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It was January of 2021 and our final countdown to Kennadi’s arrival had begun. Her due date was February 6th and I would be starting maternity leave on January 29th. Well, Kennadi had other plans and made her arrival on January 21, 2021. Keep reading for all the fun details of our birth story.
When we first found out we were pregnant, I was really excited when the doctor said our due date was the beginning of February. I really did not want a January baby (LOL) as I felt nobody is ever really excited for January. My husband’s birthday is February 1st so I was really hoping Kennadi would arrive early on his birthday.
Funny story, two weeks before my water broke, my mother in law had told me she had a dream about my water breaking. She was then nervous and wanted to know what our plan was if my water broke while Mitch was at work. That led us to a conversation about her due date and…true story…I had stated I really didn’t want a January baby but if she came in January, the only date I would want is January 21, 2021 because it is a cool date. How ironic that is the day when she was born!
My entire pregnancy was really easy. So much easier than I ever could have expected which made me both excited and nervous for birth. Part of me thought birth would be horrible since my pregnancy was so easy but the other part of my brain kept saying the birth would be just as easy as the pregnancy.
The one thing I did not (and really couldn’t have) prepare for was an unexpected early arrival. I can’t say my husband and I were TOO surprised though. Kennadi was insanely active in my belly; my doctor and every ultrasound tech commented on how much she moved around. It was only fitting she kicked her way out early. Once we hit January, my husband kept saying he had a feeling she would come early. I had the same feeling but ignored it since everyone kept saying your first baby is always late.
Well, on the morning of January 20th, I was really tired. Like extra tired. Kennadi was insanely active all night long; I kept snoozing my alarm and procrastinated getting up. I was working from home that afternoon but everything was over the phone so I knew I didn’t need to get ready. Once I got out of bed, I looked in the mirror and felt my belly had dropped. My husband was at work and I sent a picture to him. His response was “eh, ya maybe a little bit.” Once I went to the bathroom, I realized I might be losing part of my mucous plug. I sent a picture to my friend (who had given birth a few months prior) and she confirmed that I was.
Again, I did not think too much of it because I knew it wasn’t any indication of how soon labor would start but I had secretly hoped that maybe it was a sign she would be a little early. My sister, on the other hand, was crazy excited when I texted her and kept saying Kennadi was on her way.
Fast forward a few hours to 1ish … I tried to eat lunch and wasn’t that hungry but was really craving a Frappuccino from Starbucks (no idea why as I hadn’t had one at all during pregnancy.) I realized I had just enough time to go drive through Starbucks before I had to start work. As I was sitting in the Starbucks drive through line, I felt a gush beneath me, and like everyone says, I questioned if I had just peed myself. I had a gut feeling that my water had just broke and started getting REALLY anxious. I could not get out of that drive thru quick enough.
While I was waiting for my drink, I texted my husband and said, “Don’t freak out but I am pretty positive my water just broke in the Starbucks drive thru.” Of course, he texts back right away with a ton of questions (the medic in him) and I told him I would let him know for sure once I got home. Well, I barely made it inside our house and sur enough, just like the movies, a huge puddle in our hallway. I called him and excitedly told him it was time. Once I knew he was on his way home from work, I facetimed my mom and sister and they were in shock and SO excited. My husband texted his family and I sent a group text to my friends. I think everyone was surprised and caught off guard but of course, so excited.
At this point, I wasn’t even thinking that I needed to go to the hospital (Lol, first time mom moment) because I wasn’t having any contractions. I told my husband I was going to shower and wash my hair while he drove home. He was the one who told me that I needed to call the hospital to let them know we were coming. I wish I had a recording of my phone call with the nurse because I must have asked five times if she was sure I needed to come in yet. Of course, she was laughing and said something along the lines of yes, your water broke so you need to come in ASAP.
Thank goodness, our hospital bags were already packed and ready to go (read about my hospital packing guide here) and we just had to throw a few last-minute items into the car. About an hour and a half after my water broke, we were on our way to St. Jude. I was SO anxious on the drive realizing I had to actually birth a baby. The one thing I kept saying to my husband was “well she is coming early so she can’t be that big.”
