Greysen Neil Womack's Birth Story

Our sweet baby boy is already a week old.  I can't believe it!  If he had decided to stay in until his due date or later I would still be pregnant right now.  It's true what they say that babies come when they're ready to come.  Greysen was more than ready to come out and meet his family!  So I decided I wanted to take a minute to lay out the goings on of his arrival late in the evening on April 28th, 2015:

I had been having mild contractions on and off for about 2 weeks.  My first prenatal cervical checks revealed that I had already dilated to 2 cm and was about 50% effaced, and there was really no change between weeks 36 and 37 other than the fact that Greysen had turned anterior and was now in position to really start descending...

At around 8:30 AM on that Tuesday morning I started having regular contractions.  They were about 10-12 minutes apart, but were definitely getting a little stronger over time.  I told Jonathan that he should probably stay home from his rotation, so he texted his preceptor and told him that I was possibly in labor.  Dr. Casadesus was very understanding and told him to stay home with me and keep him updated on my status...

I laid in bed and "labored" for a few hours until Jonathan said, "Babe, I think we need to go to the hospital. Even if they send us home, we should at least get you checked out."  Honestly, I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be feeling when "real labor" started, so I had to agree...

Of course, in true Rachel Womack form, I decided I needed to shower and "get ready" before we headed to the hospital.  Of course by this point I was pretty tired from breathing through contractions and trying to find a comfortable position for like 3 hours that I wasn't sure I could stand up in the shower for the amount of time it would take to get clean.  So Jonathan, in true champion husband form, got in the shower with me and washed my hair while I sat in the floor of the tub and rocked myself through contractions.  I felt much better when it was time to get out of the tub, but as soon as I stood up I vomited in the tub.  Jonathan whisked me out of the tub and I vomited several more times in the toilet.  That was our cue.  Yep...something's happening so we need to gather up our hospital bags and head to Memorial West...

By the time we got up to prenatal triage, they put me in a room, hooked me up to monitors, and checked me.  I was at 3 cm and about 75% effaced and the contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes.  The nurse came back about an hour later and rechecked me.  No change.  She called my doctor who said she would like me to do some walking and then get checked again.  She wanted me at a 4 in order to keep me.  So we walked and walked and did squats and walked the stairs.  When we came back and the nurse checked me, she said yet again that there was no change.  She said the effacement was *possibly* a little further progressed, but for the most part I was the same.  We were fully expecting to be sent home (which I was NOT happy about...)...

Then about 30 minutes later, in strolls Dr. Velarde (my Ob/Gyn).  She checked me herself and said in a whisper, "If it's all the same to you, I think you're too far along for me to feel good about sending you home, and I'd like to just strip your membranes and keep you."  To which I of course said "Yes PLEASE!".  I had decided in my head that getting my membranes stripped was going to hurt, but after she left, I honestly wasn't sure if she'd stripped them or not.  But I figured she must have, because about 5 minutes later my contractions started coming every 2-3 minutes and were definitely increasing in intensity.  They came in and wheeled me to the delivery room.  On the way there the nurse said, "Ok, we're going to get you hooked up in here and then Dr. Velarde will be in to break your water and we will start a pitocin drip."  Which is when I started minorly freaking out!

Once I got hooked up to everything I decided that I needed a minute to woosah and wrap my brain around the fact that I was going to be meeting my baby boy sometime tonight.  It was a bit of a whirlwind!  Not to mention, my mother was literally in transit at this point.  She was on her way to the airport in Dallas to try and make it to Ft. Lauderdale.  She was due to get to the hospital around 11:30.  So when Dr. Velarde came in I asked her to wait an hour to break my water and that I wanted to hold off on the pitocin drip until I knew more how my labor was going to progress naturally...

