Harper's Birth Story-A Peaceful Birth

Harper’s Birth Story-A Peaceful Birth

You sometimes hear of “Peaceful births or Peaceful labors” and really those words just don’t always seem synonymous.  I’d been reading Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and I had heard terms like that throughout many of the birth stories and kind of smiled dubiously.  Don’t get me wrong my first 2 natural births were beautiful and wonderful and loved them but I don’t know if I’d describe them as “peaceful”.  

I woke up at 2AM with my first contraction.  It was mild and not particularly painful, but I smiled to myself because I knew right away this was not a Braxton Hicks and that this was one of the real ones.  2 previous labors will do that.......you know when it’s real.  I immediately went back to sleep and decided to sleep through as many as I could.  I woke up approximately every 15 minutes after that with more contractions, they lasted about 30 seconds and this went on until 4AM.  

At 4AM I thought they felt a bit stronger.  Also at 4AM my 3 year old woke up and came into our room, hopped into our bed and took my spot. :)  I took this as a signal to get up and move a little.  I decided to see how far apart these contractions really were and if they were progressing.  I took my birth ball into the living room and my book and sat and bounced/read through the contractions.  They were pretty consistently 7-8 minutes apart for about 30 seconds, still really manageable, but a little stronger than the 2AM contraction. 

I wanted to let Ben sleep as long as possible so I waiting until I heard our son stirring in our bed, around 6 or 6:30.  I went in and told him I was having pretty regular contractions, nothing too painful yet, but consistent and I’d been up for a few hours with them. 

He joined me, I made scrambled eggs and toast which sounded good and drank some gatorade (which I’d been intentionally drinking since the day before hoping to stay hydrated, turned out to be a great move).  We ate breakfast, the boys got up, my mom got up.  There were lulls in the contractions.  Sometimes 7 minutes apart, sometimes 10-15 minutes apart.  I tried not to feel anxious with the lulls and decided maybe I should try to sleep some more.  So I texted my 3 “birth team friends” that I thought I might be in labor and was going to try to rest a bit and then I went back to bed. 

I think I dozed in bed from about 7:30-9AM, had a few good contractions but they weren’t getting much closer. I decided I should get up and go for a walk.  Ben and I walked around the neighborhood for a while.  I did have contractions about 10ish minutes apart, but many of them I could walk through.  I felt like I’d moved backward a bit.  But I could tell they were very effective contractions.  I could feel my cervix working to open and was very intentionally trying to relax and be “open” during the contractions.  

After the walk I noticed I had a good amount of “bloody show” and thought I saw a definite mucus plug which I’d never seen in previous labors.  That was very encouraging.  

Ben and I decided to got to town because I needed to go to the Post office.  We went to the PO, stopped by the church so he could pick something up.  Things moved really slowly but the contractions were there, just sporadic and not too painful.  

Throughout the rest of the morning and early afternoon I continued to have lots of bloody mucus and contractions but they NEVER got closer than 7 minutes!  It was so strange!  They were quite strong at times and felt very “good” but I had these big long breaks in between!  Sometimes I played with the boys.  I took a shower or 2. They were very manageable and spaced out.  It was very quiet around the house, I cleaned a little.  Things just seemed really slow.  I diffused some Essential oils, walked around the kitchen.  Trying not to be anxious or feel rushed, but a little baffled by this very relaxed and easy day of labor.  

Ben stayed with me and coached me the WHOLE day.  He followed me around, made me drink water and gatorade, walked with me, encouraged me.  He was amazing.  It must have been incredibly boring.  I know at times I seemed frustrated but he just seemed sooooo relaxed.  He totally matched the vibe of the whole thing. 

Around 2 or 3PM I decided I wanted to have this baby today (Monday February 24th) so I decided Nipple simulation might be a good idea.  It really got things started with Rowan’s birth and is the only thing I’ve heard midwives say is actually effective in started labor.  So Ben and I went into my bedroom, turned on the oils, he got me a snack of cheese and crackers and we did some nipple stimulation.  This definitely brought on stronger conractions immediately.  They still weren’t closer than 6 minutes but I felt the intensity increase right away.  In fact, right around this time I started thinking I was losing control of my bladder during contractions!  I spread towels out and stood on them during contractions.  About the 2nd or 3rd time I came to the conclusion that my bladder could NOT hold that much urine.  This must be my water breaking!  I felt it, yeah it felt different, kind of slimy.  I smelled it.  Didn’t smell like urine.  I also noted that it was clean and had now foul odor (important for Amniotic fluid).  Ok so things should start moving along now!  My contractions DID become more painful but didn’t get closer!  Still 6 minutes, often more.  I noticed if I stood up I had more contractions.  If I sat on the ball, I had less.  Ok......so gravity was helping.  

