Erica's Birth Story

So... I guess I should post Erica's birth story here on the old, neglected blog... since all the other kid's stories are here. Basically, this is for me. If anyone else reads it, cool. Enjoy.

Erica Lynsie Davis was born on 9/1/17. She weighed 10 lbs 3 oz. I honestly don't remember how long she was, or what time she was born at. You'd have to ask her Daddy.

The last few weeks of my pregnancy were rough. I had a blood pressure spike in the midwife's office on a really bad day, and was very closely monitored after that point. I passed every test, aced every ultrasound (except the one three days before she was born when my 10 lb baby mysteriously went breech and back within one hour. That was nuts), and never had another poor BP reading. It was during one of these "routine monitoring" visits at triage in the hospital that I went into labor. I was 5 days overdue, 3 cm dilated, and had just had my membranes stripped. I was also ALONE at the hospital, because we had decided that Tim couldn't continue to come to these appointments every three days, just in case they kept me. So I spent the first hour of labor alone and insecure. That was hard!

This labor was different. In length it was just like Eden's, 4'ish hours long... but it had a personality all of it's own. I'm normally up and about for the entire labor, or in the tub. This time I just sat on the bed, silent. Tim said afterwards that I looked like a monk, tailor sitting with my hands on my knees. I was so quiet that he didn't even know when a contraction began/ended most of the time. This was highly unusual for me. Another unusual thing was that I could FEEL my cervix dilating, and leaned into it effectively. It was a really neat feeling.

This is my first birth that did not have a midwife present. My dear midwife went on vacation just after my due date. I wasn't upset with her but I was understandably disappointed. However, I still have not been attended by an OB in birth. In fact, this hospital birth technically had the least oversight of any of my births. Ha! Erica was delivered by her Daddy and a very startled nurse.

Traditionally, when I'm in transition my babies are posterior. This delivery was no different, though I had no knowledgeable midwife confirming this... I am simply going off of what I felt. With the other babies I have gotten up on my hands and knees during transition, baby has turned and come soon after. I could tell that I needed to do the same thing this time around... and so I got on my hands and knees. Except, when I got on my hands and knees it didn't take 5 minutes to an hour for baby to arrive... it took roughly 90 seconds... and I never got out of hands and knees position... and baby never turned. I gave a "practice push" and suddenly her head was completely through my cervix and she was COMING. My uncharacteristically silent labor changed suddenly into an uncharacteristically loud one, as I SCREAMED "Tim!!!! CATCH THE BABY!!!!" and continued screaming until she was born. One legit push and she was out. Sunny side up... April the giraffe style. (I found this fitting as I had stalked April the giraffe for much of my first trimester, lol) The OB arrived a few moments later and proceeded to lecture me on not waiting for her. HA! As if I had a choice in the matter.

I was floored to realize how large she was. I'd had more ultrasounds than ever before in a pregnancy, and they had assured me she was in the 8 lb range. I'm thankful I didn't know differently. And considering she basically fell out... I guess 10 lb babies aren't as big a deal for me as I expected. Not really something that I wanted on my resume, but I guess I'll have to take it. :-)

Erica has been a joy from day one. She's a content, precious baby who is the newest joy of our home. I'm so thankful to God for her!!! And now her birth story has been recorded.

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Eden's Birth Story

Eden Rylee’s Birth Story

I cannot believe that I’m sitting here, looking at a sweet five week old baby girl! If you have witnessed our family’s journey over the past two years, then you know what a balm this little girl is to our hearts. In June of 2013 we lost our tiny baby Avery at the end of our first trimester. That was a deep valley for us, and one I can only give credit to Christ for bringing us through. Our joy when we discovered God’s gift of baby Eden was great indeed! My pregnancy was uneventful, which was a blessing to my fearful soul and truly a gift from God considering all of the moving/changes that our family underwent during the pregnancy.  From Tulsa, to Kansas City, to Winston-Salem to Indianapolis, baby Eden has traveled with us for quite the ride!

