A Birth Story To Remember (Part 3)

   

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Click here if you missed part 2

Carrying a growing child inside my very own body, is one of the most amazing, satisfying, and incredible things God has allowed me to experience. It's also the most taxing!
 
Many women can attest, that from the moment we see those bright pink lines ( blank-stare at our doctor as they present the news) all the way up to "go time", we flow through many emotions.
 
 During pregnancy, we all have the ability to experience joy, fear, sadness, mourn, uneasiness, unsure, excitement and worry (not in that order, but you get my drift) which is why we go through great lengths to make sure everything goes as perfectly as possible.
 
We make lists of things baby will need, we borrow all of the pregnancy library books, we watch birth videos, read blogs, drool over all the updated baby gear AND clean the house like we're hosting The Last Supper! But, the one thing we seem to be most concerned about is the "birth plan" (get birth plan tips here).
     Although I had my very own birth plan, there were a few things I prayed for specifically. I've always wanted a home birth on all fours with zero inductions, zero drugs, and complete calm in the room. I know that's asking a lot, but hey, can a girl dream? Well, did God have a surprise for me!


"I'll be right back, babe", hubby said as he ran to the van hauling his bag and mine.

  I was standing at the table near the front door, bracing myself...another one was coming, but this time, I could no longer stand through it. It took me too my knees. So, there I was on all fours looking out the front door. It was raining so hard. There was not a speck of thunder....just nice, hard rain. I felt a small hand rubbing my lower back. Her voice ever so gently whispered, "it's OK, mom....breathe". My sweet ten year old daughter was comforting me. As I looked behind me, there stood my two sons, eyes wide open....they didn't say a word. As soon as I felt the contraction leave, I jumped up, told the kids I loved them and ran out the door.

"Honey, we've got to hurry", I said running down porch the stairs. I swung open the sliding door, let the captain chair all the way down and got back on all fours. Hubby was right behind me and he slammed the door shut. He ran on the other side of the van and quickly hopped into the drivers seat and started her up.

"Here comes another babe", I moaned to hubby as he turned to look at me, we locked eyes.... It hadn't even been five minutes since the last contraction! There was a lot of pressure this time and I felt a great need to push....but I didn't.

"Babe, should I call 911"?, he said while grabbing his cell phone from the belt clip.

"Yes, "Just in case". My eyes were fixed on the back window, watching the rain hit and roll down. I imagined that I was the waves of a great storm, the tides were high and then were low. Then I imagined that God was swinging me up to Heaven and back down again. I was zoned out! I could also hear hubby on the phone with the 911 operator.

"My wife is in labor.....yes....our address is..." Soon after, he hung up the phone and he turned to check on me.

I was already undressing! 

You see, while hubby was on the phone, I had yet another contraction and decided to push.....well, in fact, I couldn't help it and the results caused the baby to crown!

"OH BOY", were the exact words my hubby used when he turned around. He could see baby crowning! He began applying counter pressure to my lower back (that was in my birth plan) when all of a sudden, another one came! I kept my eyes on the back window, riding my pretend waves and swinging with God, took a nice deep, open mouth breath, ....and pushed. Before I knew what happened, hubby had gotten out of the drivers seat, opened the sliding door and baby's head (and a left elbow) came popping out! I could hear hubby thinking....he was very quiet, until he said,

"Justin's head is out!"

I sorta knew that, but I wasn't quite sure how much more pushing I had to do.

"Oh goodness", I heard hubby mumble under his breath.

"Babe, let me know if you can't catch him, because I need to know if I need to grab him"

"No, honey, I'm gonna catch him"

"Don't let him fall....can you do this?"

"I won't let him fall...I'm gonna catch him....I won't let him fall"

I didn't find out until later that it was at this moment that hubby said a little prayer. It went something like this,

"HELP LORD"

All of a sudden, I see a police car pull up. I'm watching him as walks to the car, until hubby yells through the rain,

"she's having the baby, his head is out!"

By this time the officer was pretty much at the van already, so he took a "looksie"

"Oh Boy"

He then ran over to his squad, and began rumbling through it.

Meanwhile, hubby has the steady position of the worlds bests quarter back ( I think that's the right position). His hands were placed strategically as he held them close to the head of his son.

