with humility, thankfulness, and rejoicing: July 2009

As I sat here with this sleeping bundle of beauty in my arms, I realized I definitely needed to write down her birth story before I start to forget all the details. The last two weeks have been quite a blur for me- I think I entered some sort of baby focused time warp! I have never been so thankful for my wonderful husband, who has taken such good care of me while I recovered and took care of baby. When he returned to work, my momma took over helping me out :) It has been such a blessing to have her here each day- she can comfort a crying baby like you wouldn't believe! So here is the tale of our sweet baby girl, given to us by God...
Since we were overdue, I had to have a sonogram and a fetal non stress test twice a week. The first one was on a Monday, and the sonogram said she was 8 lbs 8 oz. This made me panic a little bit, and they checked me for the first time this day. I'd been having so many Braxton Hicks contractions, I really thought I'd have some signs of... something! Needless to say, it was a miserable experience being checked, and then my midwife told me my cervix wasn't even softened yet. I bawled like a baby. We'll just blame that on the hormones :)
Thursday I went in again for the next round of sonogram and fetal stress testing. This time hubby could stay the whole time with me, and I was *so* much more calm. The midwife laughed and told me she thought I'd go into labor on Sunday, but no one threatened to check me again! No tears this visit. They went ahead and scheduled us for an induction on the day we'd be two weeks overdue. We prayed and prayed she'd come on her own.
Friday we decided to have family over for a little pre baby get together. I cleaned like a crazy person (hubby thought it was funny and even took a video of me scrubbing the floors in the kitchen...) and had a wonderful time with family that evening. The Lord really sustained me through the waiting, and I felt more and more peace that there really was a "time to be born". :)
Saturday morning (July 4th) I woke up with contractions before 6 am. I was SO happy and elated that I practically danced! I waited to wake hubby though because I wanted to be certain. I woke him up at 6 and asked him how he felt about holiday babies! I had contractions on and off, mostly 10 minutes apart all day. Hubby and I watched movies, played games, and kept my family updated on the phone, since my momma was going to be there for the birth. The contractions really weren't so bad at all until around 5-ish. Then they got serious, and I needed to not talk, and I needed to sway, or walk, or hang out on the floor (not sure why I spent so much of labor on the floor...) I used the birthing ball a bit, but really not much. At 6:30 or so, I called the midwife to let her know I was headed to the hospital. Not asking if I should... I was TELLING. By this point something in me just knew it was "go time". It was a bit unpleasant of a drive. Laboring in the car= not fun. We got to the hospital around 7, after text-ing a couple of friends and asking them to pray for me! :) They admitted us right off, and I remember sitting on the floor three times on the way into the Labor and Delivery area. I also remember those admitting nurses asking me what my due date was, and through gritted teeth I said "9 days ago" :-D
They asked hubby to wait in the waiting area while they admitted me (ridiculous in my opinion, but I guess they assume you keep secrets from your husband and don't want him there for the "question" part of admitting, sigh!) I ended up on the floor again. I think I scared the nurse, because she called for help... but really I just liked being on the floor. Turns out the bed is the *last* place I wanted to be during labor! They blew three veins trying to get in a saline lock IV (to be used "just in case") I still have the bruises :-p And it turns out I was 5 cm dilated. I cried when my midwife got there, I was so happy to see her. I absolutely love that woman. She was amazing, and so comforting and supporting. I was definitely a quiet labor-er... I didn't want to talk, I didn't want anyone talking to me, and as things got harder, I didn't want anyone looking at me :) I really only snapped once... or twice maybe ;) and told someone to "Go away!" Lol. Hubby said the nurse or someone would ask me a question, and I wouldn't answer. I remember thinking it wasn't really like pain that I was experiencing- it was something beyond pain, that wasn't on the same scale. I know that sounds strange, and labor is "painful"... but it's not the same as regular pain. It's really quite different. I ended up laboring on the potty (strange, but the only place I was "comfortable") and had to be lured back to the bed multiple times with my midwife threatening me to not push on the potty, because she was NOT delivering the baby there. Tee hee. Well, I was eventually lured to the bed long enough to have the baby- wow! I have to put myself in the camp where the pushing part is "better" than the labor part. Burning, yes... but a lot better than just waiting and biding your time through contractions... I think. Hubby helped, Momma helped, the midwife helped, the lovely L&D nurse helped- and (hubby tells me 30 minutes later- but it definitely didn't seem that long) they placed a wonderful, beautiful, amazing gift from God on my chest. Natural childbirth may be ridiculously difficult, but the feelings afterward? Elation. I've never felt like that before. Like floating on Love.
The whole birth experience taught me so much. I had to rely on the Lord- truly. I don't know how anyone would do it otherwise. And I learned SO much. Thanks be to God for so many answered prayers- innumerable prayers. Prayers for a child, prayers for a healthy pregnancy, prayers for a natural birth... I could go on and on. Thanks be to God. Truly. At 2:41 in the morning on July 5th, we happily went from two to three in our family :)