After being in the room, having strong contractions until about 4PM we decided to go on one more good long walk.  If I had regular close contractions during the walk then we would come back and go to the hospital.  I kept feeling like these contractions would feel SOOOOO much better in the birthing tub and I was getting anxious for a change.  We walked twice around the blood.  WOW.  3-5 minutes apart the entire time and they were much more painful.  Also when I returned back to the house I started throwing up and feeling shaky.....so it was time to go.  We grabbed out bags and I texted Leanna who was planning on coming to the labor.  On the way to the hospital we called ahead and let them know.  Also I had consistent 5 minute apart contractions the entire time and handled them well which was good as I was worried about that.  We texted our family and told them were headed in.  

We arrived around 5:30pm and were checked in.  I just love the nurses at St. Elizabeth’s.  Our first nurse was so so sweet.  She assured me the water birth sweet was open (yaaay!) and said she’d check me and then call Pam, my midwife for me even though Dr. Shea was on call.  She checked me, confirmed I’d broken my water and said I was a strong 6 cm dilated and baby’s head was right down on the cervix!  SWEET RELEIF!  I think this was the high point for me of the labor thus far.  I was SO SO happy and so glad we’d waited as long as we did.  I texted Leanna and she said that she and Lindsey were on their way.  This made me so happy and excited to have my 2 amazing friends on their way.  i was pretty euphoric.  To make things even better I then hopped in the birth tub and OH MY GOODNESS it was like I went back to the beginning on the pain scale.  My contractions were still 3-5 minutes apart but they didn’t hurt nearly as bad and I was able to relax so much better.  I was very excited because now I knew for sure that this baby was coming, I was close, I was progressing and I could tolerate the pain.  I’d done this twice before and I could do it again.  Also I wasn’t having any back labor so I was confident that baby was positioned very well which was great. The Girls arrived and we all just chatted and hung out while I had contractions in the tub.  I took ice chips which was nice and didn’t upset my stomach as much as water (lindsey’s idea).  Ben was amazing, he just stayed there with me by the tub, held my hand during contractions.  The Birth music was playing on my laptop.  My favorites were Rend Collective and (AGAIN) All Sons and Daughters just like during Rowan’s birth!  

Pam arrived around 7 PM.  It was so wonderful when she arrived.  SUCH a relief and encouragement to see her.  She arrived strait from a trip to the hot springs!  She said she didn’t even take a shower because the nurse said it would be quick! lol Ben and I chuckled and said “oh it could be a while!”.  Things just felt so relaxed and so easy!  I wasn’t in too much pain, we’d hardly been at the hospital for any time at all.  I also knew in the past I’d stalled in progression right around 7 cm so I was trying to prepare myself for that.  She popped in and out a few times and chatted with us.  

Around 7:30 after being in the tub an hour and a half i started to get more uncomfortable.  I also felt a little warm.  I thought it would be good to get out and sit on the ball.  I also didn’t want to be “stuck” in the water if I go toward the end, but I was really really skeptical that I was that close.  It just didn’t feel that bad yet.  We got out and was really shaky.  Like transition shaky.....but.....It couldn’t be transition yet.  Things weren’t intensifying yet....I felt so relaxed....everything was calm and peaceful still.  I said I was feeling some pressure.  We decided to check to see if I’d made any progress.  

8CM!!  And pam said with a contraction I could possibly be a little more.  WHAT?  I was totally in shock.  She said to let her know when I felt “pushy”.  I started to think about pushing.  What I ready?  Could I do this?  Pushing is hard.  I felt a little nervous.  

I stood and bounced through a few more contractions, I felt nauseous.  I could tell the nurse and Pam were preparing for the delivery and I was still in shock.  It was going so fast!  I was progressing!  Was I ready to push this baby out?  I was still feeling in great spirits, laughing between contractions, managing the pain ok.....Things still seemed very relaxed and peaceful.  

I decided to move to the bed....just in case.  This wasn’t the most comfortable but I just had a feeling.  I had a contraction where I thought maybe I felt the urge to push.  Suddenly things got a little harder.  Ouch, more painful.  My hips and bottom started to hurt during contractions.  Even now though I STILL had breaks between contractions, but they were shorter and was feeling lots LOTS more pressure in my lower back.  I look back now and see that she was moving down the birth canal.  I was very uncomfortable on the bed but didn’t dare move.  Pam checked me and YEP, 9 1/2 CM, very floppy cervix, i could try to push. 

Then came the one where I knew it was time.  I said that “it’s time, it’s time to push, she’s coming”.  

So I started to push.  I consciously thought about how fast Rowan came out.  I also warned Pam “he hit the tarp last time, you might want to get ready” haha!  But i really had visualized pushing slowly so I started with little pushes.  Everyone is SO encouraging when you’re pushing out a baby lol!  “good job!” “wow great push!” 

I tried a harder push and FELT her move down.  Yep Pam confirmed, +2 station and she’s RIGHT there.  

That’s when my body took over.  I gave it all I had, decided it was time for her to come out start pushing hard and then.....STOP.  Suddenly everyone was scrambling....I couldn’t figure out why!  I heard several things: 

-I thought I heard someone say “neck” which made me a little panicky my first thought was cord around the neck. (turns out it was MEC-short for meconium)

-I heard Leanna say “Everything’s totally fine Steph.” which was seriously reassuring.....i have to remember to thank her for that. 

