This birth story is tremendously different than Audrey's so if you read hers, then I hope you read this one. After writing Audrey's, I realized what a difference there was in the general feeling of the birth (not the BABIES, mind you, because I love them both the same.) I'll probably write a different post about that, though.
**WARNING- It's a birth story. It might get a little graphic. I mean, hey, it's birth. So, you can stop reading now if you're chicken! :) J/K but you will know me a lot better after this!**
I wanted a natural birth. And with this pregnancy being so close to my previous pregnancy, I was determined to use the knowledge I had gained from the first experience to make this next labor more of what I wanted. I was mostly determined that I WOULD NOT be induced, (haha, the thought did cross my mind whilst anxiously awaiting Jack's arrival.) I also decided that I would try to have a water birth. My friend Sheena told me very early in my pregnancy (thank goodness we went to that Derek Webb show) that the hospital I was at had started providing tubs for water births. I really think that this help keep me on the right track, motivating me even more to have a natural birth.
Leading up to my due date, I had noticed an increased amount of more intense Braxton-Hicks contractions. At first they were only coming more frequently, but then they also became a little more uncomfortable over time. About 3 weeks before my due date, the contractions became very regular. About 8 minutes apart for about an hour or 2. Nothing came of that, and actually I didn't even make any "progress" when I was checked at the doctor that week. I was still about 1 1/2 cm dilated/60% effaced/-3 station. Keep in mind, these are estimates, and they were actually very encouraging. My body was beginning the work of labor. The next week I was 2cm/65%/-3, all the while, I was still having these regular periods of contractions. They weren't too uncomfortable, unless I was sitting down, like in church. I had the hardest early labor contractions in church! Johnny agreed that this must mean he's going to be a preacher, haha.
So considering all this "progress" I was making, my last week before my due date was a bit excruciating, waiting and wondering and trying to plan out who was going to keep Audrey in case we had to go in the middle of the night. I know I shouldn't have let it get to me, but when people are asking you how much longer you have and "when are you going to pop" and things of the like, even 3 or 4 months or so before you're due, it kind of wears on you. (That's why I've decided to tell everyone my due date is actually my 42 week point if i get pregnant again. That way if i'm "late" it won't really feel that bad. Also, your "due date" is just an estimation. Sometimes babies need more time in there. I know this now.) So I decided to let the doctor strip the membranes again to get things going. I'm not completely opposed to this. I do think it's a good option when you're really actually "late" and you would like to induce naturally. I wasn't "late" though, even by the estimated due date, so if I could go back and change this decision, I would. It's so hard to be patient and let the baby come when it's good and ready, especially when "everyone" you're talking to is wondering why you're not being induced or having a C-section because the baby's going to be so big. I'm not saying if that was your circumstance that you were wrong, I'm just saying that was definitely NOT what I wanted. (This is also another good reason to have a doula that will encourage you through the waiting process. Matt could only say so much, he wanted that baby here too! He did encourage me to wait, though.) Also, I was having incredible back pain. That made it really hard to get everything done around the house, or walk around much to help induce. Anyway, so after the doctor visit, I was definitely having some regular contractions 1min- 1 min 30 sec contractions about every 5-8 minutes. I called my friend, Stephanie, to come over and stay with us that night, just in case we needed to go to the hospital. Well, they kind of petered out around midnight or so. That was Wednesday. The next 5 days were so frustrating. I got red raspberry leaf tea, I ate pineapple, hot stuff (not too much because my heartburn was so painful,) eggplant parmesan, I walked as much as possible, and even went so far as to by Black & Blue Cohosh, which I did not take. That stuff is straight alcohol! I was not that desperate yet, haha.
