Welcoming Carson Leigh

Hello world!

August 1, 2014 at 7:54 pm we welcomed our sweet girl, Carson Leigh Chandler, weighing in at 7 lb 0 oz and measuring 20 inches.  We couldn't be more thrilled and I can't believe it's already been more than 8 weeks since she's been with us!


It's taken me a while to write her birth story-maybe something to do with caring for a newborn???  I have no idea what I thought took up so much of my time and made me so busy before she came along-I truly know the meaning of busy and having no time to get anything done now.  But at the end of the day, the only thing that really has to get done is making sure our little bundle of joy feels safe and loved.  This I have to remind myself almost every day.


I'm writing this mainly as a memory keeper, for years down the line when I can't remember the minor details.  But for me, I think part of the postpartum process includes going over the details of how your baby enters the world.  Conceptualizing what your body goes through.  Thanking God for the miracle that is birth and your baby and the fact that it all happened without complication and that she is healthy.  So this post will not be a short one.  It will have some of the "gory" details of giving birth.  Proceed at your own reading risk :)


August 1, 2014
4:00 am
I did not sleep well the night before.  I'd been waking up super early for a while so this wasn't unusual.  What was unusual was the extra-crampy contractions I'd been having during the night.  I had Braxton-Hicks contractions since about 30 weeks so I was used to them.  But the last couple of weeks, they had definitely gotten more intense, I was super crampy with gas pains galore-there simply was not enough room in there!

38 weeks: 1 week before Carson was born

  I had been saying for a while that I thought things were going to happen early.  In fact, at 38 weeks we went into the hospital with a feeling that labor was starting.  I had been having clear discharge for a day or so, like I peed my pants a little.  My contractions were getting stronger and on the evening of the 27th there was blood in the toilet after I used the restroom.  

  We packed a small hospital bag (no, I was not prepared at all!) and went in to the hospital to get checked to see if the discharge I had noticed was my water having broken.  After about an hour there, monitoring the baby and the minor contractions, they sent us home letting me know that my water didn't break but that things were definitely in motion.  However, it could be an hour, a day or a couple of weeks before the little one was ready to make an appearance.

4:30 am

I decided to go ahead and get up; I wasn't really sleeping and this way I could leisurely get ready for work.

6:00 am
I was sitting at the couch eating a bowl of cereal, catching up on whatever crappy TV show I had recently DVR'd but been too tired to stay up to watch.  Then, unmistakably, my water broke.  There was no questioning this time.  No gush of fluid soaking the couch cushion but definitely enough to no longer be able to wear my stretchy leggings that had become my uniform for the last couple weeks.

I hurried into our bedroom and woke Ben, letting him know that definitely, for sure, this was it.  Oh my goodness, the feelings that you have when you are 100% certain you are about to give birth-excitement, fear, anxiousness, concern, relief.  The rush is incredible.

7:30 am
We called the hospital, confirmed our arrival, gathered our packed bags (the scare from the week before forced me to finally put them together) and drove up to the hospital.  We were sent to the maternity triage room, I changed into a gown and got hooked up to the monitors.  We were old pros as we had done this all just a few days prior.  The same midwife came and checked in on me that I had seen.

(side note, our midwifery group was amazing!  If anyone in the Seattle area is pregnant and looking for a midwife, I can't say enough good things about the Group Health midwives in Bellevue!)

But this time they confirmed that I was leaking amniotic fluid and that my water had indeed broken.

We were then given two options: we could get admitted to the hospital or we could go home,  Since my contractions were showing that I wasn't in active labor (they were several minutes apart, sporadic, mild enough to easily manage), I chose to go home and labor until we had to come back to the hospital.  I was instructed to not do certain things in order to prevent infection and was told to return once contractions were consistent and the common 5:1:1 (5 minutes apart, 1 minute each for 1 hour) or if I felt that I needed to be at the hospital for any reason.

So off we went!

11:30 am
     We stopped at Burger King on the way home and I got what would be my last pregnant meal-a Whopper with fries and a large Coke- and sufficiently stuffed my face.  I had made arrangements with Mandy from Green M &M Cleaning to come by the house that following Monday.  Since we were pretty sure that baby would be here before then, I asked if she was available that day and if we could reschedule her.  She was thankfully able to squeeze us in and we decided to run some errands while she was at our apartment.  The midwife had mentioned that walking around would help progress labor and so we took this advice and made a trip to Target and Babies R Us for some last minute items.   

