I’m a total sucker for birth stories, and I know how much it will mean to look back some day and revisit the day that Addi joined our family. I’ll keep things pretty clean, but if you don’t want too much information, just skip this and read my next post that won’t include any talk about cervix dilation or bloody show :).
I spent the night at my parents house on Wednesday night because A.J. was planning on running the manure tank through the night and because we were a week out from our due date, and I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being alone when I went into labor. I headed to bed around 10:00, and slept better than I had in a long time. I woke up around 5:00 AM with some lower back pain, and thought maybe something was starting, but didn’t think it was too serious yet. I had a doctor appointment scheduled for 9:20 AM, so I figured I would see how I was feeling then. My mom had offered to take the day off to go to my appointment with me, and I told her she really didn’t need to. It was just going to be a quick trip and then I was going to head back in to work. Well, by about 6:15 AM, I called mom (she had already left for work) and asked if she thought she could maybe drive me to my appointment, just in case they decided to keep me and A.J. was an hour away in the field. She said that would work and we planned on leaving around 8:00 AM.
I made A.J. a lunch and a thermos of coffee and headed to the field. By the time I made it there, I realized it probably wasn’t the safest/smartest idea for me to be driving, and asked A.J. if he could maybe at least drive me home and then mom could take me from there. My contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting a minute, but I still wasn’t 100% sure that I was really in labor. He parked the tractor and we headed towards home. By the time we got home, I was thinking this probably was the real deal, and we decided that A.J. should shower and come along. I still wanted my mom there, so we picked her up and we were on our way.
By the time we got to the clinic for my appointment, my contractions were picking up. We hopped in the elevator and made our way up to fourth floor. As we got off the elevator, another patient from the clinic helped herself to the front of the line, so I tried to patiently wait. As soon as she moved to the waiting area, I made my way to the desk and started giving the receptionist my information to which she put her hand up and said, “I’m not ready for you yet.” Apparently I didn’t let on that I was in full blown labor, and after a couple of minutes she returned to her happy self and asked how she could help us. I told her we had called from the car for Terri, and something must have clicked for her because she asked, “Oh, are you having contractions?” I gave her my best obvious “yes” face to which she replied, “Oh how exciting! Fist pump?” I seriously can’t even make this up.
We went back for my appointment, and I asked the nurse if I could use the restroom. I made it there and realized that I had some bloody show, and made it back to the exam room. Around 9:30 AM, Terri came in to see if I was progressing along far enough to be admitted, and I was a little surprised when she told me we were dilated to a 5 and heading over to the labor and delivery floor! We started walking over, and I had to stop twice to breath through a couple of contractions. We checked in to labor and delivery at 9:50 AM, and met our nurse June who was seriously an angel. We started working through the general admitting questions, and I changed into my labor gown. I still had yet to feel a single contraction in my belly, and every single contraction I had a bunch of pressure in my lower back. A.J. did such a good job putting counter pressure on my back for me, and keeping me focused on my breathing. At 11:30 AM, things had been super intense for about the past hour and I asked if I could get in the whirlpool. June was more than happy to move me in to the tub, but I had mentioned I had felt the urge to push so she decided to check me before we moved. Right before she checked me, June told me if I felt like I needed to push just to let my body do what it wanted. Within 2 minutes of a little involuntary pushing, we heard a POP and my water broke. The look on A.J.’s face was priceless! I don’t think he expected it to be so loud or so much liquid. He told me after Addi was born and we were in our recovery room that he thought he was going to have to change his pants when my water broke, it really caught him off guard! June checked me and I think I saw her jaw about hit the ground when she said, “Um, I think we’re going to stay in the bed, because you’re dilated to a 9 or 9.5. I’m going to give Terri a call and we’re going to set up for your baby’s birth day!”
The next hour was a blur. Terri made it to the room around noon, and told me I was so close to complete, but there was just a small lip left on my cervix. She stretched it through a couple of contractions and then told me to go ahead and start pushing with the next contraction. A.J. and June held my knees back for me, and we started pushing. I don’t have an exact count, but my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart at this point, and I pushed for roughly 45 minutes. Each push Terri and June kept telling me, “We can see her head!” but I didn’t feel like I was making any progress. After a couple more pushes, Terri had me reach down to feel that her head was right there. That was all the motivation that I needed, and within 2 more pushes her head was out and her little tiny body came right after! At 1:04 PM, the most beautiful baby girl was laid on my chest.
I can’t explain the natural high following this experience. There was 2 times that I looked at A.J. and told him I just couldn’t do it anymore because I was tired, but he knew how important it was to me to not have an epidural so he reminded me of that in the most gentle of way to keep me focused and pushing forward. I had such a fear of the unknown going into this process, and I was afraid that I didn’t have it in me to do this completely natural. I remember asking my mom what she would compare childbirth to, and she told me she doesn’t really remember it as painful. I didn’t understand what she meant until a couple of hours after Addi was born. I told A.J. I felt like it was more tiring than painful. Our birth experience was everything I had hoped it would be, and gave me a confidence in myself that I didn’t know existed.
We had our photographer come to the hospital to take a few pictures, and I am so in love with them! It’s so special to have captured these first few hours as a family of 3!