The weekend came and it was supposed to be very stormy on Saturday, so Mom and Dad came up to stay with us, just in case we needed to go to the hospital, and it was too stormy for them to come up. (If you know my parents, you probably laughed right then.) On Sunday morning, I woke up to some significant bloody show. I was so happy. I went almost skipping through the house saying, "I'm in labor, I'm in labor." I just knew that this was the start of the actual thing. We decided that Mom and Dad would take Audrey for the day down to Tuscaloosa and we would have some time to ourselves to labor/relax/get ready, whatever. Matt and I went on to church that morning, and like most Sundays, I had the most intense contractions up to that point during the sermon. After church, (this is when we were still in the Melheim Building) we strolled to Za Za's with our friends Ryan and Ashley, and I ate a good light lunch. It was the most wonderful smoked salmon bagel I've ever had. I want one now... Yeah, so then we went to our friends Jarrod and Stacy's son's 1st Birthday party. (Thankfully Allison took some pictures of me that day, because that was my last day to be pregnant! I'll post one of the pictures that she took.) But my contractions were not getting steadier. They were getting more painful, but they'd go through spells of consistent contractions, then nothing, and on and on and ON. Little did I know at the time, I was having prodromal labor. Which now that I know, I think it's kind of cool. It kind of helps you not notice the beginning parts of labor, that way you can go on with your normal activities thinking that these contractions are really no different than the ones you've had for months so maybe won't get too mentally tired trying to time contractions and wondering if you're really in labor, when all the while, you might actually be dilating without even knowing it! (I guess we'll see if I feel this way about it the next time I get pregnant!) I was getting discouraged with the fact that these contractions weren't really steady enough for me to call the doctor. Mom and Dad brought Audrey back to the house and I convinced them to stay here one more night because I was going to get up and go to the doctor tomorrow to see what was actually going on. I was driving myself crazy wondering "Is this labor?"
Monday morning, I woke up again with more bloody show. The excitement returned. I called my doctor and they "worked me in" a few hours earlier than my original appointment. So I got ready as fast as I could, and Matt and I went to the Dr's office. I left all my hospital bags at the house because I didn't want to jump the gun. (I have a habit of doing that, if you can't tell.) So while driving to the office, the contractions I was having were ok. Uncomfortable, but ok. Then as we were walking the long walk to the office, I definitely remember having to stop in the breezeway during a contraction. Not really because it was painful as much as it felt like things were very heavy between my legs.
We had to wait about 2 hours once we got to the office. Apparently, it was Birth Day :) because Dr. R was down in L&D. When he got to our room, he checked me and with the funniest look on his face said, "Seriously, Carla, you're like 7-8 cm. Ok. We're going to check you into the hospital now, if that's ok with you..." hahaha! FINALLY! I was actually in labor. You don't know what a feeling it was to know that I was actually in labor, not synthetically induced labor, but labor that my body actually started! It was awesome. So Matt and I made our way down to L&D, checked in, and then Matt headed back to the house to pick up our stuff.
Thankfully, because I had planned on having a water birth, I was assigned one of the "natural nurses". The hospital where I go does actually have a team of nurses who request to be on natural birth cases. This makes it SO much easier to have the birth experience you want. My nurse was awesome! She even stayed with me after her shift because she wanted to be there when the baby was born. (That meant a lot to me.) Also, this time I had a written and signed by my doctor, so that made it easier to remember what I actually wanted and didn't want. The nurse asked me a few questions and put in my hep-lock and sent me to walk around the hospital to try to progress labor a little more. Haha, that was fun. You always see on tv those women in gowns walking around the hospital having contractions. That was me! Actually, I wasn't really having many contractions. I think I was too excited to really progress much.
After about an hour, Matt came back and my doctor did too. Dr. R checked me and I was still about 8 cm. He asked if I wanted him to break my water because the bag of waters was bulging, sorry for the graphic description, but he said it was probably the only thing holding the baby back. (Now, if I could do it over again, I would have made a different decision here because of how quickly I felt the need to push after he broke my water. So if I had just let it happen on its own, maybe I wouldn't have had so many painful contractions and the urge to push would've hopefully not come til I was completely dilated.) I agreed to let him go ahead and break my water, which was not painful this time, btw. We decided that I would get up and use the restroom, then continue to walk the halls to progress my labor. Well, I hardly even made it to the bathroom before I was doubled over in pain. I called Matt in to help me and I said, "OK, I need to get in the tub, I need to push!"
