Birth Story: Jhoselyn Fuentes

Birth Story: Jhoselyn Fuentes

Jhoselyn is the proud mama of two baby boys! 

Throughout my pregnancy people would tell me that it would be much easier since it was not my first baby.  "Fourth baby?! You're a pro!" However, I would argue that the exact opposite is true. I recall being scared of what labor would be like during my first pregnancy because it was something I've never experienced before. I'd mostly worry about how painful it would be. During my second pregnancy I found that I was even more afraid of the pain because I had already experienced it before. Later in life I learned that there is so much more than just labor to worry about during pregnancy.

In 2016 I was pregnant with what would have been our third son. A month after learning about this pregnancy I began to experience light spotting which eventually led to quite a few hemorrhages. We learned at a visit to the ER that I had a subchorionic hematoma which is a small bleed in the placenta. Most of the time these blood clots resolve on their own but mine grew bigger and eventually resulted in a miscarriage at 19 weeks. This was a very traumatic experience for me and it's really one of those things that you don't believe would ever happen to you. 

Sean is the youngest of four brothers. He is our second son born after we experienced our loss back in 2016.  My pregnancy was therefore considered high risk and closely monitored. I would go in for a sonogram every two weeks to make sure there were no blood clots in my placenta. These visits made me feel two different ways. On one hand, I was excited to see my baby but on the other  I was afraid of what they may find. I tried to think positively during my pregnancy but every now and then fear will find its way back into my mind. 

Unfortunately, I found myself struggling with mixed emotions. We were excited to be expecting but we weren't sure when it would be "safe" to announce it to our friends and family. Experiencing pregnancy loss taught me that although pregnancy is beautiful it can also be very terrifying as you may be expecting but never sure of what to expect.  A few weeks into my second trimester I was able to relax more and enjoy my pregnancy to the fullest.

After 35 weeks I was asked to come in for  weekly sonograms. I made sure to pay attention to his movements and I was looking for any sign that would tell me he was ready to come out.  All of my son's were late and I was too excited to meet our son that I started to try out some natural ways to induce my labor such as eating pineapple, long walks, and acupressure. I was administered pitocin once before with another pregnancy and I really wanted to go into labor on my own this time. 

Sure enough, my bump  had not even dropped by his due date. I was sent for NST (non-stress testing) to make sure baby was moving and had enough fluid. I feared being induced or getting a c-section but luckily I was sent home that day as baby was fine in the womb. I decided to do more walking and a lot more nesting! 

I began to feel contractions at around 11pm four days after his due date and they were pretty regular. I managed to sleep through them and by the time I woke up to get my son's ready for school I no longer had them. One of my biggest fears however, was being stuck in traffic on my way to the hospital while in labor so I asked my husband to drop me off at the hospital to get everything checked out. I had a feeling he was coming even though I wasn't in labor just yet. By the time I was admitted into the hospital and hooked to the monitors I began to have contractions again. I was already 5cm dilated. It all happened so quickly in comparison to my previous pregnancies. I was in labor for a little over 6 hours with my husband by my side. My body did all the work on its own. By my second push baby was out.

My husband and I couldn't agree on a name for him. We finally compromised and picked out Sean, which is an Irish cognate of John, my husband's name. We welcomed Sean Declan Fuentes into the world on September 25, 2019 at 6:34 pm. He was 9lbs and 21" long.

Pregnancy and delivery can be scary and exciting at the same time. One thing for sure is it is all worth it in the end.

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