boone's birth story

I can't believe it's been a week since Boone came into this world- it's been the fastest week ever and we're over here trying to soak up all the newborn goodness we can. I know I need to write his birth story before I forget, because I will forget (how would we ever have more kids if we didn't?) so I'll start from the very beginning.

Zach Fullwood was an absolute saint for 9 months, putting up with my mood swings and cleaning our house like a mad man. He even had 2 separate floor cleaning companies come out to clean our floors in the weeks leading up to baby because the first one didn't get it right and he wanted everything to be perfect for me, in his words: "I'd spend any amount of money to make you happy". And let me be honest, I was a nesting pregzilla those last few weeks. That said, Friday night, February 23rd, we were cleaning the house like maniacs. There were only a few things left on our "To Do Before Baby List" and Zach was in overdrive trying to get it done. Around midnight when we stopped scrubbing floors and folding laundry (and by "we" I mean "Zach"), I looked at him and said, "I hope this baby comes really soon because our house will never be this clean again". Little did I know...

photos by Diamond Oak Photography

Boone's hat+blanket | my gown



I slept hard that Friday night and woke up around 10:30am which was glorious (and I'd later be even more thankful for this long restful night). Zach had been up since 7:30am organizing the bathroom closet and kitchen cabinets, much to my surprise, and Bear was playing with a new King Kong toy on our bedroom floor. Around 11:30am, I got up to get dressed for the day after lounging and watching TV (#pregnantandlazy) and as I was putting on a dress in my closet, I felt a trickle run down my leg. "That's weird", I thought, and I walked over to the bathroom where I just started leaking fluid everywhere. TMI, I know, but this is part of the story! I had imagined my water breaking this entire pregnancy so I think I brainwashed it into happening, but at the time I wasn't convinced. Did I just pee everywhere? No, there was no way. About 5 minutes after my water broke, I felt nauseous and contractions started. Crazy how fast it comes on! I told Bear to go get Zach who was outside doing yard work and when they came back in, I told Zach to pack his hospital bag because it was go-time. Only it wasn't "go-time", because I proceeded to do my hair and makeup while Zach showered and packed his bag, then he and Bear went to get Chick-Fil-A while I made sure I had everything ready for me and baby. We ate our chicken nuggets at home and talked to Bear about how he was going to become a big brother that day- he was so excited. We called our parents who jumped in the car and headed our way- both sets live a good 7-8 hours away so they knew they'd be pressing it to make it in time for Baby's arrival. We took Bear to my friend Michelle's house, who has 3 boys that Bear adores playing with (thank you, Michelle!), and headed to the hospital. When we arrived it was around 1:30pm and my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart.

We checked into triage and the nurse checked to make sure my water had really broken, which it had. They admitted us to a room and the fun began! Sarcasm, obviously. At first, things were going just fine. I didn't have much of a birth plan- I didn't with Bear either and everything worked out (read his birth story here). I knew I wanted to get an epidural but wasn't in a rush for it since my pain was tolerable. The nurse checked me around 5pm and I was dilated to a 4, 90% effaced. The pain was still manageable but I decided to go ahead and ask for an epidural. This is where things, as far as labor goes, went south. The anesthesiologist came in and tried to administer the epidural but was having issues- he tried 3 different times and I'd get this shooting pain down my right side every time. I was leaning into the nurse and sobbing at the pain, and I have a pretty high pain tolerance (I was unphased when I got the epidural with Bear).  Zach left the room and when he came back in he said there was blood on the bed all behind me and it wasn't a pretty sight. I could just tell something was wrong and the nurse knew it too- my contractions started getting stronger and I could still feel everything. Not one part of me was numb- the epidural hadn't worked at all. It was my worst nightmare as far as labor goes...I could feel everything. 

Around 6:15pm, my friend Michelle brought Bear to the hospital. Our parents were still 30-45 minutes away, so Zach sat out in the waiting room with Bear. That felt like the longest 30 minutes of my life, being alone in the room with just a nurse and no "support person". Luckily we had amazing nurses and they were doing everything they could to ease me through the pain. The contractions were intense and my body was acting fast- I was dilated to a 7 now and fully effaced. Zach's Mom and my Mom came in the room when my parents arrived and my Dad stayed in the waiting room with Bear. I'm sure they were surprised to see me crying and yelling through contractions, especially since I couldn't feel a thing during my labor with Bear and was just "shooting the breeze" post-epidural the first go-round. Zach's Mom immediately started talking me through contractions (she is amazing at this!) and I was in so much pain, I apologized to everyone in the room for anything I was saying because I felt like I was having an out of body experience. I kept saying to the nurses, "Am I going to feel this? I don't want to feel this!" referring to pushing out the baby. I'd heard horror stories of the "ring of fire" and had no desire to feel that pain. But it didn't look like I had a choice. He was coming and I was going to feel it, alright. 

The anesthesiologist came back in and asked if I wanted to try another epidural to which I loudly responded "NO thank you". I had no desire to go through that pain again if it wasn't going to work and I knew it was close to push time at that point, anyway. I also need to mention that my OBGYN, the doctor who delivered Bear, wasn't on call that day so there was another doctor that was going to deliver the baby. As I started to feel an overwhelming need to push (craziest feeling EVER), the nurse hadn't known it would happen so fast and the back-up doctor was still 20 minutes away at her house. So they pulled a third doctor in the room (we joke now, a back-up to the back-up) who ended up delivering our boy. Three big pushes and Boone Thomas Fullwood made his way into the world. He barely cried, and the second the nurse laid him on my chest he stopped crying and just stared up at me as I spoke to him- he knew I was his Mommy. I tore a lot down there (again, TMI) so the doctor stitched me up which I could also feel. I was shaking uncontrollably at this point but just so happy to have our baby boy in my arms that I wasn't paying much attention to anything else. He was born at 7:43pm, 8 hours after my water broke and labor began, 3 days before his due date. 7 pounds, 11 ounces & 19 1/2 inches of sweet, squishy newborn baby. My parents brought Bear in the room and the next few minutes were the best of my life thus far- watching our boys meet for the first time. Bear was so proud, such a loving big brother, and I felt like my heart was going to explode. I've felt that way ever since.

I'm sure I've left out bits and pieces of the story, like how I tried to get Zach to sneak me a Diet Coke at one point (he didn't oblige), but what matters most is that Boone is here and he's a healthy baby boy. Zach and I had no idea just how much our hearts could expand and the love we would instantly have for both of our boys. We feel so blessed to call them ours and can't believe baby Boone is finally here! Thank you all so much for the kind messages, texts, and emails you've sent following Boone's arrival- they mean the world to us and we are so grateful for your love and support. 
We'll never forget this day, the day our family grew to four and our hearts grew even more. We love you, baby Boone.
xo, Britt