Delainey's Birth Story + Our Moment of Truth

If you're a woman and you have ever taken a pregnancy test, you know that feeling... Whether or not you're planning on having a baby, the second it comes down to the results appearing after taking a pregnancy test can be nerve-wracking. It's either going to come up positive and you are officially expecting or it's going to come up negative and it's time to try again. You want a test that's reliable to provide you with that kind of result. That's why, when I was late last year and wondering what was happening, I opted to use e.p.t., the original home pregnancy test invented nearly 40 years ago.

I can still remember the day we found out we were pregnant with Delainey. It was the most amazing feeling watching two lines show up on the test and knowing that we were going to be welcoming a life into this world. With e.p.t.'s accuracy rate of 99.9%, I knew it was officially happening as soon as the lines started to show. We tried for years, so this wasn't my first rodeo with a test, but it was the first time the whole testing thing resulted in a baby around nine months later.  Sharing the news with our family, hearing her heartbeat, seeing her on an ultrasound, it was all so amazing... and the nine month journey started with just a little plus sign on a test I took at home.

During those nine months, I learned so much about myself and found out my body is capable of things I never even thought were possible. I learned that hormones really do play a role in your emotions and that sometimes they are truly uncontrollable. I also learned to love my body - while it may have expanded, it also created a life and that is beyond amazing.

The life it created came into the world 9 days early, during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hermine, while my doctor was out of town. 

But let me start at the beginning... we were walking around Target browsing the aisles, when I got super uncomfortable and knew something was different. These contractions weren't just Braxton Hicks, they were intense and almost indescribable, that's when I told my husband I thought we should leave... and he knew something was up, mainly because I never say I want to leave Target.

After we got in the car I called my Doctor's office to be reminded he was out of town. I spoke with his assistant instead and she told me to just wait it out and to call again if those feelings got closer together or my water broke, otherwise I just had to wait. Later that afternoon they got more intense but I waited to call, then around 7pm, I knew it was time to call. We phoned the doctor, which meant she called the hospital ahead of time for us, and they had a bed open waiting for me when I arrived. They started to monitor my contractions and after about an hour of monitoring they decided it was time.

To say I was nervous is an understatement... but I was also so excited. We spent so many years preparing for this day and it was finally here.

While I'll spare you the gory details about my actual labor, I will say I spent around 20 hours in labor total, from the time my doctor told me to wait it out until 12:01pm on September 2nd.

Those 20 hours proved to me I'm capable of anything like bearing through unbelievable pain, adapting to unexpected change, laughing in the face of what I should fear, and so much more. I gave life to something so amazing that day, but honestly, she gave life to me.

And what is the craziest part of it all, you may ask? I would do it all again, in a heart beat... and when we decide it's time to try again, I'll only turn to e.p.t. to give me the answer I seek in that moment of truth.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.