    They were not kidding around!  The contractions ramped up like nobody's business! Let me tell you, walking the aisles of Target is no longer the enjoyable, purchase-inducing trip when you are dealing with full-blown active labor.  In between finding a new shower curtain and searching the $1 bins for cute finds, I was alternating bending over my cart and doing squats any Cross-Fitter would be impressed with, breathing through my teeth, trying to work through each one.  Finally, I said we needed to go, this was ridiculous.  We headed back to the apartment but I did request a stop at the Dairy Queen; not smart Chandler, a Chips Ahoy blizzard wasn't going to ease up the contractions.

3:30 pm

    We made it back to the apartment and had to interrupt Mandy while she was vacuuming-I felt terrible and I'm sure she felt super uncomfortable with me busting in, don't mind me, I'm just having contractions!  I worked through each one for another hour and a half or so.  Eventually there was no helping the situation and we decided to head to the hospital.  Imagine my excitement when I realized it was 5:30 pm on a Friday night and we were having to drive up I-405 into Bellevue-one of THE most traffic-ridden roads in the metro area.  I was freaking out but thankfully, by the grace of God, we didn't get stuck once on the way there.  Meanwhile, I'm standing up, unbuckled the entire trip, thinking I'm about to give birth in the car.

6:00 pm

     We arrive at the hospital and my contractions are about 2-3 minutes apart, very tough and extreme focus needed to get through each one.  One thing I'll remember is our attempt to get in the elevator up to the Labor and Delivery floor.  A woman was waiting with us for the only elevator that was working and when we joined her on it she made it clear that she was going down and not up, where we needed to go.  Can you imagine??? Telling a woman, clearly in labor, that she needs to get off the elevator and wait for it to come back because she was going down!  I was pretty pissed but it returned fairly quickly and we made our final leg of the journey up to the 6th floor.

     I was admitted immediately and changed into a hospital gown and strapped up to a baby heart rate and a contraction monitor.  I remember being so uncomfortable that I couldn't lay down and just stood while they put the monitors on.  I had to get back in the bed in order for my midwfie to check how far I was dilated-5 cm, woohoo!  At this point I was pretty uncomfortable but able to handle it ok.  My midwife and the L&D nurse recommended getting in the tub, which I agreed to.  I didn't really think it could make much of a difference but it seriously helped!  While I had packed a swimsuit, intending to be somewhat clothed if we chose to use the tub, at that moment all inhibitions were thrown out the window and I stripped down to nothing.  The only thing on my mind was getting through each contraction, not how I looked or who saw me.  They've seen it all before, right?!  At least that's what I told myself. : )

6:45 pm (I think?  No real concept of time at this moment)

     I had to keep the monitors on which were a bit uncomfortable but not terribly in the way.  While the water made things a little easier, it definitely didn't slow down or decrease the intensity of the contractions.  Each one got harder and harder to get through.  I changed my breathing technique as a recommendation from my midwife and was consumed by doing the stereotypical "hee-hee-hoo" breathing.  It became my lifeline.  It was one of the only things I concentrated on and continued the action, even while I was in between contractions.  I focused on the silver circle just beneath the tub faucet and on Ben's voice, encouraging me and reminding me of how to breath when the pain took over and I would succumb to the "cave woman, hear me roar" yelling, also stereotypical of TV labor.

7:30 pm (Again, I guess it was about this time :)

     The contractions became so extreme and I can only imagine that I was beginning what they call the "transition" phase.  The most intense but also usually quickest phase.  At this point, I had been in active labor for about 7 hours.  I couldn't believe how fast everything was moving!  Thankfully they  had removed the monitors and I was free as a bird.  But this stage was definitely the worst.  It felt like my insides were trying to rip themselves out of me + someone punching you in the stomach while your abs are flexed + a torture device squeezing the sides of my stomach together.  All in all, not pleasant.  I was ready for the epidural.  I just didn't want to feel the pain anymore.  Ben had helped me the entire way along, reminding me I could do this and a natural birth was what we had planned for and that I was doing great (he told me later he thought I was going to break my hand because I had been punching the handrail in the tub, something I barely remember).

     After I made the decision to get pain medication, the midwife asked if she could check my cervix again, just to see how far along I was.  I agreed as this was a factor for me in the final decision to get meds or not.  If I had only progressed by a centimeter, then let's go get my epidural started because there was no way I could do that for 4 more centimeters.  Lo and behold, I was 8 cm.  Argh!  While it was encouraging to know I was almost ready for pushing, I felt I couldn't give up now and almost as if this was a "I heard you couldn't" type challenge to finish up without drugs.  So, screw it, let's do this!