Eden is our first truly punctual baby. She was due on December 15’th, and labor began in the morning of that very day. I’d been having my traditional false labor runs for around two weeks, and even though I expected them, they made me question if she was coming a couple of times. My false labor contractions had a “bite” to them this time around, and that made everything more uncertain for me. On the 14’th, I was so tired from all of the contractions and suspense that I came home from church and slept for a solid 3-4 hours. I woke up feeling refreshed, and Sunday night was basically uneventful.

I remember having trouble falling asleep that night, but I was not having contractions so I didn’t think much of it. My SPD (symphisis pubis dysfunction) made it almost impossible to sleep comfortably, so I chalked it up to a flare-up of that, and made a mental note to bump up my next chiropractor appointment. I remember Kimber climbing into our bed around 3am, and when I moved over to make room for her… I had my first contraction. It was intense, to say the least. From that point on in the night, each time I moved in my sleep I would have another intense contraction. They were so intense that I actually woke Tim up for a couple of them. His comfort is helpful even when he's half asleep! At 5:00 I got up to use the bathroom and labor began with a vengeance. I had three separate contractions on the walk across the room. I had to stop for each one, and I was starting to get a feeling this was “it.” I had more contractions on the way back to the bed, and woke Tim up to help me climb back into bed. I wanted to try to sleep again and see what happened, since the contractions had all been associated with movement up until this point.

NOPE! That didn’t work. After about 20 seconds in bed I had the worst contraction yet. Tim woke my Mom, and jumped in the shower. I focused on throwing the last few things in the hospital bag and eating a solid breakfast. Thankfully the contractions slowed to being a couple minutes apart (sweet relief!), but kept their intensity. This felt familiar. I could do this.

We woke the kids and called or friends, Drew and Jessie Matthews, to let them know we were on our way.  We toyed with the idea of asking them to meet us at their exit, but Tim had been watching me closely and was confident we had time to go all the way to their house. Once we were in the car, we began truly timing contractions. They were 4 minutes apart like clockwork, which is typical early labor for my body. I could not talk through the contractions, but I was not to the point of the labor groan yet. This was a relief to me, because (even though we had prepared the kids that Mommy “moos like a cow” when she is having the baby) I didn’t particularly want them to see that stage of labor. I did not want to scare them at all. They were so sweet as we woke them and traveled. Kimber had stayed asleep in the middle of our bed despite all of the commotion, but insisted “it’s not morning guys” when she woke up. They were both very excited to know it was baby day, and Kyle even said “This is the best day ever!” as we drove. He kept talking about how excited he was to meet our baby. We dropped the kids off around 6:45. They were excited to spend the day with their friends, but gave us sweet hugs. I gleaned encouragement from Jessie’s eyes and words, while Tim and Drew unhooked the car seats. Yes, I could do this. God will help me do this.

We got back on the road, with a 30 minute drive left until the hospital. Tim called his parents, Mom called Daddy and texted my sisters, and I texted a few close friends. Contractions were now 3-4 minutes apart, and were growing in intensity. Tim had a close eye on me, and deemed that we should park in the parking garage and that I should walk in. I did not protest. I knew he was trying to speed my labor along, and he was right. We waited for a contraction to ease and then jumped out of the car (okay, Tim and Mom jumped… I waddled quickly). I had contraction after contraction as we walked, and Tim was a pro at reading my cues and stopping for each one. He would turn to face me and I would drape my arms over his shoulders and let him support my weight while I focused on swaying my hips from side to side.

We stopped for a contraction by the elevator, and suddenly I felt a hand scratching my back. I turned to look, and there stood my midwife Blythe. Our midwifery practice was large, and I had only a small chance of Blythe being in the hospital when I delivered. This would be different from my other babies (where I had known exactly who I delivered with), and was sad to me. I had prayed that God would allow me to deliver with Blythe! And there she was! “Looks like I’ll see you upstairs?” she said. “Oh, you’ll see me upstairs for sure” I replied. I felt a huge wave of relief. If Blythe was in the building, I knew she’d find a way to be with me. I was going to deliver with someone I knew!

