Our Baby's Birthday Story

This will be the umpteenth time I've attempted to sit down and post Steven's birth story. Life with a newborn I guess. :) I will warn you that this is a little long (when you have 10 days to think about it and not write anything down, the story gets more and more detailed), so grab a cup of coffee and sit and enjoy!

I'll start the story with how I was feeling in the early part of the week leading up to labor. I definitely noticed that the baby had dropped over the weekend. It was increasingly more difficult and uncomfortable to climb stairs, get out of bed (more of a side sit up/roll/fall out of bed). Any amount of time spent on my feet had to be worth it...no needless walking to and fro for me. Each evening was spent prepping for baby (still thinking I had at least until my due date of Jan. 28th, more than likely a week after my due date to do this). I probably stayed up later than I should have most nights. Even with all the prepping, somehow we still managed to procrastinate on getting our hospital bag together. Steven's was packed, but nothing of ours was packed. On Tuesday night, I did not sleep well. I was awake for about 3 hours in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. I didn't have any contractions, not even braxton hicks...just wide awake. Needless to say, I was extremely tired the next day - but still went to work. It happened to be "dairy day" at the Legislature - Dairy farmers from all over the state come to lobby and annually they have this dairy day where they give out free pints of ice cream (I nabbed 4 of them). I couldn't miss dairy day. I'd been looking forward to it for a very long time. Because I was so tired, I decided to leave work an hour early (after filling up on ice cream of course). I drove straight home and took a nap. Nathan needed me to run some errands for him since he was working late and I decided to get myself some Chinese food for dinner in the process. I opted to not get anything too spicy since pretty much everything I ate gave me heartburn. The funny thing about my dinner was what the fortune in my fortune cookie said - "your labors will bear sweet fruit" - crazy! When I went to pick Nathan up from work I was utterly exhausted. I so wanted to clean my bathroom and bedroom (the last portions of my house that needed cleaning and the most important since that's where I was wanting to labor) - I simply had no energy. I cried about it on the way home. We both went to bed fairly early - probably before ten that night. So much for nesting...I guess I'd be laboring with a messy bathroom. Sometime between 2 and 2:30 on Thursday morning, I was awoken with mild cramping. I thought maybe it was the Chinese food coming back to bite me at first and went to the bathroom. Once back in bed I quickly fell back to sleep until about three. I woke up again, this time to what felt like really strong braxton hicks - I figured that's what they were anyway, except I wasn't really able to sleep through them - although in between them I dozed off. They were not super consistent, and were about 12-15 minutes apart and only lasting about 30 seconds. I woke Nathan up and told him about them just the same. We both figured if anything, since I was a week early, that it must be false labor and they would go away if I just ignored them. Nathan went back to sleep.

Around 4:30 I was no longer comfortable dealing with the contractions in bed. They were still about 10-12 min. apart, but getting a little longer and stronger. I sat on my big exercise ball and turned the early morning news on. They were really quite easy to deal with when on the ball and I had no plans of not going into work at that point. Around 5 I figured I should just get a head start on things and get in the shower - maybe the contractions would slow down a bit or go away all together. I showered, got dressed, blow dried my hair and put my makeup on. I did all my prepping while sitting on the ball, and when I had a contraction I just bounced on the ball until it was over. I thought I looked pretty nice for being exhausted and so pregnant and quite possibly in labor (okay so I'm vain). My contractions still had not let up after all these distractions, however. I called my mom around 6 to let her know what as going on, just in case she would need to leave to drive the hour and a half from her house to us (that timing is if traffic is excellent).

While I finished getting ready to go to work (trying to collect as many things as possible for my toiletry bag in the process), Nathan made me some breakfast - eggs, OJ & milk. He's been great and did this for me almost every morning throughout my pregnancy. I finished breakfast and wasn't so sure that I should go to work. The contractions still were pretty far apart, not as consistent in timing between, but at the same time consistently between 8-12 min. apart. I was having a harder time "faking it" and wasn't really excited about the prospect of having contractions in front of people at work. I had Nathan take a picture of me since I was at the 39 week mark of my pregnancy. As soon as the pictures were done I made the decision to not go into work and I put my pj's back on. At least I'd been able to wash my hair.

