A Christmas Story

Imagine waking up on Christmas Day at 4:30 in the morning not because you're excited about Santa coming, but because your body is telling you a baby is coming!  I had to go to the bathroom and felt the slightest hint of a contraction...and 10 minutes later there was another one.  It took me about an hour to make sure and then I texted my midwife, Jenee, as a heads up.  With my history of rapid labor I didn't want to waste any time.   Next, I sent a text to my good friend Jessica who was planning to photograph the birth, but told her no rush (I didn't want her to miss out on Christmas with her kids!)  We planned a home birth and had rented a birthing tub (with a thermostat so it would stay warm and so Daniel wouldn't have to bail water out!).  My midwife told us to go ahead and start filling it up thinking we would have a baby by lunch!  So, I woke Daniel up telling him today was the day and then went to the living room to wake my mom telling her we were getting ready to have a baby.  She and Daniel started filling the tub with hot water.  Next thing I know there was a knock at the door and it was Jessica!  She had rushed right over. :)  It was about 6:30 then.  She had already had Christmas with her kids (early risers!)  My contractions were feeling more real, but staying only about 8-10 minutes apart.  The kids woke up about 7:15 and we were able to enjoy opening gifts and having a "normal" Christmas.  I liked that there wasn't any interruption to our usual Christmas morning, but it all felt very strange to me since I was a bit preoccupied with anticipation and what was going on with my body.  Jessica stuck around, took some pics of our morning, and left around 10 since nothing seemed to be happening with me as far as labor and birth were going.  Jenee, my midwife, had said that labor may slow down with all of our activity of the day and she was right. This seemed very strange since my births usually go very quickly.  I kept in touch with Jenee through text and phone calls throughout the day and since I was progressing slowly she got to enjoy Christmas with her family as well!  I pretty much spent the day wondering and waiting and pacing.  I took a shower after Jessica left and put on some comfy clothes.

In an effort to minimize distractions and try to speed things along, Daniel's parents came to get Joelle and Jordyn around 12:30 and take them to Daniel's sister's house to enjoy lunch and time with family.  (We had planned for Sonya and Sage to stay for the birth.)  Coincidentally, we had exchanged our gifts and celebrated on Christmas eve with his family.  The afternoon dragged along as we waited and waited and nothing was really happening.  I had contractions on and off, but it was like I really wasn't even in labor.

Around 2:00 p.m. it started snowing!!  It was turning out to be a white Christmas in Texas!  This was adding even more excitement and memories to "birth day."  Sonya was excited to go out and build a snowman.

My sister-in-law, Jill, who is a physical therapist, decided to come over around 4:00 to massage my "trigger points" to try to get my labor going.  It may have helped because my contractions started coming slowly.  As it got later, the weather seemed to become more treacherous, and as we ate dinner, with my contractions increasing, it was starting to get dark.  I was afraid it would take Jenee a long time to get to my house so I texted her to make sure she was okay to drive in the snow and ice.  She seemed to be fine with the idea, but said she would go ahead and leave her house just in case.  I was grateful she was on her way because it made me nervous that she might not make it for the birth.  I think it was about 7:30 when she arrived and I will never forget her standing in the entry way, assessing the atmosphere, and telling us what to do!  Too many lights, too many people, too much activity!  She sent Daniel and me to our room to relax and labor, turned the music down in the living room, dimmed the lights, and sent everyone (kids, Jessica, my mom and Gerald) to different rooms so I could just focus on labor.  Sonya says she was 'trapped' in her room. :)  While I was laboring in my room, Daniel and Jenee were working to get the birthing tub to the right temperature.  Jenee would check on me periodically, help me relax during contractions or put pressure on my sacrum to give some relief.  Another moment I will never forget is when I was sitting on my exercise ball tensed up during a contraction and Jenee putting her hands on my head, then my shoulders, then my knees as I closed my eyes as she quietly told me to relax my whole body from top to bottom.  It was at that moment that I knew we were meant to have our babies at home with a midwife.  Through the Lord, she cared for me, helped me, calmed me, empowered me to do what my body was meant to do.  Contractions were getting intense.  I stayed mostly rocking on the ball, humming through contractions, but stood up and swayed for a few of them while Jenee would put pressure on my back.  Finally the tub was at the right temperature and I was ready to get in!  That hot water felt sooo good!