We got up to triage around 7:45 and they asked Tim to wait outside. Thankfully, a friend had prepared us for this fact, so we rolled with it. After I had answered all of the lovely “does your husband abuse you” questions with a firm negative, I requested that he be brought back to me right away. Every contraction I had without Tim was harder… it just was.

Blythe was the triage midwife that day, so she was the one to come and check me. I was at 6 cm already, which rather surprised me! It was my first check of the pregnancy, but I had expected something closer to a 3. Yay! Blythe told me that she’d worked it out to be on the floor to deliver our baby. I was so thankful!

I had numerous contractions between triage and our labor room. Once we arrived in the room (around 8:30 I think), I stood leaning forward on different things, swaying my hips for each contraction. I asked the nurse for a birth ball, and to begin filling the birth tub. I was so thankful that all fetal monitoring was done with a Doppler! This made all the difference in the world to me! I didn’t actually touch the bed until I was pushing. I rotated between bouncing on the birth ball and standing/swaying while the tub was filling. It was during this time that I began the labor moan. Tim was the “keep your voice in the low ranges” nazi, and I think I obeyed pretty well? Eventually I changed out of my yoga pants and climbed on into the tub! The water felt wonderful, and I remained in the tub for the majority of my labor. The contractions remained around 3 minutes apart for the rest of my labor. I was able to talk between them, even joke a little bit. I had the song “Channels Only” running through my head, which Tim thought was a rather peculiar labor song. He’s right! But it seemed applicable somehow.

It wasn’t long before I started feeling a tiny urge to push. My water had not yet broken, so the pressure felt different than I was used to. I was beginning to feel uncertain about everything… which indicated to Tim that I was in transition. They called Blythe down, and sure enough I was measuring an 8. I continued to feel uncertain, and began to want my water broken in hopes that the sensations would become more familiar after that. Tim and Blythe both discouraged this, and I agreed that we had wanted to leave the bag of waters intact until it naturally burst. We decided to move me from the tub to the bed, in hopes that the journey would speed things along. I got out, and then Tim sprung it on me that I should really go use the bathroom. So I traveled to the bathroom, and then to the bed. I pretty much thought I was going to die!

Once in bed, I draped myself onto my hands and knees over the birth ball. It was in this position that I began to push. Blythe checked me, and sure enough I was a full 10. My urge was still muted, so we waited for it to become intense. Eden was still posterior, and so Blythe had me move to my side for a few pushes. Suddenly my pushing was intense, and I could feel her head finally engage. I was still on my side when my water broke. After my water broke, I moved onto my back and began pushing in a semi-reclined position. I was getting nowhere. I had been pushing for 5 minutes, but I could feel that something was just not right. Suddenly, Eden did a full flip and things began to feel a little better. Still though, I felt like something was just not working! I was pushing with all of my might, and she wasn’t coming under my pubic bone. Blythe could see the problem, and told me to get flat on my back for a push. As I pushed she reached inside of me and pressed against part of my pelvis. I’m not sure exactly what she did, but I do know that I literally stopped my “pushing groan” and yelled “YES” when she did it. On the next push, Eden came under the bone and instantly I felt the ring of fire. I was so relieved! My next contraction seemed to take forever to arrive. I could hear my Mom encouraging me with news of baby’s hair, and assuring me we were almost done! When the contraction came, I pushed gently (I think? I did tear, but not badly) and Eden was out. All in all, I pushed for 20 minutes. She was born at 10:40am, after only 5 ½ hours of active labor, and only 2 ½ at the hospital.

