The Birth Story of you...
Thursday, December
22nd-False start on the Offense # 1. 8 minute contractions for at least an
hour and we were pumped. A baby
that came on their due date, heck yes!
So we called the Midwife and down to the Birth Center we went. On the way my contractions came every 3
minutes and I became convinced that we were probably having a baby. Short but sweet—we got there, I
measured at a 4, contractions fizzled while we slept. And by 5am we were headed
out the door to Denny’s and then Walmart with the hope we could stoke up the
fire by walking and taking some Cotton Root Bark (disgusting stuff). No such luck. To Longmont we headed.
Tuesday, December 27th- False start on the
Offense #3. 5-10 minute
contractions from 10pm until 4am.
I woke up EVERY contraction and was not amused. But I again wasn’t convinced that we
were going have a baby. What do
you know…after 4am I slept without any more contractions. No baby today.
Wednesday, December 28th- Russ and I decided that
we were done just waiting around and we needed some friend time. We were going to do dinner in Loveland
with our friends the Merlers. As
we headed up, I was having some decent contractions but due to all the false
starts I figured here we go again.
At the Merler’s house, I realized that I was having to breathe a big
harder a lot due to contractions and figured maybe I should time them. 4-5 minutes in between
contractions-made Russ’s ears perk up.
I was determined to continue my girl-talk with Mandy, but continued to
time them. 3-5 minutes and Russ
was getting a little nervous and called the Midwife. We got strict orders that if this continued for 30 more
minutes that we needed to start heading down to the Birth Center. My fear was that this was False start
on the Offense #4. But dah
well…again Russ was not in the mood to deliver a baby on the interstate. We headed to Longmont, dropped Aylen
off with the grandparents, and down to the Birth Center we went.
When we arrived to the Birth Center I was still contracting every 3-5 minutes, but still talking and walking comfortably. At this point, the midwife measured me at a 5. The midwife asked us to try several things and see if we could get some contractions started. So we did stairs, the birthing ball, walked around, and tried different positions. Nothing. Well contractions but still it wasn’t hard and we all knew that if we were going to have a baby today easy was not going to cut it. Around 1130pm, we all decided together that breaking the water was the next step. This is when the tone changed…
It is always so interesting to look back and see the
different signposts of labor show up in my behavior. So before the water broke, Russ and I were joking, the
lights were on, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going into “real” labor. And then after my water was broken, the
lights were dimmed, I grew quiet and focused. I spent an hour or so on a birthing ball, breathing through
the contractions. Russ used this
time to get in some sleep before the craziness begin. As my contractions began to pick up in intensity the midwife
gave me the go to get into the tub.
I spent the rest of my time there, well most of it.
Russ sat on the edge of the tub and did whatever I needed
him to do. I tried several
positions to get comfortable, and squatting seemed to be the best. I remember thinking at this point, “I
don’t think I want to do this,” “Yup, I’m not gonna do this,” “done”. And somewhere in all of that I realized
that I didn’t really have a choice.
At 3am, the baby’s head crowned. Last time with Aylen I was so tired that I seriously
do not remember much of the end.
So it was really amazing to be able to recall the moments when I felt
the baby move down and out. I
pushed for 18 minutes and not a second more. As soon as the baby’s head was out the Midwife saw that he
had a hand beside his head so they immediately had to get me out of the
tub. This was probably the most
uncomfortable moment when I had a head sticking out of me and had to be
transferred from the tub to the floor.
Russ was pretty much in charge of lifting me up with the help of the
midwife and the nurse. As soon as
I was on the ground, I gave a final push while Russ held my legs one way and
the Midwife and nurse pulled the baby out the other way. 
And at 318am out came our second born child. Russ was able to make the gender call
and I remember him saying, “Definitely a boy!” Again, Momma intuition was right! I was then transferred onto a nice big bed, where we stayed
for a couple more hours . The
Midwife and nurse left us alone, untouched for an hour. At that time they came in and Russ cut
the chord, and checked us over.
We then were left alone and we had a family nap time while nursing (our
little guy picked it up right away!)
After our nap, I went in and took a herbal bath and later was joined by
our little man Ryker Lee. By 730am
we were headed out of the Birth Center on our way home. People think it is crazy that we checked
into the Birth Center at 9pm and were gone by 730am, but it seriously was
amazing. We were able to go home
and rest in our beds without people coming into poke and prod at us.
My thoughts on this birth: There is seriously nothing like that feeling of pushing your
baby out. There are no words to
describe the experience but amazing. I was able to do this birth just like Aylen’s,
unmedicated and I feel very grateful for that opportunity. I love challenge and I love knowing
that I put in all that hard work and Ryker was the prize at the end. Besides hoping for a healthy birth, I
had several goals this time of being able to have an actual water birth,
squatting, and really allowing my body to natural push (last time it was so
forced). I again, was pushes away
from actually having a water birth but it was out of my control. Squatting worked wonders for me and I am
glad that I did it. And finally, I
was able to really allow my body to push when it felt the need. It was so much easier that way.
Ryker Lee was born at 318am on December 29, 2011 (a week
after his due date) weighing in at 8lbs 15oz and 22 ¼ in long. He had dark brown hair, and blue-grey
eyes, and looked almost identical to his older brother Aylen when he was a
newborn. It was a perfect birth
and reminded me how amazing life is.
I love you little Ryker.
-Momma
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