It really does take the edge off.  Between contractions we all would talk and laugh.  Jessica, my mom, Sonya, and Sage had come back in the living room.  I didn't notice much except Daniel, Jenee, and Miranda (the assistant midwife) who were right by me.  At one point between contractions I asked Jenee when she would know it was time for me to push.  I'm used to being in a hospital bed with a nurse checking to make sure I was dilated enough and tell me to do so even though I had already felt ready.  Jenee just said "Oh, you will change your sounds."  Okaaaayyy.  Well, sure enough, not two minutes later, I felt my baby was ready to make his entrance and my sounds sure changed!!  I wasn't humming anymore!  I was already up on my knees with my arms crossed over the side of the tub, but she told me to move to the other side and bring one leg up (knee up, foot down) to give the baby more room.  With the next contraction I felt the urge to push and when I did my water broke!  While I was pushing I had my head down and Jenee softly telling me to take it easy so I wouldn't tear.  That was so helpful.  Just letting my body do what it felt like it needed to do.  The next contraction and push were intense and I was saying AHHHHHH!  pretty loud. (Apparently that part scared Sonya and she bolted from the room).  But with that push he was out at 9:45 p.m!!  (about two hours of active labor) The next thing I know my little boy is floating up to me in the water!  So amazing seeing that little face!  I grabbed him and pulled him up (sorry Daniel!  He was supposed to do that job, but my reflexes got the best of me!)  It was so amazing! 

The next thing I know they are telling me to stand up so I can get a shot of pitocin in my leg.  I knew beforehand this would have to happen since my iron was not high enough before birth and they wanted to help the bleeding stop faster. 

They put a towel around us and helped me out to the couch where I delivered the placenta and nursed while Jenee and Miranda took care of me.  I held him the whole time.  Jenee showed us all (even the kids) the placenta and even gave a little science lesson about it. :)  Jenee checked his vitals and even let Sonya and Sage listen to his heart.

After all that it was time for the herbal bath.  Daniel held him for a little while and then placed him with me in the bath tub where I held him and washed him off. 

After that, I got dressed and then it was time for the newborn exam which took place on our bed.  10 fingers, 10 toes, great reflexes, measured and then Daniel got to weigh him!  When all that was over he was wrapped up then he and I were tucked in our own bed! 

Daniel stayed with us for a little bit, but then he had to go take care of the birthing tub.  Jenee and Miranda told me good night then left to chart everything.  Jessica, my wonderful friend who captured so much of our day and experience, told me goodnight as well.  It was so special to have her there for everything.  What an amazing CHRISTMAS day!  The next morning Daniel's parents brought Joelle and Jordyn to meet their baby brother for the first time.  So cute.  They loved him!  Jessica came back, too, to take pictures of them meeting him. 

Home birth was an amazing experience!

Nathaniel Mark was born on Christmas Day 2012 at 9:45 p.m. at home.  He was 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long.

A Timely Blessing (Jordyn's Birth Story)

