Jack Ray's Birth Story

Jack Ray was due on September 8, 2015 however there were several times before then that I thought he was coming!  I had prodromal labor for almost three weeks prior to his actual birth and man-oh-man was that a frustrating experience.  I never felt natural labor contractions with Everett's birth because I was induced and with Nolan's birth the first time I felt a contraction was when I was in labor, so this was a new experience!  The first time I felt contractions I went for a few long walks and really was hoping that labor day was here, but it was to no avail.  At one point, I was having contractions for days on end- however they were not ridiculously painful and I pushed them to the back of my mind because I didn't want to keep getting my hopes up.  

My last belly photo, 40 weeks

September 8th came and went and Jack Ray seemed quite content in the womb however I was a little worried that he was 'sunny side up' (aka posterior position) so I asked my OB to check for me at my next appointment.  On September 10th I went in for my appointment and my OB determined that Jack Ray was head down but in the posterior position however he assured me that most babies turn to face the right direction prior to birth.  Since I was past my due date, my doctor mentioned that if I made it to my next appointment we would need to start talking about when and how to begin the induction process.  He was very approving of my wishes to have a natural labor and was more than happy to wait until I was 42 weeks pregnant to push for an induction which I was glad to hear.  

After my appointment that day, my mom, the boys, and I went to run some errands and I happened to feel a contraction- however, it was different than the ones that I had been having.  I pushed it out of my mind because I figured it was nothing and went about my day.  I continued to feel contractions throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening but kept assuming that they were nothing.  Around 9pm I started to time them because it seemed like they were getting a little more painful, they were about ten minutes apart at that time.  

As the night went on, they got more intense and closer together.  Tyler went to bed around midnight but I couldn't sleep because, although I was trying to not get excited, I wanted to see if they would keep on coming.  Finally around 3am when the contractions were about six minutes apart, I decided to try go to sleep. I was able to sleep in about thirty minute increments and got up around 6:30am to take a shower and get ready.  When I got out of the shower, the contractions were about four minutes apart and steadily getting stronger.  I called my mom, Tiphany, and the OB's office around 7:30am to let them know that I would probably head to the hospital in about an hour or so.   My mom and dad planned to meet us there and Tiphany was planning to come after I got checked into Labor and Delivery (L&D).  

We arrived at the hospital at 8:45am and as soon as I got out of the call I started to shake uncontrollably, which I knew meant I was in transition.  As we were walking in I text Tiphany "Come now. I am shaking."  Once we got up to L&D, they took me back to a triage room and checked to see how dilated I was- I was praying that I was at least 5cm!  The nurse asked me a bunch of general questions and then checked me and we discovered that I was 9cm! She quickly ducked her head out of the triage room and asked one of the other nurses to call my OB because the baby would be coming soon!  As we moved from the triage room to my permanent room I had Tyler call my mom to make sure that they were almost to the hospital.  

Once we got in the room, my OB came in and broke my water while the nurses continued to ask me questions and get things prepared.  Earlier in my pregnancy, I tested GBS Positive and had planned to have penicillin however since I came in at 9cm my OB decided  that there wouldn't be time enough for both doses.  I was actually relieved to not have to be hooked up to an IV while delivering the baby but it did mean that we would be required to stay an extra day at the hospital for monitoring.   One of the nurses asked me "Have you ever had a natural delivery before," needless to say she was glad to find out that I had and she didn't have to inform me that it was too late for an epidural.  

Breaking my water took the contractions from three minutes apart to less than a minute apart and they extremely painful.  After about twenty minutes, I started to bear down a little with each contraction and asked the nurse to check to see if I had any change.  She checked and said that I was 10cm but was not fully effaced.  My OB came in a few minutes later and asked me to do a test push to see if Jack Ray's head could help to get things where they needed to be.  After the test push , around 9:40am he asked me "Okay, are you ready to push?"  I think I kind of freaked out when he asked me that because I was expecting to have to hang out for a little while longer.  With the next set of contractions I started to push however, at one point I recall me falling back on the bed and saying "I don't want to do it anymore!" and "I can't do it, I'm not going to do it!"  At that point my OB, Tiphany, my mom, and Tyler gave me a little pep talk and I geared up for the next contraction.  Part of my birth plan was to 'catch' the baby after his head and shoulders were out, I pushed as hard as I could and finally little Jack Ray entered the world.  I was able to pull him right on my chest!

