Our Birth Story

Warning:  This is a birth story, I have kept it as appropriate as possible, but there are somethings that might still gross you out.

December 17th started out like a typical Monday morning. Steve's alarm woke us up, he sighed knowing that there was no "action" happening and that he had to get up and go to work again...(the excitement of not only getting to spend two weeks payed vacation with the family, but also avoiding the crazy Christmas work was getting to him). Since my midwife advised me not to drive any more Steve just took the van to work, my mom was meeting me at 11:15 to take me to my 11:45 check up.  I was completely out of energy and 1 day past my due date,  I looked at my house and just felt depressed, so I did only the most important stuff, dishes, swept, mopped, cleaned off the sofa. ( Those tend to be the most messy things in our house) and spent most of my my morning resting.  I had been having mild contractions for two days now and basically gave up on having my little princess all naturally since I was measuring a whopping 44-45 weeks!

Some of my Family's history:

                 We have an unusual amount of women in our family who can't have babies naturally, they go into labor, but either they dilate to a 3 and never progress past that (without inducement), or they baby is too big to fit thew the canal, resulting in a cesarean.  My little sister and I are the first in our immediate family to have a baby vaginally ( no one has ever gone naturally).

  My first two children were both induced,  Maleah was 9.5lbs and Judah was my smallest at 8.10lbs (he was induce day 1 of 39 weeks).  Both were induced because the doctor thought they would be too big to fit threw the canal and I would end up needing a cesarean.  I have always had a desire to have an all natural birth, and this time around we had talked to our good friends about the Bradly method, and decided to leave it in God's hands.   I found an awesome midwife team that our insurance took, and talked over all the different possibilities with them.  They sounded confident they could help that dream come true.  

        I had done every natural inducement method there was and this morning I was hoping that at my appt. my body would show me that it in fact was going to do this!  I had been sitting a 5cm for two weeks, and any movement at this point would motivate me to keep going, along with my great friends, and trust in Gods plan and perfect timing.

So 11:30 rolls around and my mom (late as usual...<3 your guts mom) comes walking to my door as my kids and I are walking out to wait for her. I let her know that the appt. should only take 30min max when we got there and then I should be back down to meet her.  I was so happy to see my midwife and poor out my disappointment on her, and to my surprise after she checked me I was a 6!  WHAT?!?  Aren't women usually screaming in labor at this point?   I was something called advanced dilation ( or something like that), basically I was having contractions but wasn't feeling them.  I had been walking around Church the previous day at 6cm!   And then it happened...She said she was sending me into labor and delivery cause I was contracting every three min. and she wanted me admitted.   

What?!  Like right now?   She wasn't kidding me, she called the midwife on call, and told her to meet me there.  So I walked out of the midwives office (realizing I had not eaten yet!) and down to my moms car.  I made that ever so exciting call to Steve " Im in LABOR!! YAY ..Meet me at the hospital"...He was like "REALLY?!? (giggle)"  Thank goodness I had all the bags packed and in the van already.   No too much later Steve and I walked into an already PACKED labor and delivery (armed with cookies for the nurses).  We were so lucky to get the only room with a tub and I just couldn't wait to use it!  After we got changed all I could think of was food, I had not eaten, and the nurse did not want me to eat anything, so grape juice it was.  It was really happening, the monitors showed that my contractions were consistent and every 2-3 min.  But, I still wasn't feeling them, is there something wrong?  Why wasn't I dilating/effacing any more?   My uterus was acting like a water balloon, cushioning every contraction. My midwife said, if you want to have her naturally, we are going to have to break your water.  That was at 4:30. Almost immediately after my water broke  I started feeling painful contractions.  I got in the tub at about 5:00.  It was awesome in the tub, the whole 30 min I could stay in there...I told my midwife that the contractions never stopped hurting in between, she checked me...7cm.  I got out and dried off in a hurry so I could be in bed before another contraction hit.  OH they were SO painful and I couldn't breath, I was suppose to be able to ease into this, kinda experience a contraction 4-5 min apart and prepare myself, learn how to breath threw them...Not the case.  I asked her to check me at 5:45-5:50 ish I hadn't dilated hardly at all.  I was in SO much pain, why weren't they stopping? I should have a min, or two to recoup between contractions!   I couldn't do it.  I couldn't breathe, counter pressure wasn't helping at all, all I could think about was the memory of how nice the epidural felt with my son and how there was no pain.  I was fighting with myself, maybe ill wait just a few more min...nope, it wasn't happening.  Midwife: "do you feel like you need to push? Your acting like your in transition"  Me: "OHHH I want the epidural! OH please tell him to hurry!"  (still around the 5:45-5:50ish time). Epidural guy walks in and says ok sit up on the side of the bed.  Me:" WHAT?!  Can't I lay on my side?  Epidural guy: " No I will need you to be sitting up and very still".   I feel like my insides are being ripped out, I'm hyperventilating, and I am suppose to hold still?   Steve was in front of me holding me, I couldn't hold him tight enough, or let go of him fast enough when a contraction hit, the IV lady was getting irritated cause I was suppose to relax my hand but all I could do is make a fist!   Steve wanted to hug me but there was that orange stuff they rub on you is all over my back ( I am pretty sure he accidently touched it).  Another contraction hit and started to let up.  Me: Ok, its going, do you think you can get it in before another contraction?  Epidural guy, midwife, nurses, hubbs "LAUGHS" ....Yes, they all laughed.  Epidural Guy got it in two contractions later ( 6:05) laid me down, midwife checked me...Midwife: " She's complete!  Haha! "  Me: "What?" ( I went from 7.5cm to 10cm in less than 15 min) While I was being stuck with a needle threw my spine!)  Midwife: Felicia, we need to start pushing". I am thinking, the epidural hasn't quite kicked in yet though.   Midwife: " Do you want the mirror?". 