How do I even start this post?? Do I start with "all my babies have been early".....or.... "my mom came in town early to help out".....or...."each day of waiting was an eternity"?? How about I WILL NEVER PUT AN EXPECTATION ON A PREGNANCY AGAIN! Jordyn was due September 24 and since all three of my other babies have come early on their own I just expected this one to be the same. We even planned for my mom to come in a few days before (9/20) the due date because of this. I couldn't believe it as my due date (9/24) came and went. My mom had already been here a week, and I couldn't believe I was actually having to talk to my doctor about being induced. Induction is NOT something I wanted to do, but nevertheless I got put on the schedule for 10/6. I continued with my regular activities of the week...attending one more Sunday at church, one more MOPS meeting, one more Ladies Bible class with everyone saying "you're still here??" I had no indicators that I would go into labor anytime soon.
The morning of Thursday, September 30, I woke up as usual to get ready for the day, getting Sonya to school, and the other two girls to preschool. Lately I had been waking up with the pain of a full bladder that would go away when I went to the bathroom. When I got up this day I thought I had the same pain, but it felt slightly different. Went to the bathroom and it seemed to go away, but about 15 minutes later that twinge came again. This was my first clue that something might be happening, but I didn't want to get my hopes up since they really didn't feel like the contractions I was expecting. It still made me nervous though. :) I got dressed, then Sonya and I hopped in the car to go to school. On the way home from dropping her off (8 a.m.) I felt a distinct wave in the pelvic area that had me almost sure since all these "pains" were coming and going at regular intervals. While I was taking Sonya to school Daniel was still at home finishing up getting ready to leave for work. I thought that he would wait until I got home to leave, but also thought I better call him just in case. I decided to just take the chance he would still be home (we're only five minutes from school). Imagine my surprise when I turn on our street and he is backing out of the driveway!! Thankfully, he had forgotten his hospital bag (we'd been toting those around for a week!) and had stopped to go back in to get it. I pulled in the driveway, went inside and told him he should hang around for a little bit just to see if these "contractions" were indeed the real thing. Sure enough, it didn't take long for it to be apparent that this was the real thing. I called Daniel's mom to see if she could come get Sage and Joelle and take them to school. Contractions were regular somewhere between 5-10 minutes apart, tolerable, but I didn't want to waste any time getting to the hospital. It seemed like this could possibly go quick. Daniel's mom got to our house about 8:45 to take the kids and we immediately got in our car along with my mom and headed to the hospital. I had assumed Daniel remembered the way to the hospital so we didn't review how to get there beforehand. A bit of a mistake since we got off at an exit too late, but realized not too far down the road. Thankfully my labor was slow and steady this time and I was still feeling okay and not panicked about it. We got back on the right track and got to the hospital. I know this is the fourth one, but I was still so scared and nervous.... I told the nurse at the desk my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and she got moving right away. We got into the triage room (9:40) and I think I was at 5 cm. Daniel's sister had the day off that day and had arrived shortly after we got checked in. Shortly after that his mom arrived from taking the kids to school. We got moved to a labor and delivery room after all the initial assessments and just waited...while I contracted...I did most of that standing up. Sooo much better than being in the bed. It was weird to watch the numbers on the monitor start to go up as a contraction was going on. Kind of helped with the mental preparation. My nurse was so nice and encouraging, offering whatever she could and asking me what I wanted...all I could think about, though, was getting through the contractions. I didn't know what I wanted. She brought me a birthing ball which I tried sitting on for a little while until I knew I was getting close to delivery and asked the nurse to check how much I was dilated. I was at 8 cm. The whole time I was actually contemplating getting an epidural. It sounded so nice at the time because I didn't know if the contractions were going to get much worse or how long I would be waiting. It was a battle in my head. I just kept pushing through, though, knowing that it probably wouldn't be that much longer, I've done it before, and I like being able to get around soon after the baby is born. I stayed in the bed after she checked me, but stayed sitting up holding onto a bar that could go across the end of the bed. Contractions were constant and I was ready to be done. I knew Jordyn was low and ready to make her entrance. There's that bathroom feeling again... I told the nurse I was ready and she called the doctor. Based on the side of the conversation I was hearing it seemed like the doctor wasn't in a hurry, but the nurse very firmly requested that the doc NOT take her time getting to me. Thankfully she did come, broke my water, and told me to push whenever I was ready. It was hard to believe this was all going so smoothly. I tried pushing as hard as I could, but wasn't really into it. I asked if they could see Jordyn and they said yes, she was right there. That would explain why I felt a little bit of a burning sensation already. That was enough encouragement for me to push again and with enough stamina to get her out. And with that she was out at 11:25 a.m.! I didn't even really scream this time, only just vocal enough as I was pushing her out. Daniel, my mom, his mom and sister were all there to witness Jordyn's birth. All went very smoothly and I felt like this was my easiest labor and delivery. I couldn't believe I had actually considered the epidural! Jordyn weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and was 19.5 inches long. Lots of dark hair ALL over her body, long toes, and just perfectly beautiful. Another one of God's gifts to us. After all was said and done, Jordyn was checked out and I was taken care of we got moved to a room. Our moms and Daniel's sister left to go pick up kids from school and bring them to the hospital. I couldn't wait for them to meet their new sister! Amazing to me that I had a baby in the time they were at school! The timing for everything worked out perfectly for Daniel to be home, the kids at school, and his mom and sister off as well. The Lord had answered every prayer all in HIS timing. :)

