Quinn Uriah's Birth
There is something unique that happens when you know you are in labor. Part of you is too scared to actually admit it, especially when it’s very early because something is telling you- don’t get your hopes up. And the other part of you is so excited that you want to tell everyone, at least for an extrovert like me!
I had been having contractions since I was roughly 29 weeks pregnant, all Braxton hicks of course , so contractions were already a daily experience for me . It was labor day weekend and we decided to go watch fireworks with our parents(Sunday evening, Sept 1st)! As I sat and watched the sky light up, something inside me changed and I knew deep down that I was going into labor. I made a joke before departing for the night that maybe I would get to have a baby on Labor day! Nothing major followed, we went home and went to bed! My previous labor, with baby #2, started in the middle of the night and I woke up to contractions that were painful. So when my contractions this time, actually woke me up, I knew things were going somewhere. Having had 2 previous babies and being a doula myself I knew that I needed to get as much rest as possible and tried to sleep throughout the rest of the night! Around 5 am I was awake and anxious and contractions were rather far apart but becoming more intense. I had to talk myself out of taking a shower right then and there. I have always been funny about wanting to be clean and showered before birth! Lets face it…after birth we are so exhausted and sometimes ouchy, who wants to shower right away! I wanted to be as clean as possible LoL but I was able to talk myself back to sleep until 7:45am. AT that point I gave in and got right into the shower. At this point I knew we were having a baby today! After being in the shower I realize that these contractions were extremely far apart and inconsistent, I had already begun to get discouraged. I was remembering natural ways to induce labor, so I invited my husband into the shower to help things progress ; )
After getting dressed my contractions seemed to almost stop! I had recently been reading Ina May Gaskins book-“Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth” In reading all of those birth stories I had read about moms who had previous fast labors and then for some reason baby #3 took a long time. This became a fear of mine. My first labor lasted 12.5 hours and my second was almost 7 hours, so my past experience was fairly quick labors. This time I feared that I was going to experience the exact opposite and be in labor for 24-36 hours. (irrational fear at the time, but felt real) So we called my mom and said, we might have a baby today, but in the mean time you want to go have breakfast? While getting dressed and doing my hair my contractions started again. They continued all through breakfast ranging from 12 mins-6 mins apart, with no consistency. But they did grow more intense. I would have to put down my fork and close my eyes and breathe through them. At the beginning of breakfast I had decided that I was going to make sure that I drank a lot of water! I know better than to forget to drink and get dehydrated during labor. And I also knew there would come a time during labor that I would no longer want to drink, so I wanted to be well hydrated by that point. With this being said I chugged lots of water and found myself peeing constantly all day! Haha! After breakfast my mom came over to help me clean my house! I had a pile of dishes and small things I really wanted to get done. It wasn’t that I didn’t want people coming over to a dirty house, but more that I knew after I gave birth I would not be cleaning anytime soon! As my mom washed dishes I vacuumed the downstairs and would stop for each contraction and breath through it. By now its roughly 12:00-12:30pm. I can tell I’m still not in “active labor” yet that it is still very early and so I’m still fighting that fear that this could go on much longer that I had anticipated! I was communicating with both my Midwife and my Doula what was happening so they were well aware. They both suggested that I stop concentrating so hard on the contractions and attempt to just live life. They both know I’m a very black and white person and I’m also a clock watcher. I would pay close attention to the clock and then wait for each contraction to come. This was beginning to make me crazy and I decided I could no longer just stare at the clock and wait. I took their advice and went about my day. By 3:30, nothing had changed and we decided to go ahead and go to our labor day cookout. We were only going to be 15 mins down the road and knew if things changed we would just head home! (we had planned a home birth)
Off to the cookout we went, arriving about 4pm. We hung out with friends and family and as time passed I could tell my contractions were getting stronger and more frequent. By 4:30 I had to walk away from the crowd, close my eyes and breathe through each contraction, they were getting stronger and stronger. My grandma started timing for me and they were consistently 4 minutes apart. Everyone at the cookout who didn’t know me thought I was crazy ! I tried eating because I knew I needed the nourishment but it was hard to eat in 4 minute intervals and walk away for each contraction. Finally I told my husband it was time to go home. I wanted to be able to get into different positions and be in my own home. We headed home and things continued to increase. When we pulled into our driveway, our extremely bumpy driveway, I begged my husband, Chris, to stop and let me out so I could stand and sway with the contractions instead of sit and endure awful bumps!
