I woke up at 5:15am with my first contraction. Due to previous false labor I barely made a mental note of the time before rolling over and trying to go back to sleep.
However the next two were 4 minutes apart and then dropped to 2 minutes.
I got up, brushed my teeth and made Evan's lunch still able to function through each contraction.
One hit that I had to stop to breath through and I decided to wake Jed up.
I went to into our room to gently wake Jed up only to have him surprise me by throwing his blanket off and jumping up. He had been awake, waiting for me so he could startle me.
A little after 6am I called the birthing center to tell them that I was in labor. I talked to the midwife on call, Zoe, who told me to meet her there in 30 minutes.
Another contraction hit me that caused a flashback to previous births. While we waited for Jay to arrive to watch the boys, I sat down on the stairs and started panicking. I had been praying since I got up and most of my prayers were either, "God please help me." or "God I have faith that you're in control and will get me through whatever I'm about to go through." I was now saying things like, "I can't do this God, make labor stop because I'm not ready." and "Why are You letting this happen to me?"
Pretty quickly, I realized God wasn't planning on stopping labor so I decided to plead with my husband instead. I begged him to take me to the hospital instead of birthing center because if I was going to do this I at least needed an epidural. I was loosing it. Fortunately Jed was levelheaded enough to refuse.
As a wave of hysteria threatened to overwhelm me, I begged God for strength and peace and immediately the wave subsided. I knew then that I would endure this pain but that God would get me through it.
Jay came over to take the first babysitting shift with the boys. Joy would come over later when Jay had to go to work.
We drove to the center, the contractions were way worse when I was sitting down than standing so the drive was torture at times. I remember calling my mom but not much of what was said and I also remember my husband saying, "Look at all those alligators in the lake this morning." That's when I told him to shut it, stop looking at the scenery and drive faster. I wasn't in the best place at that moment.
We arrived at 6:50, I was checked as soon as we got there and was dilated to 5/6. I also found out that Isla was "sunny side up", meaning she was facing my front rather than my back. This is not the optimum position for labor, apparently it causes back labor and it can slow down the pushing phase. Although I wasn't noticing much back labor the news was discouraging.
We moved into a birthing room and the bath was started immediately.
I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to get in the bath. When I finally got in it felt really good but it only lasted a little while. I had a few really bad, transition type contractions and then my hands began tingling. It was time to get out.
I really thought I had a long way to go but once I was out of the tub I had a few more contractions while standing up and found myself pushing without realizing it.
Zoe suggested we check my cervix so we did I was complete! However I didn't feel ready to lay down and push, the pain when I was laying was so much worse than when I was standing. I got up and continued laboring while standing, using Jed to hold onto during each contraction.
I went to the bathroom and before I could stand up another one hit and my water broke well, more like it exploded (I literally jumped and gasped when it happened), into the toilet. I was pretty excited, I figured I'd start pushing soon and have a baby in the next half hour to an hour.
I still didn't want to lay down so I pushed while standing for the next 2 contractions. The last one I felt the "ring of fire" as they call it. I didn't have time to register what that meant as my body began to shake and I suddenly felt like I couldn't stand anymore. I turned and flopped myself gently onto the bed.
Zoe began to prepare for the baby but I told her that she could relax, I always had to push for a long time.
Then a couple things happened, Zoe was checking for Isla's heartbeat and couldn't find it. A contraction hit, I heard someone else say, "Should I get oxygen?" Zoe was telling me that I had to roll over onto my left side and at the same time was pushing me over. I told her I needed to push, she told me I needed to wait for the babies sake.
She found the heartbeat and everything calmed down. I asked if I could push on the next contraction she said yes but we'd have to roll over onto my side again as soon as it was over. I agreed.
The next contraction hit I pushed and to my complete surprise her head popped out. I took a tiny breath, pushed again and out came her shoulders. I heard Jed gasp and felt her tiny warm body on my stomach.
I couldn't believe it! I just kept thanking God that it was over.
Her umbilical cord was short like Ford's so Jed had to cut it so I could pull her up to my chest.
Unfortunately I didn't get to feed her right away as it was decided that I needed a couple sutures. The trade off for such a fast birth I guess. The last time I had stitches was over seven years ago with Evan's birth! It wasn't that bad though, in fact a bit later it was decided that I was borderline bleeding too heavily and as a precaution I was given a shot of pitocin which was way more painful, I think I might have even cussed!
Before heading home we had her newborn exam which by the way she passed with flying colors. And of course the all important stats;
Weight: 6lbs 8oz
Length: 18 1/2 inches
Born at 8:35am
She's healthy and perfect!