An hour later, in she came to break my water.  WEIRDEST. FEELING. EVER.  Again I had it in my mind that getting my water broken was going to hurt like heck.  It totally didn't.  What hurt was the contractions measuring in the 80-100 range coming every 30 seconds to 1 minute.  At first I was able to breath through them.  But when they started coming so quickly that the let down of one coincided with the build up of another (and the fact that I'd been having contractions since 8:30 that morning and I was exhausted), I told Jonathan that when they came in to check me if I wasn't at at least a 6 I wanted the epidural (the last check had me at a 4 1/2).  When Kicha came in (my labor nurse who was AMAZING...I don't know what I would have done without her) and checked me, I was at a 5.  When she said that I said "Tap out!"  And Jonathan translated to her, "She is ready for an epidural."

Kicha literally went right outside and grabbed the anesthesiologist and brought her in the room because they were about 15 minutes away from a shift change.  The anesthesiologist was not a very pleasant person.  That experience was less than fun.  Especially with contractions coming at the rate and intensity that they were while I had to stay perfectly still.  But almost immediately my legs started tingling and I began feeling lots better.  I also started puking (which I did from that point until right before I left for recovery) and my belly started itching like a million ants were biting me.  Zofran and a low dose of Pitocin in my IV and then I was out like a light.  Napped for a good hour while my body labored away and Greysen kept moving right on down.  Jonathan and Bernice both were amused at watching the machine track my contractions while I slept peacefully...

I woke up to Kicha coming in to check me again.  She said, "Ok mama, you're at a good 6 1/2 and baby's head is right there!  Daddy, do you want to feel?"  So Jonathan donned some surgical gloves and the look on his face when he felt the top of Greysen's head was priceless.  I wish I had had a camera!  He said "It's like a real little baby head down there!".  Kicha then went back in to see if she could get my cervix to get a little more out of the way.  In a matter of seconds I was at a 7 1/2 and feeling LOTS of pressure.  She turned me on my side to see if we could get Greysen to move on down.  As soon as I turned over, I felt the urge to push.  It was SUPER intense!  So they called in Dr. Velarde to get prepped...

I turned on my back when she got there about 10 minutes later and I was at a solid 10.  While they prepped the room (and Jonathan and Bernice prepped cameras and what not) I felt like I was literally having to hold him in.  That urge to push is REAL!  By that point my epidural was only really taking the edge off.  But I'm grateful for that because I think it made the last hour of delivery go much smoother and quicker.  They got my legs up in the saddles and it was time to push.  HARDEST. THING. I'VE. EVER. DONE.  Thank the Lord it only took me about 10 pushes and he was here...

I remember Dr. Velarde and Kicha saying "Rachel look down!  Your baby is here!  Here he is!!"  And when I looked down out came this little tiny baby tushy and they tossed him up on my belly.  I remember wailing, "That's my baby! That's my baby!!" Kicha said, "Baby Greysen we've been waiting for you!"  I patted his little bottom and held his little hands and when they turned him over to face me and I started talking to him, he stopped crying and started trying to open his eyes.  He knew who his mama was!  And when Jonathan started talking to him he tracked the sound of his voice.  He was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen (though I kept saying, "Greysen you are so beautiful!  But that umbilical cord is kinda yucky...").  I didn't want to give him up, but they had to weigh him and do all his triage.  I reluctantly handed him over to the nurse and Daddy followed him over to the warming table.  Just about that time, my mom walked into the room.  Almost perfect timing.  Dr. Velarde continued working on me while I craned my neck to see his weight and length and his APGAR score (9.9!)...

Greysen Neil Womack

April 28th, 2015

11:09 PM

8 lbs. 3 oz.

20 1/2" 

It was an experience well beyond my expectations.  It was scary, but I've also never felt more fearless in my life. I've never felt so much pain, but I've also never felt so empowered.  He was and is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.  I can't quit looking at him!  My life changed forever a week ago.  And Jonathan couldn't have put it more eloquently than he did a few nights ago when he said, "I feel like a more complete human being..."  It's so true.  We were made for this experience and Greysen was made just for us.  I will never be the same again...