It was a beautiful Thursday morning. We had just got our air conditioner fixed after a week of sweating my life away and sitting circled by fans... so I was enjoying being more comfortable than I'd been in what felt like forever. I was woken that morning around 8:00AM feeling some very strong braxton hicks contractions. I tried to just ignore them and sleep... but that was pretty much impossible. Every 10 minutes that same strong contraction woke me up. I finally got up and googled how women described contractions during the first stages of labor. Turns out, these were not braxton hicks. I was going to meet my baby today!!!
I called my midwife, Amy, to let her know that I was in my first stage of labor. After desrcibing to her how I was feeling and how far apart the contractions were, she told me to relax and try to go about my day as normal. Baby would most likely come that evening! I let my husband and my mom know that today was the day (they were both working)... my mom had really short labors for all her babies, including the first; so we were expecting it to move along quickly. After making those phone calls, I tried to distract myself as much as possible.
I made myself a good breakfast, oatmeal, and turned on some TV. It was definitely hard to focus on anything else though. I was restless and excited. The contractions continued every 10 minutes; and I remember thinking "this is going to get so much worse... Lord, help me." By 10AM my contractions were lasting longer and coming every 5-6 minutes. I was getting very restless, so I went ahead and asked Casey to come home. When he arrived, he started filling the birthing tub. It took about 4 hours to fill, pausing to let the water tank heat up again and again.
During the early contractions, the easiest way to breathe through them was standing up... arms wrapped around Casey's neck. He was my rock, my support, and he helped me so much. Reminding me to breathe and just being there. I stayed distracted by playing Call of Duty for a little bit. We used the timer on the game to keep track of the contractions, and it was just an awesome way to keep things fun as long as we could.
When my contractions got to be 60 seconds long every 5 minutes, we decided to have one of our midwives, Nina, come and check my cervix. She arrived at our house at 3:30PM... and I was 7 centimeters dilated! Good news! We called Amy and my mom to tell them to head on over. I went ahead and got into the birthing tub, hoping it would help with the pain that was growing stronger every minute. When I got in, it wasn't the automatic relief I had expected. It was nice and warm though, and definitely made the contractions less painful. It was nice to be able to move and float in the water. Made me feel lighter and more flexible.
As time passed the contractions got stronger and came more often. It was definitely taking more concentration to breathe. Everyone who was there to support me were watching "That 70s Show"... and we were all just playing the waiting game. Casey sat near the tub, holding my hand and stroking my hair... reminding me to drink water and stay hydrated. It was at this time that my back pain started. Amy did some pressure points on my back during the contractions... which definitely helped. I tried to keep things light and easy in between contractions, making jokes and staying positive. Crazy how I could go from groaning in pain to laughing every minute.
Everyone was very patient and encouraging... but at this point we were all starting to get a little antsy. I was in the tub for 2 hours and starting to get very uncomfortable, so I got out and Nina checked me again. I was 7.5 centimeters dilated. I almost cried. Feeling pruney and gross from the water, I stayed out and walked around the house a little. Nina went to get dinner for her and Amy and my mom went home for a short break. Casey stayed by my side and supported me through every contraction. I was getting impatient and tired.
After a bit, I decided to get back into the tub. This time, Casey joined me. This was the most comfortable position during my entire labor. I sat in between his legs, resting my back agaisnt his chest. He helped me to relax between contractions and breathe through them. My mom brought me something to eat... I ended up drinking some broth and a vitamin C drink. After an hour Casey and I were both getting uncomfortable... so back out of the water we went. Nina checked my cervix again and nothing had changed. They suggested breaking my water to get things going. After learning there would be no bad side effects to doing this, I told them to go ahead. Nina put what looked like a long, skinny crochet hook into me, catching onto the sack and releasing it. I was surprised at how much water there was! Right after that... things got extremely intense.