Pause:

 Now here is were I have struggled in the past, I didn't like the thought of watching my body birth my 9.5lb daughter and said no the first time.  I didn't use it with my son either.  Now I was thinking, if I could concentrate on something I want it to be her, also I want to know what my husband pictures when we are talking about this later.  So I went with the mirror this time and I can not say how happy I am I did!

  The epidural started to make my lower body tingle a little, then the most AWESOME thing happened, I felt my hips move!  Hannah was on her way out, and then I could see the top of her head (praise God she had hair! brown hair!).  Every time I pushed she didn't move!  So I pushed harder, as hard as I could muster, and instead of it being a relief when she came out it hurt, it hurt so bad! ( I remember Maleah being a huge relief).  Why did it hurt this time? Well her shoulders tore me a little bit.  But I had done it!  My little girl was bottom up toward my face (hehe the first part of my daughter I saw was her butt).  Steve: " She looks just like Mia and Jude".  

Hannah 9.4lbs 20.5in

Then they started to talk about her stats, and sounded worried, she wasn't gaining color, she was still very blue although she was crying so hard.  As soon as the umbilical cord stopped pulsing they had Steve cut it and they took her to get her on oxygen.  My heart ached because this was exactly what I didn't want them to do. They finally called out her weight 9.4lbs, & height 20.5in. Then they took her to the nicu to get everything taken care of.  Her oxygen saturation was low, and her blood sugar was low ( she was very hungry).  After about 1.5 hours (enough time to eat) they brought me a wheel chair so I could go see Hannah.  They wheeled me over there, and we got there just in time for me to hold her for a second and then they took us to our room.  It was an experience I will never forget!  I did notice a huge difference in Hannah compared to my other two.  Hannah was wide awake, and alert, she knew exactly what to do when it was time to eat, her first time she latched on no problem.  She never fell asleep when she was eating, and stared at everything. 

So, would I do it again?  Yes! I would for sure!

I would feel scared and more prepared for what I was going into,  and I would know that I could do it! I would recognize the stages, and have a time frame to compare it to.  

I think having an epidural with the first two made it harder to not give into the epidural, since I knew the relief it would bring me.  

I wanted to bond with Steve, and to understand what the Bible meant when it refers to the pains of childbirth.  I think I accomplished both those things. I also wanted to give Hannah the very best, and thankfully she didn't get any epidural and my midwife was right on top of my birth plan and followed it to a T! Not  cutting the umbilical cord was Awesome!  They also didn't put erythromycin in her eyes just like we asked, and we also made it very clear that I was breast feeding exclusively, so they didn't feed her anything or give her sugar water.  The only thing they had to do against my will was take her out to get her oxygen levels stable, and give her a bath out of the room. So all in all it was a success.

Steve and I are so excited to add little Hannah to our family, and praise God for such and Awesome experience!