I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to share this since I’ve been so private about mostly everything but I feel as if my journey wouldn’t be complete unless I shared this so here it is, my birth story.

On March 16, 2018, a Friday, Andre and I went to my routine 39 week appointment. My appointment was at 9am so I was expecting to be in and out. Up until that appointment I was 3 centimeters dilated and 60% effaced. For those who don’t know, you push at 10 cm and 100% effaced when your cervix is completely thinned out. I had a completely stress free, healthy, perfect pregnancy and all of sudden my blood pressure began to spike at my appointment. They checked it twice when I got there and I was sent to labor and delivery immediately. Andre and I go to labor and delivery and I have to get my blood pressure checked every 15 min for an hour. The doctor on call came into the little room we were in and told me I was getting induced and said I was not leaving until I had a baby. I was so pumped, lol. Not about having high blood pressure but the fact that I would be holding my little human in less than 24 hours. Also, Andre had to be back in San Jose on March 20^th for his Pro-Day so if Baby Dre came between the 20^th and the 23^rd, Andre would have missed it. God definitely answered our prayers, even if that meant giving me high blood pressure for a day.

I was admitted to a really nice birthing suite around noon on the 16^th and given one of those ugly hospital gowns which I wore no longer than 5 minutes. I brought my own little grey maxi dress which is what I actually labored and gave birth in. Because it was strapless and short, it was perfect for all the checks I needed to have, IV’s, etc. They also brought me lunch and told me the most dreadful news, I couldn’t eat again until the baby came. LMFAO, I thought I was getting punked. I must say that was rough, but because my mind was in so many other places, food was not really on my mind.

I was given Pitocin in my IV at like 1pm and that was the official start of my labor. Half the time I didn’t even know I was having contractions; the only way I could really tell was by looking at the monitor. My whole family was there and the first couple hours we spent watching my little sister play in the 1^st round of the NCAA March Madness tournament on ESPN in my room. I can’t describe how proud I was of her, watching my baby sis START in her first NCAA tournament game, I was so hyped. My blood pressure probably spiked a few times during the game lol. I was doing lunges, step ups, and squats in between contractions while watching the game. The contractions weren’t really painful, they just felt like cramps in my lower back.

By 5pm I was only 4 centimeters and the nurse stretched me to 6 centimeters. My Pitocin was shut off and my body did its thing and got me going. The doctor shut the Pitocin off because the baby’s heart rate began to drop with contractions so they did not want to stress him out and make him upset. Around 9pm I was 7 centimeters and the doctor came in to break my water. About 10 minutes after my water was broken, I was like “Oh, this is what contractions feel like, I’ll go ahead and take that epidural, K thanks.” I even told my family to leave the room because I did not want them to see me in pain. Andre was so encouraging and got me through that rough few minutes until the anesthesiologist came with the good stuff. Even though I’ve been poked like 100 times during this pregnancy process, I still DESPISE needles. I was just ready to have some relief so I was scared but not too scared. The anesthesiologist was AMAZING. He was very soft spoken, explained everything to me as he went, and described exactly what I was going to feel at each step. It wasn’t bad at all. It took him about 10 minutes and the process was done. About 30 minutes went by and I was feeling great, sleepy, but so relieved and relaxed. The only thing I could feel was a dull, tightening pressure in my lower back.

By midnight I was starting to feel an urge like I had to go to the bathroom; it was go time. Some people get mad at me for sharing this but I was laughing, making jokes, having conversations, and face-timing my little sister in between pushes; literally felt no pain. Andre was the best coach ever, and my inner athlete was for sure coming out. I was doing a lot of self-talk to keep myself focused and motivated, the OBGYN and the nurses loved me; I was lowkey doing their job for them haha. Although I felt no pain, I felt like I had endured the hardest conditioning tests back to back to back. After 2 hours of pushing, a 7 pound 5 ounce baby angel entered the world with his eyes open and locked on his mama. The way he looked at me; it was as if he knew exactly who I was.

So about the recovery? Lots of blood, every single muscle in my body felt like it had been strained or pulled, I felt like I was pooping shards of glass for 2 weeks, everything hurt. Shout-Out to Tylenol and Stool Softeners, LMAO.