I am so excited to get to share Beckham’s birth story! His birth held a lot of firsts for me, which was something I did not quite expect with my third labor. I had heard that labor with third babies can be kind of a wild card and I’d say that held true in some aspects of Beckham’s story.
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On the evening of Wednesday March 22nd I started to have regular contractions but they were not super strong. I timed them and they were about 10-12 minutes apart. This lasted for about 2 hours until they faded and completely went away by 11pm. I woke up to more contractions around 1:30am and decided to get out of bed to bounce on the ball for a while. At 3:30am they faded just like before and I decided to stop trying to induce more contractions and just get some rest. This completely threw me for a loop–once my contractions started with my other labors, they didn’t stop until the baby was born!
We went about our day on Thursday March 23rd, having breakfast together and going for a walk in the park with our family. We stopped by TeaBar for a treat after our walk and were just taking the day slowly. I wasn’t having consistent contractions at this point but would feel one every once in a while. They were more than Braxton Hicks but not tough enough that I had to breathe through them.
Travis left for his shift around 11:30am and at 1pm my mother in law said that she was going to go for a walk. I asked my mom to put my kids down for their naps so I could join her and try to get this labor started! We had a great time, walking and talking for over an hour. I thought we were walking pretty fast but I was waddling so my mother in law probably thought we were pretty slow.
I started having contractions halfway through our walk but just kept talking and walking. When we got home, I took a long shower and was getting ready to take our son to his wrestling practice. Once I got dressed, I was hit with my first hard contractions…and they were three minutes apart. I contemplated not going with Brody to wrestling but he was insistent on me taking him as he was still new to this wrestling thing. I obliged, much to his delight and my dismay. I figured we would be close to the hospital if things got intense–and that they did! As my mother in law drove us, I was breathing hard through my contractions. As we pulled into a parking space, I said that I could not go in to the wrestling room and that I needed to go to the hospital. Travis was still working and I hadn’t told him yet that I was in labor. I wanted to make sure this was the real deal and now I definitely knew it was. Travis’ Mom called in to dispatch to tell them to have 29(Travis’ badge number) head to the hospital because his wife is in labor. We also had to flag my friend Meghan down so she could bring Brody home from wrestling(thanks again, Meghan!).
Travis met me at our car (in his uniform:) ) and said to me “what’s up?”. Ha! I was breathing through a contraction at that exact moment so he didn’t get a response. He then met us as we pulled up to the Valet at the hospital at 3:45pm. I had been having consistent contractions 3 minutes apart for over an hour now. We made our way up to the fourth floor where we met my friend and photographer Katie and my mom. My way of breathing through these contractions was to put my hands on my knees and sway. That always seems to be my go-to. I had read Hypnobirthing by Mongan and was using her breathing techniques to help with the contractions.
Travis and I were walked back to the “maybe baby” triage area where I was checked by a nurse named Joy. I remember telling Travis “That was the worst check ever!! Her name CANNOT be Joy.”. He said her name should be “bring on the pain!”. This made me laugh even though I was not very happy. At this point she told me I was 4-5cm and 90% effaced. They walked us straight to our room and I hopped up the bed to try to find a good position to labor in. I wanted to be able to fully let my body open and kind of hang.
At this point, knowing that I was 4-5cm and staying, Travis quickly went to the station the change out and get dressed. I did give him permission for this as I felt like it would still be a few hours. Dr. Mellum came in to monitor me quickly and he asked me if I wanted an epidural. At this point I had stuck strong that I wanted to have a natural labor, and looking back, I am frustrated that he offered it to me. He was just doing his job but I know I could have labored longer without it had it not been offered. I remember saying through gritted teeth”Ahhhh…I think I want it.” My mom and Katie told me that I am not a hero if I don’t get it and to do what I needed. I asked him to get my fluids ready for an IV. I then made my way to the amazing whirlpool tub.
I wanted that water as hot as it could get and it felt absolutely amazing. My mom helped me labor in the tub by feeding me ice chips, rubbing my back and talking me through relaxing. My amazing friend Megan started my IV for the epidural while I was in the tub, which was a gift! I walked out of the bathroom to find the anesthesiologist ready! This was a surprise as I had only gotten 1/2 a bag of fluids and he came super quick. I plopped on the bed and he was administering my epidural within minutes. This is where something went wrong. In my opinion, he worked too fast, but I’m not the doctor. He was in a hurry to give me my epidural because his shift ended in 15 minutes. I asked him if he was heading on a vacation or something because we was working so fast. I also told him he was cute so ,ya know, maybe I was feeling more of the drugs than I thought. He was not very thorough in making sure I was level and sitting in the correct position, as I remember my other anesthesiologists doing. However, I felt some numbness go down left side and I was happy to get my pain under control. This did not happen, though. I was now stuck in bed without the epidural working properly. I had remained very composed up this point, getting to move my body to manage my pain through contractions but this is where I started to lose my cool. I yelled at one point in the middle of a contraction “He NEEDS to come fix THIS!”. My mom, Travis, and Katie helped me calm down by rubbing my shoulders and telling me that I can do this. Katie said “No matter when he gets here to fix it, you can do anything for 40 seconds.”. At this point, I was frustrated for even getting the epidural since it wasn’t working like I had hoped.
I was pushing my little epidural button so much and changing positions on the bed that after an hour or so, it eventually worked! Hallelujah! I could still feel my contractions but the pain was substantially less. I was so happy to not be stuck in bed feeling those contractions like I had been. At this point, Megan checked me and I was 7-8cm and “very stretchy”. My mom, who is an L&D Nurse, also checked me and whoops! She broke my water.It was around 6pm. Travis got some rest once I was fairly comfortable.I was so happy at this point and we took some photos to document who was with us as we welcomed baby boy into the world. I also had time to put on some make up and text friends some updates.I started to feel a little pressure and figured baby was ready to be born! At 6:50pm, I was 10 cm and ready to deliver. I asked Travis earlier in my pregnancy if he would be up for delivering our son. He said he would be and we thought this would be such a special moment for our family. We were right! It brought me a lot of joy seeing his excitement as he got ready to deliver Beckham.I asked a nurse to get the mirror and I got to touch the baby’s head and watch him make his way out! After about 3-4 contractions, Beckham James Albini was born in his daddy’s hands at 7:10pm on March 23rd 2017.Travis did a great job and I was so happy that he was the one to deliver Beck! We were in such awe of his precious and perfect life! As we examined his little body, I thanked God for this baby boy. He reminded me so much of Brody and we are so in love with his squishy face. Beckham has a full head of blonde hair and the cutest long toes and fingers.We were so happy that Travis’ mom and my mom could be there for Beck’s birth.
Beckham weighed 8lbs 5 oz and was 21 inches long. He had a pretty swollen and bruised face but was doing great and had a great Apgar score-9s. Travis and I had a very restless night due to some bladder issues and, ahem, a new baby!But those moments in the hospital were very sweet, indeed. It was so fun having Brody and Brinley come to the hospital to meet their newest brother! Brody was over the moon and Brinley was obsessed with the gifts that Beckham got her–a flower tutu dress and a big sister book.
Thank you Katie for taking our birth photos! We are so grateful you could be there and do such a special thing for us.
After Katie left, Travis and I alternated taking photos of our family. Our time in the hospital will always be some of my most cherished memories–being able to document it is a passion and love of mine!
Thank you to everyone for your support and love during our pregnancy and delivery with Beckham. We are a family of five and that is pretty exciting! God has blessed us immensely.
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