Nathan left for work a little earlier than usual, a little after 7, just in case I would need him later in the day. I was waiting for the clock to get to 8 so I could call my midwife's office and see if I should pay attention to things or if it was false labor (which is what I was thinking it was). At this point, my contractions were about 8-10 min. apart, and sometimes as soon as 6-7 min. apart (they didn't get that close until after Nathan had left of course). A little after 8 I spoke to the nurse at the midwife practice and told her what labor signs I was experiencing. She felt pretty strongly that I would probably be having the baby that day. She was going to talk to the midwife and get back to me. All this time I kept thinking to myself - if this is false labor, I will never have another child...this is horrible!

I gave my mom a call and gave her permission to just go ahead and come down as soon as she could (I was still concerned that it might be false labor and she'd be coming down for nothing). She called into work and was on her way. I called my friend Tessa in Duluth, and chatted with her for a little while, letting her know what I thought might be happening. I had to pause a couple times in our conversation to breathe through a contraction. That's when I knew this was probably it - and that Nathan would probably need to get home very soon...

At this point the contractions were anywhere between 5-7 min. apart and lasting up to a minute long. I just bounced on my ball and tried to relax through them - this was getting harder to do. I eventually migrated to the bathroom (I found the toilet to be a surprisingly comfortable place to labor). Actually, both times I spoke to the midwife's office this is where I was. The midwife finally called me back around 8:15 and said that unless things slowed down or stopped moving forward, I should get ready to come to the hospital. When I hung up I called Nathan at work and told him to leave ASAP - today was the day. I was to the point where all I could think about was him being at home with me helping me through the contractions. I couldn't believe how fast things were going.

After a little more time bouncing on the ball I decided that it would be a good idea to get in the tub for a little while. I was actually afraid to get in the tub by myself for fear of falling (quite easy when you've got a ball of weight sticking out in front of you). I also realized that my tub was a horrible dusty mess (when you have a soaking tub you haven't used in a while this can happen). I couldn't stand the idea of sitting in dusty water so between a couple of contractions I was on my hands and knees leaning over the tub, wiping it down and rinsing it out. I started to fill the tub between contractions as well.

Finally I heard the garage open and Nathan was home. He helped me get in the tub and then asked if the hospital bag was packed (something we had procrastinated on for weeks). I just looked at him with what I think was disbelief. Rather than get in an argument over it though, I told him to start bringing me the baskets of unfolded laundry and I'd tell him what to pull out. This system actually worked out quite well for us. Still, next time I will probably not procrastinate. It is hard to think about what you might need when you're focusing on your contractions.

My contractions were getting even stronger and getting a little longer and were coming every 3-5 minutes. I knew we were getting really close and needed to head to the hospital soon. I must have had Nathan call my mom a gazillion times. All I know is that every time he called I was hoping to hear that she was pulling in the driveway and she was still a ways away. I was so worried she would end up having to just meet us at the hospital. I told Nathan I needed to get out of the tub now and started to get my clothes on. Every room I went to all I had to say was "ball" and Nathan ran into the room so I could sit on the ball through the contraction. At one point he even had to throw it down the stairs to me.

My mom finally got to our house, just as we were getting ready to call and say she'd have to meet us at the hospital. I got in our car, which was the most uncomfortable thing in the world, and off we went. Of course, every person who didn't know where they were going, or who thought it was time for a lazy drive was on the road and in front of us. I managed not to swear at them, and Nathan managed to get us to the hospital safely, although he was getting quite irritated at some Oregon drivers when we were mere blocks from the hospital. My mom was behind us the whole way and she said she could see my head bobbing up and down every time I had to breathe through a contraction - they seemed to be coming so fast. When we got to the hospital, there was no parking to be found. We ended up parking in a partially chained off lot with signs saying we couldn't park there for another couple hours. I didn't care - as soon as the car was stopped (I thought we were parking - Nathan was going to look for a different place) I was leaping out of the car. I didn't care if our car got towed. We started to walk to the birth center in the hospital. My contractions were coming right on top of each other. I felt like I was stopping every two seconds to breathe and put my arms around Nathan's neck during the contractions. I must have been a sight to passersby in the parking lot - I really didn't give a rip though. That walk felt like the walk that would never end.

