Hey Guys! Today I wanted to share my labor and delivery story with you!

Check out my trimester recaps below:

1st: HERE

2nd: HERE

3rd: HERE

My due date was September 21, 2019. I was always convinced I would go 2-4 weeks early. My Mom went a month early with me and since I had a few health complications during my pregnancy, I was convinced. When I went in for my 36 week checkup, I was 1.5 cm dilated and my Doctor predicted he would be here in about 2 weeks, so 2 weeks early! I was excited and nervous!

Well 2 weeks passed, and at my 38 week checkup I was barely 2 cm so it didn’t seem like he was coming very soon. My doctor offered to do a membrane sweep to “speed things up” but I declined. I wanted my Son to come when he was ready.

Well, 2 more weeks went by and a couple days before my due date I went to the Doctor again and I was still only 2 cm dilated. She wasn’t worried and again offered a sweep but I declined. Since it wasn’t medically necessary I decided to let nature run its course.

The day before my due date I had a ton of cramping that felt like menstrual cramps. I thought they were contractions but they went away and on the day of my due date I felt fine. I guess Little Man was nice and comfy inside my belly.

My husband and I took the weekend to finish up any last minute things before he would come along. We did a lot of walking and resting and just hanging out with us and Bruce our dog. Any random pain I would get I would start Googling to see if it was the start of labor. My husband said he wishes he could ban me from Google lol.

Finally things started to progress. At 3 am Monday morning I woke up with cramping again. This cramping felt different though. It would start in my back and wrap around my abs really tight for a few seconds every 10 minutes or so. It wasn’t painful, yet, but definitely uncomfortable and very different then the cramping I had before.

Since it wasn’t super painful, I decided to just sleep on the couch as to not disturb my husband and see if they would go away on their own. When he got up around 6 am they were still happening. They weren’t getting worse pain wise, but also weren’t getting better. I sent him off to work and he took Bruce to boarding just in case this ended up being it.

I googled what contractions felt like and these seemed to be real. They start in the back and circle around the abs and get really tight then the pain goes away. It was nice since in between contractions I could rest and not be in pain.

At about 11 am everything stopped. I got a burst of energy and cleaned my entire house. I guess this is normal for some people and is part of nesting. My husband decided to come home around 1 and the contractions started back up again. They still weren’t painful but the tightness would stop me in my tracks.

We decided to go on a walk to help speed things along. I am not sure if it helped but it was nice to get out of the house and enjoy a beautiful day.

At about 5 pm, things started to get more intense. The contractions were coming about every 7 to 8 minutes and building in intensity so my husband and I decided to make and eat dinner just in case this was real and we would run out of time to eat.

By about 7 pm, they were getting pretty intense. I called the hospital and they told me to wait until the contractions are 5 minutes apart for 1 minute in length and for over 1 hour. By about 8:30 they were 6 min apart and lasting 2 minutes but the hospital still told me to wait. Finally at about 10 pm I had had enough. The contractions were so bad and painful I called and said they were 5 minutes apart and they told me to come on in.

Luckily we had our suitcases packed already (check out what I packed HERE) so we loaded up the car and hit the road. As soon as we got to the hospital they took me into the triage room where they are supposed to check and monitor you for about an hour to see if you really need to be checked in.

I barely got into the room and got checked and even though I was only 3 cm dilated the nurse acted like I was going to give birth soon so she rushed me into our room and called the anesthesiologist for my epidural. I got hooked up to the machine and the anesthesiologist came in.

They didn’t give me the option to wait as they said I was progressing quickly. I was actually pretty terrified to get the epidural because a needle going in my spine made me uncomfortable but honestly I didn’t even feel it. Within 15 minutes I couldn’t feel anything from my waist down and it was amazing. I felt awesome! The contraction pain immediately went away and I felt relaxed and warm.

The epidural for some reason slowed down my progression so I wasn’t dilating as quickly. This was at about midnight so the nurse set my husband and I up for the night and told us to get some rest. Since I couldn’t feel any pain I got a couple hours of sleep.

The only thing that kept going wrong was my blood pressure kept dropping and my heart rate kept racing. I have low blood pressure before and during pregnancy and at one point during the night my blood pressure was 88! My husband also didn’t get much sleep since the first night they only gave him an uncomfortable chair to sleep in. Luckily the next 2 nights they brought in a bed for him.

At about 5:30 am, I sent my husband to eat some breakfast, even though I couldn’t eat, and the doctor came in to break my water to speed up the process. At this point I was still feeling good but I was very hungry.

At about 10 or 11 am the scariest thing happened. I was about 9 cm dilated and preparing to start practice pushing and I could feel every contraction again. I started freaking out because it was very painful. I told the nurse something was wrong and the epidural must not be working and she at first didn’t believe me.

