Welcome baby Matteo! Congrats to Jessica and Massimo on their doula supported NCH birth

Thank you to Jessica for sharing her funny and real recollection of the events leading up to the birth of your firstborn! Tara loved supporting you and your sweet new family through your strongest moments of labor.

• I was scheduled for induction at 7 pm on July 11

• I called NCH at 6 pm to make sure they had space (the hospital had been super busy so there was a high chance they wouldn’t be able to take me)

• They told me not to come yet but keep my phone on and they will call when it’s time

• We went to bed around 11 pm and were woken up at 1 am and told to come to NCH

• We dove over to the hospital (Massimo was driving so slowly!) and texted Tara (our labor doula) that we were on our way there

• Tara happened to already be at the hospital because she had just finished another birth and came to our room to say hi

• Around 2 am once they got us checked in and hooked me up to the monitors, they said I was 2 cm dilated and we started Pitocin

• By 7 am, the pitocin level was at 8 and my contractions were every 3-4 minutes but not too strong- they felt like period cramps (Tara said I had a great pain tolerance so I told Massimo I was going to frame that text and hang it up in our house lol)

• At 8 am, Dr. Garcia came and broke my water which was very uncomfortable. I was 3 cm dilated, 60% effaced, -1 position

• By 8:30 am, the contractions were much stronger and we started calling for the nurse to let her know I wanted an epidural. (We ended up calling 3 times before the nurse showed up to even talk to her about getting the epidural )

• Tara arrived around 9 am and turned off most of the lights, and had some essential oils which were great

• The anesthesiologist was in a c-section so they told us it would take a while and at that time, I regretted not asking for the epidural sooner because my contractions were so strong. Tara was helping me a lot with counter pressure, helping me breathe/grunt and letting me know I wasn’t going to die

• Finally around 10 am, the anesthesiologist came and they said only one person could stay in the room with me. Massimo and I looked at each other and we both knew Tara would be much more helpful to me in the moment so he left.

• The contractions were so strong and close together then which was the hardest part of getting the epidural- trying to stay still through the pain. I was squeezing Tara’s hands and she was super helpful but that was probably the peak of the pain.

• By 10:30 am I had the epidural and felt very comfortable. I could still move my legs but didn’t feel any of the pain (just slight pressure). 

• I remember it was uncomfortable because I felt wet- as if I kept peeing in the bed

• Tara had me do different positions with the peanut ball and move around a little 

• We mostly just watched Wimbledon on the tv and chilled

• At 12 pm, I was 7-8 cm dilated, 100% effaced and position 0

• At 2:30 pm, I was 10 cm dilated
  

• The nurse called Dr. Garcia and told her we’re close and she said she just has 1 more patient to see then will come

• Around 3:30 pm, I started to push and was straining so hard I thought my eyeball was going to pop out. I asked Massimo to be near my head, so the nurse and Tara were holding my legs and telling me when to push (mostly Tara- the nurse was so quiet) Tara would count down the seconds for me to keep pushing which was really helpful

• Then I see the nurse get scared/shocked and I’m like what’s wrong? What happened? And she’s like oh there’s a cockroach in the corner! So I’m like Massimo get it and he goes sure. Then proceeds to put on gloves (why?) then get toilet paper and I’m like use your shoe!! So he gets it and I’m like are you sure you killed it and it didn’t run away? And he was like yes do you want to see? And I was like I’ll kill you if you come close to me with that! So crazy! 

• I was pushing really hard and thought Massimo had stepped away so I whispered to Tara “Did if I poop?” And she said “just a little” but apparently Massimo was right there and definitely heard me haha

• Then the nurse tells me to stop pushing because she can see the head but Dr. Garcia isn’t there yet. So Tara was suggesting we should just get the hospital ob to come because I was ready to pop him out but finally Dr. Garcia arrives and I’m able to push

• Then all of these people come into the room like a baby nurse and others (not sure who they were) and I did a few final pushes and he was out. Then Dr. Garcia asked Massimo to cut the umbilical cord which he later said was kind of gross but was happy he did it.

• Matteo was born at 4:03 pm weighing 8lb 5oz and was 21” long. They immediately handed him to me to do skin to skin and he was so slimy but also blonde! I was shocked. I was very emotional and crying. Tara took some great photos of the moments right after birth.

Authored by first time mom Jessica

Mom to Matteo Joel

JULY 2023

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