Miles Thomas: A Birth Story

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Miles’ due date. He was born a full week later. I figure now is as good a time as any to finally share his birth story.

Four days before his due date, Monday, October 2, I left work early because I had regular contractions that didn’t go away when I sat down or drank water so I did not think they were Braxton Hicks. So I left right before I was supposed to host a Family Moon Night program. That night the contractions didn’t really stop but they didn’t get worse either. I was able to fall asleep. By the morning they were completely gone but I was still thinking it was the day, so I didn’t go in to work. By Thursday I was really regretting that because I was going crazy at home with all the prodromal labor that kept starting and stopping. At least being at work would have made it go by faster. But every time I kept thinking, “This is it!” It was torture! His due date came and went. That Monday I went to the midwives and I was almost 5 cm dilated, so that was reassuring that at least the contractions were doing something! I asked her to sweep my membranes but still nothing happened.

By then my friend Andrea was here in town to help out. And on Wednesday my mom arrived. I was feeling really pressured to have the baby before my mom had to leave! But he was not budging! I still had contractions every day, sometimes as close as 4 minutes apart. I finally called to schedule my induction for Monday the 16th. They told me to go in Friday for a non-stress test. So Friday came and we went to the hospital for the tests. I was 41 weeks exactly. I was now at 6 cm and baby was doing very well. I asked if I could have my membranes swept again and Mercedes, one of the midwives, was there and had time to see me, so she did it for me. They said she had magic fingers so we had high hopes. She told me to go home and have a glass of wine and relax and that the baby would be here soon! Well, I didn’t have a glass of wine but I decided to take a bath instead. After the bath I sat down to watch a show with Michael and Andrea and contractions started coming really strong. It was just 4 hours after I had the midwife sweep my membranes, about 2:30 in the afternoon. Well after the episode of The Good Place ended I knew things were happening. I went into the bedroom and sat through about 5 more contractions before I realized it was already time to go to the hospital!

My two pairs of yoga pants were in the dryer and I told myself I would leave when they were dry because I really wanted to bring them with me to the hospital. I went to the basement to check on them and almost couldn’t make it back up the stairs. So we left (in my Harry Potter pajamas) and at that point it was around 4:00. It took a little over 20 minutes to get to the hospital. We called Mercedes and she said she would try and be there soon after we arrived. I remember one stupid white car that stopped in front of us trying to turn left on a busy street and I just yelled, “Mooove your car!!” I also remember thinking, “should I get in the tub when we get there? should I start my birth playlist?” Which was hilarious because there was no time for any of that. I still didn’t realize just how fast this was going down.

We got to the hospital and NO ONE was at the maternity ward reception desk to admit us!! Michael used the phone at the desk to call down to someone and still they weren’t coming. This baby was going to come before they did! I was like, you have to sound more urgent on the phone! We called a second time and FINALLY they came. They rushed me in and there was no time for anything else because minutes later I was in a delivery room and I was already pushing. There were probably three doctors in the room in case the midwife didn’t make it in time. I was terrified because it was all happening WAY too fast. After 12 hour labor with Ruby, I never thought I would have a fast childbirth experience. Well, the midwife arrived just in time and I pushed about three times and he was here! He didn’t cry right away and that was the scariest moment of all. They were calling the NICU units when he started hollering and I was so relieved. Mercedes gave me a massage and some citrusy essential oils to help me relax. I was pretty tense because things had gone so fast.

But Miles Thomas was here! And he was perfect! He was 8lbs and 13 ounces, almost half a pound smaller than Ruby had been. He was born just a couple minutes before 5:00 pm on lucky Friday, October 13, just 30 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. Visiting hours ended at 6:00 so Ruby and my mom had to wait until the next day to meet him. We were glad Andrea got to see him before she left too! Even though a fast childbirth was kind of scary in the moment, it was over and then I felt so good. I was able to walk around pretty quickly after the birth. I remember needing to use the bathroom sooo bad and I was up and walking to the bathroom only an hour after he was born. If we ever have another baby, I’ll be worried about making it to the hospital in time! Miles is the greatest addition to our family and just the biggest sweetheart ever. My maternity leave being at home with both kids was the happiest I’ve ever been. The past year has been such a dream, although it has gone by much to quickly and I can’t believe in just a few days he’ll be celebrating his first birthday!