-I heard Pam say my name.  I opened my eyes.  She looked right at me and said.  “You need to stop pushing, your baby has “poo-poo’d” in the bag of waters and I need to suck her out.”  

I was really beyond the point of stopping, but somehow i slowed up, halted, started blowing through the urge to push, the people with the “sucker thing” rushed in and I heard some yucky sucking noises.  I said “I can’t Pam” and then I just had to push her out.  Out she came and YAY she started crying!  I heard Pam say “And we have a crying baby!” and then she was there!  She was SOOOO purple!  and boy was she MAD!  Everyone was happy and relieved and excited!  She was here in about 4-5 pushes, about 10 minutes total.  It probably would have been faster if they hadn’t made me stop pushing.  

I thought to ask if anyone had checked to see if it was a girl!  lol!  We checked and YES she was definitely a girl!  A very perfect, very petite, round headed, SCREAMING, blue baby girl!  It took her quite a while to calm down, she did NOT like being suctioned out as she was arriving into this world!  

Turns out pushing slowly is a veeeeery good thing as I didn’t tear at all.  hooray!  And I also didn’t hemorrage which was very very good news.  We didn’t even start the IV of pitocin, this made me very happy.  

And that’s it! That’s the story of how Harper Joan Gurczynski, 7lb 1oz, 19 inches long made her way into the world.  Peacefully and naturally and perfect.  I just pray that this is a preview of what she will experience on this earth, Peace and Love and knowing how amazing and cherished she is.  We are so happy to add you to our family little girl!  

Thanks for reading through my journey with me!  

It's been a good week!

Progress is progress!  And I can definitely feel progress being made....Started running with some friends twice a week. 
Monday we met at 9am and I ran 2 miles!  First time on a serious run without the stroller and the boys and I felt great.  It got me all stoked to run the half!  We jogged 5 minutes and then walked 1 minute.  It was just about right because after the 2nd and 3rd 5 minute increment I was feeling pretty tired.

Tonight was my 2nd Sunset through the Trees race (this season) and it was a tough one.  I ran with the boys in the stroller....oyvey.  HEAVY.  And the final 1/2 mile (or so) of the run is pretty much all up hill.  But we did it in just about 31 minutes.  Even though there were some points I could barely WALK up the hill with the stroller I still felt really good!

Progress is progress....

A walk with hills

Okay short and sweet, here it goes!  2 posts 2 days in a row, woohoo!

So here's how the week has looked so far:

Monday: Nada
Tuesday: Walk in the morning, 2.6 mile trail run in the evening
Wednesday: Nada
Thursday: Jog in the evening at the river trail.  ugggg this as HARD.  It was my first time running alone with the Double stroller and it felt like a thousand pounds.  But i made it a mile before R started crying hard and then I returned to the car.  Nothing spectacular, but it's a start. 
Friday (today): We went on an evening walk and went up (and down) 2 large hills.  It felt a lot better then it has in the past and i pushed the stroller up the 2nd hill.  So....maybe we're making progress?

In other news....eating.  Uggggg.  So EVERY day I start out really well and make healthy choices until about....3pm?  Then things go downhill.  Also I crave something sweet every evening.  Tonight I was all prepared to get up and get a yogurt or something healthy but hubs decided to finish off Jude's birthday cake.  So i joined him...naturally.  Well it's gone now so maybe that will help. 

Goal: Healthy snack around 2 or 3pm (to avoid making bad choices like it did today...yup....had licorice for  snack).  And also PRE-plan what I'll have as a snack in the evening so it's healthy. Then eventually I'd like to phase this out and not eat after dinner (much healthier, I know, but baby steps, ya know?)

Also, I haven't lost any weight.  Weighed in at 221.  But honestly, I think I gained like 2 pounds after my first post (between having family visit and Jude birthday party) so I'm actually back down to where I was when I started training. 

I SUCK at blogging!

Okay soooooooo....I'm horrible at keeping up with this blog!!  BUT better late than never!  Here's my progress with my training.  Got off to a veeeery rocky start but I'm blaming that on having family in town and planning a very "seuss-err-ific" 2nd birthday party for my little guy!   During that week I did get out and "jog" (it was a sad attempt) once and I walked once.  Also during time with visitors we went to the Shasta Caverns and I'll tell you, just climbing the stairs in the caves was a work out!  (sad.)

So this week started out with a walk on Tuesday morning and then the Sunset Through the Trees run on Tuesday evening.  http://www.midniteracing.net/Sunset.html

Man did that feel horrible!  The run was 2.6mi on trails that are pretty rough.  I definitely struggled.  But I'm happy to say I ran the first half without stopping (veeeery slow, probably 12-13 min mile pace).  The second half included about 3 "walking" stretches, but I finished running!  (haha of course I did, I could never walk across a finish line!) My legs felt like lead, my body hurt, my eyes were dry....but I did it.  That's what matters.

