James' Birth Story: April 7th, 2026
James Thomas Bolin
April 7th, 2026
6:43am, 20.25 inches, 7lbs 4oz
My longest pregnancy, biggest baby and hardest labor!
3 weeks of prodromal labor. Nights I'd wake up to contractions every 3-4 minutes. Contractions that were less frequent but "holy crap" level painful. If you've never experienced prodromal labor, count yourself very lucky! It is so physically and emotionally exhausting, and this was my second pregnancy going through it.
2 membrane sweeps. After the second membrane sweep on April 6th, I went to Costco with my stepmom for some last minute shopping. I had some pretty painful and powerful contractions during, enough I did not want to be sitting down for them. I made it home and leaned over the yoga ball and swayed my hips. That seemed to allow the contractions to come.
Andrew got home and I ate dinner and showered and put a little make-up back on. I returned to the yoga ball leaning and swayed.
I got spooked by 3 back to back BAD contractions in a row, and headed to triage at 8pm. The drive was strangely peaceful, with my contractions slowing down and the dread of triage just sending me back home. My whole fear was accidentally having this baby at home. With my last baby, I also had prodromal labor. My water broke and it was immediately intense and she was out within 2.5 hours. I expected this one to go even faster.
I walked into triage feeling like doubting eyes were on me. I didn't look like I was in labor! They checked me and I was 4cm. Earlier that morning I was 3cm but could easily stretch to a 4. They wanted to monitor me for an hour and see if anything changed. Contractions only wanted to come if I was laying on my right side... It was SO strange. I went from 4cm to 5cm the first hour of observation. The nurse told me the doctor asked her if she thought I was in labor. And she couldn't say for sure... Yeah hun, me neither! But something is happening! I was getting so much anxiety fearing they would send me home and I'd be on edge for even longer having painful contractions and thinking “any minute now”. It’s even more stressful when you have kids at home and have to wait for your childcare to arrive!
I had asked if they would be allowed to break my water if admitted. The answer was yes only if I was 39 weeks... which was 1 hour away. So they decided to monitor me a second hour. I went from 5cm to 6cm the second hour! The doctor came in and gave me the encouragement I needed, that I was going to have a baby soon! She was a delight, Dr. Christinne Dugang Canela in Tucson, AZ.
I transferred to the labor room and was struggling to decide if I wanted to really alter my labor by allowing them to break my water. But contractions only wanted to come if I was laying down. I felt so confused and frustrated. My water had been BULGING for at least a week based on my membrane sweeps! My doc said both times "I could break your water SO easily right now!"
After my water was broken, things slowly ramped up. I expected things to very quickly ramp up, but this entire labor experience laughed right at all of my expectations! The contractions got to the point that felt the way transition felt when I was laboring with Julie. (I didn't know it at the time, and had gotten the epidural when I was basically 10cm.) After probably about 1-1.5 hours of laboring HARD I asked to be checked thinking I have GOT to be at least like 8/9cm and almost there. I was coping so well, breathing very slow and steady and working through each wave.
My nurse checked me and I was a 7.... barely approaching transition!
At this point I said ENOUGH as I knew sh!t was about to get REAL and asked for the epidural. Of course once I caved and asked for it, transition REALLY began. This was not like Julie's labor at all... I was trying hard to sit still for the epidural and when a contraction would come, my legs would shoot out off the edge of the bed and violently shake. I kept burping while trying not to vomit, it was such intense pain. I’m sure a big reason was my positioning!
The angel that is the anesthesiologist made it work and got the epidural placed. It took a while to kick in, and even then it was a gradual decrease in sensation. I rested about 30 minutes, we checked and I was only about an 8 with a little bloody show. I switched over to lay on my right side (the side that had earlier allowed contractions to come while in triage) and the nurses let me snooze for about an hour. My mom came back in and eagerly asked if they would check me soon. I told her the nurses had told me that they will know when it's time because the baby will drop off the monitor as he will be too low. I semi-jokingly said or we could just look and see if there's a head down there! She obliged and I got to absolutely gross my mother out because SURPRISE there was big time bloody show! We let the nurses know, she asked me to do a test push and saw that I was moving baby down with that and said it's go time!
We got set up quickly and happily, 2 good contractions, probably like 5 minutes of pushing and he was out! I learned for me especially I benefit from pushing with my knees in and ankles out, and boy did that work for both boys! My umbilical cord was so short, and I wanted delayed cord clamping so we got to meet him on my lap. I'm talking SHORT SHORT. Apparently umbilical cords are supposed to be like 24 inches long! THAT is why my labor was SO weird... might even be why I was stuck in prodromal labor instead of tipping into full blown without assistance. Little bugger peed on the doctor twice while he was on my lap!!
I intend for this to be my last baby… I was hoping for a grand finale of a labor, where I did not get the poke at all. I felt I was really doing well until the slap in the face that was this labor’s transition. I asked my SIL who has birthed 6 without medication if she had experienced that involuntary shaking type of transition. She said 2/6 were like that… so that tells me they’re not all like that!
Nothing at all had gone how I had hoped. I am so grateful for that epidural still, and grateful we are all happy and healthy. It was definitely a struggle point with the postpartum hormones though, the feeling of defeat and disappointment. Motherhood humbles you, that’s for sure!
Comments