Birth Story // Rhett Arthur McFarlen

Getting personal here!

I wasn’t sure that I actually wanted to type out Rhett’s birth story but decided to do it because I really enjoyed reading other people’s stories while I was pregnant and I also want this blog post to look back on just for myself. So here goes… On Thursday May 16th at 12:50pm, our baby boy was born. 7 lbs 7.8 oz and 20 inches long. Labor and delivery felt completely surreal and nothing like how I imagined, although I didn’t really even know how to imagine it in the weeks and months leading up to it. I was surprised by the moments of calm and how often they came. Surprised by how light the room felt despite being in a hospital. I chose to have an epidural so I guess I have a nice anesthesiologist man to thank for my moments of calm and lightness during labor. In the hours before Rhett came, it was still so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that we would be bringing our first baby into the world so soon. Casey and I were joking about how the hospital felt like an airport where time has absolutely no relevance. We got there about 1am without sleeping at all so Wednesday blurred right into Thursday and we quickly lost track of time altogether.

I think it was just after 4am that I got checked and was told I was dilated to 7cm so we decided it was time to give our families their “time to drive to Tacoma!” wake up call. Everyone showed up around 8am, with the exception of my dad who was already in the area for work and I think popped in before the main hospital entrance was even open (it’s kind of a family joke how my dad always ends up ridiculously early for things so this gave us a good laugh when he waltzed in). Once everyone was there, the room really filled with this excited and happy energy and my nerves melted away as we just hung out and waited for things to happen -Christmas morning vibes almost- and it didn’t take long for things to happen.

Fast forward… The midwife who was on call showed up between 10:30am-11am after I told my nurses I was feeling a lot of pressure and like I needed to push soon. Sure enough, I was dilated to 10cm and it was time. From 11am until he was born was definitely the most intense part of the whole thing. Pushing was hard. Not really painful (thank you nice anesthesiologist man) just hard. Like the hardest workout of my life along with way more pressure than I thought it was possible to feel. Just when I thought I couldn’t do it anymore and felt myself starting to quit, the midwife got super serious and said he was close and she coached me through the last few pushes and boom… there was a baby on my chest. I mean, basically.

So there it is. I’m not much of a writer and if the story seems abbreviated it’s because I’m racing against Rhett’s nap time. I mostly wanted to share this set of photos that are so, SO special to me. Casey and my mom took turns documenting everything and I’m so happy they did.

If you were wondering, becoming a mom is the most incredible feeling in the world and just like everyone says, you don’t realize how much you can love someone until you look down at that baby on your chest for the first time.