Birth story

**Warning – while I’ve been discreet, please note that this is a birthing story. Some details may not be appropriate for those who don’t like to think about such things! AND it's forever long...

I’d been having contractions for weeks – some even resembled early labor pains from my other 2. There had been several days that I told Clay and my mom that things seemed different so they might want to be on alert. Nothing ever happened. Frustrating. There was basically nothing to note at my 36, 37, & 38 week checkups. Finally, at 39 weeks, I was a 3!! I was so excited, but tried to remain calm knowing it could still be another week or so. Thursday, August 6th things began to change and I could tell my cervix was softening…I remembered how fast things went with Miss E so I hung close to home, but again I tried to keep everything in perspective. Friday, August 7th I decided the kids and I needed to get out so we had a day full of activity. I was hoping to get things going, but even after playing at the mall, going to the water park, and a birthday party at another splash park NOTHING! Saturday morning I was very uncomfortable. I took a shower because I’d been having some good contractions. I had Clay take one too. We got everything ready just in case…we really felt like it could be any time. The kids were driving us crazy (as I was trying to manage my pain) so we called in Grannylou for reinforcement. After a morning of contractions (even having 4 in 30 minutes), everything got quiet. We ended up having dinner and hanging out with friends that night – contractions still happening without any semblance of regularity.

August 9th – DUE DATE – I had contractions throughout the night (according to Clay, I was moaning a good bit), and recall having multiple ones during the 6AM hour. I decided church wasn’t a good idea, and then Clay decided he probably should stay home too. We watched the clock and the contractions were coming more regularly. It was confusing to me though because they weren’t that intense. I could still talk through them so I didn’t really take them seriously. I had given my mom a head’s up so she could shower in case we needed to go…and we called another friend to see if she could take the kids after church if we needed that. Of course, this day was one that had most of our childcare options with scheduling conflicts! After having three contractions 6 minutes apart, Clay encouraged us to get the plan in motion. I finally agreed recalling how fast things moved with Miss E. Mom headed our way while Clay packed the car. I finished getting the kids ready for church. We headed to the hospital while Mom waited for the Alexanders to get the kids.

I was beginning to wonder if we made a mistake, but then the contractions continued every 5-6 minutes. We arrived at the hospital about 9:15 a.m., and the nurses laughed at my sweet husband who had all of our bags and pillows in his hands. He told them it was our 3rd, and he was pretty sure we were staying. Much less, we came close to not having our cameras with us at Miss E’s birth and we didn’t want to risk it. In observation, the contractions continued and I was dilated to a 4. We were quickly moved to a labor room. It still felt surreal as the contractions weren’t too bad – especially if I was up and moving around. I was ready to get in the shower and utilize the AWESOME jets they have to help with back labor. My nurse mentioned that I could already get my epidural; and after little thought, I told her to bring it on. I couldn’t believe the pain I’d been having would be basically all I had, but I knew I wanted an epidural so there was no sense in risking missing the window of getting one.

I got my epidural about 15 minutes later (the BEST one I’ve had by far), and then my doctor broke my water. I was at a 5 and pretty much fully effaced. Meconium was found so they told me there would be additional NICU nurses in delivery and that I wouldn’t get to hold her right away, but that it usually isn’t something to be concerned about. I think this was all done by like 10:45 a.m. My doctor warned this may be a longer labor since I got my epidural before they broke my water…little did she know! She wanted me to labor a bit before starting pitocin, but I didn’t much care since I felt nothing. Mom, Kristi, and Kadyn came to the room and everyone started getting settled with computers and books and such after we filled them in on all that transpired. I took a moment to put some makeup on and was mentally preparing for killing some time. My doctor came back in to check me and I was at an 8…no, 9…no 9 ½… 10!!! SAY WHAT?!?!?!?!

Everyone quickly packed up their stuff to head back to the waiting room. I looked at Clay and simply said, “Holy crap!” It was all happening so fast. It was supposed to be hours…and now we were looking at pushing! I could hardly wrap my mind around it. Just a few hours earlier I was questioning the serious nature of my contractions. The NICU nurses arrive, everyone was busy preparing things, and the doctor came to check things out one last time (or so I thought). Nope, next things I know she’s saying, “Deep breath and push!” WHAT? NOW? Okay…here we go. The first few pushes turned her face down, and then the real work began. It was only 10 minutes, but it was a hard 10 minutes. Because Miss M hadn’t been in the birth canal long, her head was perfectly round requiring a little more gusto. The last 5 minutes I barely got to breathe between pushes. Clay, my doctor and my nurse were so encouraging. Next thing I know, Miss M is here at 12:13 p.m.!!! Once again, I had a baby about 3 hours after arriving at the hospital.

She was quickly taken by the NICU nurses – Clay didn’t even get to cut the cord – but we wanted her to be okay. Her cry was a blessed sound meaning she wasn’t choking on the meconium. I could see her from my bed, and she had SO MUCH hair. It seemed like forever before they handed her to me, but it was only like 15-20 minutes. Her apgar score was 8.5-9 and everything looked great. We were floored she weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. (that’s a whole pound heavier than Big J!)…and she was ¾ an inch longer than the other two! She didn’t look like either of them either. She took to nursing right away – girl was hungry eating for 40 minutes!! Her body temp was a little low so we spent some more time cuddling skin to skin with warm blankets over her. What a blessedly surreal feeling. We have 3 kids!

Mom, Kristi, and Kadyn came back about 1:15 p.m., but had to check her out while she was warming up. Mom and Kadyn laugh that Miss M was born while they took a quick bathroom trip. They had been prepared for hours of waiting, but they barely had time to sit between updating people and such. By 2:15 p.m. I was out of recovery and in my post-partum room. Miss M arrived back after her bath about 3:15, and the fun of showing her off continued. We were thankful for those that took time on Sunday to come welcome our little gal into the world. We were thankful for friends who watched our big kids so we could focus on our littlest one.

Mom, Kristi, and Kadyn picked up Big J and Miss M later that afternoon and brought them up to meet their sister. Big J almost knocked Clay down when he got off the elevator. There was no more precious picture than seeing Clay walk into the room holding Big J and Miss E – they were so excited. They loved on Miss M and me. It was overwhelming to have all my babies with me – I couldn’t help but hear the doctors telling us 5 years ago that we had less than 5% chance to conceive children without medical intervention…and here I sat with 3 babies all conceived au natural. God is amazing. We are so blessed.

My cup overflows…