The first thing I noticed about Jack Ray was that he was looking right at me with his eyes wide open!  He took a few minutes to cry so the nurses were rubbing him with blankets trying to get him to make some noise.  I wasn't worried because I could feel him breathing and I was just so relieved that he was finally here.  Since Tyler isn't into the whole 'blood thing,' my mom was able to cut the cord! He was born at 9:51am on September 11, 2015 weighing 7lbs 12oz and was 21" long.  

Thursday Birth Day: Max's Birth

Welcome to Thursday Birth Day!  My hope is that this series will help to encourage women who may be expecting their first baby or their second/third/fourth/etc.  These posts will provide some real life experiences that we can all appreciate and maybe even learn from.  I also hope for this to be a place where women who have gone through birth can have a place to share their beautiful stories.

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Baby Max's Birth Story

My story begins on August 30, 2013. It was the Friday before Labor Day. I was 35 + 1, and at work like any normal Friday and started to feel what I could only describe as menstrual cramps. I asked a co-worker (who happened to be pregnant with her 2nd child at the time) what contractions felt like and her response was, “like cramps.” I imagined the next weeks would be full of these cramp-like pains. I spent the 3-day weekend attending another friends baby shower, with Chad at the hospital after he hurt his shoulder, spending some time on our new boat at Lake Proctor, and visiting my grandparents. Monday morning I woke up to discover that I was starting to lose my mucous plug. I was having more “cramping” pains and felt really tired. I took it easy and got some rest. Tuesday was another normal day. I went to work and felt fine the entire day. A co-worker and my boss both joked to me that I better not have the baby that week as they both had plans to be off of work. I really did not expect to have a baby at 35 weeks anyway, so I laughed their comments off. I spent the evening with Chad. He injured his shoulder and got orders from the doctor that he could not lift his arm, so he got the week off of work. He worked 12-hour night shifts leaving me home alone most nights. Something that often concerned me being pregnant and alone 30 miles from the hospital or him. That night he cooked dinner, I brought home some movies, and we camped out in the living room enjoying a night together. I folded laundry… it was like any other night. The hospital bag was packed, but in another room. I never thought I would need it yet.

At 2 am I woke up in pain. It was not severe, so I use the restroom and return to bed. I was so tired and all I could think about was going back to sleep. I was unable to fall asleep no matter how hard I tried and the pain was not getting better or going away. Then I started to throw up. Each time I would think I felt better I would try to go back to sleep, but it just was not happening. By this point I was worried that maybe I had eaten something bad, or maybe I had a stomach bug. Vomiting and diarrhea were not signs of labor that I had heard or read about. I began to pace the hallway of our house. Sitting or lying was not an option. Our dogs were following me everywhere I went. They knew something was wrong and would not leave me alone so I had to kick them outside. Back and forth, back and forth I paced the hallway. I remember hearing Leddy, our weenie dog, under the house whimpering, pacing under the house with me. I would throw up and then try again to go to sleep. I just knew that I would be so exhausted at work the next day and could not afford to use a sick day as I needed it for maternity leave. Chad woke up a few times during this time and asked if I was okay. Not thinking anything about labor I just told him my stomach was upset and that I was okay. I continued to pace the hallway, and try to get rest, but the pain was getting worse. I could not lie down any longer. I thought to myself once, “what if this is labor?” So I opened a contraction counting app on my phone and remember trying to use it but getting frustrated and in so much pain that being on my phone was the last thing I wanted to do. I could not concentrate on anything. I started to sweat and get really hot, then freezing cold, really hot, then cold again. Am I running fever? What if this hurts my baby? Being in labor never crossed my mind again.

At 5:30 am Chad came in to the bedroom to me crying on the bed. The only words I can remember him saying are “It is time to go to the hospital?” I ask him to wait for me to take a shower as I had been sweating so badly. I am pretty sure he was amused by my request, or maybe annoyed, but he let me know pretty quick that the hospital would not care about my sweat, and if they did who cares. I mentioned earlier that I had folded laundry before bed. Well, I left those folded clothes on the dining room table. I knew there was a pair of white, cotton, elastic waist shorts on the table so I ask Chad to grab those for me. I will never forget that he brought me back a pair of khaki shorts. Even in pain I had to laugh about it and tell him, “No, babe, white elastic shorts. These are khaki." Finally I was dressed, and ready to go. On the way out I asked him to grab a plastic bag for the 30-minute trip in case I had to throw up in the car. He then asks me where do we keep the plastic bags. Males are so funny. I think I may have yelled at him this time. (Sorry, babe.) I bet he never forgets where I keep those plastic bags now. I walked so fast to the car. It was nice to know that relief was in sight. The car ride was the coldest, longest, most painful ride of my life. Chad stayed quiet the whole time. I, on the other hand, was not quiet at all. I yelled at him once to slow down. What will we do if we get pulled over? Then I will just be in pain longer. How rude of him trying to rush me to the hospital.  I had the A/C up as high as it would go. Chad was freezing and turning all the vents towards me, shivering. I could not sit at all anymore. I was holding my self up off the seat by my arms. Using the console in the middle and the passenger door handle. Crying and moaning, I even told Chad, “How will I ever achieve natural childbirth if I can’t even handle this pain?"