Once inside I called my mom and texted my midwife and doula and let them know things had increased and how far apart my contractions were. I was still operating in that mindset that this could be awhile because it took so long for active labor to start (active labor began about 4:30pm). I didn’t want to invite everyone over and things stall and everyone just sit around and look at me. But by 6pm I KNEW I needed my doula and midwife and begged them to come, literally begged! My Midwife was an hour away! I asked chris so start filling the pool and labored by myself while he took care of our 2 younger girls and filled the pool. At this point I knew that being by myself, the only thing that was going to get me through contractions was the Lord and I wanted to worship my way through them. So Chris put my phone on the dock and I listened to the play list of worship songs that I had created for labor! I raised my hands and sang my way through the contractions while working on the ball. I leaned forward on the ball, sat and rocked on the ball, bounced on the ball and tried to keep my eyes on the Lord! Chris made the phone calls to everyone else to come: my photographer-Meghan, my mom-JoLynn, my mother in laws Jo & Lisa, and my sister in law Katie. So by 7pm everyone was there but the midwife. Once the pool was warm I got in and labored with Chris right by my side and the worship music blaring! My eyes stayed closed most of the time. I would sit on my bottom between contractions and then get onto my hands and knees when a contraction started and rocked back and forth. The counter pressure on my hips helped and so I just continued that pattern. Sit and relax, worship, then get on all fours and breathe through my contractions. At one point there was a song that came on that spoke to me and I listened to it twice through. The words that stood out to me and that I cried out were- “My God is Mighty to Save!”
By now my contractions are very strong. My oldest daughter, Payton ~age 4 ½~ would stand with her arm around me or rub my arm. She was incredible! She was the perfect, quiet encourager! And my husband, was amazing as always! He knows me so well and knows exactly what I need. His quiet strength and comfort leave my speechless. With the amount of people there, I barely knew they were there. They did a great job of respecting our space and being quiet observers!
By 8:00-8;15pm my midwife shows up and I beg her to check me. I was 8 cm at that point. After laboring for 20-25 more minutes in the pool she encouraged me to move and maybe use the restroom. So I dragged my soak and wet body to the bathroom and emptied my bladder for the hundredth time! AT this point contractions were at their strongest. I could not just sit on the toilet through the contraction so I tried to stand, but fell into my husbands arms while screaming, “I’m sorry”!!!!! He asks me why and I reply “because I’m getting you all wet!” My midwife and doula could both tell that we were nearing the end so they asked me where I wanted to have the baby. I had my bed all set up so we headed to our bedroom. AT this point I explain to my midwife, “I will not push until you tell me that I am complete. That is just how I am, PLEASE check me and let me know that I am allowed to push!!!!” Although she encouraged me to just listen to my body I still needed to hear that it was ok. She checked me and I was complete! (8:45pm) This is where my doula came in and I needed her most! Pushing was much more difficult this time around than the last. I only had to push two times with Mackenzie . I wasn’t so lucky with Quinn. I started pushing in a squatting position. Then I changed to on my back. Then I tried on my side. Nothing felt right! Katie, my doula, got down on the bed with me as I sat on all fours and gave me the pep talk I needed. I kept comparing this labor to my last and it was so different, which felt ‘wrong’ to me. But she assured me that every labor is different and things were going great! She gave me the encouraging word I needed to hear to fight the discouragement I was feeling. Right before I switched positions I was leaning on Chris and asked him to pray for me. I could tell that I was struggling with fear for some reason and needed him to pray over me. I felt like something was holding me back from pushing with all of my strength. Part of it was that pushing did not feel good….it didn’t give me the relief that I expected and just felt impossible! After he prayed my midwife suggested I get on all fours again and push that way. So I got on my hands and knees and buried my face in my husbands stomach and pushed with