Also I've started keeping track of my food.  I went grocery shopping and bought healthy protein rich snacks so I will stop eating empty calories because we have no food in the house!!  So today I've eaten:

B: (Around 7:30am) 2 eggs and 1 piece of toast
L: (Around 11:30pm) Turkey and Chz sandwich on wheat bread (dry of course, if you know me you know I abhor mayonnaise....)
S: (Around 2pm) Cottage Cheese and a peach.  So I normally do NOT like cottage cheese but I bought it because it's healthy and because I want Jude to try it.  I found that if I eat it with a FRESH peach (not canned ones blech) it is soooo much better! yay! 

That's all for now!  In other news I'm going to start walk/jog/running with some local mommy friends so that should help motivate me! 

Half Marathon Training Day 1

So I've decided to run another half marathon and am going to blog my way through my training.  I feel like this will help me process the difficulty, celebrate and track my progress and hopefully help me run a great half!  My first half marathon was May of 2011 10 months after Jude was born in Eugene.  I had an AMAZING experience and was so proud of my 2:35 time.  This time I'd like to go for 2:21.  I've decided to run the Mermaid Half Marathon in San Diego.  It looks pretty flat, runs along the ocean (BIG plus), is in San Diego (great excuse to visit family there) and gives me enough time to train.  February 9th......that's 6 full months and a few extra days of training.  Perfect!   So training started today.....

Oh I should also mention....this is a journey to train for a half marathon but it's also a journey of weight loss.  I'm READY to reach my weight loss goals!  I'm going to be tracking my weight, hopefully my food intake (though I'll be tracking that at home on paper as well) and how I'm feeling.  The thought of typing my ACTUAL weight (not rounded down 20lbs....haha....) is a bit daunting but I have to face reality and do this.  Since I'm not quite 8 weeks post-partum I can at least blame some of the extra on my sweet little bundle of baby joy. :)  But I've got to do this.....so.....more about that late but here's what I did today.

August 2nd 2012-Day 1 of Half Marathon Training
Goal: To run for 15 minutes
-Since I'm JUST starting my training and haven't run for about a year (10 months of pregnancy and 2 months post-baby) I decided to ONLY focus of time spent running.  I'd like to get to 30 minutes of very comfortable running and then I'll track my pace and start to increase my pace and add mileage.  For now though....just tracking how much time I spend running.

What I did: I woke up 6:30 to feed Rowan and decided...."today I'm going to start my training" (been stalling for awhile now....).
7:00am-Out the door and onto the road, decided to just run around my neighborhood, in the future I'd like to get to the trails.
I ran for 5 minutes and walked 1 minute.  I did this 3 times fo r total of 15 minutes of jogging and 3 minutes of walking.  Felt like maybe....12 or 13 minute mile pace?

How I felt: It felt slow and sluggish for sure, but it was just exciting to be able to run that much without it hurting or without peeing my pants (TMI...sorry but if you've had a baby you know what I'm talking about....).  One major setback was i couldn't find my beloved Anita sports bra this morning (got me through my last half marathon) and so instead I squished into 2 old crappy sports' bras and a sports bra top....all of which were too tight....OUCH.  Oh well it kept things in place. :P

Weight: .....before I start this leg of my journey I feel like I should explain.  I've always struggled with my weight.  Up and down, Up and down...I've mainly controlled my weight through exercise and I've NEVER really reached my weightloss goals.  Oddly enough though I HAVE reached my fitness goals.  I've completed 3 triathlons and ran the Eugen half marathon in 2011 and reached my goal of 2:30.  I did this at a weight (195lb) that is probably considered about 50lbs overweight for my height (!!).  I've just always been able to do things I've tried to do even if I'm WAY far from the weight I'd like to be (or should be).  So I started thinking about how much I'd be able to do if I actually lost the weight I'd like to lose.  The lowest I can remember being on a scale was 165lb.  That was my junior year of college and I felt AMAZING.  So my goal weight is 160lb.  That's my LONG term goal weight.  Right now I'm taking it 5lb at a time.....

Before I got pregnant with Jude I was 199lb.  I gained 31lb during that pregnancy for a total of 230lb right before I delivered him.  I lost the weight fairly quickly (about 4-5 months) but never dropped below 195.  I felt pretty good at this weight (ran the half marathon) but obviously not fantastic.  I got pregnant again RIGHT after the half marathon but we lost that pregnancy.  I was pregnant for about 12 wks (tho baby never developed past 6 wks).  Between hormones, pregnancy gain, feeling depressed ect. I gained about 10lbs and never lost it.  I got pregnant again 4 months later and this time I was 5lbs heavier than my pre-preg weight with Jude.

