Our Birth Story

She’s here. She’s finally HERE!!! I’m officially a mommy.

Harper Wren McKinney was born July 11th at 10:19 A.M. at 38 weeks and 5 days. She has brought so much love and joy to our lives in such a short amount of time — we are just so in love. We’ve been spending the last four weeks in awe of her and the fact that she’s actually here. I couldn’t ever picture what she’d look like or be like, but she’s better than anything I could’ve ever imagined.

Pre-Labor

My last doctors appointment was on July 6th and I was finally 1cm dilated. I’ve always had a feeling that Harper was going to arrive early – my mom had my brother and I two weeks early so I just prepared for the possibility just in case. On July 10th at 6:00 A.M. contractions woke me up. At the time, I didn’t realize they were contractions. I thought they were just cramps so I tried to sleep them off. They were pretty consistent and that’s when I realized they were contractions and sprung up out of bed. I showered and blew my hair just in case it was THE day. I timed my contractions all day and they were pretty sporadic. Fifteen minutes apart, then 12 minutes, 8 minutes and then I’d have a 20 minute stretch of no contractions before they started up again. At around 5 P.M. I decided to call my doctor to let her know that I was having contractions since 6 A.M. and wasn’t sure when it was time to go to the hospital. Due to COVID, they want to make sure you’re really in labor so you don’t have to make multiple unnecessary trips to the hospital and potentially expose you and baby.

My doctor wasn’t on call, but I was told that my contractions sounded like they were Braxton Hicks and once they were consistently 5 minutes apart for at least an hour, then I could go in. I knew there was no way I was having Braxton Hicks. My contractions were so bad I could hardly talk through them. At around 9 P.M. my mom and I decided to walk around the neighborhood to see if it would help speed things along. Sure enough, my contractions were happening closer together varying from 8 minutes to 5 minutes apart, but not consistently that close for an hour straight so we called it a night and my mom went home.

As soon as my mom went home and Devin and I went to bed it was game on. My contractions were so bad as I was laying down in bed I thought I was going to have her right then. At around 1 A.M. I had a contraction and went to the bathroom. I guess I had my bloody show (TMI?) so I woke up Devin and called my doctor’s office. Thankfully, my doctor ended up being on call. I was so happy to hear that she was actually on her way to my hospital that I started crying lol. I was so worried I was going to have to give birth with a doc I didn’t know that I was so relieved to hear her voice.

She told me to go to the hospital and she’d meet me there. We grabbed our hospital bags and were out the door.

Labor + Delivery

I don’t think anything can prepare you for giving birth. It’s truly w i l d and just something you have to experience to understand. My entire pregnancy I was never concerned about the big day. I didn’t want to think about it too much and I never watched a birth video because ignorance is bliss sometimes, ya know? I just knew my body would do what it had to do to get her out and I didn’t have a strict “birth plan.” I wanted whatever was going to be safe for me and baby to happen.

We got to the hospital around 2 A.M.

After I got checked into the hospital, Devin wasn’t allowed back to Triage with me. They made him wait in the waiting room until the doctor could confirm I was in fact, in labor and until I passed my COVID test. Triage was the worst part about labor and delivery for me. My doctor came in and checked my cervix to see how dilated I was and to see if my water had broken. Turns out, I was 6CM dilated. I’m sorry, what? In true fashion, I said “Oh, shit! Am I going to be able to get an epidural?” Thankfully I got the green light for an epidural and they called the anesthesiologist right away. Before I could leave Triage, I needed to get my IV in and my COVID test. The COVID test was so painful I couldn’t go through with it the first time. We had to try again so I got it stuck up both my nostrils (I don’t think the nurse knew what she was doing). My sinuses were a mess for a solid two hours after that.

Once my test results came back negative, it was time to go to the delivery room and Devin was finally allowed back with me. By the time we got to the delivery room, the anesthesiologist was waiting for me. THANK GOD. You always hear that the needle is massive and that the epidural hurts, but there was honestly nothing that could happen that was going to be as painful as my contractions at that point. I didn’t look at the needle and after a quick jump, it was over. I was NUMB. After the epidural I got the labor shakes which lasted for a couple of hours and nothing would help them subside. As the hours passed, I started to get scared and just wanted her out and for it to be over. I knew we were getting closer to having Harper and that this was happening one way or the other. I must’ve said 50 times that I was never going to go through this again.

Harper was ready to come out, but my doc was back and forth between two hospitals she was delivering at that night. I could’ve decided to have her without her, or just wait it out as long as I could – so I waited. I love my doctor and she was so excited to meet Harper, I wanted to do it with her. It was important for me to have good people and good energy around me for Harper’s arrival. Once my doctor arrived, she threw on her scrubs and it was go time. She looked at me and told me “we’re going to count to ten and you’re going to push like you’re having the biggest bowel movement of your life” I said OK. Devin was like that’s it? hahaha. Fifteen minutes later, we welcomed Harper. Delivery was CAKE compared to the laboring. I just focused on getting her out – yes, I was numb for the most part due to the epidural, but I could still feel when I was having a contraction which helped when it came time to push.

I was in labor for a total of 28 hours, but seeing her little face look up at me once she was placed on my chest made everything worth it. We couldn’t believe how much hair she had and how cute she was. I was able to do skin to skin with her right away which was amazing. I don’t know how else to describe it other than an out of body experience. You’re there, but you’re not there. I just couldn’t believe I just had a baby and that I did it. Women are incredible.

No, it wasn’t how I had envisioned myself having my first baby – in the middle of a pandemic, with my husband and nurses and docs wearing masks, my mom not allowed to be there with me to get me through it, but it’s her story, it’s our story and it was perfect. Devin was so supportive and amazing throughout the whole delivery. It was a moment that me and him had waited so long for, all we needed was each other. We really enjoyed our stay in postpartum just us three, getting to know Harper, figuring out life with a newborn and resting.

It’s only been four weeks and she’s already grown so much. She looks different everyday and she does something new everyday. It’s both beautiful and heartbreaking watching her grow because I want her to stay little forever. The best parts of life are happening now and I don’t want them to pass me by.

xx Raquel