everything inside me. I could tell the Lord was working because he gave me the strength I needed to push as hard as I did. I’m guessing little Quinn was not in a very good position! After twenty minutes of pushing, and my water finally breaking during a big push, she began to crown. Then began the most difficult part of all. My goal this time around was not to tear, so I had been instructed to listen closely to my midwife and her instructions for pushing, or should I say, NOT PUSHING! By God’s power only, was I able to not push and allow Quinn to slowly come down to keep my perineum intact! But it worked and out she came! She turned pink super fast and received a score of 10 on the Apgar test! I flipped over onto my back quickly and held my beautiful, dark haired, Quinn Uriah in my arms! She was born at 9:06pm(4 ½ hours of active labor, so much for taking a long time lol) on September 2nd 2013, weighing 8lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. And was breastfeeding within an hour of being born! What an awesome God I serve!!!!
I had been having contractions since I was roughly 29 weeks pregnant, all Braxton hicks of course , so contractions were already a daily experience for me . It was labor day weekend and we decided to go watch fireworks with our parents(Sunday evening, Sept 1st)! As I sat and watched the sky light up, something inside me changed and I knew deep down that I was going into labor. I made a joke before departing for the night that maybe I would get to have a baby on Labor day! Nothing major followed, we went home and went to bed! My previous labor, with baby #2, started in the middle of the night and I woke up to contractions that were painful. So when my contractions this time, actually woke me up, I knew things were going somewhere. Having had 2 previous babies and being a doula myself I knew that I needed to get as much rest as possible and tried to sleep throughout the rest of the night! Around 5 am I was awake and anxious and contractions were rather far apart but becoming more intense. I had to talk myself out of taking a shower right then and there. I have always been funny about wanting to be clean and showered before birth! Lets face it…after birth we are so exhausted and sometimes ouchy, who wants to shower right away! I wanted to be as clean as possible LoL but I was able to talk myself back to sleep until 7:45am. AT that point I gave in and got right into the shower. At this point I knew we were having a baby today! After being in the shower I realize that these contractions were extremely far apart and inconsistent, I had already begun to get discouraged. I was remembering natural ways to induce labor, so I invited my husband into the shower to help things progress ; )
After getting dressed my contractions seemed to almost stop! I had recently been reading Ina May Gaskins book-“Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth” In reading all of those birth stories I had read about moms who had previous fast labors and then for some reason baby #3 took a long time. This became a fear of mine. My first labor lasted 12.5 hours and my second was almost 7 hours, so my past experience was fairly quick labors. This time I feared that I was going to experience the exact opposite and be in labor for 24-36 hours. (irrational fear at the time, but felt real) So we called my mom and said, we might have a baby today, but in the mean time you want to go have breakfast? While getting dressed and doing my hair my contractions started again. They continued all through breakfast ranging from 12 mins-6 mins apart, with no consistency. But they did grow more intense. I would have to put down my fork and close my eyes and breathe through them. At the beginning of breakfast I had decided that I was going to make sure that I drank a lot of water! I know better than to forget to drink and get dehydrated during labor. And I also knew there would come a time during labor that I would no longer want to drink, so I wanted to be well hydrated by that point. With this being said I chugged lots of water and found myself peeing constantly all day! Haha! After breakfast my mom came over to help me clean my house! I had a pile of dishes and small things I really wanted to get done. It wasn’t that I didn’t want people coming over to a dirty house, but more that I knew after I gave birth I would not be cleaning anytime soon! As my mom washed dishes I vacuumed the downstairs and would stop for each contraction and breath through it. By now its roughly 12:00-12:30pm. I can tell I’m still not in “active labor” yet that it is still very early and so