Birth Story

So I have completely neglected this blog since April. New job + pregnancy + toddler = semi-organized chaos. However, I want this blog to serve as a record of Wesley's early years just as it has for Ethan's, so I will attempt to revive it. Starting with his birth story:

After almost 2 weeks of start-and-stop early labor, I was getting really discouraged, especially when all contractions completely disappeared on  Friday and Saturday. On Sunday the 11th, I bitterly got ready for work as I had expected to have my baby by now. On the way there, I noticed some contractions, but nothing unusual. By the time worship was over, I was definitely uncomfortable and feeling a lot of pressure, but I figured it was just from the heat and running around. After getting Ethan down for his nap, my husband, mother-in-law (who came up the weekend before to make sure she would be present with Ethan at the birth), and I relaxed on the couch to watch some TV, and I decided to begin timing the contractions. They were coming pretty steadily at 10 minutes apart. By that evening, they were averaging 7 minutes apart. We were all cautiously optimistic, but very aware that things could stop again. No other signs of definite labor other than the contractions, but I never really had any with Ethan's labor either. I decided to try to get some rest, and when I laid down, the contractions spaced back out to every 10 minutes, though they were increasingly uncomfortable. I finally couldn't take lying down anymore and stood up to discover they were suddenly 3-4 minutes apart, and I couldn't speak through them. Even though they hadn't been that far apart for a full hour, I decided I should go ahead and call the midwife since we're 45 minutes away and my labors tend to go quickly once they get going. As I called, I still wasn't convinced I was actually in labor.

We had hoped Ethan would go back to sleep on the drive in, but he announced that he would be staying awake because he wanted to meet the new baby, too! He kept us laughing with his commentary (Why is it dark? Daddy, these lights hurt my eyes!), but each contraction became more unbearable stuck in that seat. We got to the birth center just after 3:30 AM, and they got my IV antibiotics going for GBS+. First try for the IV this time but at exactly the same time as a contraction. I found the birthing ball to be fairly comfortable, but had wanted to try the tub out, too. Before I got in, the midwife checked me and I was only 4 cm, 100% effaced, which was somewhat discouraging. The tub didn't do much for me at all, but I stayed in for about an hour until I began to have the urge to push, even though I didn't think I was fully dilated. Sure enough, when she checked I was only 5 cm. I had this same early urge to push with Ethan, and it can get really unbearable to resist, so the midwife suggested I just give into it as gently as possible. Ethan was hilarious this whole time, telling me how silly it was that I was in the tub, saying he didn't want to get in because it was dirty, and laughing at the "funny noises" I made moaning through each contraction.

At the midwife's suggestion, I tried a couple of other positions on the bed to counteract the need to push, but they offered little relief. What did help was hard counterpressure at the base of my spine so she showed my husband how to do it, and he did for the duration of my labor. I spent the next 20 minutes on the birthing ball and things began to get really intense so my mother-in-law suggested Ethan come out with her to the living room to watch a movie. The midwife checked me again, and I was 9 cm. She let me all-out push on the next contraction, and afterwards I was complete and ready to go. So yeah, I went from 5 to 10 cm. in about 25 minutes.

I hadn't wanted to push lying on my back, but by this point the contractions were one on top of the other, and I physically couldn't move. I couldn't even pull my legs back, so my husband and the nurse held them to the side for me. At this point, I pretty much lost it. Things were moving really quickly, but I figured I had at least 30 minutes of pushing ahead of me and I just wasn't getting a break. The burning was already so intense, but the much-acclaimed "Ring of Fire" was still to come (or so I thought). I later learned he had his hand up by his face, making the burning even worse as my body had to adjust to allow a head AND an arm at once. Some choice exclamations from this point include, "I can't do this!" "Oh my GOD!" and "HELP!!!" I just knew I couldn't keep it up for as much longer as I was SURE it was going to take. And then, after just 13 minutes of pushing, I felt a tiny body slide out, all the pain was gone, and a baby's cry filled the air. They put my child on my chest, I yelled for Ethan to come meet his new sibling, and it was at least a minute before any of us thought to check to see if it was a boy or a girl.

 I nursed him almost immediately, and he snacked and dozed on my chest for over an hour before being weighed and examined. I had brought breakfast so the others went out and got McDonald's (keeping up the trend from my brother-in-law's home birth). Ethan fell asleep on the bed with us and woke up just in time for lunch. My father-in-law had arrived by this point so they brought us Noodle & Co. (keeping up the trend from Ethan's birth). After lunch, they did our discharge exams, I got Wesley dressed, and we were home less than 12 hours from when we'd left home that morning!

While it was definitely intense, it was an absolutely perfect experience, and we are just so in love with our little guy!