Welcome, Baby Girl

Introducing my baby girl - Joanna Himawari Gibbs. She was born on April 14th, 2021 and this is the story of her birth. 

3 days before labor

37 weeks

7 pounds and 14 ounces, 19.5 inches long

How It All Went Down

April 13th evening at the hospital

I was starting to experience worrisome symptoms and it was after clinic hours so I was instructed to go to the hospital. When I got there, I was still about 3 cm dilated (which I already knew) and was not in labor. Nothing was wrong so I went home.

April 14th morning at home

At about 2 am, I was feeling a lot of cramping but I didn’t jump to the conclusion I was in labor because of my frequent Braxton Hicks. Honestly, I was in denial for a good chunk of my pre-labor. My mom had to drive into town to watch Benji and the last thing I wanted was her wasting a trip. As the morning went on, Brian stayed home from work and I (mostly) decided I was in labor. So, my mom started her trip to Madison.

Afternoon at home

I bounced on an exercise ball for a few hours and my contractions were steadily increasing. I was getting tired so I tried to rest in-between but the intensity went up dramatically around 2 or 3 pm. Like my first labor, my contractions don’t like to be consistent, making it hard to determine when to leave for the hospital. At around 4 pm, I decided we should start getting ready to leave. I tried to go upstairs to get some socks and I couldn’t do it. I leaned over on the stair and said “It’s time to leave now”.

The car ride

It was a rough ride. At one point, Brian chooses a bumpy road and I almost killed him. Once we arrived, I couldn’t walk so Brian dropped me off so he could park the Jeep. A hospital staff pushed me to the delivery floor without Brian. I cried the whole time.

At the Hospital

The next part is a blur and all I remember is them telling me I was 7 cm dilated and progressing quickly. I planned to have an epidural so the staff had convinced the anesthesiologist to bump me up in the lineup to make it happen. The epidural worked really well but it slowed down my labor. I was okay with that because it gave me time to rest and enjoy some quietness after all the hustle and bustle of getting there.

After a few hours, I was still progressing steadily. I was having contractions every 1 to 3 minutes but didn’t feel a thing. I handled my pre-labor at home just fine. But once I reach 7 or 8 cm, peace out pain, give me the drugs.

Finally, the doctors had the opportunity to break my water! It sounded like a huge river flowed out. One of the doctors said, “This is why we wear waterproof shoes”. After my water was broken, it was pushing time!

Pushing did not last long. After my first push, my OB said, “This is going to be a 2 push labor”. I liked the sound of that and within minutes I was holding my baby girl. My first thought after seeing her was, “I can’t believe she was inside there”. Looking at her now, I am still amazed at what a woman’s body can do. My body made that body and it is truly incredible.

Joanna is right at home with her new family. I can’t express how blessed we are to have 2 children to love and care for. A huge shout out to Brian who supported me like a pro the whole time.

This labor was very similar to Benji’s birth. If you want to read his story, click here. :)