I gained almost EXACTLY the same amount of weight with Rowan, weight in at 235lb the day he was born (before delivery).  I came home and weight 226lb (you'd think you'd lost more right away with an 8lb baby but....nope.)  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo......all that to say.....that's how I got where I am right now...there are MULTIPLE factors to why I went from 165lb in college to 195lb pre-baby but I'll blog about those things later.  Back to the weight-in.....
Weight: 220.4   this is my weight as of today, Day 1 of training.  I can't wait to see that # drop!
LT Goal Weight: 160lb
ST Goal Weight: 215ob

Thanks for tuning in!  I'm planning on blogging every day to keep myself honest, but I'm sure there will be days I can't get to it.  I'm NOT going to quit though.  Even if I fall off the wagon for a week I WILL return.  I have to do this!

The Birth of Rowan Samuel on 6/11/12

Here is Rowan's Birth Story!  It's long, but I just typed out what I remembered and apparently it was still pretty fresh in my memory!  Hope you enjoy! Warning: There are some birth-y type details so....you've been warned.

·        
  
     Friday June 8^th-Due Date- Had our appointment with Pam in the morning.  It was SUCH an encouraging appointment.  She checked me and said I was 3-4cm dilated and 90% effaced.  Wonderful!  Exactly what I was hoping to hear!  She said she’d see me if the hospital in a few days for sure!  Haha I will NOT be one of those people who gets super sad and anxious and worried when they pass their due date!

·        
    Wrong.  Saturday June 9^th.  I’ve been drinking Red raspberry leaf tea like crazy, having sex every night, why aren’t I in labor!  I’m a day passed my due date! (haha)  I just tried to keep super busy with Jude and enjoy my last moments with just him.  We finger painted, played outside, went to Galaxy Open gym and I tried to be very active and bounce around, trying to get baby moving!  That evening I was DETERMINED.  Ben and I decided to walk to Raley’s to get a Red Box movie!  It’s like a 3 mile walk with 2 big hills.  Ridiculous.  I hadn’t walked this much my whole pregnancy.  Well I rocked that walk and the hills (guess I should have pushed myself harder during my walks…hmmm).  During the walk home my belly was rock hard, had some pretty uncomfortable “tightening” and I thought “if this doesn’t put me into labor then I must not be ready”.  We got home, popped in the movie and I relaxed….no labor.  I had to then come to terms with the Lord.  Okay, God, YOU know when my body is ready, YOU know when my baby is ready, I give up.  Kind of…..

·       
          Sunday June 10^th.  The hardest thing about going into public after your due date is ALL the people who says things like “Why haven’t you had your baby?” or “When is that baby coming?” or “Are you STILL pregnant?”  So I had to decide whether or not to venture out to church that evening.  SO glad I did!  I had a wonderful time at The Well, heard a really great message, got to worship with my friends and be in community.  I did not regret it at all!  I came home though feeling like It was time to get things happening.  I had facebooked a midwife friend earlier that day and asked her what she recommends to post date mamas.  She suggested nipple stimulation…hmmmm something I hadn’t tried…..she gave me the cautions (you have to be careful, can cause strong, hard contractions) and method (5 min on each side and then 5 min break).  I thought “what the heck…why not?”  So before bed I went into Birth Mode.  I drank a double strong cup of Red Raspberry leaf tea, rubbed my ankles like crazy, did Nipple Stimulation for a couple rounds, had sex and some more Nipple stimulation….during the last session of NS I was feeling some contractions, nothing super strong, but something.  We went to sleep.  I was awakened several times between 10:30 and 1am with pretty good contractions.  I knew it was labor.  There’s something about real labor that you don’t have doubts.  These felt different.  They felt like “Jude labor”.  I just kept going back to sleep though and finally around 1am I got out of bed and had a few contractions on the floor, with my birth ball while reading Harry Potter in between (haha).  They were about 10-15 min apart but definitely consistent.  I woke Ben up at 2am (I know I could have waiting longer….but I didn’t…).  I also then texted my friend Melody who was planning on being present at our birth for support and to take some pictures.  She came over (totally didn’t have to but she did, she’s amazing) and snoozed on the couch while I continued to labor in the bedroom.  I laid down on the bed in an exaggerated side lying position through most of the contractions, it was comfortable, I closed my eyes in between them and it was very peaceful.  But I didn’t feel them increasing too much so I decided to get up and move.  From about 3am-5am I got up and came into the living room, paced around the kitchen, used my ball etc.  I was having pretty regular contractions (about 8ish minutes apart) but suddenly I was feeling very tired.  Big red flag and things started slowing down….I was pushing this too hard.  I decided to go back to bed and try to rest.  I sleep from about 5am to 6:30 and awoke with a few contractions during that time but went right back to sleep.  I felt so much better when I woke up!  This is something that been repeated in both my labors!  Your body needs to be rested!  I woke my mom up and gave her the baby monitor (for Jude) and told her we were laboring.  Ben, Mel and I went on a nice morning outside walk.  It was wonderful and my contractions were nice and consistent and pretty strong (like a 4 on a scale from 1-10), totally tolerable but I could feel them working.  I was really hoping at this point that baby would come fast.  When we got back Jude had started to wake up.  This is where things got a little harder.  It was so hard to focus on labor and have him up and about!  I wanted to be his mommy and take care of him but I really needed to focus on laboring.  He also seemed to sense something was up and was acting funny.  I suggested my mom take him to the Mall to play at the indoor play place.  That helped a lot and from about 8am-11am we just labored at the house, music was playing, Ben was timing my contractions and coaching me.  Things were not SPEEDING along but I was making some progress.  I also threw up several times and had LOTS of bloody discharge and diarrhea.  All great labor signs.  Around 11am my mom came back and put Jude down for a nap.  I was getting very restless.  I wanted to go to the hospital and labor but Ben and Mel kept reminding me how much better it would be to make more progress before I got there.  We went on another outside walk and it was great.  Much stronger contractions while I was walking.  When we came back I remembered in birth class about them talking about squatting during contractions to get things going.  I decided to try it and found that it really increased the intensity of my contractions.  At this point I was really wanted intense, painful contractions to progress my labor (haha kind of funny huh?).  So I squatting using the birth ball through multiple contractions (like I squatting in front of the ball and rested my head, arms and chest on the ball).  That is a great way to squat.  I LOVE the birth ball. Seriously.  Finally I’d had several contractions at 5 minutes apart and we remembered that we hadn’t pre-registered so Ben packed up the car and we were FINALLY off to the hospital!  This was about 12:30ish I think?