"Babe, here comes another one....don't let him fall"

"I won't babe"

With my gaze still fixed to the back window, I could see the officer running back carrying what looked like puppy pads as he was sporting baby blue surgical gloves. It was at that moment, I pushed one last time.

"Woah, I've got you little man....you're alright".  I could hear baby Justin's voice through his gurgles. I turned to look at him. What a wonderful sight. Hubby was holding him so close, talking to him....everything was happening so quickly.

   The officer returns to find that "it was a boy". He was frantically looking through his bag for an aspirator, but failed. That made him nervous. I wasn't nervous at all because I heard and saw him breathing normally (although I could hear that there was still fluid...he was fine) and his color was perfect. He then clamped the umbilical cord and began yelling at the EMTs....yeah, they were just now showing up.

"Hurry up, we need an aspirator over here....hurry up"

   Once it clicked in the EMT's mind that baby was already here, they began running. They got to the van to find that daddy was holding the baby, mommy was still on all fours smiling at dad and baby...and officer, telling them how he needed an aspirator. In pure calmness, the EMT's cleared out what was left in baby Justin's mouth and nose and said,

"He's perfect....now let's get mom and baby into the truck"

   There I was, not in my most modest fashion, I realized that I should probably cover up. My van's sliding door was still wide open and I live on a corner lot. Basically, if my neighbors wanted to, they could see all of my business! I asked hubby for his button up, but one EMT placed a warmed sheet over my lady parts and guided me onto the gurney, while another on wrapped baby Justin and carried him close beside me as they rolled me down the driveway. Before we even drove off, I was inside the ambulance truck,tucked underneath a warm blanket nursing baby Justin for the first time. Meet, Justin.

( Justin born on September 10, 2014 st 7:15 a.m.)

I'd love to hear what you think about this crazy, wonderful day of mine. Do you have a crazy birth story? Leave a comment




 

A Birth Story To Remember (Part 2)

 

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   Every now and then, I read a blog entry (or see a movie)  and in it, a woman that always knows exactly when she's in true labor due to her "instincts". All the while, I sit back and think, "geesh I've done this a few times and I still can't pinpoint it". Maybe it's my high tolerance for pain or maybe I'm just a weirdo (I'm actually fine with either of those), but where's my instinct? Did I loose it in the large bowl of chocolate ice-cream or deep down in at the bottom of the cookie jar? (don't judge me). Maybe, I lost it when I got that prenatal foot massage. Either way it goes, I didn't have it....or maybe I did and was doing everything perfectly right.

   With less than a week left for my due date to arrive, I began to think maybe baby didn't want to come out! I had tried everything to get things going. I did lots of walking (more like wobbling), drank lots of water, lost of "indoor sports" with hubby....I even demanded the baby to come out, but he was proving to be very disobedient! The waiting game had started to take an effect on the entire family. Hubby had a hard time being comfortable at work and the kids were ready to meet their baby brother. Not to mention that I was getting daily calls from family that wanted to know if there was any action yet.

   It was about 9 p.m. and hubby was just getting home from a long day's work. I warmed up his dinner and sat with him. We chatted about our day (as if we hadn't been texting all day long) and joked about what if's. What if the baby is actually due in October? What if it's really a girl? What if it's twins? What if I went into labor tonight? 

   That's the one thing I dreaded! I did NOT want to go into labor in the middle of the night. I know I have no control of that happening, but it would be such an inconvenience, right? So I had my fingers crossed reaaaaal tight!

   Once we decided to go to bed, I did my Preggo-Pilates, played a few games on my phone and dozed off into a nice deep sleep. I was sleeping so good! It was the best rest I'd had in about, oooohh, 6 months or so.

   I had the sweetest dream. You see, about a year prior, I lost my great grandmother. We called her "Granny". She was the sweetest little old lady. I was dreaming that I was caring for her. She was sitting in her big, blue, comfy chair, looking at me with her sweet gummy smile. I took a quilt and lay it over her, tucking her in gently. As I stepped away, I felt a "BIG ONE"....I was having a contraction in my dream! It was so real, that when I opened my eyes.....IT WAS STILL GOING! I gripped the sheets a little and tried to control my breathing. Once it was over, I walked down stairs to, you know the drill, "empty my bladder, drink some water and walk a few rounds in the living room". I took a peek at the microwave as I guzzled water. It was 5:45 a.m. I felt well rested, but thought I should lay down for a while. I began walking up the stairs, but half-way up.....here comes another one. I couldn't lift my left leg. So I gripped the banister until it was over. I finished my trek upstairs, laid down and whipped out my phone. "Time to start timing". My even, heavy breathing woke up hubby.

