Will's Birth story

Well I had been having Braxton hicks contractions since 20 weeks then what I would consider more realistic contractions since 31 weeks. But I would consider me actually going into labor on Monday May 4th. I saw Esther, my midwife, at 9am on that day. She told me I was 2 cm dilated and very soft. She said when my body decides to go into labor it should be fast. She asked me if I wanted her to strip my membranes and I said yes, she was very thorough, it was quite the interesting feeling kind of shocking at first. Then she said she would strip it one more time for good measure. I believe that is what did me in. She said I should experience some cramping and if this works I could go into labor 12 to 72 hours later. The rest of the day I had a lot of cramps with stronger contractions every now and then. That night I woke up to a lot of contractions and wanted to call it quits for the night and take a shower around 3 or 4 am. I got up at 7 instead. I took a shower and spent the rest of the day at home.

That morning, May 5th, I felt like that day could be the day but I wasn’t sure. Michael had an exam from 10am until noon, so I was hoping something would start to happen while he was gone so we could go to the hospital that afternoon. I played a lot of Super Paper Mario, Joshua loves that game, while bouncing on a ball and having irregular contractions. From 12:15-1:15pm I timed my contractions and they were every 4 to 6 minutes apart but weren’t consistent enough for me to feel comfortable calling my midwife. About every other contraction was strong. After lunch I felt like going on a walk but changed my mind. I knew something might be happening and didn’t want to be far from home if I needed to go to the hospital. That afternoon I bounced on a ball while not knowing what I should do. My mother-in-law called sometime around 3pm to ask if we thought this was it, I said I wasn’t sure. My contractions were getting more intense but still far apart. When ever I would get one if Michael or Joshua was talking to me it frustrated and annoyed me making it harder for me to focus through the contraction. I thought it might be time to get checked out. I called the hospital around 5:00 and was able to talk to Dr. Keeler, the doctor on call. Then he had my midwife call me shortly after that.

I told Esther, my midwife, what I was experiencing and that my only fear was not being admitted to have this baby. She assured me she wouldn’t send me home, so I thought it was time to go in. We called my mother-in-law back to let her know we were going to go in to the hospital as soon as she got to our house. She arrived at 6:20 and we were off to the hospital. We arrived to the hospital and were in the room by 6:45pm. The man who wheeled me up to the OB floor asked me how fast he needed to push me. I told him he didn’t have to hurry but I didn’t want him to take his time. I had one contraction on the way to the hospital (at 30th and Grand ave.), one more in the ER waiting room, one on the way up to the floor and then I was in my room. At the elevator there was a woman and a little boy who just got on it, the man pushing me waited for the next one. I thanked him a lot since our son was irritating me at home I really didn’t want to have some other kid irritate me there. He figured if he was annoyed by the little boy I probably would be too. We were then wheeled into the same room we had Joshua in 3304. It was neat having the same room. I changed and then was hooked up to the monitors for 20 minutes, while I was waiting on my nurse and midwife to arrive. I wasn’t contracting; on the monitors as much as I would have likes and was worried they were going to tell me I hadn’t dilated very much. I was checked at 7:25 or so and was 6 centimeters dilated. I was SO happy with myself that I hadn’t wanted any pain meds yet and had made it to 6, over half way there. I asked for a birthing ball and worked through more contractions. I found the best places to be during a contraction were squatting while holding onto the bathroom toilet handles (the hospital toilets are handicap accessible so there are big handles on either side) and on my chest on the birthing ball. At home I bounced on my ball all day and that helped a lot. The nurses station were impressed with how fast I was moving through the hall when I would walk around and didn’t think he would come tonight. I wanted the contractions to come quicker so I wasn’t in that stage all night long. I guess I was progressing quicker than I thought because at 8:45pm I was checked again and was at 8cm. About 9:50 I asked Esther when I would l know I needed to start pushing and she said I would know when the time came. A couple more contractions later and I knew it was time. They got the bed ready, lowered the bottom third so I could squat on it. She asked me if I wanted her to break my water, I said yes, I wanted this to go a little quicker so it could be over with. The fluid ran clear and I was very glad to hear that. The squatting helped for a while but my arms and legs got tired, and very tingly it was hard to support my body weight. I then held onto the nurse’s shoulders and Michael’s shoulders but that didn’t seem to help. I started to feel faint so she had me lay on my right side. It didn’t take much longer after that. He was born at 10:25pm. My sister Wendee was standing out side the door. She knew he was born because I was screaming, then yelled ‘Praise the Lord’. She placed him on my belly as they rubbed him down and she cleaned me up. His umbilical cord was pretty short but everything looked great. Michael was able to cut the cord. I felt so weak but glad I did it ALL NATURAL and I didn’t rip, tear, or need to be cut. About an hour later we took him to the nursery so they could do some tests on him. He weighed in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 20 ¾ inches long. He is so beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for a better delivery. He wasn’t too interested in nursing right away after birth, we were both very tired. He did successfully feed and did great feeding while we were in the hospital. The first night after he was born was hard on me. I was tired but was excited to talk to everyone about him being born. I didn’t sleep much at all; it did feel great being able to lie there on my back though. The next night I wanted a sleeping pill but Esther said that would go into my milk and if Will was already a sleepy baby that wouldn’t be good on him, so I didn’t. I was able to sleep more that night than the night before so I was feeling fine on the morning of the 7th. We stayed in the hospital until the 7th of May at 3:30pm.

I truly have been blessed with a beautiful birth. I didn’t need to get an IV or oxygen. I didn’t tear or need to be cut. I wasn’t even in much pain at all until it was time to push. It just mostly uncomfortable. Thank you Lord for this blessing.