Although I never officially blogged about expecting a baby girl, many of you that follow me on Instagram already know lol. Keeping up with pregnancy, work, blogging, and everything else that was going on at the time got to be too much… hence the 5-month hiatus.
On June 10th, my husband and I welcomed Zion aka Baby Z into the world. She’s ball of joy and spiciness, I suppose the best of both worlds from her parents lol.
A handful of people have asked questions about my birthing experience. I’ve tried to think of a concise way to really articulate it but it’s hard lol. I’ll try my best but of course, let me know if you have other questions 😂
So… was it all I had imagined? Yes and No lol.
Many people speak on the strength of women that have gone through childbirth. While I had previously acknowledged that strength and personally believed all women are superheroes, I have a wholeeeee brand new understanding of the word “strength.” During my pregnancy, I read Supernatural Labor by Jackie Mize and if there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s a relatively quick delivery. That was the supernatural part for me. Although I was induced, the active part of labor took 6 hours from the start of Pitocin (medication to start contractions) to meeting Baby Z. For a first-time mom that was being induced, my doctor (and lowkey myself) thought I’d be there for a while. I think I went from 3 cm to 7 cm in something like 2 ho
urs? Only God. Shoutout to my praying family and friends that kept declaring I would deliver like the Hebrew women – quick and easily (based on Exodus 1:19).
What’s labor like?
Let me tell y’all….. I mentally cursed Eve out SOOOOOOOOOO many times in my head!!! DO YOU HEAR ME?!?! I had always known I wanted an epidural because.. why not? Lol. When I worked as a Labor and Delivery nurse, I used to tell my patients “there’s no award for who can tolerate the most pain” and I 100% stand by that. I got my epidural around 7 cm and felt some temporary relief.. until I didn’t. I hate to say it but my epidural stopped working at some point so I had a natural delivery involuntarily. Well, what happened Moyo? Short answer, I don’t know. Up until 7 cm, I can say that the pain was tolerable. As someone who had strong cramps during that time of the month, that’s the closest thing I can compare it to. The last 30 minutes were rough...Ring of Fire... need I say more? I was hot, hungry, and over it lol. When it ended, the tears of joy were so real. The marathon was finally over and my long awaited bestie was born.
And Recovery?
There are numerous changes that immediately take place once a baby is born so recovery is a multi-faceted process. Mentally, I could not believe I had now become a mom. At many points in the first 24 hours, I found myself staring at Zion in awe. I spent 9 months wondering how she’d smell, feel, and look, thinking about how I’d cope with labor, andddd finally, the mental gymnastics were over. Emotionally, I was simply in love. No long story there. In love with her, in love with my husband, and in love with the family that called and encouraged me through the labor process. And now the big one…physically. While I was grateful to feel lighter without my bowling ball of a belly, everything else was a slow process. Between an episiotomy, diastasis recti, adjusting to breastfeeding, the fatigue (what is sleep???), extreme hunger, postpartum night sweats, hearing phantom cries… I felt like a hot mess. Each day brought challenges as my body healed itself from the inside out but, here I am 8 weeks postpartum feeling a WHOLE lot better.
I'm thankful to God for a smooth and successful labor & delivery and a healthy baby girl! Quite the journey but I'm excited to finally be able to share with the ATBM family 💕