 "Babe....you ok?"

"Yeah, but these contractions are really good", I say laughing.

By this time, I'd had, oooh about five contractions and I had to take a trip to the bathroom. But this trip to the lou was a bit different. I lost my mucus plug and began having very loose stool.

"I'm just gonna start getting ready, just in case this is the real thing", I say ever so calmly.

He jumped into action! I tell you the truth, if you have never seen your husband move fast after you ask him to do something, try saying "it's time"....works like a charm (if you're pregnant of course).

   He woke the kids up, called his parents, packed his bag (he was the only one that hadn't packed yet). I, on the other hand was brushing my teeth when I felt another one coming. I had to brace myself over the small turquoise table in the kitchen and stomp my leg until it was over. All along I had the toothbrush hanging in my mouth. I did that about three more times, because now they were coming like a freight train and more like every 5-7 minutes. Chu-Chuuuuu!

"Babe, are we gonna make it to the hospital?", hubby asked. He saw how zoned out I was.

"Can you drive?", I strangely responded....I mean, what kind of question is that? What my mind actually meant was, "are you going to be able to drive fast?"

And that is when I knew for sure that I was about to have this baby!

Come back next week for part 3. You're not gonna believe what happens next!

Click here to read part 1

A Birth Story To Remember (Part 1)

 

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   I can tell you from experience that every birth is different, but this time it was Super-Natural! It was everything I prayed for.....except for one thing. God had his own agenda on how He would answer my prayers....He showed us His humorous side.

   September 9, 2014: It was a beautiful day. The sun was beaming on me as I sat, rocking gently in my favorite chair on the porch. Watching the kids play outside with friends was one way to get some "me" time and still be able to watch my babies laugh. This day was much like the others. I had been contracting all day, sporadically of course. I was just six days away from my due date and this momma was Tired (do you see that capital "T"?)! Although, I was truly ready for this pregnancy to be over with, I was trying not to think about it,which was a piece of cake (yeah, right).

   Just three weeks prior, Dr. Cansler (the best in the world....no, seriously!) she told me, and I quote "Your cervix is as soft as butta. When this baby comes, its gonna come QUICK"! So, from the moment I heard those words, I thought "YES let's do this! A week went by and there I was, still pregnant. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I still had plenty of time left, but this was the first time I went full-term and was READY TO POP!

    As I was sitting on the porch, the contractions picked up a bit. They were about 15-20 minutes apart, but I was crusin' through those babies. I was able to walk and talk, so I didn't get excited. You learn not to get excited after you get sent home on false labor charges. It was getting pretty hot outside, so I invited the kids and their friends inside to play with Legos. Hubby was texting me from work every five minutes (exaggeration) to check on me. He worked just a few minutes from home and his boss knew that he could become "Superman" at the blink of an eye!

  My dear friend Moe, lives across the street and was also checking on me through text. Our conversations went something like:

Mo: hey....are you having contractions over there?

Me: yeah, but I'm good tho

Mo: how far apart?

Me: like 15-20min

Mo: when does the dr want you to go in?

Me: When they are consistent for at least an hour

Mo: Christy, it's been 2 hours!

Me: yeah, but I don't wanna get sent home

Mo: When does Jay get off?

Me: at 8

Mo: call him NOW!

Me: I'm gonna wait a lil while longer

Mo: wrong answer. I'm coming over!

It was about 5 p.m. now, and the contractions were a bit stronger than before. I had to breathe through them a little bit. But there I was in my living room watching six kids build to their imagination's extent. Mo was standing there watching me
go through another one just to make sure I was OK. She took her boys home and told me to leave the door unlocked. Just in case she needed to get in quick. I was in chill mode, but little did I know, I was also in labor!

Come back next week for part 2! I wanna tell you what happened next!