I was so relieved when they placed her on my chest! She was crying pitifully, and I could tell she was a big baby. I had Tim double check that she was a girl (lol), and just enjoyed the fact that she had arrived. My placenta took a few minutes to come, and once it did Blythe informed me that Eden was a “miracle baby.” She had what they call a “true knot” in her cord (very rare), and we thank the Lord it had never been pulled tight in the womb or during the delivery. In fact, Eden got a 9 on both of her APGAR scores. She weighed in at 9 lbs 6 oz (beating her big sister by 1 oz), and was 21.5 inches long.  

Overall, while it was a great delivery and progressed by the textbook, I must admit that my brain struggled to keep up with how quickly my body was progressing this time around. I must say that 5 hours was a little fast for me! I’m thankful that I was calm, and not fearful… and I was able to relax into the contractions like normal. I really credit my labor team for this fact, because if I had not had my husband, mom and midwife radiating confidence… I just might have panicked! God knew what I needed, and He gave me that help. I praise Him for the safe arrival of our sweet baby girl. I already cannot imagine life without her! 

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Why I haven't posted lately...

Because I've been doing a lot of this...

And seeing a lot of this...

And appreciating a lot of this...

And nursing... Constantly... :-)

Sometime soon I'll get back to posting... I promise! But for now, I'm embracing the craziness that is this "two little ones" stage of life.

See ya round!

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Kimber's Birth Story

After using a midwife and having a natural birth in a hospital with Kyle, Tim and I decided to work with a midwife again the second time around. Unfortunately, our midwife Suzan no longer delivers at Spartanburg Regional (she only teaches now), and so we did not have that option for Kimber's birth. Since there were no midwives delivering in hospital in our area, we chose to work with a birth center, Labors of Love, in Spartanburg. We were very comfortable with the concept, especially since this was not our first baby. Linda and Amy are awesome midwives! I would truly not change a thing about my birth... and that's pretty amazing to me. 

Labor began with a vengeance at 8:00 Saturday morning, March 17'th. Kimber was 6 days overdue, thanks to the Lord answering my prayers that Tim be allowed to finish his final exam AND get a full night of sleep before labor began. I timed contractions for 15 minutes in bed before waking Tim and telling him we needed to get moving. In the shower I had to stop to relax through the contractions, and I knew this was labor. My contractions were 3 minutes apart, and were very intense. I'd had contractions off and on for the past three weeks, but these had what I can only describe as "the labor bite" to them. I called Linda and she agreed that I could grab a bite to eat on the way to the birth center, but cautioned me not to take super long, since my contractions were so close together. We (Tim, myself, Kyle and my Mom) piled into the car and headed to Stax Omega for breakfast. Keri, Nate and Erin met us there, and we ate a huge breakfast (stopping to relax through some pretty intense contractions every couple of minutes). 

After eating, we all piled into the car again and headed down the road to Spartanburg. Erin joined us, so that we had someone to take care of Kyle at the birth center. We arrived around 10:30am, and my contractions were still strong... but had slowed to being about 5 minutes apart. Linda checked me and I was dilated to 4cm (having been 0cm only a few days before). I was so excited that it was labor day! 

Over the next hour or two, my contractions continued to slow down. While I still had very intense ones occasionally... they began to lose their "labor bite." I was active in hopes of keeping the labor going, but even taking a walk didn't help. Around noon Tim asked Linda if we could just go to lunch and come back. We went to Panera, ate a large lunch and then did some shopping. My contractions still did not pick back up, and I was becoming very discouraged. We arrived back at the birth center, and I told Linda that I felt super drowsy... could I sleep for a bit? I took a nap for an hour, during which time none of my contractions woke me up. When I did wake up, Tim and I knew it was time to head home. 

I comforted myself with the knowledge that I knew what labor felt like, and that we'd been right in going in that morning... but it still was frustrating to go home on a second baby. I'm very thankful that we were working with a birth center, because I'm not sure a hospital would have allowed me to go home after seeing my contractions from early in the day. I was not labeled "failure to progress" or any such thing... and we knew I could possibly sit at 4cm for days, since my water had not broken. We grabbed some Mexican food on the way home, and Tim actually called in to work to let them know he could come in for part of the evening. 