Finally we made it to the birth center around 10:30am. Nathan got us signed in while I labored in the lobby (thankfully it was slow and there was no one hanging out in the family area to watch me). They needed to take me to the exam room to be checked before actually admitting me so we started walking that way. They asked if I wanted a wheelchair. Thinking I would be tough I asked how far it was - the nurse said "not far, just around the corner". I decided to walk. We made it 20 ft. and I was begging for a wheelchair. Someone needs to inform that nurse that her definition of "not far" is not relative to a woman in labor - it was really far away!
We got to the exam room and Beth, who would be my nurse the rest of the time through labor and delivery greeted us. She said, "So you think you're in labor?". I replied, "I KNOW I'm in labor", very matter-of-factly. Nathan says I wasn't too nice about it. She asked me to pee in a cup. I wanted to laugh at her. I attempted...too bad I had a contraction in the process...pee sample fail. I made it back to the exam room and she had me change into the hospital gown. It took her what seemed like forever to come back once I was changed. I was so desperate to get out of that little room and to one of the labor rooms. She finally came back and began to put the monitor on me. When I was informed that I would need to be monitored for 20 min. I began to freak out. I knew how fast things had been progressing at home in a matter of 20 min. and did not want to have my baby in the exam room strapped to an awkward exam bed. I asked if she had called my midwife yet and she said that she needed to have numbers for her first. I didn't care, she needed to call her. She agreed to check my cervix at the beginning instead of waiting for the 20 min. monitor to be over. I was already between a 6-7. (This was great news to her and my mom and Nathan - I was thinking I was at least an 8 and thus was disappointed). She left while I finished the monitoring (what seemed like hours!) and came back periodically to let us know that she was getting the labor room ready for us and filling up the labor tub for me (this was the only good news she could give me at this point - I did not like her very much yet). It was while we were in this room and Nathan and I were alone that I asked for drugs - the only time I asked for drugs. Nathan encouraged me and said that I was doing great and that I didn't need to do the drugs. Nathan told me later that he knew I didn't want drugs - he said I was just pissed to be strapped to that bed and was saying it just to say it- he knows me so well. At one point he tried to help me onto all fours to have a better chance of breathing through the contractions - I think we screwed up the monitor doing that though, so it was back on my back I went.

I was so happy when Beth showed up again with the wheelchair to take us to the labor room. It was 11 am and my midwife was due to arrive at any time. We got down to the room and I instantly started peeling off my clothes. All modesty was out the window (which is what we had been told in our Bradley childbirth class would happen during the point of transition - which I believe started when we left our house). I was happy to notice that we were in one of the larger birthing suites, and that the tub was a huge soaking tub - I headed directly for it. Nathan and Beth helped me in and I felt immediate relief. I stayed in the tub for the next 45 min. or so. and almost enjoyed my labor between contractions. I was so relaxed. I just kept breathing through my contractions. Nathan and my mom would bring me cool washcloths for my head and have me sip apple juice between contractions. Shortly after 11 my midwife, Sharon, poked her head in to check on me and see how I was doing. she said she'd be back briefly to check on me again. I was content in the tub at that point. My contractions were still really close together, but I felt like I was able to stay on top of them again, unlike when I'd been in that horrible exam room.

I started to get really warm in the tub and decided I wanted to go on the toilet because I felt like I might go to the bathroom or that I needed to push - more of a desire to push I'd say. I stayed there for a few minutes and slowly migrated to the labor bed. I sat on the labor ball they had for a few minutes, and decided I didn't like it as much as the one I had at home (mine was bigger and better for my height, this one was really low to the ground). I went back to the toilet again and was feeling like I needed to push. It was really uncomfortable. I don't remember if it was Beth or Sharon who checked me at that point, but I was at 9 3/4 centimeters dilated. It was probably getting close to noon at that point.

The urge to push was becoming unbearable. Shortly after noon Sharon gave me the go ahead to start letting gravity do it's work and give in to the urge to push if I felt like it, even though I still wasn't quite to ten. We raised the back of the labor bed all the way and I turned and knelt with my hands draped over the back of the bed. Nathan stood behind the bed and held my hands. As the contractions came I began to bear down. I think I pushed through about 3 contractions in that position before I decided I didn't like it and my legs were tired. I decided I would try the birthing stool (something that gives you the sensation that you're sitting on a toilet). I was able to see how I was pushing because Sharon had a mirror so she could see what was going on. It was while I was on the stool that we started to see the faintest tip of the baby's head. After a few more contractions, Sharon decided to go ahead and break my bag of waters. Shortly after that, my legs grew tired of the stool as well and I went back to the bed to continue pushing.