**WARNING- It's a birth story. It might get a little graphic. I mean, hey, it's birth. So, you can stop reading now if you're chicken! :) J/K but you will know me a lot better after this!**
I wanted a natural birth. And with this pregnancy being so close to my previous pregnancy, I was determined to use the knowledge I had gained from the first experience to make this next labor more of what I wanted. I was mostly determined that I WOULD NOT be induced, (haha, the thought did cross my mind whilst anxiously awaiting Jack's arrival.) I also decided that I would try to have a water birth. My friend Sheena told me very early in my pregnancy (thank goodness we went to that Derek Webb show) that the hospital I was at had started providing tubs for water births. I really think that this help keep me on the right track, motivating me even more to have a natural birth.
Leading up to my due date, I had noticed an increased amount of more intense Braxton-Hicks contractions. At first they were only coming more frequently, but then they also became a little more uncomfortable over time. About 3 weeks before my due date, the contractions became very regular. About 8 minutes apart for about an hour or 2. Nothing came of that, and actually I didn't even make any "progress" when I was checked at the doctor that week. I was still about 1 1/2 cm dilated/60% effaced/-3 station. Keep in mind, these are estimates, and they were actually very encouraging. My body was beginning the work of labor. The next week I was 2cm/65%/-3, all the while, I was still having these regular periods of contractions. They weren't too uncomfortable, unless I was sitting down, like in church. I had the hardest early labor contractions in church! Johnny agreed that this must mean he's going to be a preacher, haha.
So considering all this "progress" I was making, my last week before my due date was a bit excruciating, waiting and wondering and trying to plan out who was going to keep Audrey in case we had to go in the middle of the night. I know I shouldn't have let it get to me, but when people are asking you how much longer you have and "when are you going to pop" and things of the like, even 3 or 4 months or so before you're due, it kind of wears on you. (That's why I've decided to tell everyone my due date is actually my 42 week point if i get pregnant again. That way if i'm "late" it won't really feel that bad. Also, your "due date" is just an estimation. Sometimes babies need more time in there. I know this now.) So I decided to let the doctor strip the membranes again to get things going. I'm not completely opposed to this. I do think it's a good option when you're really actually "late" and you would like to induce naturally. I wasn't "late" though, even by the estimated due date, so if I could go back and change this decision, I would. It's so hard to be patient and let the baby come when it's good and ready, especially when "everyone" you're talking to is wondering why you're not being induced or having a C-section because the baby's going to be so big. I'm not saying if that was your circumstance that you were wrong, I'm just saying that was definitely NOT what I wanted. (This is also another good reason to have a doula that will encourage you through the waiting process. Matt could only say so much, he wanted that baby here too! He did encourage me to wait, though.) Also, I was having incredible back pain. That made it really hard to get everything done around the house, or walk around much to help induce. Anyway, so after the doctor visit, I was definitely having some regular contractions 1min- 1 min 30 sec contractions about every 5-8 minutes. I called my friend, Stephanie, to come over and stay with us that night, just in case we needed to go to the hospital. Well, they kind of petered out around midnight or so. That was Wednesday. The next 5 days were so frustrating. I got red raspberry leaf tea, I ate pineapple, hot stuff (not too much because my heartburn was so painful,) eggplant parmesan, I walked as much as possible, and even went so far as to by Black & Blue Cohosh, which I did not take. That stuff is straight alcohol! I was not that desperate yet, haha.