After supper I had a few contractions that got my attention again. They were not regular, but the "bite" was back. I told Tim I would be more comfortable if he stayed with me... that I thought tonight was still the night. He called work back and said he wouldn't be able to make it after all, things appeared to be picking back up. Thankfully they were very understanding! 

Around 9pm, just as Tim's sister and her husband walked in the door to visit, I had another hard contraction and my water broke. It was such a blessing that they were there, because they were able to stay with Kyle (who was already in bed) until my in-laws arrived to spend the night with him. Meanwhile Tim, Mom and I headed back to Spartanburg. 

By the time we arrived, I was in VERY active labor and had dilated to 6cm. The tub sounded great, so after Linda checked me I got in and prepared for the long haul. Kyle's birth had taken forever to progress from 6cm to the end, so I knew this would probably be a long night. Boy was I wrong! 

At first the tub felt great, but my back labor became super intense... and all I wanted to do was sit on my tailbone and rock back and forth to provide counter-pressure. When I tried to do this in the tub, I felt weightless and had the thought "I wish we could just drain this water!" When I thought that, I knew I needed to move onto the floor. 

I spent the majority of my labor on the hard wood floor, leaning back against Tim for support, and trying to tuck my tailbone as far forward as possible. They could all see the baby's head bulging my back near my sacrum... and Mom says it's something she will never forget! If I could have achieved the position that I wanted, it would have looked something like this... my tailbone tucked forward and my knees/feet wrapped around my head. I wanted to bend in half! The closest my prego state could achieve was to sit on my tailbone beside the bed, and prop my feet up on the mattress. I still had my sense of humor, so was joking about how silly it was to be in the "stirrup position" in a birth center. :-)

 I wanted my back kept completely straight, and my poor husband sat behind me supporting me as best as he could. He actually has bruises on his arms from my backbone and his shin bones! At one point I felt like my back was slipping, and Linda wrapped a bed sheet around my back, then sat on the bed between my feet and pulled to give me support. I love that woman!!! It was the perfect thing to do, and offered tons of relief. 

With each contraction, I focused on going limp like a rag doll... and believe me, it works! The pain is so much less when you relax into it. Tim and my Mom were wonderful at reminding me to relax, and encouraging me that I was doing well. I also would focus on different things at different points of my labor. At one point when I was sitting on the floor, I would sing the hymn "From Whence this Fear and Unbelief?" in my head. I didn't realize that I was singing out loud until Tim began joining me with each contraction. It was really a sweet time, and I received a lot of comfort from the words of that hymn. 

At this point, I began to show signs of being in transition. Linda told me that she was willing to deliver the baby where we were... but if I wanted to try the bed it would be easier for them all if we had the extra room. I said I would try, and joked that I wanted to take the floor with me! My awesome midwife walked out of the room, and returned a minute later with a large cutting board. Yes, I delivered my daughter on the bed... on top of a cutting board. How cool is that??? It made all the difference in the world to my back! Midwives are AMAZING. 

Once on the bed, I rotated between my "cutting board" and being on all fours draped over a birth ball. I became very vocal at this point in my labor, sounding something like a cow I do believe. :-) Tim kept commanding me to keep my voice low, and apparently I was very obedient about it. He could also tell when I began to tense, because I always tense in my face first during labor. He would gently lay his fingers on my face and say "relax your face" whenever I began to tense with the pain. What an AWESOME labor coach! He never left my side. 