A Baby Story

Thursday morning I went to my regular OB appointment expecting to hear that there had been no change and she still wasn't coming! Imagine my surprise when my doc told me I was on my way and he didn't expect me to make it through the weekend! Of course, that just made me even more nervous!! I had been having false labor all week, been expecting to have her for at least two weeks already, and anxious that I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time! I left the doctors office a bit overwhelmed ;) Even though I was ready to have her I wanted Daniel to be home and everything in place when it was time to go to the hospital so I didn't do anything to try to make things happen any quicker that day. Daniel gets home from work, my mom makes dinner for us, we eat, get the kids ready for bed, in bed, and still we just wait. A little before 10 I'm on the computer and Daniel and my mom are watching tv. I start to feel a wave of pain (not bad) across my back which made me wonder....it wasn't like the other false labor pains I had been having. Ten minutes later I got another one. I'm actually excited that true labor has actually begun! I had about 5 of the these contractions ten minutes apart and then decided to go tell Daniel and my mom. Finally something predictable! My mom had already changed into her pj's (why, I don't know and she doesn't either because we should have known this was going to happen :). We call Daniel's mom to come over to stay with the kids because my mom was going to the hospital with us. My pain and the contractions are still manageable and I didn't feel alarmed about speeding to the hospital so when Daniel's mom got here and I wasn't in a hurry she got really nervous (considering my labor history) when I wasn't leaving right away (had to change my facebook status! :) Hindsight...should have stayed home longer anyway....continuing on though....

It was probably about 11:30 when we got to the hospital. The car ride wasn't bad and I actually thought maybe I was having the false stuff again since the contractions weren't really coming on strong yet (I was expecting everything to happen super fast). We get to triage and sign in, I inform the nurse that I have a history of rapid labor and she gets moving pretty quickly (don't you know I felt pretty dumb when nothing happened for a long time). She puts me in a triage room and the nurse who is going to take care of me comes in. Older lady, kind of slow, says she been doing this for over 40 years. Imagine my surprise when she checks to see how much I've dilated then has to call in another nurse because she's not sure!!!! My nurse thought I was 8 cm which gave me great joy...the other nurse checked and said I was barely 4 cm...no change since my appointment that morning. What???? I get hooked up to the monitors (which are really annoying by the way). Unless you are lying down and don't move they don't stay on right. There was no way I could labor flat on my back and not move around. Plus, every time I had to go to the bathroom I had to call the nurse to unhook the monitor so I could go. The whole time I am in there I can tell that the monitors aren't getting a correct reading but no one is coming to check on me. Weren't the nurses supposed to be watching that sort of thing?? After an hour or so the nurse comes back in to see if I've dilated any more, but it hadn't changed much...maybe to 5 cm (but how reliable is she???) so she goes out to call the doc on duty to see what the doc wants to do. Meanwhile my contractions are getting closer together and a bit more intense, but how would they know when the monitor isn't reading right and no one is checking on me. Thirty minutes after the nurse had left she comes back to tell me that it would be okay if I WENT HOME since not much progress had been made. Are you kidding me???? She obviously didn't know my history OR what had just been going on in the half hour she was gone! I know my body pretty well after having two kids and there was no way I was going home. It was starting to get intense. I told her that I was having more frequent contractions and going home was not an option. This was probably around 1:30 or 2am. She leaves me to labor in my little triage room...uncomfy bed, strapped to monitors, increasing pain, Daniel and my mom sitting in hard chairs. I have to get up and pee several times and finally just stay up because the contractions are getting really bad. I'm hanging outside of my door trying to find a nurse, any nurse to tell them that I was feeling a lot of pressure and the baby is ready to come out. Nobody is around. Finally somebody appears and asks me if I need something so I tell them and they call my nurse (bummer) to check me out. I don't think anybody was believing me because I was pretty composed for someone about to give birth. She checks and I'm finally dilated to 8 or 9 so she calls delivery nurse who comes in and starts to hook me up to the IV and take me to the delivery room. The delivery nurse is also telling me to hold on so she can call the doctor, etc. I'm thinking these nurses have never had a natural birth because when it's time, IT'S TIME! Stop telling me to wait! We get over to delivery and she's trying to get everything set up. I'm in pain...I can feel baby and really ready to get her out. The nurse who takes care of the baby comes and says to my nurse that 4 other women are complete (10cm) and ready. The nurses were running around like crazy...a little short staffed, they weren't expecting everyone to be complete at the same time especially with only one doctor on call. They even had to call another one of the doctors to come in and even asked somebody if they didn't mind using the midwife (the nurses are all talking in my room about this). I was told that the doctor was coming to me first because I was going natural and the others had epidurals so they could wait! The doctor finally gets in, checks me out and says I'm still just shy of 10 cm so she wasn't ready for me to push yet...I am not believing this!! I keep telling her it hurts, baby is ready and I'm ready and finally she gives the okay. Here we go! I start to push and the doc informs me that Joelle is facing up (babies are supposed to come out face down). As I'm pushing she is trying to manually turn Joelle face down. Let me tell you that hurts worse than the contractions themselves. Having her face up also made it harder to get her out. It's harder to get her past the pelvic bone. So far I think I am doing pretty good keeping composure, no screaming, and I was pretty proud of myself....then Joelle is RIGHT THERE and everyone keeps telling me to PUSH HARD! That's when the screaming began :) There was just no way I could do it without screaming. Getting the head through hurts, but it is such an indescribable sensation. Joelle was crying before she was even completely out. The umbilical cord was also wrapped around her neck once which is no surprise to me considering how much she moved around in utero. What a joy to have her out! Friday, October 24, 2008 at 3:41 am. They wipe off Joelle and hand her to me pretty quickly. It's such a wonderful feeling to hold your just born baby and each time I cherish it more and more. I got to hold her for what seemed like awhile before they took her to weigh, measure, clean, etc.

