Mathias' Birth Story

I went in for my induction on the night of Sunday, January 29th. We arrived at the hospital around 8 PM and my first dose of Cytotec (a pill that is supposed to ripen the cervix) was inserted at about 8:30 PM. At that time, I was 1 cm dilated and about 60% effaced. I was already having regular contractions, but they were not painful at all--they felt just like Braxton Hicks contractions, except they were about 3 minutes apart. Matt had to be at work for the first half of his shift, so my dad and my sister took me. My mother- and sister-in-law showed up around 10 PM.

The first four hours of Cytotec were uneventful; my contractions stayed about the same pain-wise. When it came time to check me again at about 12:30 AM, I was only 1.5 cm dilated and still about 80% effaced. With the second dose of Cytotec, my contractions started to get a little more on the uncomfortable side, but I still didn't consider myself in pain.

At 4:45 AM, I was 2.5 cm dilated and 80% effaced, so they started the pitocin at about 5. Pitocin is a drug administered through the IV that is supposed to cause (or intensify) contractions. My contractions started to get a bit more painful at this point, but I had them rated at about a 3 on the 0 to 10 scale my hospital used. I was just starting to doze off at about 5:15, expecting to be on pitocin for at least another 6 to 8 hours before the action really started. Just as I fell asleep, my water broke! I told my nurse (who was amazing, by the way) and everyone was ushered out of the room except for  Matt.

As they were cleaning me up and changing my sheets, my contractions started to get more painful. I was needing to breathe through them, although they were manageable. Around 5:30, once I was all cleaned up and in new sheets (which I promptly threw up on), I was checked again and was at 6 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and 0 station! At this point, I was asked and I decided to go ahead and get my epidural while I still had the chance.

However, by 5:45, my contractions were so painful I was beginning to groan through them. Mathias' heart rate kept dropping into about the 60s with each contraction, although I wasn't aware of it at that point. I was given an oxygen mask (which I distinctly remembering fogging up each time I tried to do my breathing exercises). If I hadn't been so consumed by the pain, I think I might have been panicking--especially when my body began to push during the contractions. I told my nurse after the second contraction this happened during--"My body's trying to push during contractions." She looked at me like I was crazy, and told me to fight the feeling because I was only 6 cm dilated--but halfway through her sentence, another contraction started and she sent the OB tech out into the hall to find a doctor.

My nurse checked me (I think it was right at 6 AM at this point) and I was at a 9, and his head was "right there". They told me to try and resist pushing so I didn't irritate my cervix. Matt was trying to coach me through breathing, the whole "hee hee hoo" routine. It helped a little bit to focus on that. They kept telling me not to push, but after maybe 2 minutes of heeheehooing, they caught a glimpse between my legs as I was switching sides and they could see his head. I was ready.

They told me to start pushing as they set up the table. I pushed a total of 5 times through just one contraction, and Mathias Michael Minjarez was born at 6:16 AM on his due date of January 30th, delivered by a mishmash of my nightshift nurses and the dayshift nurses who had arrived at 6 AM. He cried quietly when they carried him from me to the warmer, and then just took everything in after that. My OB rushed in just too late at about 6:20.

Mathias scored an 8 on his 1 minute APGAR and a 9 on his 5 minute. He was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19.5 inches long. I'm a bit relieved that everything went as quickly as it did and prevented me from ever getting my epidural. I don't think the nurses even had a chance to call for the anesthesiologist.

A word to future moms: Labor is NOT BEAUTIFUL. It's actually a pretty terrible experience. It's only beautiful in retrospect--it's beautiful because of the child that comes of it.

And so it begins!

Hello (currently nonexistant) readers! I'm awful at introductions, so I figure I'll give the basics super quick and just jump right in. Hi! My name is Chelsea. I'm married to this super cool guy named Matt, and we had our first baby, a boy named Mathias, in January.

Now, as for this blog, it'll mostly be baby- and family- related stuff.

Today, I present you with: How I Met My Husband!

The first semester of my freshman year of high school, I took a choir class. On the first day, this loud guy comes traipsing in, holding a Drop/Add slip and demanding the teacher sign it. "I don't sing!" He insisted. I'll admit, I thought he was a bit charming at the time, but as an overwhelmed 14-year-old, I forgot about him until the spring semester. When it rolled around, we ended up in an art class together. In the back of my mind, I registered that Matt was in the class, but I rarely paid attention to the fact; we sat on complete opposite sides of the classroom, and he never said one word during class.

At the end of the February, my sister (who was a junior at the time) told me that one of her friends had told her that Matt liked me (which all sounds very high school, if you ask me). I brushed it off, sure he had no idea who I even was and they must've mixed me up with another Chelsea. But sure enough, two days later, Matt was walking up to me during lunch and promptly asking me to a movie. "Hi Chelsea. I know you probably don't know who I am, so I'll give you the basics. I'm Matt. I wear Old Spice deodorant and Tommy Hilfiger cologne. I love Oreo ice cream with caramel. Do you want to go to the movies with me and some friends on Saturday?" I told him I'd have to ask my parents, which I thought was SO embarrassing. They said yes, so I said yes, and the rest is a bunch of history.

Matt's Version:
I saw her in Art Class and thought, "Wow, she's beautiful." Then I thought, "I need to ask her out." Then I asked her out. And now, five years later, here we are: married with a child.