This is our birth story; I promise there will be no talk of anything gross....completely G rated/
But as many of you know we were blessed by becoming parents on July 1st, 2013 to a beautiful little (by little I mean big) baby girl. She gave us a long wait for her arrival but it was all worth it; and this is our story.
It was a hot Saturday mid-morning and we decided that we NEEDED to get out of the house; I was so tired of being inside all week and since it was TJ's day off work I wanted to spend some fun time with him and...well spend it doing something since we were getting close to the end of it being just "us". So we had our dear friends come over and decide on what to do, but it was rather hot so our options were limited since we knew pools would be packed and there wasn't too much to do with a pregnant lady on a hot summers day...so we decided to go get some lunch as the four of us and enjoy a lunch together...who ever thought that it would be our last time being just the four of us?
I started getting really irritated and grumpy in the middle of the day so we parted our ways and TJ ended up putting a movie on for us to watch, rubbed my feet and within minutes I was passed out asleep! I woke up close to eight and felt rested but still tired. I noticed close to 9pm what I thought were contractions and texted Cyndi (my doula) immediately asking all the questions I could if this was labor or not. She told me to see if there was a pattern and clear enough there was! They started out being around 6 minutes apart and I felt great! I even made the statement "if this is what labor feels like, I don't know why women are so mean and scream" little did I know that was just the early stage of labor and I quickly changed my mind about it not being painful or easy.
The funny thing was, when we started counting the contractions and the times we thought I could give birth at any hour and TJ hadn't had his hair cut in a few weeks and we both knew it would be awhile before I got around to it; so we decided to cut his hair. It was very calming and relaxing to cut his hair since it gave me something easy to distract myself with and he didn't have chunks of skin missing from his head so it was a win-win for both of us. ;) (In fact I wish I had more hair to cut to distract me with, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it so much as a distraction; but I don't think the heads to the hair would be that trusting getting a hair cut by a lady in labor).
My midwife warned me about getting anxious about labor and told me to rest as much as I possibly could. So we watched another movie or so counting the contractions and getting me tired enough to sleep. Needless to say I was anything but tired; just having a three hour nap I was pumped and ready to get this labor going! I was determined I was going to have this baby and it was going to be done on MY time...how wrong was I.
As time went on contractions kept getting stronger but not that much closer in time so I started getting discouraged a little but TJ was there to keep me motivated and that I am so thankful for. After all night and all morning my midwife came to visit around 3 that afternoon and said I was barely a two and I wasn't even in active labor! She said maybe by that evening or the next morning I would get into the active stage, but since my body was tired I needed to sleep, so I took some Benadryl and got a few hours of shut eye.
Time kept passing on and the contractions were getting more intense but still not any closer together. I was getting discouraged and we finally called Cyndi to come down and help us both out since we were clueless on what to do further. I swear as soon as she walked through our front door I had a surge of energy that changed my discouragement into encouragement. It felt great, and I felt determined more than anything that I could do it...and it worked, I went into active labor and we went our way over to the birth center.
I felt so calm and peaceful, the sayings on the walls and the whole atmosphere was peaceful and you could feel the love radiating from the walls from all the previous births that had occurred there, it gave me so much hope and kept me going when I thought I couldn't any longer.
All night long, we walked around, bounced on a ball, rolled on a ball, tried sleeping, different positions laying down on the bed, taking a bath...nothing. I was stuck. My body was so tired it was slowing down the contractions but not the intensity...my body was telling me it needed to rest but because it wasn't lightening up on the contractions it made it very difficult to fall asleep. Early in the morning we checked again and still in the same spot we had been hours before, and we had to make the decision to go the hospital and get me the epidural so my body could let me rest so I could progress further. I was so sad, I cried and cried and cried. Knowing a natural birth was what I really wanted, that I wanted to birth our baby in that peaceful room, knowing my body was so exhausted and I was past the point of exhaustion; we ended up packing up our things to head over to the hospital.
There were about three lights between the birth center and the hospital and it felt like the longest car ride and the longest red lights of my life. But what felt even longer was checking into the hospital and getting me into a room. But needless to say, they did get me in and we started the epidural as soon as we could so I could relax.
Now I know this wasn't how I wanted to play it out...besides, sometimes your birth plan can be thrown out the window and that is exactly how I felt...and numb from my stomach down. BUT I did start progressing and I was able to sleep some which felt great! We thought now was the time we could tell our families and friends that we were going to have a baby, and she would be here sometime that afternoon/early evening.
Nobody was expecting my body to progress that quickly, the doctor came in and checked I went from a 6 to a +2 within an hour and the doctor said "okay its time to push". I didn't even really need to push, I started laughing about something and she started coming out! From the time they told me to push and from the time she was ON my belly and no longer IN was a grand total of 16 minutes and I only pushed for 7 of those minutes. It felt wonderful to have our precious baby finally here, our family was complete and we could not be happier.
Yes, this wasn't my birth plan but I have so much gratitude towards our nurse who made the experience great and went the extra mile to try and make it as special as it could be for our situation. She was a doll and we will forever be grateful for her service; in fact all the nurses were great.
My midwife, even though she had to miss the birth and was unable to deliver her, she has been so wonderful and supportive, helping me all the way in all my questions and making each visit so special I fell more in love with her every time and I saw her. She is a spunky sweet lady and I am excited to try a natural birth again in the near future with her.
My amazing Doula, Cyndi, she is such a wonderful example (having three home births) and walked me through the times TJ couldn't. We appreciate and love you dearly, words cannot truly express how grateful I am for you and all you have done for me.
We are so grateful for all our friends and family who have helped us out and came to visit. We truly are grateful for the love and support you have shown and given us as we begin to raise our precious princess in the sight of our Heavenly Father. Thank you, she has been a miracle and blessing in our lives.
It truly feels like a Christmas in July!
(I know the music doesn't match 100% but it is a song I listened to frequently and when I was in labor it got me through some really rough contractions. Plus I LOVE Celine Dion)
