City Chicken Goes Country: Grace Victoria's Arrival

On Monday January 14^th I woke up early because Isaac was crying in his bed. When I checked on him I found that he was running a fever so I carried him into my room for snuggles after giving him some Tylenol. As I was carrying Isaac, I felt liquid come out of me. I kind of ignored it because I was more focused on helping Isaac feel better. Isaac and I cuddled in my bed for a little while and every time I rolled over I noticed a gush of more liquid. Finally I decided to get up and check on what I was feeling. I was surprised to find that my pants were completely wet. I immediately knew that my water broke. Every time I moved or bent over I would become soaked with more amniotic fluid. I decided to take a quick shower while I waited for the contractions to begin. I knew that I could be in active labor in a matter of moments or it could take a few hours for labor to start so I decided to get some things done around the house. I called my doula, Marie and Remie to let them know what was going on. Remie decided to come home from work and help me get the kids to school while we waited for labor to start. And that’s what we did…we waited….and waited….and waited…. No contractions. I did every speck of laundry in my house, made meals, did some natural approaches to starting labor and NOTHING. I was starting to get frustrated! I couldn’t believe that labor hadn’t started. Around 5pm my doula Marie came over to give me some suggestions and just support me while I was waiting. She was great at reminding me to stay patient and positive and to trust my body. Marie and I did laps around my neighborhood and although I’d feel some pressure and slight tightening of my uterus, I still wasn’t having impressive contractions. Marie had me on the birthing ball, doing lunges and squats (have you ever seen a woman 9 months pregnant do squats? Its quite terrifying!) and reminded me to stay hydrated. I made brownies thinking that chocolate might convince the baby to GET OUT! We finally decided to go to bed and hope that relaxing would recharge my energy and help me to get labor going.

At 1:26am I woke up to a mild contraction. I then felt like someone punched me in the pubic bone and I heard a loud KNOCK. It was the worst pain ever and I was afraid that the knock was something going wrong like my placenta detaching from my uterus so I ran to the bathroom. I immediately started having the worst contractions I had ever felt. Within moments the contractions were two minutes apart. I noticed that I was shaking and making low humming noises to make it through contractions. I knew that these were signs that labor was well on its way and that we didn’t have much time. Remie called my parents to come right over to watch the kids. He ran around grabbing all my stuff and started the car. He was ready to speed to the hospital but there was a problem- his laboring wife still was sitting on the toilet upstairs. Remie came upstairs to retrieve me and yelled “YOU HAVE TO GET OFF THE TOLIET!” I knew he was right but every time I tried to stand up between contractions another one would hit and I would be forced to focus and not move. Finally I somehow managed to make it to the car. Of course we decided to have this baby at a hospital a bit farther than our normal birthing location so Remie practiced his pursuit driving skills to make it to the hospital before I delivered this baby in the car. We pulled up to the emergency room doors at 2:35am and Remie threw me in a wheel chair and told the security guards I was in labor. The security guard casually says “Is this your first baby?” I blurt out “NO!!! MY FOURTH!”. That was enough to scare the security guard and he starts running me through the hospital and up to labor and delivery. I remember him panicking and telling me “PLEASE DON’T PUSH! PLEASE DON’T PUSH!” When I was wheeled into labor and delivery they checked me and found that I was already 8cm dilated! We asked for the holistic birthing room which pretty much means no interventions. I was able to labor without any pain medication and even without IV fluids.

Side note- having a baby without even a finger poke as an intervention and trusting your body to do everything is the coolest thing ever! Yes, it’s a lot of work but it’s truly miraculous to see how God designed our bodies to birth our babies.

So back to the story…

They wheel me into the holistic room and I sit on a glorious queen sized bed and moan through a few contractions. It was a completely primitive and animal sound I was making to help me get through the labor. I think I may have scared the poor male student that was doing his rotation in L&D and had never seen a completely natural childbirth. I suddenly feel the urge to push and they tell me to wait for the doctor. Well that’s funny because any woman that has had a baby can tell you that there’s no stopping your body from pushing and if you tell me to stop pushing I’m going to go all animal kingdom on you! I flop back on the bed and lay on my right side as I prepare to push out my miracle with or without the nurse’s approval. The doctor comes in the room and says “I need to check your dilation before you can start pushing!” I decide I’m no longer listening and I just look at the doctor and yell “HEAD!! HEAD!!” as I show her that the baby is crowning! I instinctively start pushing and a mere 3 contractions later my sweet baby was born at 2:55am! Remie looked at me in amazement and said “You were right! It’s a girl!!!” They laid Grace on my chest and I said “Hello Grace” and then we spent the next hour without being disrupted just mommy and baby having the most intimate skin to skin bonding moment ever. Grace began breastfeeding like a champ and we just gaze at each other in amazement. After about an hour the nurses returned and asked if they could weigh and measure Grace. Grace Victoria weighed in at an itty bitty 7lbs 5oz and measured 19.5 inches long. It was love at first sight and I was blissfully happy with my new little girl!