·         Hospital Labor: We checked in and went to the little room to get all check and everything.  The first thing I noticed in the labor and delivery was one of my favorite nurses from Jude’s labor, Janet.  I said “I remember you!”.  At first another nurse started getting my all checked in but for some reason they switched and Janet was doing the checking.  This made me happy. J  She checked me and happily announced I was at 5 cm and 90% effaced.  5?!?!  Uhh…Janet….I was almost a 4 on Friday!  Oh well, progress is progress and she said I was definitely staying (well…duh…) but I started to feel maaaaybe I’d come a little too early. Also my pulse was much higher than normal for me and I wasn’t feeling super great.  I think it was because I was dehydrated.  I hadn’t drank a ton of water before going into labor (during the day Sunday) and could barely tolerate sips through the whole home labor (because of the puking) so I knew I needed to start sipping because I did NOT want IV fluids! My hopes rose though when she said the birth tub room was empty and she told the nurses I’d be going to it!  The birth tub room at St. Elizabeth’s is like the “suite” room.  It’s huge, has a large laboring tub, a bigger bathroom with a good shower and is MUCH more roomy for using the birth room.  You can labor AND delivery in this room. ALSO, it’s where I labored and delivered Jude!  I was ecstatic.  As soon as we got in we hooked up my birth music (a mix of different stuff but I’ll tell you I pretty much just listened to “All Sons and Daughters” and “Phil Wickham” <-same as with Jude’s birth.  We got set up and started walking! 

·         
           It’s hard to track how much time went by in between different sections of my labor.  It’s easier to track by cm because that’s what my whole goal/focus was at that point!  10cm!  Let’s go!

·         After about 1 ½ hours of labor they came back and checked me and I was at 6cm.  Excellent!  My contractions were still very tolerable and I was in very high spirits.  This would have been around 4pm.

·         Tub: At 6cm Janet said I was totally fine to get in the tub!  Last time they made me wait till 7 and I was too far along, starting to transition with Jude, also the water was cold last time.  This time the water was AWESOME.  I only labored in there for about 40minutes but I was able to squat in the tub through almost all my contractions.  This really sped things along (seriously, squatting is a GOOD thing).  I felt so comfortable and it made the pain much more tolerable.  They check my again at about 5:00 after I’d gotten out of the tub and I was at 7cm!  Great progress! 

·        
           A few things I remember about this portion of labor.  It moved along very consistently but I FELT like it was going kind of slow.  This was my 2^nd baby!  Shouldn’t I be speeding along?  I was also VERY conscious of the time because I was REALLY hoping to deliver the baby in time for Jude to come visit that day!  I REALLY missed him and was thinking about him SO much.  This was probably a lot because I thought about his labor constantly during this labor.  I was in the same room with some of the same people.  It was really interesting how I compared the 2 constantly.  I also was really conscious that I was so much more relaxed this time.  I was really able to relax during my contractions.  Melody and Ben were amazing.  They helped me relax without pressuring me to do anything specific, they let me lead the labor but Ben was a really strong birth coach.  It was really amazing. 

·         
            Things started getting more painful.  I was feeling “transition” type contractions.   I felt more pressure down low, felt baby starting to come down, I was having LOTS of shakes and feeling like I was going to throw up (though I never did which was great).   During my whole active labor I was only able to tolerate sips of water.  I really really tried to drink a lot though and by this point I was feeling a little better and my pulse was actually down from when I checked into the hospital!  (Key point: stay hydrated BEFORE you go into labor then you won’t be so pressured during labor.) 