Since this is already a book of an entry I'll write about the boy's reactions to meeting their baby sister in another post.
However the next two were 4 minutes apart and then dropped to 2 minutes.
I got up, brushed my teeth and made Evan's lunch still able to function through each contraction.
One hit that I had to stop to breath through and I decided to wake Jed up.
I went to into our room to gently wake Jed up only to have him surprise me by throwing his blanket off and jumping up. He had been awake, waiting for me so he could startle me.
A little after 6am I called the birthing center to tell them that I was in labor. I talked to the midwife on call, Zoe, who told me to meet her there in 30 minutes.
Another contraction hit me that caused a flashback to previous births. While we waited for Jay to arrive to watch the boys, I sat down on the stairs and started panicking. I had been praying since I got up and most of my prayers were either, "God please help me." or "God I have faith that you're in control and will get me through whatever I'm about to go through." I was now saying things like, "I can't do this God, make labor stop because I'm not ready." and "Why are You letting this happen to me?"
Pretty quickly, I realized God wasn't planning on stopping labor so I decided to plead with my husband instead. I begged him to take me to the hospital instead of birthing center because if I was going to do this I at least needed an epidural. I was loosing it. Fortunately Jed was levelheaded enough to refuse.
As a wave of hysteria threatened to overwhelm me, I begged God for strength and peace and immediately the wave subsided. I knew then that I would endure this pain but that God would get me through it.
Jay came over to take the first babysitting shift with the boys. Joy would come over later when Jay had to go to work.
We drove to the center, the contractions were way worse when I was sitting down than standing so the drive was torture at times. I remember calling my mom but not much of what was said and I also remember my husband saying, "Look at all those alligators in the lake this morning." That's when I told him to shut it, stop looking at the scenery and drive faster. I wasn't in the best place at that moment.
We arrived at 6:50, I was checked as soon as we got there and was dilated to 5/6. I also found out that Isla was "sunny side up", meaning she was facing my front rather than my back. This is not the optimum position for labor, apparently it causes back labor and it can slow down the pushing phase. Although I wasn't noticing much back labor the news was discouraging.
We moved into a birthing room and the bath was started immediately.
I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to get in the bath. When I finally got in it felt really good but it only lasted a little while. I had a few really bad, transition type contractions and then my hands began tingling. It was time to get out.
I really thought I had a long way to go but once I was out of the tub I had a few more contractions while standing up and found myself pushing without realizing it.
Zoe suggested we check my cervix so we did I was complete! However I didn't feel ready to lay down and push, the pain when I was laying was so much worse than when I was standing. I got up and continued laboring while standing, using Jed to hold onto during each contraction.
I went to the bathroom and before I could stand up another one hit and my water broke well, more like it exploded (I literally jumped and gasped when it happened), into the toilet. I was pretty excited, I figured I'd start pushing soon and have a baby in the next half hour to an hour.
I still didn't want to lay down so I pushed while standing for the next 2 contractions. The last one I felt the "ring of fire" as they call it. I didn't have time to register what that meant as my body began to shake and I suddenly felt like I couldn't stand anymore. I turned and flopped myself gently onto the bed.
Zoe began to prepare for the baby but I told her that she could relax, I always had to push for a long time.
Then a couple things happened, Zoe was checking for Isla's heartbeat and couldn't find it. A contraction hit, I heard someone else say, "Should I get oxygen?" Zoe was telling me that I had to roll over onto my left side and at the same time was pushing me over. I told her I needed to push, she told me I needed to wait for the babies sake.
She found the heartbeat and everything calmed down. I asked if I could push on the next contraction she said yes but we'd have to roll over onto my side again as soon as it was over. I agreed.
The next contraction hit I pushed and to my complete surprise her head popped out. I took a tiny breath, pushed again and out came her shoulders. I heard Jed gasp and felt her tiny warm body on my stomach.
I couldn't believe it! I just kept thanking God that it was over.
Her umbilical cord was short like Ford's so Jed had to cut it so I could pull her up to my chest.
Unfortunately I didn't get to feed her right away as it was decided that I needed a couple sutures. The trade off for such a fast birth I guess. The last time I had stitches was over seven years ago with Evan's birth! It wasn't that bad though, in fact a bit later it was decided that I was borderline bleeding too heavily and as a precaution I was given a shot of pitocin which was way more painful, I think I might have even cussed!
Before heading home we had her newborn exam which by the way she passed with flying colors. And of course the all important stats;
Weight: 6lbs 8oz
Length: 18 1/2 inches
Born at 8:35am
She's healthy and perfect!
Since this is already a book of an entry I'll write about the boy's reactions to meeting their baby sister in another post.