We arrived at the hospital around 6:10 a.m and entered through the emergency room. We told the triage lady what was going on. Since I was over 32 weeks they bring me a wheelchair and begin to wheel me up to labor and delivery. That is policy, she tells me. A man pushed me up, but I could not tell you what he looked like. Chad was silent still. The pain was so severe, and again, sitting was so painful. I was holding myself up off the chair. We enter the elevator and another man enters. Again, I didn’t even look up. He asks the man pushing me if I was having a baby… the guy pushing me says “Nope. Something else is going on. No baby yet.”

When we arrive at L&D they do not have a bed ready so (for what seems like an hour) I am stuck in this wheel chair, holding myself up with my arms. It was actually only minutes, long enough for them to make a bed, and they push me into a room, and ask me to get into a gown. I kept feeling like I had to pee. I would try to lie in the bed and then run back into the bathroom. When I finally got into the bed I told the nurse that I kept having the urge to pee, and that it was painful to sit down. She told me that I had to sit so that they could check the on the baby. I was checked almost immediately and the nurses all began to scramble around in a hurry. I began to panic and asked them what was wrong? Why were they in a sudden hurry? “You are having a baby!!” one of the nurses responded. “NOW???” followed by “WHERE IS CHAD??”

They started to walk out of the room when I felt it happen. A sudden release of pressure, and the bed became wet. My water broke. I told the nurses “Uh, I think my water just broke.” No, she said, it hadn’t yet. I had to tell her, no, I mean right now. Chad entered the room then and all I can remember is being so happy to see him. We were having a baby, holy cow, not at all what we were expecting. They told me that they were waiting for my doctor, and he seemed to arrive immediately, bed head and all. I started to push, and I was so thirsty I remember. At one point one of the nurses was telling me not to push. HA. I later found out from Chad that my response to her was not a nice one. They were telling me to push while holding my breath but that was not happening. The growling sound I was making is one I will never forget. But I did not care at the time. Then it happened. The ring of fire. It is no joke. That phrase explains it exactly. A few more pushes and my perfect baby boy entered the world. I immediately asked what time it was. 6:54 a.m.

5 hours after I was awaken in pain, less than 1 hour after arriving at the hospital, at 35 weeks 6 days, my boy was here. He was placed immediately on my chest. The nurse to my right said, “He looks like his daddy.” He cried and Chad and I laughed through our tears. His chin was mine, we decided. His fingers and toes were all there. He was perfect. He was ours. The delivery was over, and I did it. I have never felt so proud of myself before. My doctor asked Chad if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord, and he did. I still had not looked up from my baby. I have never seen anything so beautiful. Then I felt my placenta being delivered very soon after. I asked to see it. My doctor smiled and seemed happy to oblige. Chad gagged and looked away as my doctor held it up. I am so glad I looked. The next few hours are a blur of blissful happiness. Max Owen was here… 6 lbs 3 oz 19.5 inches long. One of the nurses later told me that my delivery was one she will never forget. She started calling Max “Stone” because they thought I was there due to kidney stones. I was glad to know that I was not the only one taken by surprise by my symptoms.

Thursday Birth Day: Aria's Birth

Welcome to Thursday Birth Day!  My hope is that this series will help to encourage women who may be expecting their first baby or their second/third/fourth/etc.  These posts will provide some real life experiences that we can all appreciate and maybe even learn from.  I also hope for this to be a place where women who have gone through birth can have a place to share their beautiful stories.

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Baby Aria's Birth Story

The pregnancy and birth of my daughter did not go as I had always envisioned it.  When I went to my obstetrician for my first visit and he confirmed that I was pregnant I told him that I knew it was going to be a girl, that there would be complications, and that I would end up having a c-section.  The doctor tried to reassure me that things looked great and there wasn’t any implication that there would be complications or a need for a c-section. 