·        
           I labored with these really strong, transition type contractions for about an hour.  I spend a LOT of time sitting on the birth ball and some time in the shower.  These 2 things made the paint more tolerable.  The worst position? Uggggg lying in the bed while getting monitored!  She would hook me up and say she’d monitor me for about 10 minutes.  I watched that clock and as soon as she was late (which they almost always are…they’re busy) I’d demand Ben go find the nurse so she could unhook the monitor!  Lol but I just COULDN”T tolerate the pain while lying down!  I needed to MOVE.  An interested thing to note here is that while being monitored I was somewhat sitting up with my legs out strait in front of me.  I had knee surgery on my left knee in high school and have a long scar on my knee.  Because of this is really uncomfortable to flatten out my left leg.  So EVERY time I got monitored all day I’d put my left knee up with my foot flat on the bed….well…..let me continue with my story…I think this actually effected baby’s position….

·       
            So after about an hour at around 6pm Pam arrived!  I was SOOOOOO happy to see her!  She really just changed the atmosphere of the room!  She literally walked in and saw me breathing through a contraction and kissed me on the cheek!  She also immediately began checking to make sure Melody was feeling rested and getting food which was so awesome as she’s Melody’s midwife too!  Pam checked me and to my dismay I was still only around 7 ½ cm after laboring at least an hour with very difficult contractions!  She felt baby’s position and said baby was still a little crooked, over to the right side and that he/she needed to move over a bit so the head could engage.  She said once the head was strait things would move faster.  That’s when I realized my leg positioning.  I was being monitored so during the next couple contractions I decided to switch which knee was up and which was down. Ummm…OWWWW I could totally feel that this was moving the baby!  Why hadn’t I noticed this sooner??  Anyways, after monitoring I got off the bed and squatted and lunged during labor.  I couldn’t tolerate doing them during the contractions but I did them in between and them took contractions on the ball or on my hands and knees or standing up.  These were my three “go to” positions.  As I was feeling LOTS of pressure “down there” and the contractions were about an 8 on my pain scale I was REALLY hoping I was getting close to the end. 

·       
            After an hour of this (around 7pm) Pam checked me again….8 1/2cm!  yess……this was progress but I was ready to be done!  A WHOLE other 1 ½ cm to go?!?  I had to speed things along!  I was getting tired.  ALSO I was feeling an undeniable urge to push and it was making it VERY difficult to manage the contractions and the pain.  I had to blow through them instead of taking relaxing breaths and this made it more painful.  SO Pam decided to feel what was happening while I had a contraction, she kept her fingers in me checking during a contraction.  OWWWWW  I could NOT handle it, I begged her to take them out!  She did but said she thought she MIGHT be able to push my cervix over while I pushed but it would be best to labor through a few more contractions and try to dilate.  Oooooooh this was the hardest part!  I decided I could breathe through a FEW more contractions without pushing but I could NOT doing it sitting on that bed.  I remember this part so clearly.  The pain was more like a 9 or 10 and the contractions were right on top of each other.  I practically JUMPED out of the bed and leaned against it/half sat on the edge while leaning forward against Ben and I blew through 3 or 4 more contractions.  It HURT.  I’m not going to lie.  I felt like I HAD to push, but I just kept PRAYING (I think out loud too) that my body would dilate.  I only handled a few like that I didn’t trust myself to move anywhere else so I lay back onto the bed.  Pam checked and said I was now at 9cm.  I told her I was going to push and she could try to help my cervix move while moved.  She put her fingers up there and I did one great push.  I heard her say “She’s complete”.  That was it.  I was completely focused and decided this baby was coming out.  At this point with Jude was screaming and really really panicking.  I remember this time feeling very calm and focused and I asked her “can I push whenever I’m ready?”  She said, when I felt the need to push that I should push, I was complete and she’d be ready.  Pam and the nurse were in position.  At this point the contractions were just constant, I couldn’t feel them coming or going.  So I focused, remembered what it felt like to push and pushed.  It was very painful.  I felt the burning, but decided the best way to handle that would be to push the baby OUT.  That baby came FLYING out.  Ben told me that he really did a somersault and landed in the plastic tarp they were holding!!  This ALMOST happened with Jude, but Sally had caught him.  It felt SO good to push him all the way out!  Man it is the MOST relief a person will ever feel!

Well then came the BIG question….was it a boy or a girl?  No one else was looking (it felt like I was waiting hours but it was really like 10 seconds) so as they were holding him in front of me I checked.  I KNEW it was a boy.  As soon as I saw he was a boy I felt inside that I’d known all along.  I really was NOT surprised at all.  My first reaction was I was SO HAPPY.  I said “I really wanted another boy!!  I’m so happy”.  And I really really really am.  I just knew right away that he was the one for us.  He was the right fit for our family.  He came out NOT crying!  It was scary at first but I knew it was just because he was different than Jude (Jude was SCREAMING bloody murder).  He was just looking around with this peaceful look on his face.  He immediately reminded me of Ben.  I just loved him so much already!