This time my mom was with us when Joelle was born and it was so great having the extra encouragement and another hand to hold as I was going through labor and delivery. I enjoyed watching the emotion on her face as I was experiencing pain and joy as Joelle was born, and I know it was such a blessing to her being able to witness Joelle's birth.

Daniel was great, too even when I was telling him I didn't think I could go through childbirth again. But, as the Lord says the pains of childbirth are quickly forgotten. They are, and the outcome is totally worth it.

Sage's story

I guess while I am on the subject of birth stories I will get Sage's out there since I didn't do it on her birthday blog. My baby girl made her appearance rather quickly as well :)

Sage was due around Thanksgiving of 2006 so when Daniel was invited to a Mavericks game on the 14th we didn't give much thought about it, but half jokingly said "I hope I don't go into labor while you are at the game." That night while he was gone I was sitting at the computer and could tell something was going on in my body, but not completely sure what it was. It didn't feel like contractions so I wasn't alarmed, but started wondering... I keep anticipating the first signs of labor because I know I have to get to the hospital ASAP with my history of rapid labor. Earlier in the evening, Daniel's sister had called me asking if I was feeling anything, and I think I told her no since I didn't think anything was going on. Well, Daniel gets home and we go to bed, nothing exciting. At 5:15 a.m. I wake up having to go to the bathroom and feeling a little bit of abdominal discomfort similar to but more so than the feelings from the night before. I lay back down only to have to go to the bathroom again and realize that my body is "cleansing" itself as it does before giving birth. This time I wake Daniel up and tell him that I think I'm in labor and it's time to go. We start to get ready and call Daniel's parents at about 6 so they can come over since Sonya is still asleep. In the meantime I also call my parents and Daniel's sister. By now I am actually experiencing contractions very close together and I'm very nervous. Having given birth before I kind of knew what to expect, but also knew it could be very different and just wondering about it all made me nervous. I had been anticipating this for a long time and now the unknown is unfolding. I then call my friend Trina who just had her second baby 3.5 weeks before and knew she would probably be awake. I'm so glad to have her as a friend. I told her how nervous I was and asked if she had been nervous with Luke. She said yes and was very reassuring for me. Did I tell you how blessed I am to have her as a friend?? So Daniel's mom gets to the house and we leave about 6:30 (just before rush hour, whew!) Arriving at the hospital close to 7 a.m. we go to Maternal Observation, they ask a couple of questions and ask me to sign in. I immediately tell them that I have a history of rapid labor and they start to move a little quicker. I get hooked up in the obs room and checked for dilation. I'm at 8 cm!! Then we head to labor and delivery where things are a bit calmer than they were with Sonya's birth. I was able to speak like a normal person, they got me hooked up to everything and the doctor was even there just waiting for me to have a baby. I have a few more painful contractions then I could feel "the bathroom feeling" except this time I know it's Sage ready to come out! Those are hard contractions! My water still hasn't broken at this point. I tell the doctor that I feel like the baby is ready to come out, and she tells me that she can break my water, have the baby and put me out of my misery. I decline. At that next contraction though I AM READY TO GET HER OUT! The doctor checks me and at that time my water breaks. Now I start pushing through the contractions (it was only a few) yelling GET HER OUT! Then, there she was!!! My beautiful baby girl at 7:47 a.m. 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 18.5 inches. If you have done the math yet you have probably figured out that it was only 2.5 hours start to finish and within about 45 minutes of arriving at the hospital. I can only imagine what the next one will be like! We might be having it on the side of the highway!