Reign’s Birth Story
It took me a month to write this post haha and even with all of these words, I was not able to fully capture all of the emotions that I felt during that life-changing day when Reign Kasen Hunter entered my life. Even still, this is a pretty lengthy blog post. Grab a cup of coffee and settle in…
Reign Kasen Hunter was born on January 5th 2021, weighing 7lbs 4oz and 20.4 inches long. The emotions and experiences are hard to put into words. If carrying and growing life for nine months isn’t transformative enough, then giving birth will absolutely have that effect on you.
I’ve always owned the belief of trusting my body and trusting the timing of my life. I’ve held faith that my body would do what it was supposed to do when the timing was right. Being pregnant was something that has always scared me a little. I never really came across positive birth stories, only ones that warned of labor and delivery dangers. Each labor is different, just as every pregnancy is different and I think it’s incredibly important for all stories to be shared. My story is deeply personal and I’m choosing to share in hopes to encourage pregnancy optimism through my positive birthing experience.
The Last Month…
The last month of pregnancy seemed to last forever, as I’m sure it does for everyone. The last month was also December, which included my stepsons 6th birthday, Christmas and New Years, I tried to be as much in the holiday spirit as I usually am but boy was I tired and uncomfortable! My only goal here was not to have a Christmas Day or New Years baby! 😉
My last appointment was December 29th 2020 and I was only 2cm dilated… I thought our bubba would come late…
Pre-labor…
My whole pregnancy I had never felt braxton hicks, then on New Years Eve I started having them, they lasted for DAYS. I began having other pre-labor signs, I couldn’t sleep, I was huge and uncomfortable so I drank raspberry leaf tea, walked miles and miles, climbed my stairs all day to try and progress things but he just was not ready.
Labor…
On Monday January 4th 2021 my contractions finally started to become stronger and faster but because I had been having them for days we decided to go to triage to check and make sure everything was ok…
We arrived at triage around 9pm, they checked me and I was still 2cm! I felt defeated, I felt like my body was failing me… how could I have these strong contractions and labor symptoms but no dilation!?
The doctor came back in and decided to admit me because I was 39 weeks and 6 days, she then told us she would give me a pill to ripen my cervix and told us things could take a while, even days… but I took one of the three doses (half a pill each dose) and things progressed so fast I didn’t need anything else after that dose!
I think it’s important to pause here to reflect on the depth of my husband and I together in that room for the first time. For so many weeks leading up to that moment, we were unsure if we were going to be able to be by each other’s side for the birth of our son (my first born). The Covid pandemic caused a tremendous amount of turmoil and created uncertainty and doubt around what labor and delivery would look like for us and what our birth plan looked like. Not knowing if my husband and father of my baby would be able to be with me was truly gut-wrenching. In the moment that we came together in that room, all of that weight was lifted. We had made it.
We were laughing and joking, just giddy with excitement! Each time I’d look at his face, I was filled with such immense love. He was so ready to go, asking me what I needed, getting me prepped mentally and physically and he updated my mom at every stage so she could come when my waters broke.
I was breathing and working through each contraction with my husband and mom by myself, reminding me how to breathe. My husband was wiping my face with a cold towel and he would reassuringly tell me “It’s almost done,” He kept telling me how proud of me he was and how strong I was. All I could hear was his voice. His words fueled my inner power and I pushed through each contraction as they became closer and closer. Stronger and longer.
Trusting my gut…
When the doctor arrived to examine me around 9am, she said I was already 7cm dilated. I couldn’t believe I was already that far along and that I was working through each contraction, pain, and all without drugs. I consider myself to be pain intolerant, but this was a different kind of pain. I looked at it as a force that would bring me to my baby and knew it was worth the reward.
In the months leading up to my due date I began exploring birthing options and plans, this allowed me to learn what it meant to get an epidural; side effects, the use of other drugs to speed up contractions, higher risk of c-section and the list goes on. Not to mention, the thought of a needle in my spine has always been genuinely terrifying to me. Way more terrifying than the idea of going through labor naturally. But I am not one to count anything out, and I remained open to the option that if I felt I needed it, I would get it.
So when the moment came, and the doctor asked me if I wanted to change my mind and get the epidural as this was my last chance, the doctor warned “there could be 5 more hours of contractions like this” I looked at my husband and mom with tears in my eyes and said “I am so tired, I can’t do this any longer”. I was told that the contractions would get much stronger and I felt I was hitting my pain threshold. By the time the anesthesiology got to the room, I asked for one last exam to see how dilated I was… 8cms. I couldn’t help but think to myself, I’ve made it THIS FAR! I knew deep down it was about to get real AF if I didn’t get the epidural.
I am glad I got the epidural at the end because as the contractions got stronger and longer, they kept making my sons heartbeat dip by compressing his umbilical cord… at 9.5cm dilated my doctor made the call for me to start pushing because they couldn’t stabilize his heartbeat and if we waited any longer he could have been in more distress or I would have had to have an emergency C-section, which if you know me you would know I was strictly against having a C-section and was terrified it would come to that.
Delivery…
This is where things get a bit blurry. Around 12pm the doctor came in and we got to work…
With my knees pulled back, she told me to grab under my thighs and behind my knees, with my elbows wide. Greg holding my leg, my mom by our side.
I am so emotional, just writing this. These were indeed our most intimate moments together. I was squeezing his hand so tight, he was reminding me to breathe and telling me how proud he was of me.
I heard “I can see his head”, “one more push and he will be here”
And just like that, around 20 mins of pushing and our boy was here.
A wave of emotion that I can only describe as euphoric. It was an out of body experience. I went from being in my body to being completely in my soul and heart as I clutched the life that we created, our son, to my chest. I was sobbing with happiness. Greg looked at me sobbing like I have never seen before. He said “he’s here babe, he is here” and we held each other and our little boy.
Tears are streaming down my face right now as I write this, I never ever want to forget this feeling. It was the most divine moment of my entire life.
As I sit here now with him cradled in my arms sleeping, and Greg right next to us, I see my whole world. We created him out of so much love. I never understood how sacred the creation of life was until I went through this.
His Name…
People have asked us how we came up with his name and the truth is, it was something we liked and picked years ago when we were talking about and creating our future together and it stuck with us ever since. We originally had a different middle name picked out for him but upon googling his full name we found some unfavorable people with the same name or flipped full name so we settled on Kasen.
Reign: English origin meaning “to rule”. Some say that it is of Anglo-Saxon origin and means “wisdom of the wise”
Kasen: English origin meaning “pure”
