Mila Jane's Birth Story

I realized the other day that I had completely forgotten that Mila was born during an ice storm (in Texas - what?) and it occurred to me that I HAVE to document her birth story before I forget anymore sweet little details of one of the most incredible, most joyful, most beautiful week of our entire lives! So here’s how it went…

Baby girl’s due date was March 4th (a pretty good birthday month if you ask me!) At my 36 week check-up on February 9th, I found out I was in pre-term labor. Ryan made it to every. single. doctors appointment. throughout my entire pregnancy, except this one. HAHA! I wrapped up my appointment, ran to the car and cried all the happy/scared/over-whelmed/joyful tears as I called Ryan to let him know we weren’t going to make it to my due date. I was 80% effaced, 1cm dilated and baby’s head was lowwwww.

On Valentine’s Day, Ryan took me for a prenatal massage and it. was. magical! We knew baby was coming soon so we did our best to rest and nest as much as we could. And on February 15th, my work colleagues and friends through me a baby shower!

I really had overall an incredible pregnancy and cherished this season of my life tremendously. I was a little sick 1st trimester, incredibly fatigued 1st and 3rd, and dealt with some rib and back pain towards the end (baby especially loved throwing jabs in my right ribcage yee-yee!) And in the final weeks, my feet started getting MASSIVE. But overall, it was smooth sailing! At my appointment on February 16th, my blood pressure was through the roof and my doctor instructed me to not return to work, go home, rest and scheduled me for a follow-up the next morning. It felt REAL when she told Ryan & I we needed to bring our hospital bags with us to our appointment, as it was very likely she would be inducing me.

The next morning, on February 17th, my blood pressure had come down just enough that our doctor felt comfortable sending us home to rest, but also gave us the option to walk across the street and get induced. Ryan was ready. to. go. and I was hesitant as I was SO hoping I would go into labor on my own, but knew it was unlikely in the timeframe we were given. We went home to rest knowing that if baby didn’t come by the following Tuesday, February 22nd (my next appointment), I was going to need to be induced given I had many signs leading to preeclampsia.

I anxiously sat on the couch all weekend long, trying to soak in and cherish the final moments of pregnancy, but really just ready for our girl to be here. On Monday, February 21st, the night before my doctors appointment, Ryan and I were watching a show on the couch in the living room when I suddenly heard a loud click in my pelvis. I shot up and sat upright, Ryan asked if everything was okay, and I responded “…something just happened. I don’t know what that was. But something happened.” And within about 10 seconds, my water broke. GUSHED. Everywhere. Like a movie scene. Ryan screamed a giddy, excited, laugh (if you know Ryan, you know exactly what I’m talking about) and he ran to the bedroom to grab our bags. I stood over the hardwood floor crying - I was SO overwhelmed with what was happening. Ryan ran out with our stuff and grabbed me tight in a big, happy bear hug in the living room.

I attempted to change pants before hopping in the car, but learned quickly that when your water breaks…it keeps breaking. Over and over again. So fun :)

We got to Baylor Fort Worth around 10:30PM. I was checked into the OB ER and was 2cm dilated. I was super grateful that my contractions really didn’t start feeling rough (like pause mid-sentence, don’t talk to me, let me get through this rough) until we arrived at OB Triage. So the car ride to the hospital was okay. We dimmed the lights, Ryan cued my labor playlist (in case you’re interested) and then he went to unload the rest of our stuff and move his car from the drop-off lane. I later found out that when Ryan went to move the car, he called his best friends to let them know it was happening (and he cried - the absolute sweetest.) I labored for 2 hours in OB Triage since the L&D rooms were full. Fun fact - everyone and their mother chose to be induced or have a c-section the same night I went into labor so that their baby could be born on 2-22-22. GRR.

At 12:30AM, they moved me to an open L&D room and I asked for 7 epidurals (just kidding, maybe.) I felt pretty immediate relief on my right side, but felt insane contractions on my left. Anesthesia came back a little later and fixed me all up so I was numb on both sides. Somewhere Ryan learned that as soon as you get that epidural, SLEEP, because there’s no resting once you start pushing. Between nausea, vomiting and the shakes (my gosh, the shakes), there was no way my body was going to sleep, but I told Ryan to take advantage of the time and lay down. We anticipated it was going to be a long night of laboring anyways. It was 2AM and I had only progressed 1cm since arriving.

5AM rolled around and my nurse asked if I wanted to check my dilation. I knew it was go-time when she said “oh my gosh” as she checked me. “Mama, you’re 10cm, it’s time to push!” I couldn’t believe how quickly I had progressed. We woke up Ryan and I did a few practice pushes. This is when it got a little crazy…

Typically, new mamas are pushing for quite a while. My doctor, Dr. Garda, is someone I worked with at my full time job and someone I admire greatly. She drove up to the hospital the night my water broke to check on me, and drove up again as soon as she heard I was 10cm dilated so that she could be there to deliver baby girl. She told the nurses to do their best to keep baby in until she arrived! It meant the world to Ryan & I to have her be there for my delivery.