Around 20 weeks I was sent by my obstetrician to the perinatologist for some testing.  Up until this point my pregnancy was seemingly normal with no complications so I was not quite sure why there was a need for any further testing.  While we were doing the ultrasound at the perinatologists office we found out that my original gut feeling was right on two accounts, our baby was a girl and there would be complications going forward because they found holes in her heart and discovered that I had placenta previa.  

After that I started having appointments on an almost weekly basis with various types of doctors (a pediatric cardiologist, geneticist, perinatologist, and my obstetrician) to monitor the baby and me.  As it started to get closer the doctors asked if I would be comfortable delivering her up at Children’s Hospital due to the complications.  I decided against delivering up at Children’s Hospital and instead opted to deliver closer to home to be closer to my family and friends. 

We scheduled my c-section two weeks prior to her due date because she began to stop growing and her health was declining in the womb.  The doctors warned me that my baby might need to have heart surgery shortly after her birth but I just knew that everything would be fine once she was born. 

I made a post on facebook about heading up to the hospital to have my c-section, which all of my friends took as an invitation to come along with me.  I had an entourage of 18 family and friends there with me. My c-section ended up being pushed back due to an emergency c-section that needed to happen ahead of me.  After I got the news that I would have to wait even longer to have my baby my mother told me that she needed to go into work because she hadn’t taken the day off.  I was devastated.  My mother was supposed to be there with me for the birth of my daughter and now she was rushing out the door.  

I finally was taken back to the operating room to have my baby.  Aria was born on March 2, 2011 and weighed 5 pounds and 13 ounces; her APGAR scores were perfect, she latched on right away, and most importantly the holes in her heart closed.  

Although this birth wasn’t the birth I had envisioned (home birth, no interventions, etc.) what is important is that Aria is a bright and healthy girl and she made it into this world safely. 

Thursday Birth Day: Trooper's Birth

Welcome to Thursday Birth Day!  My hope is that this series will help to encourage women who may be expecting their first baby or their second/third/fourth/etc.  These posts will provide some real life experiences that we can all appreciate and maybe even learn from.  I also hope for this to be a place where women who have gone through birth can have a place to share their beautiful stories.

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Baby Tooper's Birth Story
 

I had a great day with my stepson, Stayde. We had enjoyed some sunshine outside as he caught bugs in his new bug catcher and I decided to get out the skill saw and work on a little Pinterest project. It was around 11pm when I first felt a cramping feeling and Stayde was long in bed. My gut told me it was a contraction, but I was almost a week away from my due date and from all of the reading I had done, I figured being a first time Mom I'd go past my due date. I waited to tell my husband, who was working late, because I had had a "false alarm" the night before and didn't want him to rush home for nothing. 

Looking back, maybe that wasn't actually a false alarm, but in fact early signs of labor. I found my sister in law on Facebook and chatted with her about what I was feeling. I was feeling this "menstrual cramp" feeling about every 2 minutes and it would last for about 30 seconds. My sister in law said it seemed strange to be happening so quick and encouraged me to try to relax and rest. I finally called my husband around 1am and let him know what I was feeling, just in case. He finished up at work and came home. I had decided to take a shower and try to relax. While I was in the shower, I found myself leaning against the shower wall in between contractions. I was still unsure what my body was experiencing. David, my husband, arrived just as I had gotten out of the shower and together we sat at the kitchen table as he documented each contraction onto a notepad. We decided around 2am, that we would call our midwife, as it would be a 2 hour drive for her to get to us. I explained what I was feeling and she asked if I had drank enough water and said she felt like "it wasn't real." I thought to myself "oh geez! If this isn't real, I don't want the real stuff!!" She told me to drink 2 big glasses of water and go to bed. So, we did just that. 

Neither of us could sleep. With contractions happening every 2 minutes and lasting 30 seconds, we only had a minute and a half in between for any rest! My husband rubbed my lower back for the next half hour during each contraction. Carol, our midwife, called back about 45 min later and checked in. The contractions had gotten a little closer together and she decided she would go ahead and come. We remained in bed throughout the early hours of the morning trying to rest in between each contraction. Carol arrived around 5am and found me in bed. I was most comfortable laying down. I had attempted to sit on a birthing ball and to walk around earlier. A sharp pain would shoot through my lower back each contraction making it uncomfortable to sit or stand. 

