MY BIRTH STORY…
DUE DATE: January 19th ‘18
LABOR &
DELIVERY: January 14-15th ‘18
Dear God,
I
thank you for who you are and how good you’ve been to me. For being my first
thought in the morning and the last thought in the evening. You are above all. Because of you I’m breathing and
walking. I thank you for each and every day. For the sunrise and sunset. For
the rain (bows), frost and snow.
I
thank you for carrying me during this fragile yet exciting time. For your gentle yet reassuring
whispers. Lord you were with in the midst; my refuge and shield throughout what
felt like a lifetime of pain. Thank you for not letting my hand go and for covering
me with your GRACE. For the quick and safe progression that took place. To you
I give all the HONOR, GLORY and PRAISE… AMEN
Well it’s safe to say my labor
& delivery was not what I had hoped it would be. My birth plan was pretty
simple, water birth! Water is hands down my best friend and so of course it was
my only request. When
my doctors approved, we went out and got all the
supplies needed. A
labor & birth pool, plastic liner, electric pump, crop top etc. Did I
mention that my pool was green, huge and fab!
I
had been experiencing Braxton hicks since week 24. The further I got in my
pregnancy, I would have them throughout the day every day for about 1 minute.
Anyway,
where was I… 😏(pregnancy brain, 1 min later) Oh yes, all of
our bags had been packed and was in the car three weeks prior to ensure that
neither of us would forget them. The car seat and birth pool were already in
the car too. On Sunday afternoon the 14th I prayed specifically for my
labor and delivery! Sunday evening my husband and I prayed that the baby would
come the next day.
Around
1:00 am the 15th I started
to feel lots of movement so I knew something was up. But me being me I refused
to get out of bed. Hey, I needed all the “sleep” that a girl could get before
baby’s arrival. Anyway, somewhere throughout the night I started to time my “mild
contractions”. They were 15 minutes apart and lasted 45 to 50 sec.
At
5:00 am I finally rolled out of bed,
went down stairs, prayed, ate, worshiped (Bethel Music/ Housefires) 😊, puffed away my
discomfort and oh yes did a #2! (You better believe it because I was not about
to have floaters with me in my birth pool). I’d decided to labor on my own just
because I wanted hubby to rest up before the big bang. I needed him alert and ALERT!
7:00 am
came, I got in the shower, hubby woke up and called his job. I had lost my
mucus plug and decided to call my midwife instead of the hospital because that’s
what we had agreed on. I wanted her to come and examine me first instead of
having to answer several questions over the phone. At this point things were
progressing very smoothly. Now I was contracting every 5 minutes for 45
seconds. My hubby called his parents so they hopped in their car and came our
way.
YAY,
SHE’S HERE…!
Nope,
not the baby but my midwife! She arrived at our home at 9:00 am together with my in-laws. I was then checked…4 cm yay (1cm an
hour), my water broke with lots of meconium in it so with sped off to the ER. My
midwife called the hospital, reserved our “pool room” and met us at the there. My
mother-in-law rode with us and pops stayed at home until “plum” was here.
HOSPITAL
TIME…
We
got to the hospital at round 09:40. We were given the wrong room at first, then
they moved us to our room. I got hooked up and was shortly after examined…still
at 4 cm. By 10:30 am I was having very
painful contractions every 2 minutes for a minute long. Talking or should I say
trying to formulate a sentence at that stage was just not possible. It was clear to me that I had been on abducted and placed on another planet.
WHAT
IN THE NAME OF ALIENS IS GOING ON…
I
was in so much pain and discomfort that my contractions were now every 1:1(hmm
what break?). I had three failed IV attempts, a catheter was being placed and
my back was probably hotter than Venus! More meconium came out (like the Milky
Way), baby was in distress; heart rate had dropped and so the nurse decided to update
the doc.
A
while after in pops the doc with not so good news. He said: “good morning, I’m
doctor S and I can see that the baby is not happy at this moment. We need to do
an emergency C-section now!” My reaction (like a deer in the headlights) …just
stunned what about my pool). So, I
nodded my head and that was that! They unlocked my bed and rushed (well
ran/bumped me into a few corners on the way) us over to the ER. Ping, elevator
up, ER doors opened with its bright lights (gave me an instant headache) and I
was immediately transferred onto a thin cold table (no gown nor cap) just my
PJ’s t-shirt.
WHERE THE H-E Double HOCKEY STICKS IS Wes…?
It
was now 11:30ish I think. Need I say
that in all of this my husband disappeared. He was with me at one point, he
even helped with my bed but after that he (my focus point) was M.I.A. So, as
you can imagine the panic kicked in! Anyway, I had asked where he was but the
team was so focused with prepping that it was only later on that they informed
me that he was gowning up. Finally, I saw his head moving frantically behind
the glass door. He still wasn’t allowed in till after I had my epidural.
Fast
forward >>>…
Hubby
was finally allowed in after I felt a huge change in my body. Baby’s head had
been engaged for the past months but now all of a sudden, “Plum” had wiggled
her way out. I prayed to God immediately asking him for a natural birth.
Seconds after HE whispered to me “Shh Fear Not” (Isaiah 41:10). I told the doc that she was coming and they needed
to prepare for a natural birth. After debating with the doc for what felt like
forever, I had decided that no one was to lay a finger on me until I was heard.
He
(doc) leaned over, held my face both hands and said: “what is happening?” I
said: “just have a look” and to his surprise he saw lots of hair (yep 10 cm).
Stunned, he shouted: “people quiet down, change of plans; we’re having a
natural delivery” his entire team just froze and literally did nothing! With a few
pushes the head was out. Hallelujah!!! Thank you, Lord! The doc unwrapped the
cord from around her neck, checked if she had taken in meconium and told me that
with the next push I could pull her out. And so, I did!
Bananas
in pajamas that how I felt…
The
rest speaks for itself…afterbirth, stitches etc. The doctor and staff had never
experienced a birth like that before and were very pleased that I spoke up and shared
what was happening. We were all happy that everything had went well, but most of all I was happy that I felt the presence of God with me in that room.
I can honestly testify that he held me together like knitwork and what had seemed
like forever in the ER, in reality only lasted a couple of minutes. Sophia was born on
Monday Jan 15th at 11:59 am.
XOXO,
Niki
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