They checked my back and it was still in so she didn’t understand why I was feeling so much pain. Finally after insisting something was wrong, they checked my IV bag that the epidural medicine was hooked up to and saw that it was unhooked and had leaked all over the floor.

This must have been going on for hours because after I gave birth, I couldn’t feel my legs or anything for at least 4 hours. They called the anesthesiologist who rushed in to give me another bag and I felt relief again. Although after that scare, my husband and I were paranoid it would happen again so we would constantly check the connection every minute.

Finally I was 10 cm dilated and it was time to practice pushing. At this point I hadn’t eaten since 5 pm the night before and it was now noon. I was so hungry I didn’t have any energy to push. I also started throwing up. This meant I had to receive medicine and take a break from pushing. I took a little nap and at about 1 pm woke up ready to push again. But again I started throwing up and had to receive more medicine. I was begging for just 1 bite of food but wasn’t allowed.

Finally at about 1:30 it was time to get him out. I was feeling less nausea and I got the urge to push that they talk about. I started to push but since I had the epidural, I couldn’t really feel if I was pushing the correct way or not.

They offered a mirror for me to see and at first I didn’t want it since I thought it would be crazy to look at and make me more anxious but finally I said OK. You only have the mirror there for the practice pushes not the whole process and honestly it was amazing. I could see his head poking out along with his hair and it was so amazing to see. It helped motivate me for sure!

After about 45 min of practice pushing I couldn’t do it anymore. I was tired, hungry, baby’s heart rate was dropping, and I needed an oxygen mask. I physically couldn’t do it anymore. The nurses and doctors were so motivating and my amazing husband helped me push him out. When I felt the urge to push, I would curl up my entire body and my husband would put his arms around me and pull me up so I could push. It was a team effort and I don’t think I would have been able to do it without him.

At this point it was about 2:30 pm and my epidural beeped that it had less than an hour left. The nurse informed me they wouldn’t be refilling the bag so I mustered up all my strength and forced that baby out.

At 2:58 pm, my baby boy was born. Honestly that moment was a blur. There was no pain, but when he came out I fell like I blacked out. They placed him on my chest and my husband and I cried. After 36 hours of labor he was finally here and he was perfect. 40 weeks and 2 days later, my Luke Michael was finally in my arms.

My husband informed me of the next bit of information since I was so out of it. He said Luke had an abnormally long umbilical cord which I later found out could have caused a lot of complications but I am so thankful it didn’t. We also found out the reason it was taking so long was Luke was crooked and coming out crooked and finally turned at the last second as he was coming out so his head was a bit crooked but thankfully this went away within 2 days.

He also was a big boy at 8 lbs. 7 oz. I measured small my entire pregnancy and had to have an extra ultrasound to make sure he was growing correctly. I figured he would be barely 7 lbs. so having an 8 lb. baby was a shock! Since he was so big and came out crooked, I did have a 4th degree tear which is apparently the worst. Once I heard this I was a bit upset but I figured there was nothing I could do about it.

After we tried feeding and had about 2 hours of skin to skin, they wiped him off and swaddled him and I could finally order food to eat which made me very happy.

We stayed in the hospital for the next 2 nights as I tried to get the hang of breastfeeding as well as healing from my tear. I could barely move or stand up and my bathroom routine lasted almost 10 minutes each time. This made my husband and I extremely stressed to go home as I would obviously need to be able to move when I got home. I also started googling 4th degree tears and the results didn’t help much.

I must say after about 5 days I felt pretty much back to normal. I am 3 weeks post-partum today and still have a bit of bleeding and cramping but nothing compared to those first few days after birth.

I will have a blog post up about my post-partum must haves soon so stay tuned for that.

Now that we are 3 weeks in everything is starting to feel normal. I went to the doctor today and have lost 17 lbs and have about 13 more to go. I am not focusing on the numbers but how I feel and look and I feel like I look pretty great!

There are obviously highs and lows, and I cried more the first week than I had my whole pregnancy, but each day it is getting better. My husband is back to work full time, and I stay home with the dog and baby. I don’t know how Moms find the time to do everything each day such as feeding, pumping, taking care of themselves, eating, and socializing but I am determined to find the balance.

The other random thing that I have noticed since giving birth is my appetite is gone. I have a very high metabolism so I am used to being hungry and needing to eat every couple hours but since Luke’s birth I haven’t had much of an appetite. I force myself to eat but would rather sleep.

Overall, the experience was definitely memorable and I am so thankful that my baby and I came out happy, and healthy. I do miss my big old pregnant belly though and can’t wait until I have one again!

XOXO Channing

Hey Guys!

As I am writing this, it is the day before my due date! Ahhh! So I am definitely in the mood to pamper myself a bit tonight. I received the Oh Baby Boxes Pregnancy subscription box and I can’t wait to share all the goodies with you!