     I decided laying in the tub was no longer effective and I needed to be standing/squatting.  Ben stood over me and helped me up while the nurses helped me out of the tub.  This was a serious process as I was battling intense, extreme, severe contractions every minute or so.  We took breaks to let me get through each one and then moved as quickly as possible between them.

(Another side note, it is AMAZING how calm and pain-free everything is between contractions!  Your body goes from this 8-10 on a 10-scale level of pain to completely fine in a matter of seconds.  However, that calm isn't necessarily pleasant as you are only preparing yourself for the next round.  But still AMAZING!)

     As I was getting of the tub, I noticed blood dripping on the towel beneath after one particular contraction and at that point I knew this was it.  I made my way over to the bed and begged not to have to get into it.  My midwife and nurse were amazing and encouraged me to get into whatever position I needed for this last stage.  I made it clear that I was feeling urges to push and they let me know that the next time I felt that, I could start pushing.

     I was leaning over the hospital bed, holding onto my midwife's hands, with Ben behind me squeezing both sides of my hips together in order to relieve some pain and widen my pelvis in preparation for the baby.  I began pushing and oh my goodness what an experience that was.  The contractions were still occurring but were so much more manageable because now I could do something about them.  Just like we had heard in our classes, this part was painful but felt like I was actually accomplishing something, rather than just being in pain.

     My midwife switched places with Ben so he became my sole focus during the pushes.  He was such an incredible partner and coach.  Never wavered and kept me intent on our goal.  They describe the pushing phase as creating a "ring of fire" and boy does that accurately describe it!  Such an intense pain but in some way totally manageable.  I knew that after this, our baby would be here and I only had this last hurdle to get over.

(A funny memory from this ridiculously tough experience:  Ben and I had been asked to be a part of a TV news special following people's journey of various health experiences and we were the pregnant people.  We had an initial interview at our home, a second interview with our Centering group and midwife and had discussed allowing them to be a small part of the hospital portion.  We had texted our point person after we left the hospital that morning and Ben sent another text after we arrived at the hospital.  In the middle of me pushing, the phone in our hospital room rings.  What the what!? Who knows we are in here and is calling us???  I don't think anyone answered so we forgot about it.  Then someone knocks on the door and comes in asking if we are expecting a camera crew!  Ben looks at them and says "Not right now we're not!"  They were innocently trying to get me while I was preparing for labor and little did they know, we were about done! A funny little story I'll always remember :)

I could feel the head bearing down and knew we were in the true thick of it.  My midwife encouraged me to reach down and feel the head, which was crazy!  However, I had to reach back up and hold Ben's hand;  I wasn't done yet!

7:54 pm

     I could feel the head move farther down each time I pushed.  I made a final push and could feel the head finally emerge-we were so close!  My midwife let me know I could reach down and grab the baby and pull her out if I wanted.  In the moment I was so completely reliant on everyone around me and just did as I was told; I had never really planned to do it but it felt extremely natural and I felt almost lucky to be able to help bring my baby into the world.  I began to pull her out, they stopped me for a brief second to pull the cord from around her neck and I then got the rest of her up and into my arms.  What an amazing rush!  The pain completely subsided and Ben and I just started laughing and sighing in relief from such an exhausting experience.  All I could do was stare at Ben and this life we created-seriously such a miracle from God!

     It took us both a few seconds before we asked what it was-a girl!  The nurses and midwife helped me up in the bed to lay down-what a comfort this now was as opposed to the nightmare it would have been only minutes before.  They placed our sweet girl on my chest and Ben and I just stared and smiled and laughed at this amazing thing we had all to ourselves.

    The next few hours were a blur of getting cleaned up, Ben cutting the cord, nursing her for the first time, giving her a bath, eating dinner and just enjoying our beautiful miracle!  We were moved to the other wing where we slept that night and rested the next day.  We were lucky enough to go home the following evening and start our new lives as parents!  Here are some video and photos of our time at the hospital and shortly after.

After her shots

7 lb 0 oz

Her first bath-under a heat lamp, feeling good!

The Chandlers

First car ride-not sure of going home with us at this point : )

The bili-bed for her jaundice treatment at home - it glowed underneath like tanning bed!

We made a website for all things Carson Leigh for anyone who might be interested a.k.a. our parents :)  In order to not overload anyone's Facebook/Instagram accounts with pictures of our girl, you can find pictures of her at https://babychandler2014.shutterfly.com/