Maddox' Birth Story

I still cant believe my second little babe is earth side because I feel like I should still be super pregnant! But he is & I could not be happier to have him here with us throughout the holidays!! I made a youtube talking alll about my birth story and preterm labor experience, which you can find linked below! But I have also typed out my whole story incase you are more of a reader!!

Day 1 - Sunday Nov 11

On Sunday Nov 11 Daniel & I went for a long walk around Mud Bay.I kept having contraction like pains & extreme back pain irregularly throughout our entire walk. I spoke about it on my instagram stories asking if anyone else had experienced something similar and almost everyone said they had stuff similar, but were just braxton hicks - so I didn’t really take it too seriously and just thought it must be Braxton hicks or false labor. CLEARLY it was the real deal! But we wouldn’t know that until Tuesday!

Day 2 - Monday Nov 12

So Sunday night I went to bed, having irregular contractions here and there. Monday woke up and was still having them, so I called my midwife and she advised I go to triage to get checked out in the hospital . No contractions picked up on the monitors and they also completely slowed! I was having super mild ones but nothing like the day before, and so they sent me home! (however they didn’t have the monitor low enough to pick up my contracting uterus either ! ) I was sent home and just told to rest and drink lots of water as they assumed I must be dehydrated..

Day 3 - Tuesday Nov 13

Monday night they were still happening, now happening a bit more regularly and continued to progress Tuesday. As the day went on they got closer and closer together. I was advised to go back to the hospital to be monitored again and to make sure baby wasn’t under any stress. I had no bleeding, no discharge, no water breaking. My contractions were picking up every 3-8mins on the monitors but when they checked my cervix it was still closed. So again. was advised to go home and rest…and to maybe take some Tylenol to try and help. LOL.

So we went home, I layed down to rest, and contractions started to happen every 2-5 mins. lasting 20secs to 1 minute long. I was in labor. I was moaning and groaning and just feeling so helpless since I was told it was not labor. I didn’t understand why the heck I was dealing with these and not knowing when or how long they’d last was horrible(since I was told it wasn’t labor, it felt like there was no end point I could look forward to).

At 11pm we were in bed & the contractions had no signs of stopping. They were SO intense. I was trying to convince Daniel going to the hospital was a waste of time because I didn’t want to leave Daxton again for no reason if they were just going to tell me to go home. But after hours of listening to me progressively get worse, he forced me to go to the hospital and thank god we did because I was almost 2cm dilated and was admitted as soon as I got there.

Day 4 - Wednesday Nov 14

Maddox’ Birthday

As soon as I was admitted I was hooked up to monitors and given some medication to try and slow contractions and a steroid shot(2am) to help babies lungs mature and develop incase he did decide to make an appearance. After I was given the shot and my first dose of medication I was taken to a room and hooked up to monitors, an IV and was told I couldn’t eat anything incase I had to have a c-section. The nurses sat beside my bed with me monitoring SO closely. They gave me the medication every hour I believe and took my blood pressure every 30 mins. They were so unbelievably thorough in making sure both me and baby were doing ok and for that I am forever grateful. Although I coudln’t get much sleep as.I was disturbed every 30 mins to take my blood pressure LOL.

After an hour of using the medication my contractions slowed to every 8 mins, and then 1 every 20 until about 1pm. But there had to be less than 4 an hour for them to be sure labor had slowed and for me to get released from hospital. Daniel and I just hung out in the hospital room hoping the contractions would go away, but I knew they wouldn’t. I could just feel that this baby was coming, it was just a matter of when.

In preparation for what could be labor and our baby making an early delivery, the NICU doctors came by to give me a brief overview of what it may look like delivering a preterm baby. They let me know a 32 week baby had a VERY good chance of survival, only 1% difference than a full term baby - which gave me a ton of relief. The OB on call also paid me a visit to basically tell me I was having a c-section as she would not support a VBAC so close after a previous cesarean(11 months prior).

So there we were, sitting in the hospital, waiting out every contraction hoping they would either slow or stop completely but it didn’t happen, and I knew it was too late from the get go. At around 1pm the contractions started to pick up again. By 3pm they were back to happening every 3-5 mins . At 5pm the OB came to check my Cervix and I was now 3.5cm dilated, contracting every 1-3 mins for at least a minute long.

I was fully in labor and they began prepping me for a c section as with a preterm baby labor can progress FAST and the OB was worried that since I had been in labor for 4 days now that my uterus may not be able to take the stronger contractions about to come. Babies head was visible when I was checked, and from this time till about 7pm everything was an absolute blur and moving so fast.

The nurse came in and shaved me down(I missed my Brazilian appt 2 days prior), gave me antibiotics, made sure the IV was in place and got Daniel all prepped in his scrubs so he could be in the OR with me. I was using laughing gas for contractions but I found no relief and preferred to just push my face into the bed taking deep breaths. I still had no bleeding, no discharge and no water breakage. At 7pm we walked into the OR room where I received an epidural. Although I wanted a VBAC, I was exhausted and so ready for the pain to be over and to get my baby out safely.

At 7:43pm Maddox Gabriel Kiener was born, weighing 4lbs 12oz and measuring at 18.5 inches long. Screaming and crying like a healthy baby boy. I bawled. I had no idea what to expect and if he would cry or even be able to breathe on his own and hearing those cries was the BEST thing in the entire world. The doctors were all saying how big he was and how he seemed bigger than a typical 32 week baby.

Daniel left with baby to the NICU and I was left in the OR to get stitched up and put back together. Then rolled out into the recovery room on my own - just keeping calm, hoping and praying that baby was fine! The next morning Daniel wheeled me over to the NICU where I got to see my baby for the first Time. it was magical. I felt so relived to just see him happy and comfy cozy in the incubator and was able to go back and get some sleep. It wasn’t until later that afternoon that I held him for the first time ! Fast forward 4 weeks later and baby Max is a healthy. happy baby boy gaining weight daily and has been home with us for a week!

I could not be happier with how everything turned out ! The care Maddox and I received was amazing & I am so thankful for the wonderful healthcare system we have in Canada & the amazing nurses that cared for Maddox throughout his first 3 weeks of life! <3