Coralyn RuthCoralyn's birth day was so special!
My pregnancy was a pleasant surprise, as
my husband and I were not yet “trying” to have a baby. We were delighted when we found out though
and started preparing for our baby right away.
Even though I ate healthy and followed the Brewer diet very well, I experienced sickness throughout my entire pregnancy. I was still able to exercise regularly and really enjoyed being able to go on walks. I feel that all the walking I did helped my delivery go smoothly. I was also faithful to do my kegels and other Bradley recommended exercises. I was due on October 8, but I knew that many first time mammas go “late,” so I didn’t expect to deliver on my due date. On Sunday, October 4, I think I started having very slight contractions sporadically throughout the day, but it was nothing that caused me to think that I would be having a baby anytime soon. On Monday, October 5, my husband and I went to a student’s soccer game. Again, I felt “pangs” every once and awhile, but was still not thinking that the baby would come soon. I jokingly said that the excitement of the game (it wasn’t exciting at all) would cause me to start labor. We left and went to bed that night. Little did I know that I would actually be in labor in a few hours! I woke up around 11 p.m. to go to the bathroom and felt a sharp pain and tightening in my abdomen. I thought that maybe it was a contraction, but that nothing more would happen or that if I did have more contractions, they would be really spread out. 10 minutes later, I had another contraction. My contractions continued to be 10 minutes apart for the next 2 hours. I kept having to go to the bathroom, so I knew that I was in the beginning stages of labor and even checked my Bradley book to make sure. I didn’t wake my husband up, thinking things would slow down or even stop. Around 1 am, I had climbed back into bed and a contraction started. I was on my knees breathing into my pillow (so as not to wake my husband), when Lawrence heard me and woke up. I explained what had been going on and he stayed awake with me and encouraged me for the next hour as my contractions continued to be regular and were getting to be about 8 minutes apart. We decided that this was the real deal and finished packing our last minute items for our bags. Around 3 am we went to his school to get the camera, but the school was locked. We stopped to get gas on the way home (for some reason I insisted we have a full tank). We called our birthing center to let them know that we were thinking about coming in if the contractions continued. I thought if I went home and took a shower that maybe things would slow down. But by the time we got home (3:45) I was ready to go to the birthing center. My contractions were strong and consistently 5 minutes apart. We called again and said that we were on our way. We arrived at 4:30 in the morning and got settled into our room. The midwife started filling the birthing tub, and I got in immediately. The water felt great and helped me stay relaxed and maintain my breathing. Between contractions, the midwife checked me (for the first time my whole pregnancy) to see how far dilated I was. I was already at 7 cm and was pretty excited about that! I got back in the tub and labored there until around 6 am when I felt that I needed to start pushing. After about an hour, I got out of the tub and sat on the toilet, where my water broke. I then labored on my hands and knees on the bed for a bit, which helped my pelvic floor open and kept me comfortable. A little before 8, I got back in the tub and started pushing again. The midwife and my husband were telling me how they could see the baby’s head and all her hair. And at 8:12 on October 6, our daughter was born! We immediately brought Coralyn up to my chest and held her there for skin to skin contact. She was a little blue, but started breathing and gained color pretty quickly. She was beautiful and perfect! After the cord stopped pulsing, my husband cut the umbilical cord. I delivered the placenta with no problems several minutes after Coralyn was born. I don’t remember exactly how everything went after that since I was so excited about my baby girl and how precious she was. I do know that I tore and the midwife stitched me up, but it didn’t hurt and I didn’t need any pain medication. After we were settled in with our baby girl, we called our parents to let them know everything had gone fine and to come see their granddaughter. We enjoyed time with them once they arrived, and around 7 pm we headed home to our house. My first birth was a wonderful experience and I am so thankful everything went well. I love being a momma and feel so privileged to be able to grow a baby inside me and welcome her to the world. It’s an amazing thing!!!!! |
Kellah GraceHaving Kellah at home was absolutely wonderful!