As I did a few practice pushes, I had excruciating pain in my lower back because of the way baby was positioned. Meanwhile, Ryan started getting realllll queasy. He’s not really a blood & guts guy so we knew this could be an issue in the delivery room. Turns out all he needed was some peanut butter crackers and he was ready to rock n’ roll!

At 6:15AM, Dr. Garda arrived, got everything prepped and I started pushing - for real pushing! I distinctly remember about halfway through, Dr. Garda told me I could reach down and feel baby’s head. I cried. So much. I remember taking a few contractions to rest so I could gear up for a really good push. At one point I asked “Am I getting close at all?? I feel like I’m not pushing good!!! Has she gotten any farther out?!” Dr. Garda and the nurses all at once said “YES GIRL! You are doing SO good!!! Let’s go! Another push!!” I looked at Ryan and immediately knew they were lying to me HAHA. His face said it all. Ryan was truly my greatest gift (as he always is) in that delivery room. He made me feel strong and cherished and loved. He was the best encourager during every push. (I’ll save this for another post, but when we got home from the hospital, Ryan and I reflected on just how incredibly uniting the entire delivery process was for us and for our marriage. We had no idea that it would bond us the way it did, or that it would lead us to falling more in love with one another. It’s something I will never forget.) Within 30 minutes of pushing, she was here.

Mila Jane Moore was born on Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 7:55AM. 6lbs 12oz, 18.5” long. Absolute perfection. Beautifully and wonderfully made.

I’ll be honest, the first day (right after Mila’s delivery) was pretty much a blur. I got to spend about an hour with her on my chest before they moved us upstairs to our room. I remember Ryan telling me to sleep. I don’t remember if I did. Such. a. blur. I do very distinctly remember my brother picking up Cane Rosso and delivering it to the hospital for my first meal-post delivery. My hero! Given there were still so many restrictions with COVID, unfortunately our family wasn’t able to meet Mila at the hospital, but Ryan handled sending pictures galore :)

The next morning, Dr. Garda greeted me bright and early in our room and told me I was going to be sent back down to L&D to be closely monitored. Turns out her concern about me developing preeclampsia did indeed come to fruition. My platelet counts were dropping low and she was concerned how quickly I was getting sick. (Which is crazy given I didn’t “feel” sick.) I remember feeling really sad when she told me they were going to need to put me on magnesium - in essence it was going to make me feel REAL icky for 24 hours. Catheter would go back in, I wouldn’t be able to feed Mila, and I was going to feel. like. crud. is how it was described. When we got back down to L&D, Ryan got to feed Mila her first bottle! She did so well! After consulting with a few other fetal medicine physicians, Dr. Garda felt comfortable watching my platelet count closely to see if it would go up on it’s own without Magnesium given that the treatment for preeclampsia IS delivery, which I had already taken care of :) I was pricked more times than I can count on both arms to check my platelets over the next several days. Thankfully my body did its thing and healed on it’s own!

Sleep was HARD. Mila hated her little plastic bassinet and would only sleep if she was in our arms. Ryan and I would take shifts at night holding her so the other could sleep. I remember at one point waking up when my nurse walked in and looked over and caught Ryan asleep with Mila on his chest (a big no-no per the nurses instructions.) I got mad. We were so sleep deprived. Ryan ASSURED me and the nurse he was not asleep, just resting his eyes. His exact words were, “I really don’t think I was asleep! I don’t remember falling asleep, really! I probably was just resting my eyes!” *eye roll. We joked with the nurse about it later. I remember sitting in the hospital bed holding Mila (who would COO in her sleep - my heart!), just staring at the clock and counting down the minutes until Ryan’s shift started. He would wake up, run downstairs to get me a London Fogg and ham & cheese croissant from Starbucks, and then start his baby shift so I could rest. I have told just about everyone, “I did not change a SINGLE diaper the entire time we were in the hospital.” Ryan took care of every single one. If you can’t read between the lines, Ryan really truly is one of the most selfless humans in the entire world. I don’t know how I snagged him to be mine! Watching him become a dad has been one of my favorite things about this season of life, and I can’t wait to tell Mila how lucky we are to have him!

In regards to recovery postpartum, I’ll spare the details on here, but it was probably the thing I was least prepared for and something I actually enjoy sharing with soon-to-be-mamas in person because I wished I had someone share what to expect in regards to recovery with me before I delivered.

We ended up spending 4 nights at Baylor before being sent home. Mila was technically discharged a day before me and I stayed an extra night for monitoring with Mila and Ryan by my side. It ended up being a huge blessing because crazy ol’ Fort Worth, Texas had an ice storm on Wednesday and we were so nervous about taking Mila girl home on icy roads.

Mila’s birth story came to a wrap when we arrived at home. We introduced her to Tucker (poor guy quickly realized he was no longer the center of attention), and soon after my Dad (Papa!), brother (Uncle Matt) and sister in law (Auntie Kari) came over for some snuggles.

The absolute best. A week I never ever ever want to forget.

We love you, Mila Jane!