Carol checked me when she arrived and I was dilated to 4 cm! I knew it was REAL! She told me to stay in bed and rest for as long as I could and she took a spot on the couch to get some rest herself. My sweet mother in law arrived around 7:30am to take my stepson to school, however when she arrived we decided it was a big day for him and instead of school he went to have some fun with Nana before his little brother arrived! She also brought breakfast tacos from my favorite Mexican food place and unfortunately I was unable to eat it! Throughout my pregnancy I had a few fears about labor. One-I am hypoglycemic and was afraid that I would get "the weakies" as I like to call them (low blood sugar) and be unable to have the strength to push my baby out. Two-I broke my tailbone playing basketball in high school. It has given me problems since. I was worried it would be too painful during child birth. 

I continued to labor in bed with my sweet husband next to me rubbing my back during each contraction until 9am. Carol came into our bedroom about that time and suggested that David start getting the birthing pool ready and get out the birthing supplies. As he was about to leave the room, Carol checked me again and then told us "we won't have time to get the birthing pool up. We're about to have a baby!" She told me I needed to decide where I would like to have him and we decided that we'd have him in the bedroom since a nice warm birthing pool was out of the question. Rats!! They prepared the room in minutes flat. I decided I would kneel on the floor and lean over the side of the bed. David knelt beside me and put warm wash cloths on my lower back from a crock pot. That. Was. Heavenly. I began to feel like I needed to poop. I had dreaded this moment. So, I decided I'd just get it out in the open and announced I felt like I needed to poop. Ladies, poop happens. Keep calm and birth on! Apparently, that pushy feeling you get feels an awful lot like the urge to poop. Ladies, if you can poop, you can birth a baby. Carol explained that feeling to me and then checked to see if I was ready to push. Unfortunately, I had a lip on my cervix and couldn't push just yet. So, for the next hour each contraction Carol would attempt to move my cervix with her fingers. Sweet baby Jesus, that was painful!!! About an hour later I was ready. I was still on my knees leaning over the bed pushing my little heart out. Carol told me that if I wanted to speed up the process I needed to change positions so that gravity could help me out. So, I squatted with David behind me. 

Carol still had the warm wash cloths rotating in and out of the crock pot to my lower back. Seriously, get a crock pot and some towels. It. Was. Amazing. I had a floor length mirror set up to see. It was so encouraging to see my progress and to see my husband 's face behind me. David was such great support for me. He was encouraging and literally holding me up at one point. We were an amazing team. I struggled to push my baby boy out and keep the progress. His little head would start to peak out and then go back in. I changed positions from squatting (my legs were so tired!) to squatting on the edge of the bed while David sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around me to help hold me up. We finally were able to get his perfect little head out and I was able to transition back to my knees. A few pushes later I felt the infamous ring of fire. They ain't lying! Another push and my baby was here! Carol laid him on some towels below me and I picked him up and held him. He was perfect. My placenta came out immediately following The baby, so Carol had to juggle baby and placenta all at once. Following that was a lot of blood. I think Carol was a little concerned with the amount of blood and the fact that my placenta decided to just come on out too. She checked me out, got the bleeding to stop and then I was able to lay in bed with David and our baby boy. 

Trooper Jackson Long, 8lbs 2 oz 19 1/2 inches long. My greatest accomplishment.

Thursday Birth Day: Roland's Birth

Welcome to Thursday Birth Day!  My hope is that this series will help to encourage women who may be expecting their first baby or their second/third/fourth/etc.  These posts will provide some real life experiences that we can all appreciate and maybe even learn from.  I also hope for this to be a place where women who have gone through birth can have a place to share their beautiful stories. 

We are kicking off this series with a firecracker of a little guy! Little baby Roland was born at just 28 weeks gestation but he didn't let that stop him from growing and getting stronger and stronger! Read Carrie's story of Roland's birth, below. 

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Baby Roland's Birth Story

My pregnancy started out so normal! Our first appointment at 8 weeks showed measurements right on track, a healthy heart beat, the start of a wonderful journey to parenthood. This would be the only “normal” appointment we would have the remaining 20 weeks of my pregnancy. That’s right you read it right, 20 weeks. My husband deployed when I was just 19 weeks pregnant with our baby boy! We had prepared ourselves for his absence during the birth of our son, as much as anyone really can prepare! I traveled to Virginia for the holidays to be with my family and returned to California on December 11th. December 12th my pregnancy changed in ways that no one could ever prepare for. I was in preterm labor at just 24 weeks due to a shortened cervix. My contractions were stopped and I was placed on strict bed rest beginning that day! Bed rest? I have a full time job, a house and 2 dogs to take care of all by myself, not to mention I have NO family anywhere near me. 