I began to feel the urge to push while draped over the birth ball. I leaned back into a few contractions and pushed hard. It felt SO GOOD! I love pushing. After a few pushes I moved back to my cutting board, and Linda checked me. She worked with a cervical lip as I pushed. I began feeling the "ring of fire" far earlier than I expected, so I looked at Linda and asked "how much longer do I have???" She replied, "You're an effective pusher, and I promise you will have this baby in the next five minutes!" I was determined to endure the ring of fire, and not rush the final push like I had with Kyle. It was super hard, but I managed it and pushed Kimber out slowly over the next two minutes. My sister Keri was standing at the foot of the bed, and encouraged me with the words "her head is halfway out Jess! You're doing great!!!" That was all the encouragement I needed, and I gently pushed her the rest of the way out. All in all, I pushed for 17 minutes, and only tore a tiny bit (didn't even get it stitched). NICE! Kimber Janelle was born at 2:27am, March 18'th. I only had four hours of hard labor once arriving at the birth center for the second time. What a blessing!

Kimber was placed on my chest immediately, and all I could think was how much she looked like her brother, and how happy I was that she was here! Tim cut the cord, and Kimber remained on my chest for the next hour cuddling and eating. It was precious! Her newborn exam took place next to me, and she scored a 10 on her APGAR. I was SHOCKED to see that she weighed 9lb 5 oz, almost a whole pound bigger than her brother. She was 22 inches long. 

This labor was short and intense once it kicked into high gear. I was so thankful to be allowed to let labor begin on its own, and praise the Lord for how smooth the entire process was. This labor was truly a spiritual experience for me, as well as a physical one. The Lord planted so many sweet thoughts in my mind during my contractions, like the fact that HE was controlling my pain... only allowing what I was able to bear... and that HE was helping me to bear it. I felt a deeper dependence on His strength during those four hours than I have ever felt in my life, and truly... it was precious. Even the words of the hymn that continued to play through my head were an encouragement. 

"From whence this fear and unbelief, 

hath not the Father put to grief 

His spotless Son for me? 

And will the righteous Judge of men 

condemn me for that debt of sin 

which Lord was charged on Thee? 

Complete atonement Thou hast made,

and to the utmost Thou hast paid, 

whate'er Thy people owed; 

How then can wrath on me take place, 

if sheltered in Thy righteousness, 

and sprinkled with Thy blood?" 

If Thou hast my discharge procured,

and freely in my room endured 

the whole of wrath divine; 

Payment God cannot twice demand, 

first at my Bleeding Surety's hand, 

and then again at mine.

Go now my soul unto thy rest! 

The merits of thy Great High Priest 

have bought thy liberty; 

Trust in His efficacious blood, 

nor fear thy banishment from God, 

since Jesus died for thee."

If my God did all of that for me in my salvation, I am surely guaranteed of His help in a small thing like delivering a child. What a gracious God we have! He gives abundant grace in time of need. I praise Him for seeing fit to allow us safety and help in the delivery of this precious little girl.

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40 Weeks

We are ready for a baby around this house!!! As I begin my 41'st week of pregnancy... I'm reminded to be thankful for the blessing of going full term. I've seen my due date come and go before, so it isn't a surprise that it did so again, and it is a blessing. I'm really very comfortable, just eager to have my little girl in my arms! My Mom came from NC for the weekend and helped me drag my house over the finish line, so I think we're finally totally ready for a baby.

Tim has turned in his final paper, and is currently studying for his exam. He has until Friday to take it... but we're hopeful that he can take it tomorrow morning first thing. It will feel so good to have that out of the way! I hope that he can get some rest before the big event.

As for Kyle and me? We're laying low this week. The beautiful weather might call us out to the park, but beyond that (and keeping the house clean) we're trying to eat well and get lots of rest.

Hopefully my next post will be an announcement! We shall see...

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Thinking back... Kyle's Birth Story (almost 2 years ago!)

As I quickly approach giving birth to little Kimber... my mind keeps going back to Kyle's birth, almost two year ago. While I know that every birth is different, I have received a number of questions regarding my birth with Kyle lately. I thought it would be nice to have the two stories near one another on the blog. Since I was not actively blogging when I had Kyle... this is the first time his birth story appears here! I hope you all will enjoy it, and hopefully I'll have another similar birth story posted soon!