The weekend came and it was supposed to be very stormy on Saturday, so Mom and Dad came up to stay with us, just in case we needed to go to the hospital, and it was too stormy for them to come up. (If you know my parents, you probably laughed right then.) On Sunday morning, I woke up to some significant bloody show. I was so happy. I went almost skipping through the house saying, "I'm in labor, I'm in labor." I just knew that this was the start of the actual thing. We decided that Mom and Dad would take Audrey for the day down to Tuscaloosa and we would have some time to ourselves to labor/relax/get ready, whatever. Matt and I went on to church that morning, and like most Sundays, I had the most intense contractions up to that point during the sermon. After church, (this is when we were still in the Melheim Building) we strolled to Za Za's with our friends Ryan and Ashley, and I ate a good light lunch. It was the most wonderful smoked salmon bagel I've ever had. I want one now... Yeah, so then we went to our friends Jarrod and Stacy's son's 1st Birthday party. (Thankfully Allison took some pictures of me that day, because that was my last day to be pregnant! I'll post one of the pictures that she took.) But my contractions were not getting steadier. They were getting more painful, but they'd go through spells of consistent contractions, then nothing, and on and on and ON. Little did I know at the time, I was having prodromal labor. Which now that I know, I think it's kind of cool. It kind of helps you not notice the beginning parts of labor, that way you can go on with your normal activities thinking that these contractions are really no different than the ones you've had for months so maybe won't get too mentally tired trying to time contractions and wondering if you're really in labor, when all the while, you might actually be dilating without even knowing it! (I guess we'll see if I feel this way about it the next time I get pregnant!) I was getting discouraged with the fact that these contractions weren't really steady enough for me to call the doctor. Mom and Dad brought Audrey back to the house and I convinced them to stay here one more night because I was going to get up and go to the doctor tomorrow to see what was actually going on. I was driving myself crazy wondering "Is this labor?"
Monday morning, I woke up again with more bloody show. The excitement returned. I called my doctor and they "worked me in" a few hours earlier than my original appointment. So I got ready as fast as I could, and Matt and I went to the Dr's office. I left all my hospital bags at the house because I didn't want to jump the gun. (I have a habit of doing that, if you can't tell.) So while driving to the office, the contractions I was having were ok. Uncomfortable, but ok. Then as we were walking the long walk to the office, I definitely remember having to stop in the breezeway during a contraction. Not really because it was painful as much as it felt like things were very heavy between my legs.
We had to wait about 2 hours once we got to the office. Apparently, it was Birth Day :) because Dr. R was down in L&D. When he got to our room, he checked me and with the funniest look on his face said, "Seriously, Carla, you're like 7-8 cm. Ok. We're going to check you into the hospital now, if that's ok with you..." hahaha! FINALLY! I was actually in labor. You don't know what a feeling it was to know that I was actually in labor, not synthetically induced labor, but labor that my body actually started! It was awesome. So Matt and I made our way down to L&D, checked in, and then Matt headed back to the house to pick up our stuff.
Thankfully, because I had planned on having a water birth, I was assigned one of the "natural nurses". The hospital where I go does actually have a team of nurses who request to be on natural birth cases. This makes it SO much easier to have the birth experience you want. My nurse was awesome! She even stayed with me after her shift because she wanted to be there when the baby was born. (That meant a lot to me.) Also, this time I had a written and signed by my doctor, so that made it easier to remember what I actually wanted and didn't want. The nurse asked me a few questions and put in my hep-lock and sent me to walk around the hospital to try to progress labor a little more. Haha, that was fun. You always see on tv those women in gowns walking around the hospital having contractions. That was me! Actually, I wasn't really having many contractions. I think I was too excited to really progress much.