I was visiting the high risk doctors once a week at this point and every week was different; I was going to make it to full term, then our goal date was January 31st. Christmas came and went as I laid on my couch. Skyping with my husband everyday letting him know that I and baby were well. On December 27th and 28th they gave me the steroid injections for the baby’s lungs just in case he decided to start acting up in there again. I made it through New Years and I was feeling pretty good, better than I had in a few weeks! 

January 3rd at 9:30 am the high risk doctor told me that my blood pressure was elevated and that the protein in my urine had gone up another unit so back to L&D I went for more monitoring. I went home that night feeling what I thought was defeat, but slowly I started feeling worse and worse. I slept all day on the 4th of January and when I woke up on the 5th I knew something was wrong. I felt like my skin was about to burst. I ran (well more like waddled) to the bathroom and found my self face to face with a sumo wrestler. My worst nightmare had come true; I was showing active signs of preeclampsia. 

I admitted myself to L&D here in town and was there for about an hour before they decided it was best that I be transported to Sacramento to the high risk maternity ward and where there was an amazing NICU. I was in Sacramento for 24 hours, skyping with my husband telling him everything was going to be ok, and all the while I literally felt like I was dying. My head was pounding and my stomach was cramping terribly. At 4 pm January 6th 2013 my doctor came in and told me that my kidneys were shutting down, my protein was at 11, and my blood pressure was so high I was about to stroke. All of that meant nothing to me as he muttered his next sentence “we will be delivering your baby via emergency C-Section tonight!” What? My baby is only 28 weeks and 3 days, he’s not ready to come out yet, I could suffer through anything they threw my way just to keep the baby in-utero. 

The next few hours were such a blur, I had to tell my husband that our precious baby would be celebrating his birthday January 6th instead on March 28th, I had to tell my mother to book her flight immediately instead of in April, I had a room full of some amazing people that were trying to be so strong for me all the while I could see the fear in their faces. I even had to send my friend out to try and find me a charger because my husband would be joining us for the delivery via Skype and my computer decided it was a good time to fry! So many doctors and nurses both for me and the baby came in to introduce themselves; I remember none of them, even today! 

At 8 pm I climbed on to the stretcher myself as they wheeled me down to the OR, talking to my husband the whole way! It was now that I was alone with him that I could finally let it out and just cry! Cry because I was terrified of the uncertainty of my son’s health at this point and cry because I was so disappointed in myself for not being able to keep him healthy. My husband was a champ the whole time; he never once let me see the fear in his face as I held the phone above mine while they took my son from me.  

At 8:27 pm on January 6th I heard the most amazing sound any parent waits to hear, my 28 week 2 lb 8 oz Roland Pierce was born screaming!! They quickly took him away and my best friend with my husband in hand on the phone stayed with him the whole time. Once I was out of recovery I was able to see my baby boy for the first time, breathing on his own with no oxygen. It was at that point I knew he was a fighter and he was going to continue to fight until he came home with us. 7 weeks to the day later, at just 35 weeks gestation, Roland came home with us on February 24th. He amazed us in the NICU and every day since has continued to amaze us with how perfect he is.

Nolan's Birth Story

When I first found out I was pregnant with "Flubber" I knew that I wanted to go about labor and delivery differently then I did with Everett.  (Read his birth story here.)  I wanted to go the natural route but I wasn't sure if I would be able to really handle it or not.  I looked into having a doula who could help me to manage the pain and get through the contractions.  

So without further ado, here is Nolan's birth story...

On Friday (May 17th) afternoon around 4:30 pm I noticed that I was having some tightening  in the lower part of my belly and that it was happening about every 30 minutes or so.  I thought that it was interesting but I didn't get too excited because I knew that it could be false labor.  We went to my parents house for my dad's famous fried chicken (it is so good) and the tightening started moving up my belly and getting closer together.  I wasn't sure that it was "the real thing" because I have heard that women have false labor all the time. 

We left my parent's house around 9:00 pm to head home and get Everett ready for bed.  After E was in bed, I decided that I didn't want to go to sleep just yet because I had heard that the more you walk around and move the more it encourages the contractions to keep coming.  So Tyler and I stayed up and caught up on some of our DVR'd shows.  Around midnight I had figured out that this probably really was labor and that I should get some sleep.  We got in bed and I attempted to sleep for about an hour but every ten minutes the contractions would wake me up.  The contractions were bearable so I told Tyler to stay in bed with Everett so that they could both keep sleeping.

