S3 E.2 Adriana’s Birth Journey
In this EpisodeIn this highly requested episode, Adriana, Mariah, Bill, and Ford sit down to recount the story of Adriana’s birth journey. Let’s just say it didn’t go exactly how Adriana had hoped. She talks about the entire experience – the good and the bad – that led her and Bill to their perfect baby boy, Ford.
Let’s start by laying out Adriana’s ideal situation: 1) labor at home for as long as possible; 2) have an unmedicated birth; 3) go to the hospital halfway through labor; 4) Ford arrives on his due date of April 9th.
One of the first things to go wrong was that April 9th came and went with no telltale signs of labor. Fast forward to April 11th at around 6am…Bill was still asleep, and Adriana started to feel some contractions. At this point, they were about 10 minutes apart. The day continued on and the contractions started to simmer down and become less active. It was a moment of disappointment because Adriana and Bill wanted this baby OUT!
Creating a zen environment to labor at home was one of Adriana’s top priorities. Bill came through! He set up candles and played music in the bathroom while Adriana took a shower to relax. Relaxing in this situation is so important, although it can be really hard while in pain. In true Adriana fashion, she sold a rug online days before going into labor and it was being picked up as this whole thing was happening. So classic!
It was dinnertime and Adriana’s water still hadn’t broken yet. Bill made dinner and shortly after, Adriana went to the bathroom – and her water broke! YAY, one step closer! Within an hour, the contractions went from 7 minutes apart to 4, to then 3. It was go time, baby.
Never a dull moment…just as Adriana’s doula arrived at 8:30 pm, she began throwing up and had violent chills. Her doula, having done over 1,000 births, called the shots and said that Adriana was presenting herself as a woman who is in very active labor (meaning she was likely 7-10 cm dilated). Bill and the doula got Adriana in the car, and throughout the 18 minute car ride to the hospital (though Bill did it in 13 minutes! – don’t speed, kids), Adriana was still throwing up wondering how women overcome this excruciating pain.
Bill parked the car and the nervous dad energy was radiating. The hospital was quiet, and Adriana, Bill, and the doula came barreling through. In the middle of a contraction, Adriana had to get a COVID test – safe to say that it completely sucked.
The hospital was a teaching hospital, so residents (doctors in training) were handling everything from the check-in process to the final dicey moments. A few weeks prior, Adriana got an internal done at her doctor’s office, and she was 4 cm dilated. A resident did another internal upon her arrival to the hospital, and said that she was still 4 cm dilated, even with all of this pain. WTF?! It felt unbelievable to everyone in the room.
Even though Adriana was set on an unmedicated birth, given all of the pain and seemingly making no progress in dilating, she got an epidural at around 10pm. She wasn’t warned about when it would be happening, and the resident did it in the midst of a contraction. 10:30pm rolled around and (loopy) Adriana and Bill began settling down, setting the same scene with candles and music in the hospital room.
They fell asleep at 12:30-1am, and were awoken by a resident at 2am to find out that Adriana was fully dilated! Everything was so tight unmedicated, so the epidural really pushed things forward. In just 4 hours, she had dilated 6 cm! Adriana’s doctor wasn’t on call, and wouldn’t be until 7am, so she had to start pushing with the residents.
This is where the rollercoaster truly begins…baby Ford wasn’t coming down into the birth canal, and simultaneously, Adriana was developing an infection and needed antibiotics. This was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Unable to fight, she took the antibiotics in hopes that it would help to deliver a healthy baby.
To say that it was an energy seesaw is an understatement. Different opinions all around, no empathy, and Adriana felt like an afterthought to the residents. The chief resident came in and noticed that Ford’s heart rate wasn’t looking too good. Everyone in the room was dropping hints about a C-section – first-time moms are practically guaranteed to get a C-section if they have been pushing for more than 3 hours. Adriana was reaching this point. Her doctor was finally on call and came into the room. Ford’s heart rate was getting increasingly “bad” (such great word choice for a nervous set of first time parents), and the baby needed to come NOW.
Adriana barely had time to process this and before she knew it, she was ripped away from Bill. The residents wheeled her to the OR and started prepping her. After prep, Bill entered the room in scrubs and Adriana started feeling the pressure of the surgery.
It’s a boy! The doctors held Ford and Adriana got a first glance. Ford wasn’t crying, and they discovered that he had an infection. This meant that he would have to spend time in the NICU – Adriana didn’t meet Ford until 6 hours after he was brought into the world, and the experience was not the traditional “first look.”
In the NICU, Ford would be fed formula, but Adriana wanted to breastfeed. It was a true battle with the nurses, and finally, they agreed to let her do it if she was committed. The next 5 days consisted of antibiotics, going back and forth to the NICU to feed Ford every 3 hours, little to no sleep, and as Adriana says, essentially being a “cow on call.”
Adriana had a mental breakdown – from her birth plan going completely awry to pure exhaustion, this experience was nothing short of a rollercoaster. At this moment, Bill said something profound: the harder the test, the greater the gift. Adriana was built to go through all of the tests she has been presented in life and come out on the other side.
As Adriana was wiping the tears from her eyes and recovering from her breakdown, the doctor stopped her in the hallway – he told her that Ford is perfect and that she knows what she is doing. She has shown her commitment and should come teach a lactation course to other NICU moms! This timing was perfect: these compliments were the gift from this hospital experience, and the empathy that Adriana yearned for.
From this episode, we are not only reminded of how strong Adriana is, but also how important it is to advocate for yourself in the medical environment. Make your needs known. All women should be entitled to birthing the way that feels best to them. Trust your intuition, trust your body, and know that you are powerful.
It truly takes a village, and baby Ford couldn’t be more perfect! Thank you for listening, and we’ll catch you next time!
Important Times1:14 - Diving into the birth story
3:15 - Original birth plan
4:27 - Labor starts at home
11:29 - Water breaks!
16:12 - Car ride to the hospital
17:51 - Arrival at the hospital/first internal
27:46 - Epidural
32:00 - Full dilation
34:35 - Pushing starts
41:22 - Complications/infection
43:28 - Chief resident arrives
48:12 - C-Section
53:52 - Operating room
1:00:08 - C-Section begins
1:04:45 - Infection/NICU
1:07:51 - NICU/breastfeeding
1:15:35 - Mental breakdown
1:20:00 - Advice
1:23:30 - Wrap-up
1:25:07 - Mariah’s perspective
1:28:33 - Final thoughts
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Welcome bestie.
We’re so glad you’re here.
We’re Adriana and Mariah. Co-hosts, entrepreneurs, BFFs, and girls just like you trying to figure it out as we go.