Kyle Owen Davis

Born 5-31-10

Amazingly enough, all day Sunday May 30'th I was convinced that our baby would be at least a week overdue. Our due date had come and gone on Saturday, and I guess I was trying to cope with the depression of that fact by convincing myself it would be another week or so until Kyle arrived. Well, I was wrong! Sunday night I ate a big supper, and wanted to go to bed early.

Between 1:00 and 2:00am I began having hard contractions that were around seven minutes apart. However, I had experienced similar things a number of times in the previous two weeks, so my mind didn’t really register that this could be labor. Tim told me to go back to sleep and we would just see what happened. I did sleep restlessly from 2:00-3:00, and don’t have any idea how many contractions I had during that time. I can tell you though, it was a lot!

At 3:00am I experienced a contraction that really got my attention. For the next fifteen minutes, I timed contractions that were 3 minutes apart. I figured it was time to wake up Tim. We got up, showered, dressed, and I ate a huge breakfast (which my Mom, who was staying with us over the weekend, was sweet enough to make me!). All this took around an hour and a half, during which time I had contraction after contraction… all 3 to 4 minutes apart. I called our midwife, and she talked me through a couple of contractions over the phone to get a feel for where I was in labor. Since the hospital was 45 minutes away, she advised for me to go ahead and start down to Spartanburg. If my contractions slowed in the car, she wanted me to go to Waffle House and eat again. If they kept up the same pace, she wanted me to ahead and get checked in. She was sure this was the real thing though!

So Tim, Mom and I piled into the car and headed to Spartanburg. If I still had any doubts about whether this was labor, the doubts disappeared in the car! We got to the hospital around 5:00am, and they admitted me right away. I was dilated to 5cm, still having contractions every 3-4 minutes. We were ushered to a room, and met our amazing nurse Stephanie. She had read our birth plan from the chart, and was absolutely respectful of it. She had no problem with my laboring in my own clothes, and only doing monitoring of the baby vitals and my contractions intermittently. I spent the first few hours on the floor doing pelvic rocks, squatting etc… using my yoga mat for cushioning. Back labor began rather quickly I’m afraid, and my amazing husband massaged me pretty much all day long. I think I probably used up the whole floor supply of heat packs too! Back labor made it harder to relax during each contraction, but Tim was right there with me pointing out the areas in which I was tensing, and stroking my face to help relax my whole body.

Suzan (our midwife) arrived around 10am, and I did let her check me at that point. I was dilated to 7cm, and Suzan went ahead and broke my water. Suzan was by my side the rest of the day, and we were so thankful for her guidance! I continued to move about the room, going from position to position between contractions… never staying in the same place for super long. Tim supported me in each position, and I had to keep reminding myself that my poor husband had recently dislocated his shoulder, and I needed to be careful of his left side! Sometimes the bed felt great, and other times I felt like I would die while they were monitoring the baby!

Suzan was very kind, and only suggested checking my cervix every few hours. Around 1:00pm we did allow her to check, and I was dilated to 8cm. During the next few hours, each time I got into bed for the routine monitoring, I began falling asleep between contractions. I got out of bed a few times to get in the shower etc, but my activity level had really slowed. When Suzan checked my cervix again at 3:00, I was still at 8cm. At this point, I was exhausted, and Suzan could see this. She very gently told Tim that if this kept up for a couple more hours, she was worried I would run out of energy to push the baby out. She suggested that we begin thinking about pitocin as a possible option to speed up my labor so that I could deliver vaginally. None of us, (Suzan included) wanted to do that! Suzan suggested that she hook me up to IV fluids to get electrolytes into my system. I was well hydrated (having been eating and drinking throughout the entire labor) but Suzan wanted to give me the boost she thought I needed to keep going. At this point, I knew that if I wanted to do this naturally… I had to get out of bed… no matter how tired I was!