After about an hour, Matt came back and my doctor did too. Dr. R checked me and I was still about 8 cm. He asked if I wanted him to break my water because the bag of waters was bulging, sorry for the graphic description, but he said it was probably the only thing holding the baby back. (Now, if I could do it over again, I would have made a different decision here because of how quickly I felt the need to push after he broke my water. So if I had just let it happen on its own, maybe I wouldn't have had so many painful contractions and the urge to push would've hopefully not come til I was completely dilated.) I agreed to let him go ahead and break my water, which was not painful this time, btw. We decided that I would get up and use the restroom, then continue to walk the halls to progress my labor. Well, I hardly even made it to the bathroom before I was doubled over in pain. I called Matt in to help me and I said, "OK, I need to get in the tub, I need to push!"
Now we're getting to the good part, right?!?
That's what I thought, too. It's a little before 3, I think when I get into the tub. I immediately feel the urge to push. So, of course I do. I am getting into the zone! It's an awesome feeling, really. I was listening to my body, doing my relaxation breathing, relaxing through the contractions, not fighting them. The labor mix I made was playing, mostly worship songs, so it was really nice to dwell on those words during labor. I pushed when my body needed to push and I rested when I needed to. I even dozed a couple times in between contractions. Matt was sitting in front of me giving me words of encouragement. He did really great. He was an awesome coach.
The contractions were coming about every 2 minutes right now, I suppose. I really don't know because I wasn't focused on the time. But the contractions, or maybe just my nerves, combined with the heat of the water were making me a little nauseous, so Matt and the nurses got me some ice and some water and a small fan. Matt was shoveling ice onto me like every 5 seconds. Next time, we'll know to bring a cooler! But the warm water was doing it's job, too. I think it really kept my muscles relaxed. I was on my knees in the water swaying back and forth trying to bring the baby down.
A little after this, Allison arrived from work. I had asked her if she wanted to be present for the birth because after I had Audrey, we talked about how we both were interested in becoming doulas. She was so awesome. She helped Matt with whatever he needed, she helped pour the water and ice, she even offered to fix my pony tail for me, which I didn't let her because I so didn't care at that point. (I should've let her though, my hair looked crazy!) She even offered to take some pictures, which I also turned down like a nut. I'm so stubborn when I'm in labor (and most other times, too.) But she secretly took some anyway, and I am so thankful she did! I will post those also.
The nurse, I suppose, checked me and they called Dr. R down. I don't really remember, all I know is that at some point he showed up again, ha, (can you tell I was in the zone?!?) I do remember him saying to the nurse though, and this was really funny, "Is this ok, what I'm wearing?" and I thought, hmmm that's odd. I wondered why he was asking the nurse what he should wear, like he's never done this before. WELL, turns out it was the first water birth that he ever attended! He totally didn't tell us this prior to the birth. Maybe he thought that he'd attend one before mine, I don't know. But it was kind of cool to be the first! Anyway, he came down and we joked about Lost and I tried to get back to moving that baby down.
So we were all sitting around, waiting for this baby to be born, well, everyone else was, and I started to feel the pressure to make some progress. There were a lot of people in that room, Matt, Allison, the nurses, nursing students (which I did not mind that they were there, I thought it was kind of neat for them to be learning "off " me) and it had been about an hour and a half of me pushing. I knew that Dr. R. had other patients up in his office, poor pregnant women waiting to get out of the office so they could eat (at least that's always what I did after my appointments) so I asked Dr. R if he needed to go back up to his office. I know this is a funny thing for me to be thinking about, but I'm silly like that. I really started to wonder at this point if I was going to be able to do this.
