ish seconds. I don’t say this in any way but to share my experience… get that epidural friend! I’ll most likely try it next go-around to compare.
Our precious Shep made his appearance at 9:13pm and I wish I could bottle up the feeling of when they handed me this tiny little babydoll to hold as I got into the hospital bed. The first thing we all commented on was how much hair he had! My sweet dark headed boy, just like his daddy. <3
Things took a bit of a turn after birth. We stayed in the L&D room for a lot longer than anticipated due to my blood loss. There were talks of hemorrhaging and transfusions for a few hours as they tried to stop my bleeding. This was when I got Pitocin, which helped a ton to stop it. My blood pressure was very high, I was light headed and couldn’t lean up or stand up for hours, eventually passing out in the bathroom which was a little scary! Thankfully the nurses and midwives were all amazing and we were finally good to go around 4am. It was a long night, but went by so fast. Snuggling our baby boy helped get me though.
I can’t express how grateful I am to every single woman in the hospital that made our first moments as parents so so so amazing. Our doula, my midwife, the doctor, the nurses, the front desk and check in, the lactation consultant, the night shift, the techs- every single one of them was a woman, and every one of them were so supportive and to me.
I will never forget during my final moments of birth when I was between a contraction and Shep’s little head was poking out, our Doula was getting a few photos and without thinking I literally turned around and thumbs-upped the camera. We all just laughed! It was a surreal and joyful moment for me. They brought so much lightness to our experience and gave me strength <3
There’s so much more I could write about but I wanted to get to all the things I did to prep for labor to hopefully help any soon-to-be mommas. I remember inhaling blog posts and TikToks and all the things about birth prior to mine, which can be both helpful and stressful, so take everything with a grain of salt. I think the worst thing to do is put any expectation on yourself or your experience – your body has never done this before, and each woman is built differently, so try to be gracious with yourself.
Everything I did to prep for birth:
Please ask your doctor about some of these things, and this is what I was advised to do from my Doula + OB, but it could be different for your body’s needs.
Hire a Doula – Just do it. They are invaluable to your pregnancy, labor experience, being your advocate in the hospital, helping your experience be positive, postpartum support, breastfeeding.. the list goes on.
Chiropractor – I’ve been seeing a chiropractor for a few years now, and I know this helped my pelvis alignment be ready for delivery. I went to him once a week in the 3rd trimester, and it helped with my lower back pain and random nerve pain I started having. Did anyone else have carpal tunnel in pregnancy?!
Hypnobirthing class – Sounds a little “woo woo”, but even if you don’t go the natural birthing route, this class was one of the most educational classes we took in all of pregnancy. I learned SO much, and felt so much more prepared and educated on what my body (and Shep’s!) can do. Everything is so beautifully connected! Look into this if you’re unfamiliar- it’s a lot to explain here but I really recommend especially for first time mothers. You don’t have to do everything the class recommends to still get so much out of it.
Breastfeeding Class – A given if you’re planning to nurse! Breastfeeding is something I was adamant about succeeding in, and we still have our days where it’s super challenging even after 5 weeks. But I felt a lot more ready to go into it with the right expectations after taking a short class at our hospital. I think it was 2 hours.
New Parents Class – Really enjoyed this! This was an extra little sprinkle that John actually wanted to do. There are lots of options for these kinds of classes, and they truly go over everything you might need to know within that first few months of bringing a baby home.
Pregnancy Ball – Any time I was working at my desk, I was on this yoga ball. I did a ton of figure 8s and short little hip workouts in the evenings while watching TV to keep things open.
Pure Barre – I tried to go 4 times a week, and I know this helped open up my pelvis and strengthen my core for labor. I’ve had zero pelvic floor issues post-birth because of this. I mostly did align and classic in 3rd trimester, and even Classic got too intense for me in the end.
WATER WATER WATER (with electrolytes!) – I probably drank my body weight in these electrolyte powders from amazon. The strawberry lemonade flavor will forever remind me of pregnancy! This was the sole reason I was able to not have any IV fluids during any of my labor, which allowed me to walk around freely, but more importantly didn’t impact Shep’s birth weight. Also with me having such high blood pressure and all the blood loss after birth, I was able to avoid a transfusion because my hemoglobin levels were so healthy going in due to adequate hydration. At least that’s what my nurses told me π Another reason to hydrate like heck is to have a ton of lubrication for an easier and faster birth. So drink up!
6 dates a day after 32 weeks – Who knows if this helped but I did it!
Raspberry Leaf Tea – Steep a bunch of bags in a large pot, transfer to a pitcher, and drink cold over ice with electrolyte powder all week. This helps with the taste. I did this after 34 weeks.
I took this Labor Prep Tincture
I took these Raspberry Leaf gummies
I took these Prenatals
Walking – I tried to walk almost everyday about 1 – 2 miles.
10 squats a day in 3rd trimester – this was hit or miss, but my doctor told me to do this to help open up your pelvis.
Journal + Prayer! – Mindset helps so much. I didn’t want to go into labor with fear, so I tried to avoid listening to people’s scary advice and labor stories, skipped past social media birth advice on Reels / Tiktok (because most of the time they were negative!), and just tried to be overall chill.
Phew, that was a long one! We are beyond grateful and in love with this little boy, and am so glad to share a part of this new motherhood journey with y’all.
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My pregnancy must-haves and a few registry favorites
More details on our pregnancy!
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