I got out of bed, and began rotating positions again, being careful to relax with each contraction. My contractions changed right away! Tim was still struggling in his mind with the question about pitocin, and at one point asked me if I wanted to talk to him about it? I replied very quickly, “Oh don’t worry about that… they won’t have a chance to offer it. This is speeding up on its own.” I wasn’t on the monitor, so no one else could tell yet, but I sure could! When I had to get back on for 10 minutes to monitor the baby, everyone realized with me that my labor had shifted into a higher gear.

From 4:30-5:00, I spent in the bed again, weathering each contraction as it came. Around 5:00 I insisted on being on my hands and knees, because the back labor was SO bad. Suzan began preparing to inject saline solution into my lower back to relieve the pain, but we ended up not having time. Once I got on my hands and knees, the pain increased greatly, but in a good way! I felt like the baby was finally coming out. It was in this position that I began pushing. Suzan worked with a cervical lip for a few minutes, pushing it gently to the side as I pushed the baby down. Once the lip was gone, I began squatting by the bed. Tim and Mom both assisted me in squatting, since Tim only had one good arm to support me. We probably looked hilarious, me squatting and them kneeling across the bed from me holding onto my hands. I don’t know how long I pushed in this position, but I do know that the baby made some serious progress! I’m thankful that Suzan never gave me cues for pushing. I was able to push as I felt the need to, for as long as I felt the need to. After about 30 minutes, I allowed myself to be put back in bed to see what kind of progress we had made. The nurses began rushing around once Suzan checked me, and I took encouragement in that! They pulled the mirror around, and within a matter of minutes I could see the head coming down. That was all the encouragement I needed! In its entirety, my pushing lasted for about 50 minutes. Once Kyle’s head was out, Suzan commanded me to stop pushing. I obeyed immediately, mostly because this was a foreign request from her! I saw her in the mirror as she quickly unwrapped the cord from around Kyle’s neck. I was very relieved to hear him cry normally a moment later. God was good!

Pushing Kyle out was one of the most amazing moments of my life! He was placed on my chest right away, and Tim and I simply couldn’t believe he was really there!! I don’t know how long the three of us bonded there, but Kyle was wide awake and staring at us with huge eyes. It was the sweetest thing!

Both Tim and I were thankful to have had a natural birth. For us, going drug free was important because of my health history, and we also felt it was best case scenario for the baby. I’ll never forget the feeling of relief I had when I knew that there was no need for pitocin, and it was too late to ask for an epidural. There was no more worry in my mind that I would yell for drugs in a moment of weakness, this baby was coming completely drug free! I’m thankful to the Lord for giving me the strength to get through a 16 hour labor. I’m also thankful for my amazing husband, who was right there the entire time, thinking with me, suggesting ways to be comfortable, and constantly helping me to relax with each contraction. He is my hero!

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38 Weeks

38 Weeks

Time has flown by... SO FAST! We can hardly believe that it's almost time for this little one to make her appearance. We're so excited! I'm trying to treasure these last snatches of time with just Kyle and I at home during the days. Please pray with us that he'll adjust well to having his own little sister. Tim is still in class, and we're still praying that he'll be able to finish before Kimber arrives. He has one more week in the classroom, and then exams. 

These past few days I have officially hit the uncomfortable stage. Sleeping at night has become a chore! My 9 month pregnant body STILL insists on turning onto my back in my sleep... no matter what position I start out in. I'm thankful that I'm not waking up numb, but I seriously wish I could just stay on my side! Rolling off of my back first thing in the morning is not very comfortable. 

We had four hours of hard, consistent contractions last Wednesday night... and that got me working hard to whip our home into shape for baby. I'm hopeful that things will be in decent order whenever "labor day" does hit. We have Kimber's little nook in our bedroom almost complete, and her clothes are washed and sorted into her little storage baskets. I can't wait to see everything when it's put together! Hopefully this weekend Tim can spare and hour from the books to hang our shelves. I'll try to post pictures once everything is finished.

For now, I'm just hoping to stay rested, healthy, finish some small projects and keep my home clean until Kimber's birth. We're almost there! 

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