Since Coralyn's birth was so amazing, we wanted to have a natural birth again when we found out we were pregnant with Kellah. However, the birth center where Coralyn was born had closed, so we decided to have our baby at home this time around. Our friend from church was able to be our midwife, and her assistant was a midwife we knew from the birth center. The whole experience was simply fabulous, and I would love for everyone to have a birth story like Kellah's :)
I was due on December 10, but from the time I found out I was pregnant I thought the baby would be born closer to December 18, the day we had miscarried the year before. But, being a childbirth teacher, I knew that the due dates are more of a guess/estimate than anything and the baby would come when she was good and ready. Well, my due date came and went. My husband told me that he would really like me to wait until after December 9 so that he could be at his student teacher's last day farewell party. I guess I followed his instructions :) I wasn't too worried about being "overdue" and tried not to get impatient about meeting our little one, but I was certainly ready to hold our baby in my arms! On Friday, December 16, I sent our midwife a message saying that I was having lots of pressure really low, but nothing to get excited about. She was going to an activity with her kids that night and joked that she she had made plans, I would probably go into labor. At 10 pm, when my husband and I headed to bed, I commented that Amber had been wrong and was able to enjoy the evening with her family. Little did I know we would be giving her a call in just a few short hours! About 2:11ish (as I told my husband), I had my first contraction. I had woken up to go to the bathroom about an hour earlier and hadn't been able to go back to sleep. When I felt the pressure not only in my lower abdomen but also wrapping around my back, I knew that I was having a real contraction, not a Braxton Hicks one. I kept an eye on the clock to see if I would have another one soon. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, more pressure. But then I didn't have another contraction for over 20 minutes. And after that they weren't regular, but they were happening. I didn't wake up my husband until around 3:30. He said I was just thinking too much about when the baby would come. I agreed, until I had another contraction while we were discussing my overworked brain. At this point my contractions fell into a pattern, about every 6 to 8 minutes apart. Lawrence immediately wanted to call our midwife, but I said we had to wait until at least 5 am, that way we wouldn't be waking her up in middle of the night (5 seemed like early, early morning to me and not as much of a nuisance). At 4, we got up and started getting things ready for Amber. Lawrence had conveniently blown up the birthing tub the night before, so he just got it out of the nursery and into the living room. While he did that, I tidied up the living room and then moved on to the kitchen. I even unloaded the dishwasher and put the dirty dishes in the sink in the dishwasher -- we were going to have people in our house and it needed to be clean :) About this time, our tw0-year old Coralyn woke up to go to the bathroom. I took her potty, changed her, and explained that the baby would be coming soon. We went ahead and called our friends to come get her, and while we waited for them to arrive we cuddled on the couch. We also called Amber at this point to let her know she should probably head on over. I was sure that she would get bored as I was still able to walk around and even carry on a conversation when she arrived at 5:45. I got into the tub when she arrived, but had to go to the bathroom shortly thereafter. Contractions picked up in the bathroom and were much more intense, so I was ready to go back in the water. Things chilled a bit, so Amber and Debbie went into our bedroom so I wouldn't feel like a "watched pot." Several contractions later, I was groaning those low moans, so Amber came out to check on me, knowing that mamas do this sort of thing when birth is close. I still had my doubts about the baby coming any time soon, but sure enough, several contractions later, I was complaining of my back really hurting and felt super hot all over. I knew I was in transition and hoped for a short one (knowing that phase can last 30 minutes to 2 hours). I got my wish! Minutes later, my water broke, which I announced to everyone. Then, with the next contraction, I felt the baby's head. And it wasn't like Coralyn's birth where I had the "ring of fire" as she ever so slowly moved down; oh no, with one contraction Kellah's head was completely out. Amber exclaimed that she could she her head, so Lawrence moved down to catch her, but I grabbed his hand and made him stay up by me. Just seconds later, I "breathed" Kellah out with the next contraction and welcomed our precious little girl to our family! Kellah's birth was wonderful! I am so glad we were able to have her at home. After two amazing birth experiences, I am definitely hooked on this natural birth thing. I love teaching childbirth classes, but I am so passionate that I am looking into becoming a midwife so I can not only help people prepare for their baby's arrival, but be a part of the process myself! |