I decided that since I had the time I might as well get ready by making sure the hospital bag was packed with all of our stuff and I even straightened my hair.  (Hey, just cause you're having a baby doesn't mean you have to look like you're having a baby!)  After that was done (around 2 am) I went out to see what I could do around the house.  The dishwasher was clean so I went ahead and emptied that and then folded a load of laundry.  I would have run the vacuum but I didn't want to wake up the boys!  After I had done just about all the chores I could think of around the house I settled down in the living room and caught up on Once Upon a Time (love that show.)  

While I was watching the tv I would periodically stand up and move around, walk laps around the house, do squats, etc. if the contractions seemed like they were slowing down.  I kept a note on my phone and typed in each time I had a contraction.  When they started getting closer together (5:30 am) I decided to call Megan, my doula, and ask her to head over. 

When Megan got to my house (6:00 am) we decided to take a couple of walks around the neighborhood to help inspire the contractions.  That definitely worked because as soon as we started walking, the contractions became much more intense.  When we got back to the house I woke Tyler up (note: I had been filling him in on what was going on throughout the evening/morning) and he made us breakfast.  

Megan had been timing my contractions and said they were about five to six minutes apart and were lasting about one minute each (7:45 am).  I decided I should call my obstetrician's office and see what she wanted me to do.  Since my doctor was on call but not in the office she directed me to go to the hospital and be evaluated at Labor and Delivery (L&D) to make sure I really was in labor. So I called my parents and asked them to come over to watch Everett so Tyler, Megan, and I could head to the hospital. 

My last belly photo (in between contractions)

When my parents got there (8:45 am), the contractions were starting to be much more painful and intense.  After we loaded up the hospital bag and said goodbye to Everett (so sad) we headed out to the hospital (9:00 am).  On the way to the hospital I had three back to back contractions that made me want to throw my birth plan out the window.  After we got there and were on the way into L&D I had to stop in the lobby in order to work through a contraction (you should have seen the faces of the people waiting there!)  Once we got back to L&D they put me in a triage room so that they could check to see if I was "actually in labor."  

I started having a contraction so I got into the bed and immediately my water broke (9:45 am).  I mean it wasn't a little leak or trickle... it was full blown, movie style, water breaking!  That is definitely a weird feeling and is almost hard to describe.  The best way I can think to explain it is rather than jumping into the pool, the pool was jumping out of me! (If that was too much information for you, then you might want to stop reading!) My water breaking was like a rush of positive energy! I felt like it renewed my urge for a natural birth and renewed my mental strength.    

So after all of that happened they moved me to a "real" room and started all the paperwork.  My nurse, also named Laura, came in and was super sweet.  She said that she had read over my birth plan and was really excited to be assisting with a natural birth.  We started the five hundred questions that you have to go over and in the process she checked me to see how far dilated I was (10:15 am).  She said I was technically 6 cm but that she could stretch me to 8 cm! WHAT?! That is crazy talk! I was so excited because that was about 3 cm further then I thought I was going to be! That's when things started to get expedited. 

I tested GBS positive so I had to receive antibiotics (Penicillin) through the IV.  Nurse Laura got that started, then continued on with the remaining questions and I had Tyler call Tiphany to come to the hospital. A few minutes later (10:30 am), the pressure I was feeling started to move southward so she checked me again and I was 9 cm! What the what?! I was so excited and really could not believe that my labor was progressing that quickly.  I don't think any of us really expected it!   

The contractions continued to get stronger and stronger and closer and closer.  I tried to work through each contraction as they came and I visualized the baby moving further downward. Tyler, Megan, Tiphany, and the nurses were all excellent at helping me through the contractions.  I am so thankful that I had such great support!  I felt like I had things pretty well controlled until I started going through transition.  During transition I had the "shakes" which were really annoying especially since I really had to pee but couldn't get out of bed to go since I was still hooked up to the antibiotics.  (You can go ahead and guess what happened when I started to push...)

Tyler and my doula Megan. (Tiphany was taking pictures!)

I told Nurse Laura that I had the urge to push and she had my doctor come in and check me (11:30 am).  My doctor said that I was fully dilated but that I was not fully effaced yet but wanted me to do a test push since I was adamant about wanting to push.  After the set of "test" pushes, she said that it would be good if I could wait another thirty minutes or so to start pushing. (You should have seen my face when she said thirty minutes.) About fifteen minutes later I told Nurse Laura that I was really ready to push so she called my doctor back in the room.  They then started transitioning the room from a "labor" room to a "delivery" room.  The lights got brighter, the surgical trays were pulled out, etc. and my doctor was suited up to deliver baby "Flubber."  I started pushing and was making some really good progress.  I pushed for four contractions (three pushes for each contraction) and after the fourth one I was exhausted.  