I began to sway a little more trying to progress. I asked the nurses how I was doing and how the baby was doing because I had no idea. They told me I was doing great and encouraged me to keep going. They said they couldn't even tell when I was really having contractions except by looking at the monitor (they always seemed to check me with the monitor during a contraction, ha. They kept apologizing for that, but again, I was in the zone, so I didn't mind so much)... they probably say that to everyone. :) I probably should've gotten up out of the water and walked around or something, but I was afraid. I knew what it felt like when I was standing up and I did not want to feel that again. Fear of pain. It was hindering my labor. I started thinking about Audrey and how they had to use forceps and how her shoulders were stuck. I thought, "What have I gotten myself into? I'm not going to be able to get this baby out and because I don't have pain medication, I'm not going to be able to take it and I'm going to have to have a C-section." Self-doubt. This was hindering my labor. I began relying on myself and forgetting to ask God to help me through this. Hinder hinder hinder. I knew that I needed to voice my fear to Matt and ask him to intercede for me in prayer, but I didn't want to say my specific fear out loud, because I didn't want to speak it into being and dwell on it. So I just asked Matt to pray hard that God would take away my fear. Now, I'm sure this was hard for him. There was a room full of people and we were about to bust out and have some church, haha. But he did not care. He prayed and as soon as the words left his lips, I felt the baby drop down. I felt a peace come over me. I knew God was right there with us. It was an awesome, humbling feeling.
At this point, I think the nurses had a shift change, but like I said, the first nurse I had stayed around to see me to the end. (So sweet of her!) Anyway, one of them suggested that I change positions, so I was basically leaning back, squatting, and Matt was holding me up during my contractions. Poor thing, I know this was hard for him. He didn't know that he was going to have to give so much physically too. My legs were killing me, so I was really trying to stretch them out while I was in a different position. (See, I should've just stood up. So stubborn.) Now it was somewhere in the 5 o'clock hour, so I'd been pushing for almost 3 hours. Dr. R was back. I was ready for this to be over. I still was worried that I was not going to be able to do this, and I was worried about what it was going to feel like to push out a baby. Dr. R reminded me not to fight the pain, not to worry about it, but just let the baby come down. Well, I asked Matt to pray again, ha. He did and right after, I gave a big push, and there was the head! FINALLY! Dr. R told me to reach down and feel my baby. I think I said no, for some stupid reason. I did eventually, though. It was surreal. (And don't get me wrong, the head wasn't out completely, just the top of the head.)
I turned back around onto my knees because I had read that it was one of the best positions for birthing big babies, and I knew that Jack was going to be big. I went with what my body was telling me to do, again. Only push when my body needed to and SLOWLY let the baby come out. Dr. R said that he knew that this helped me to not have ANY lacerations (at least not fromt the head coming out.) He never thought that anything really helped with that but after this birth he said he was a believer.
Well, I'm not even sure how long this took but it kind of felt like forever. I asked Matt to pray one more time, and with this prayer, I again began to feel a major contraction. Then Matt said he had never heard such a noise come from me, like an Amazon woman! The nurses and Dr. R and Allison and Matt were all cheering me on, which encouraged me so much. I began to push very hard for the next few contractions. Suddenly, there he was! Out came the head. Then with the next contraction I pushed very hard, and nothing happen. Then Dr. R says, "Shoulder!" and they flipped me over like a beached whale! Once again, the nurses were kneading and pushing my stomach, trying to get the shoulders out. This was the only reason I had any laceration at all, and it wasn't even a 1st degree tear.
So after about 4 hours of pushing, at 6:42 pm, Jack Dalton was born, 10 lbs 9 oz, 23 1/4 in long! They laid him on my chest and the first thing I thought when I saw him was, "Wow, he looks so much like Audrey." He was awesome, and he looked like a one month old. So swollen and handsome, like a little old man, haha. They took him to the warming station, or whatever it is, to check him out since his shoulders were stuck. Matt made sure that I was ok, and then went to talk to his boy. As soon as Matt spoke to him, Jack began to respond. His cry was so soft at first. (And if you know him now, you know that is not the case!)
This was the hardest, but most gratifying experience of my life. I have never felt God move so... physically before. I swore right after I had Jack that I was not going to do that ever again, because, I'm not going to lie, it hurt and it was not easy. I've changed my mind since then ;)
Here are some pictures of me in labor and just a couple of my little man right after he was born.
Here are some pictures of me in labor and just a couple of my little man right after he was born.
Thanks for reading!