This is a pregnancy subscription box that is $39.99 a month and promises over $100 worth of items related to your pregnancy that help to relax, pamper, and get you ready for motherhood. Each box is custom curated for each Mom to be depending on the stage you are at in your pregnancy which I love! The other perk is once you have entered postpartum. Oh Baby Boxes automatically starts sending you postpartum items to help pamper and heal your body, mind, and spirit. You receive 4-6 full sized products and all are healthy and natural so you don’t have to worry! My box is worth over $130!

I unboxed this box on my Stories under “Unboxings” on Instagram if you would like to check it out HERE.

Check out each individual item I received below and subscribe to Oh Baby Boxes HERE.

Oh Baby Boxes | Baby Mama Maternity Tank | $25

This tank top is super soft, flowy and cute! I love that it says Baby Mama so I am able to wear it during and after pregnancy. I live in tanks like this and will be sleeping in this as well as lounging around the house in it when baby comes. Because it isn’t skin tight, I also think it will be easy to lift up for nursing. I also love the black color.

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Kocostar| Lemon Slice Mask| $5

I love face masks! Whether they are regular, peel off or sheet masks, I am always down to applying one and relaxing. This one is super cute and lemon themed and promises to help clarify the skin as well as add radience which I am sure I will need soon. This mask is unique becuase instead of being 1 full face sheet mask, it is 12 lemon slice sizes that can be applied to certain places to target the skin with Vitamin C. Vitmain C is great for clarifying as well as fading post acne spots which I suffer from on my cheeks so these are perfect to apply to that area.

Get 20% off the mask with code “OHBABY20” HERE

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Belli Skincare} Belli Stretchmark Minimizing Cream | $29

I have thankfully not gotten any stretchmarks during pregnancy but I have heard that after pregnancy you can still get them. I have heard amazing things about the Belli brand, so I can’t wait to use this cream. I have been diligent about applying another brand of stretchmark cream throughout my pregnancy and that one is about to run out so this one came at the perfect time. I love that this cream is hypoallergenic, rich, and gentle.

Get 20% off the cream with code “OHBABY20” HERE

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Measurable Difference| Lavender Lav-ish Detox Coconut Milk Bathbomb| $10

I love baths and bathbombs, so when I saw this coconut infused one I got very excited. It smells amazing, and coconut milk helps leave skin soft and supple which is a must during pregnancy. I have been taking baths my entire pregnancy as they help relax and unwind my body as well as help my sore back muscles. I highly recommend picking up some bath bombs to help relax your body before and after baby arrives.

Use code “OHBABY20” for 20% off HERE

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Maskeraide| Spotted Detoxifying Blemish Patches| $6

At the beginning of my pregnancy my skin was a mess! My hormonal changes definitely reaked havoc on my skin in the form of cystic acne. Thankfully I was able to clear it up (Check out my blog post about it HERE) but I am preparing myself for more imbalance and breakouts after I give birth. I have used patches like these in the past and have loved them! They are so easy to stick on a trouble spot overnight and I don’t have to worry about them coming off or getting a heavy cream on my sheets or pillow. These ones are infused with tea tree oil, salicylic acid, and volcanic ash to help draw out the impurities.

Get 20% of with code “OHBABY20” HERE

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Xpand| Xpand Original No- Tie Lacing System| $9.99

These are genius! I love that these laces can be put onto any shoe to make them slip on easily! I have a pair of tennis shoes that have laces like this and I have been loving them ever since my bump started getting bigger. I can’t wait to add these to my black Nike shoes and even after pregnancy, these will be useful for when I am healing or need to get out the door quickly. I wish I would have gotten them sooner. I highly recommend getting these because trust me, once the bump comes, tying your shoes is a pain in the butt!

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Flower Mill| Balm Shell Facial Cleansing Balm| $42

I love using cleansing balms to remove my makeup before an exfoliater. I love that this purifies, and refreshes the skin without over drying it. It is also all natural, organic, and vegan which is great for pregnancy! A little goes a long way and will last you a long time.

Get 15% off with code “OHBABY” HERE

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Nellie’s| 15 Load Laundry Powder"| $6

Ever since my husband and I started our conception journey, I switched our detergents over to all natural and fragrance free. This is also how I have washed all the babies clothing, sheets, and blankets. This laundry powder isn’t filled with nasty chemicals, and only has 4 ingredients! I love that it is all natural, non toxic and can be used in hot or cold water. I can’t wait to use it!

Overall, I think this box is AMAZING! I love that it includes all full sized high value products, and the fact that each box is tailored to your individual pregnancy journey. I also love the emphasis on healthy and clean products and I think this would make a great gift to give yourself or a Mom to Be in your life.

Sign up for Oh Baby Boxes HERE