Dylan’s Birth Story- Snow Chains, Mountains & Prayers

Birth is amazing, no matter how it happens.

If you know me I have been enjoying the last month off from work with my daughter Danica exploring and soaking in our little family before we became a family of four. The week before my due date and after being checked out by my doctor saying that I was not dilated at all I decided it would be fun to take one last weekend getaway up to the San Bernardino mountains (1.5 hours away from home) to catch some snow and have some fun before baby brother joined us. It did cross my mind that maybe there was a possibility that Dylan could come early, but I wanted to trust my body and after talking to my doctor I made the decision to go anyway. I had looked up and researched a hospital nearby just in case he came early.

On Saturday morning we grabbed our breakfast and coffee and hit the road! Danica was so excited! I was so happy that for now Dylan had decided to stay put so that Danica could get a glimpse of the snow. She kept talking about it the whole drive up. Mid-way through the mountains we got stopped because there was more snow then anyone had anticipated. They required chains up the mountain and since we didn’t expect that much snow we didn’t have any chains with us. At that moment it could have been sweet Jesus telling us to TURN BACK, but we decided to wait it out a bit and knew we were about 20 mins out so we trekked up the mountain VERY slowly to our resort. The rest of the way the road conditions were fine, but the snow kept coming down harder and harder. I did think to myself and pray “please GOD, keep us safe and whatever you can do keep baby Dylan in me until Monday would be so great, thanks!”

About 20 minutes later we arrived to our beautiful resort. You should have seen Danica’s face. PRICELESS. I was reassured that we made the right decision to come up for one last fun trip before things got a little crazy.

We had the best time playing in the snow, eating, relaxing and walking around town. But for some reason I just felt worried. Like it hit me like a truck, what if I do go into labor. Are we going to make it down the mountain? I just kept brushing it off, but again I think my body knew that in less than 24 hours I would be in labor 5,100 feet up in a National Forest covered in snow with no snow chains and just sweet prayers being said all the way down the mountain as I inhaled and exhaled through contractions. Given the heavy snow we decided we would hit the road at 11am on Sunday in order to beat the next drop in snowfall. After everyone went to bed I just laid there. I just couldn’t go to sleep for some reason (oh there was a reason alright, ha!) After tossing and turning around I looked at the clock and it was 1:30am. All of a sudden I got a rush of emotions just hit me along with a sharp, very sharp, pain on my abs. I laid there and I thought “Um. Ohh snap! That can’t be a contraction. Nope. It can’t be. We can’t leave until 11am tomorrow, so there is no way this is a contraction.” My heart started racing and I just kept breathing through the pain. I got up and started praying and fighting as much as I could in denial that they were in fact contractions. Around 3am, I woke up Dave and I said “babe, I’m having contractions. I think I can make it to 11am so that we wait for the snow to melt a bit. I’ll be fine.” As I slump over the bed in extreme pain.

You can do anything for a minute.

I kept telling myself. I can totally just practice my breathing and be fine for another 8 hours. I’ll be fine. Dave and I just sat there and kept asking each other “what should we do? should we go get chains?” I decided to call our nurse triage team back home and they said to make it to a hospital ASAP. I was disappointed because I really wanted them to say “just take your time, you will be fine.” We decided that we should purchase chains from anywhere we could. Luckily there was a 7-11 nearby. Dave drove to the 7-11 to purchase chains and put them on himself in the below freezing temps at 4:30 am. I felt so bad, but my body was telling me we needed to head home.

My baby will be born at the perfect time.

I called the hospital I had previously researched and told them what was happening. They said it would be a good idea to just get checked out before heading back to San Diego. After a little over an hour drive down the mountain we stopped at the nearby Labor and Delivery hospital. At this point the contractions were coming on SO STRONG! I was trying so hard to breath and concentrate on staying calm. The pain was unreal.

The triage nurse checked me out and her face said it all. She took her gloves off and looked at me and said:

“You are 7cm dilated. Sorry honey, you’re not going anywhere.”

I literally started crying hysterically. I just went into panic mode.

How is this happening right now?

There is no way I can have my baby here. This wasn’t the plan.

What about Danica? She can’t watch me deliver this baby!

What about Dave? Will he miss the delivery of our son?

All these questions and emotions hit me hard. Like really hard. I heard the nurse tell Dave that we weren’t leaving and I started crying again. They admitted me to the hospital and told me that I better get comfortable. The anesthesiologist was busy with another delivery, so it would take some time for him to get there. The pain was unreal. I had told Dave to stay outside with Danica because I didn’t want her to be alone or feel scared. For a few hours, I entrusted in nurses, complete strangers, to help me through this pain. I was terrified of what was to come. I can’t explain how nervous and scared I felt. The nurses kept saying that Dave should be in there and that my daughter would be fine with the student nurses. I just felt terrible. I had come to the conclusion that Dave was going to miss the birth of his son because I just couldn’t wrap my mind around leaving Danica with complete strangers. Little did I know my sister was on her way up to meet us at the hospital.

My baby is coming.

The anesthesiologist attempted 6 times and he failed. They checked and I was 9.5 CM by this point. Baby was coming and it was too late for any medications. I remember the nurses saying “YOU CAN DO THIS MAMA!” I literally wanted to punch all of them in the throat, as I’m sure you can imagine. Oh did I mention this was a learning hospital? So there was like 12 people in my room including nursing students. I think I scared them with my contractions, but anyway I had to come to terms that I was having a natural birth. Totally not what I wanted to do, but here we are! I just took deep breaths and prayed for relief.

After attempting to push for what felt like forever, they told me that they didn’t want Dave to miss anything so that they were bringing him in and that Danica would be okay with a nurse. He came in and told me my sister was nearby and she would be okay. I pushed what felt like a gazillion times and I felt like giving up. Heck I yelled and said “I just can’t do it anymore. He is not coming. This hurts. You guys don’t understand.” The support I received from all 12 people in the room including Dave was enormous. They kept cheering me on. As I type this I get emotional about that moment.

You’re going to feel like at some point you cannot do it. THAT is when your baby is coming.

After what felt like eternity and the worst pain I have experienced I heard cheering and everyone saying “one more push! we can see him!” Just like in the movies and I heard him cry. The pain instantly went away. It was the most amazing moment ever. I immediately asked Dave to go grab Danica.

I was SO excited that Dave was able to witness the birth of our son! I’m glad I got over myself and let the nurses help out with Danica until my sister got there to watch her. She was SOOO excited to meet him. This wasn’t my plan, but life never goes as planned. At that moment I prayed and I came to terms that everything that was supposed to happen happened. I delivered a healthy baby boy. I didn’t die from the pain even though I felt like it. Dylan was supposed to be born that day at the location and I don’t regret it. Now we have an amazing story to tell him when he grows up. God was watching over us and he helped me push through.

The only item I had packed with me that I would have used in our hospital bag was this beautiful robe. My goal was to take some photos while we were on our trip, turns out I needed it more than anything this weekend, ha! The link to the robe is below. The most comfiest and feminine robe ever! Link:

Pink Blush Robe

Birth is powerful. Let it empower you.

I love how every birth story is beautiful and I can’t wait to share his story with him when he is older. I would love to hear your birth stories! I hope you enjoyed mine. Thanks for your endless support!

xo, Dris

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