The next contraction was SO strong. Nina told me to try some different positions to try to make it easier... sitting on the toilet, laying on my side on the couch, getting into the shower (hoping the water would help my back pain). I kept saying I wasn't strong enough... that I couldn't do it. Amy got me to say I could do it. She was such an encouragement.
When I was sitting on the toilet I had felt the urge to push, but the pain had been so strong I didn't tell anyone. Now... a few minutes later I remembered and told Nina. She told me to get on my hands and knees on the carpet. I needed some sort of support for my arms, so Casey sat in front of me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Then it was time to push. It's crazy how my body knew what to do... it knew it was time. Pushing Eisley out was the weirdest, most painful thing I have ever experience. They told me to wait to push for a minute because my cervix was in the way, but I just pushed anyway. I didn't feel like I could control it... it was just coming. My mom told me to put my grunts and noises into the push... and that helped so much. I used every groan to push. I turned off every other noise. It was just me, and my body... doing what God created me to do. All I could feel was the overwhelming pain. They had me turn over onto my back. I remember Casey saying that his leg had fallen asleep from me laying on it.
When I was on my back, it only took a couple of pushes before the baby's head was crowning. They asked me if I wanted to feel the babies head. At first I said no, but then I still reached down to feel it. So much hair!!! Casey said my expression was priceless. I didn't realize how close I was to meeting this baby until that moment. Just a couple more pushes and out it came! It happened so fast, and the way we were positioned there was no way Casey could have caught her. So Amy did, and she immediately laid her onto my chest. Eisley was born at 10:05PM. She looked so beautiful. Everyone always says that their babies look so ugly when they come out, and I swear mine was the exception. She did have a cone shaped head, but besides that I had never seen something so beautiful. Amy had my take off my sports bra so I could be skin to skin with Eisley. After a few minutes, we checked and found out it was a SHE. God had given us a beautiful baby girl. I head Amy and Nina talking about how beautiful the umbilical cord was. Amy took a picture of it and then they had me get up onto the bed.
All of this was really hazy, and I was just so thankful to be out of pain. To be able to relax. Shock took over my body and I felt so extremely weak. Casey laid next to me on the bed and we just held our baby. I kept trying to push out the placenta... Nina helped me and we finally got it out. About 45 minutes later Amy helped my mom and she got to cut the cord! They then weighed Eisley and checked everything to make sure she was perfect. 8 pounds 1 ounce, 20 inches long... 10 fingers and 10 toes. She was absolutely perfect.
After this, Amy helped me and I got a shower. Then I just laid in the bed with Casey and our new little one. We just sat and looked at Eisley. She was wide awake, alert and just stared back at us. My labor was almost 15 hours long... just 20 minutes of pushing.
Amy took my placenta to a contact they had... a women who would encapsulate it for me immediately for a fee. This is something many people are wary about, but it was one of the best decisions I made. Those little pills helped me SO much. Anytime I was feeling blue or exhausted, they gave me a good kick. It was like a happy/energy pill... and I will never stop encouraging everyone I meet to try it!!!
Altogether I was happy with how my birth to Eisley went. I'm so thankful that I had my supportive husband, mom, and midwives there to help me every step of the way. My birthing team was perfect. There was a couple things that didn't go quite as planned, but that's life. That showed me that I wasn't in control... and I'm so thankful that things did go as smoothly as they did. The pain was definitely worse than I had expected, but that memory fades after awhile. If I could go back, I wouldn't change a thing. BUT there are some things I will do differently with my next labor... and I can't wait to share about that as well.
Something that I believed before I had Eisley and I still believe today... giving birth naturally IS empowering. Our bodies were created for this. To let go of the pain, give God complete control, and really learn how to listen to your body... it's such a beautiful thing. It's not something someone can explain to you, you have to experience it. That day of labor was the beginning of a very long journey I've taken. It showed me what I can get through, even when I didn't think I could. It showed me that I'm stronger then I thought, and my God is such a miraculous creator... that way he created the birthing process... it definitely sends me into worship when I think about it. I'm thankful for the magic of birth. I'm thankful for what it has taught me.