As I sat back after the fourth contraction I could hear the baby's heartbeat drastically drop.  It went from 170 beats per minute down to about 50 beats per minute.  The doctor and nurses were very calm but I could tell that they were a little bit worried.  They laid me back, had me put on an oxygen mask, and told me that I really really needed to try and push as hard as I could so that I could get him out during the next contraction.  When they laid me back, I literally felt like I was going to pass out.  I was so exhausted and did not think that I was going to be able to push any longer.  

Just before the last contraction came, I gave myself a little pep talk and mustered up as much energy as I could for that last set of pushes.  After the first push I could feel him crowning, after the second push his head was out (and I am pretty sure I screamed "JUST PULL HIM OUT"), and after the third and final push the rest of him was out. I pushed so hard that I broke every blood vessel in my face and one in my eye! The nurse immediately put Nolan on my chest and I was so relieved that he was finally here.  Tyler isn't into the whole blood and hospital thing so while he was laying on my chest I got to cut the cord!  It was a pretty cool experience! 

That's the face of pain and relief all mixed into one...

He was born on Saturday May 18th, 2013 at 12:14pm weighing in at 7 lbs and 5 oz and was 18.5 inches long. 

Overall, I am so happy with the way that his birth turned out! I know that sounds weird, to be happy about going through pain, but it was so worth it! I wish I knew what I know now when I had Everett because I am sure that things would have gone much smoother. The recovery time with Nolan was much faster, I was able to get out of bed sooner, and I didn't have to be as medicated afterward with a natural birth.  All in all, IF I were to ever do it again- I would definitely do another natural birth (or maybe even a home birth!)   

Everett's Birth Story

Everett was due on May 23, 2011 and we anxiously awaited his arrival! When I went for my weekly check up my doctor said that she would like to induce labor because she thought that little Everett might not end up being so little so Tyler and I agreed for me to be induced that Friday.  This was before I was crunchy and I really didn't know all of the risks that went along with induction. I wish that I had done more research prior to agreeing to induce labor. 

They induced me on Friday, May 20th at 7am with pitocin.  When I came in I was only 1cm and maybe 35% effaced.  They left me on pitocin all day (until 6pm) with no changes at all even though I was having steady contractions.  The doctor decided to take me off of everything that night and start with pitocin again in the morning.  At this point I should have know that he wasn't ready to come out but I guess I figured since I was already at the hospital I might as well continue on.  When I was hooked up to the pitocin, the only time I could get out of bed was to go to the bathroom or to sit on the bouncy ball.  

I started the pitocin again Saturday morning around 8:30am.  The doctor came to check on me around 10am and I hadn't made any progress.  She decided to use a foley catheter to get things moving.  Once that was inserted in I started feeling the contractions a lot more.  The contractions were steady and about 2 mins apart for most of the day.  

Around 4:30pm the foley catheter came out and I was in a lot of pain (from the contractions) and  asked for fentanyl (through the IV) and managed the pain pretty well with that.  At 7:30pm I was 5cm and asked for the epidural because things were getting very intense.  The epidural was working very well up until around 3am when I started feeling a lot of pressure.  They checked me then and I was 7cm.  Yay progress!

By 4:30am I was really feeling like I needed to push so they checked me and I was 9cm and 90% so they started prepping the room for delivery.   At 5am I told the nurses that I was going to push whether or not the doctor was at the hospital! :)  The nurse checked me and I was at 10cm and 100%!!  She had me do a "test push" to see how far down I could get him- well after 1 push she said that I better stop pushing or I would have the baby before the doctor got there! 

At 5:30am is when they had me really start pushing.  Although I had pushed him into position with the first push, I couldn't get him any further because he was attempting to come out forehead first rather than the crown of his head.  The doctor finally came in around 6:30am and suggested we try the vacuum- so we did.  She only used it for 1 push - just to position him correctly.  After that I was able to push him right out! By 7:30 am he was nursing and content in my arms!   He was born at 7:01am on May 22, 2011 and weighed 6lbs and 12oz. 

Overall it was not a bad experience but I really did learn a lot of things that I will plan on doing differently next time I have a baby.  I really am going to be opposed to being induced unless I am way overdue.  I definitely will not want to use pitocin again because I was not able to deal with the pain the way that my body wanted to (i.e. walking around, sitting in different positions, etc.)  I think that if I were able to get up and move around more I would have been able to hold off on the pain medication a little longer. May 22nd will always be one of my favorite days because it was the day that God blessed me with the most perfect gift, Everett.