When we arrived at the hospital, they asked if I wanted a wheelchair and I said no. I still felt great, a little bit of back pain but no contractions. Well, the second I stepped out of the car, water was gushing down my legs. I did the good ole waddle up to the delivery floor. When I reached the nurses, one of them laughed and asked, “Oh honey, is it running all down your legs?” I laughed and said yes and they got us into our room and had me change into the gown.
For some reason, my husband and I both expected everything to be frantic and happen quickly and that is NOT how it happened. I really wish I had forced myself to eat on the way to the hospital because I had no idea they wouldn’t let me eat anything once I was checked in. I was starving all night! Right after she was born, I really wanted some food and my only option was to eat the nasty turkey sandwich they gave me at 3 am.
Birth Story: Timeline
- 1:45ish pm: Water broke!
- 3:30 pm: Arrived at the hospital and got checked in to our room.
- 4:00 pm: The nurse checked me and I was only dilated 2 cm. She hooked me up to the monitors and said to “hang out and relax” because it would “be awhile.”
- 5:00 pm: I still wasn’t feeling anything other than a little pressure in my lower back but the monitors were showing short 10-15 second contractions. The nurse came back in and asked if I was planning on an epidural (I absolutely was.) I praise all you moms who did it naturally; me on the other hand, numb me as much as possible please! I thought it was still too early for an epidural but I was terrified of time somehow running out and being too late to get it so I was more than happy when she went to get the anesthesiologist. He was incredible! He was making jokes with us as he got the epidural in and really helped make me feel more at ease.
- 8:00 pm: For the next few hours, I was (extra) relaxed and watching Friends while my husband was watching the contractions on the monitor. They were getting a little closer together but the nurse started me on Pitocin to speed things up a little. At this point, I told my husband I was hoping she would be born past midnight so her birthday would be 1-21-21.
- 1:15 am: My husband and I had both fallen asleep and I woke up because of how uncomfortable my legs felt (complete dead weight.) The nurse had me on my side thinking it might help speed things up. I really wanted to get off of my side so we called the nurse in and she helped move me into a new position. She said we were “getting closer” but didn’t seem urgent. When my husband checked the monitor, he was super excited and told me the contractions were back to back.
- 2:20 am: The nurse came back in to check and I noticed the contractions were nonstop on the monitor. She checked how dilated I was and excitedly said “9 cm! We’re going to get everything prepped to start pushing.” Mitch jumped out of his hospital chair SO fast and was ready to go.
- 2:40 am: I don’t remember every specific detail but I had the nurse on one side and Mitch on the other when I started pushing. By the third push, Mitch told me he could see her. They brought the doctor in and I pushed a few more times but she was not coming out. The doctor said I had one more push before she would have to cut to get Kennadi’s head out (her heart rate was dropping.) Well, I was terrified of tearing and that must have motivated me because all it took was one more push!
- 3:14 am: Kennadi Rae Munger was born on the most special day.
We had planned on only being in the hospital for 24 hours but later that day after her birth, they told us she was Jaundice and had to place her under the lights. Due to this, we had to stay an extra night and went home two days after she was born.
Having a baby during COVID definitely changed things. We weren’t allowed to have any visitors which was a bummer for us as first time parents. But, the positive to this was the uninterrupted bonding us three got in those first two days. We obviously were able to facetime all of our family and friends for them to see her but everyone was waiting anxiously for us when we got home.
The hospital policies were more strict than usual due to COVID. They did not allow anyone to go to the cafeteria but you could order food to the room. The best part about St. Jude was their concierge service. They had this even before COVID but it helped make everything more convenient with the COVID policies. We could order food from any restaurant or fast food within the city and they had someone go pick it up and deliver it to our room. All I wanted after having Kennadi was Chick-fil-a and they made it happen!
Mitch and I are both coffee drinkers (if you aren’t now, you will be when you have a newborn crying all night) and there was a Starbucks in the hospital but we were not allowed to leave the room. So, he bribed our nurses every morning by buying them all coffee if they would go down to the Starbucks and get it for all of us. It worked both mornings; they were beyond thankful and so were we!
Well, that is the main overview of our birth story of our little Kennadi! To read more about postpartum recovery and essentials needed, make sure to read this post.
Are you preparing for delivery? First time mom? Have any questions? Comment below or connect with me on Instagram! And don’t forget to subscribe to be notified of new blog posts.
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Vivi was born early too at 37 weeks! My water broke too without any contractions! I had a 28 hr labor including 4 hours of pushing! 💕