The Story of Jude's Birth 7/24/2010

This Story was copy and pasted from our Shutterfly site about Jude.  I thought since I was posting Rowan's Birth Story I should post Jude's as well.....just to be fair.  Here it is....

The Story of How Jude Came in the World (including some but not all the messy details)



Friday night we went to our good friends' David and Aleah's wedding.  I had really been wanting to go to this so it made the fact that I was 2 days past my due date a bit easier to bear.  I was definitely VERY pregnant but still feeling pretty comfortable.  I never really felt too uncomfortabe during the pregnancy.  Probably due in part to Jude's small size. :0)  So feeling very good I took the opportunity to dance as much as I possibly could!  While dancing, I started to feel some tightness around the middle and what I was pretty sure were contractions.  They were minimal and not too uncomfortable.  After 4 or 5 of them (about 15 minutes apart) I mentioned to a good friend of mine.  We all jokes and laughed saying we hoped that I would dance the baby right out!  As we continued dancing i continued to feel contractions.



When we left the wedding and returned home about 10:00pm the contractions were about 10-11 minutes apart.  We went to bed....well...Ben went to bed.  I laid in bed timing my contractions amazed that this could really be it.  I felt very calm and very excited all at the same time.  When the contractions were solidly about 8 minutes apart, I woke Ben up (about 1am) and told him we should maybe call the Doula.  Carolee was a Doula in training and needed to be present for the entire birth to receive training credit.  When Carolee arrived about 2:30am the contractions were feeling stronger and still about 8 minutes apart.  I was laboring mostly in the bedroom walking around or kneeling with my elbows on a chair. Ben was amazing and even lit some candles and put some music on.  The atmosphere was very calm and relaxing.  We woke my mom up about 4am and let her know that this did indeed appear to be the real thing.  I labored through the morning staying about 7-8 minutes apart.  I ate an egg with toast for breakfast only because Carolee told me I should eat.  I did not feel like eating.  I walked circles around the house.  Anytime I was sitting or laying for a contraction it HURT so much more!  So i kept moving.  I sat on the medicine ball a lot and took several hot showers which felt amazing! Ben stayed close by and let me lean on him with my arms around his neck for many contractions.  Carolee took me on a walk around the neighborhood somewhere around 10am.  Then when the contractions were about 6 min apart and I thought were getting close....everything stopped!  I was so worried and thought...no!  This was all false labor???  Carolee said not to worry and encouraged me to lie down and take a nap and said maybe my body was just tired.  I took a nap and during my nap had about 4 contractions at about 15 min apart.  After an hour of sleep I got up and started walking again....boom!  They started up and before I knew it was at about 5 min apart!  They were also getting stronger.  At about 4pm we decided it was time to make the 30 min drive to the hospital.  In the car things started to get more intense.  I remember feeling very happy, excited and hopeful in the car.  I had survived about 15 hours of labor so far and the baby was coming!! 



I arrived at St. Elizabeth's and I was dialated to a 6!  This was very good and the nurses were impressed that we'd labored at home for so long (Thank You Carolee!).  From here everything becomes more of a blur and went VERY fast.  Baby was monitored and he was doing amazing!  We spent the next few hours walking the halls of the hospital.  When I was at about a 7 i jumped in the tub, but did not like it very much because the water was too cold and the contractions were heating up.  I spent a LOT of time on the birth ball.  At about an 8 the midwife said that we should break the water so the baby's head could engage in the correct position.  I didn't want to at first, but agreed that this would be ok.  She broke my water and it felt VERY warm and wet.  I continued to have contractions and remember thinking...ewwww so much water.  It was gross.  From then on everyone wanted me to do certain things, but i only wanted to sit on the ball!  I took a quick shower, but was so tired I couldn't stand very well for long.  While sitting on the birth ball I started to feel very uncomfortable and started to get kind of panicky.  I told them it was starting to hurt a lot more.  They said I should move to the bed to get checked which I did.  I was fully dialated.  They asked if I wanted to push and I said ok.  The pushing was the hardest.  It was the most painful.  As I pushed with each contraction I could literally feel the baby moving down the birth canal.  This was strange and definitely a bit freaky.  I remember telling Ben I wanted some medicine now which is just kind of funny as I'd endured this much already.  The baby started to crown and Ben could see the baby's head and hair.  He said it looked like a raisen being squished and he was sure I was squishing the baby's head!  He urged me to push the baby out so I wouldn't hurt it! ;)  I decided, somewhere during pushing, that i was done and wouldn't push this baby out after all!  I stopped pushing for 2 or 3 contractions.  Looking back this might be the reason I didn't tear at all (also might be because Jude had a small head :D).  Finally i pushed and out he came!  All at once!  Head and then his body just rushed out like a fish.  Ben said it was funny because he almost did a flip, they weren't expecting him to be so small.  And there he was!  Screaming bloody murder with tons of dark hair and DIMPLES!  I felt awesome right afterward and was SOOO glad I stuck it out with no medicine.  The medicine must dull the adrenaline because most people don't talk about it and I was definitely up on something!