We still had the back of the bed raised all the way so I laid on my side and held the side bar. Nathan and my mom each grabbed my right leg and brought it up towards my chest while Beth kept my other leg on the bed (the contractions were making me want to curl up in a ball - they kept telling me "be open, let the baby out!"). They had a mirror set up so I could see the baby as I was pushing. I didn't look in the mirror so much for the purpose of watching my baby being born as much as I did to use it as a tool to figure out if I was pushing in the right place. It took me a little while to understand where to direct my pushes. I was so afraid of tearing that I wasn't bearing down as hard as I could have. During each contraction, instead of holding my breath while I pushed, I was breathing out slowly. While this felt better to me, it weakened my pushes. Nathan encouraged me to try holding my breath while I was pushing. I didn't want to at first and told him he didn't know what he was talking about, but eventually I gave in and started holding my breath. That's when I really started to see progress - thanks babe! For every push it seemed like a one step forward two steps back process. I'd get a great look at the head and then it would almost disappear again. I could tell we were getting closer when everyone got excited and Sharon put on her gown for the actual delivery. They asked who was going to announce the sex of the baby and everyone agreed that since Nathan determined it he should announce it. :)

When the baby's head was out, Sharon kept telling me to push, push, push, the shoulders out. It hurt so bad to push the shoulders out and I didn't get the break that I'd expected when his head was out. When the baby's shoulders were out, I instinctively reached down and picked the baby up under the arms and brought him up to my chest. I exlaimed, "it's a boy!!!!" before Nathan ever had a chance to say anything. I was so entranced with my boy instantaneously. They asked what his name was and I asked Nathan. He said our boy was named Steven Patrick. He beamed with pride! We both couldn't stop kissing our little boy as he lay in my arms. I couldn't believe I had delivered him naturally just as I'd planned and that he was actually here!

It is true what they say - you instantly forget the pains of labor once you hold your baby in your arms. Those endorphins kicked in and I was in another world.

So, our little boy, Steven Patrick, came into the world proclaiming loudly that he was here, on Thursday, January 21st at 1:06pm. He weight 8 lbs, 15 oz, and was 20 inches long. He is perfect in every way.

I forgot to include my thanks when I originally posted this last night. I couldn't have done this without strength from my heavenly Father. He has blessed us so greatly with our son and I am forever thankful. I want to say thank you to my amazing husband for his never ending patience with me throughout the laboring process. He was so gentle and attentive to my needs, even when I wasn't the most receptive to him. Thank you also to my mom for being so solid and bringing me down to reality when I said I couldn't do it (reminding me that I am doing it), and your constant encouragment to both Nathan and I. Thank you to my delivery team, my midwife, Sharon & nurse Beth - they were awesome and let me labor how my body needed to! And thanks to Shannon our Bradley Method instructor. You enabled us through your class to be 100% confident going through the amazing experience of a drug-free natural childbirth. Thank you!


A couple notes about how mom & baby were after delivery - For all my fears of tearing, I didn't even feel the 3rd degree tear I received when I delivered Steven. I tore for the reason that his hand was up by his face, making it much harder to push him out. I tore pretty good, front to back, and once we were in our post partum room, I was really feeling the aftermath. I sat on ice for the next 24 hours with all sorts of concoctions to make me numb and bring the swelling down.

I tried to nurse Steven immediately after delivery, but he was to busy announcing his arrival for the next 45 min. to be much interested in me. While my tear was repaired I just held and loved on my boy. Once I was decent, our parents and my brothers came in to meet the newest member of our family. There were tears of joy and much laughter and hugs and kisses -and TONS of picture taking. Once the family left, and as they prepared to bring us to my post partum room, I was able to nurse Steven for about 20 min. He did great!

We stayed in the hospital until Friday evening at 8 and have enjoyed having our son home with us. We have received many visitors and lots of great food from friends and family. I am still recovering from my tear but doing much better now. I feel like I am finally regaining some of the energy I had lost, although I need to constantly remind myself to slow down and let myself recover versus trying to get back to doing everything I could do before.

Steven is doing amazing. He is beautiful in every way. We had some problems getting him to latch properly to breastfeed once my milk came in, but we met with a lactation consultant last week and she gave us some great pointers. We have made great progress, but are still working on getting this breastfeeding thing down. Keep us in your prayers for this, at 2 am feeding time, it can seem quite daunting and unacheivable, but I'm trusting with determination and God's strength we will master it.

Nathan is back at work now, he went back on the 27th. Because the Legislature is in Session right now, there wasn't a ton of opportunity for him to take as much leave as he would have liked. We are looking forward to Session getting over in March so we can have Daddy home with us for a couple weeks of paternity leave.

Below are some pictures from the day he was born. I will try to post more pictures later of the day and visitors and such as well as some from since we've been home soon. I don't know how often I will be on or how long my posts will be (this one took me 12 days to write), but I promise I will not be absent!

Daddy & Steven

Our Family of Three


The 39 week Picture

Right before I decided not to go to work...