I’m still fighting that fear that this could go on much longer that I had anticipated! I was communicating with both my Midwife and my Doula what was happening so they were well aware. They both suggested that I stop concentrating so hard on the contractions and attempt to just live life. They both know I’m a very black and white person and I’m also a clock watcher. I would pay close attention to the clock and then wait for each contraction to come. This was beginning to make me crazy and I decided I could no longer just stare at the clock and wait. I took their advice and went about my day. By 3:30, nothing had changed and we decided to go ahead and go to our labor day cookout. We were only going to be 15 mins down the road and knew if things changed we would just head home! (we had planned a home birth)
Off to the cookout we went, arriving about 4pm. We hung out with friends and family and as time passed I could tell my contractions were getting stronger and more frequent. By 4:30 I had to walk away from the crowd, close my eyes and breathe through each contraction, they were getting stronger and stronger. My grandma started timing for me and they were consistently 4 minutes apart. Everyone at the cookout who didn’t know me thought I was crazy ! I tried eating because I knew I needed the nourishment but it was hard to eat in 4 minute intervals and walk away for each contraction. Finally I told my husband it was time to go home. I wanted to be able to get into different positions and be in my own home. We headed home and things continued to increase. When we pulled into our driveway, our extremely bumpy driveway, I begged my husband, Chris, to stop and let me out so I could stand and sway with the contractions instead of sit and endure awful bumps!
Once inside I called my mom and texted my midwife and doula and let them know things had increased and how far apart my contractions were. I was still operating in that mindset that this could be awhile because it took so long for active labor to start (active labor began about 4:30pm). I didn’t want to invite everyone over and things stall and everyone just sit around and look at me. But by 6pm I KNEW I needed my doula and midwife and begged them to come, literally begged! My Midwife was an hour away! I asked chris so start filling the pool and labored by myself while he took care of our 2 younger girls and filled the pool. At this point I knew that being by myself, the only thing that was going to get me through contractions was the Lord and I wanted to worship my way through them. So Chris put my phone on the dock and I listened to the play list of worship songs that I had created for labor! I raised my hands and sang my way through the contractions while working on the ball. I leaned forward on the ball, sat and rocked on the ball, bounced on the ball and tried to keep my eyes on the Lord! Chris made the phone calls to everyone else to come: my photographer-Meghan, my mom-JoLynn, my mother in laws Jo & Lisa, and my sister in law Katie. So by 7pm everyone was there but the midwife. Once the pool was warm I got in and labored with Chris right by my side and the worship music blaring! My eyes stayed closed most of the time. I would sit on my bottom between contractions and then get onto my hands and knees when a contraction started and rocked back and forth. The counter pressure on my hips helped and so I just continued that pattern. Sit and relax, worship, then get on all fours and breathe through my contractions. At one point there was a song that came on that spoke to me and I listened to it twice through. The words that stood out to me and that I cried out were- “My God is Mighty to Save!”
By now my contractions are very strong. My oldest daughter, Payton ~age 4 ½~ would stand with her arm around me or rub my arm. She was incredible! She was the perfect, quiet encourager! And my husband, was amazing as always! He knows me so well and knows exactly what I need. His quiet strength and comfort leave my speechless. With the amount of people there, I barely knew they were there. They did a great job of respecting our space and being quiet observers!
By 8:00-8;15pm my midwife shows up and I beg her to check me. I was 8 cm at that point. After laboring for 20-25 more minutes in the pool she encouraged me to move and maybe use the restroom. So I dragged my soak and wet body to the bathroom and emptied my bladder for the hundredth time! AT this point contractions were at their strongest. I could not just sit on the toilet through the contraction so I tried to stand, but fell into my husbands arms while screaming, “I’m sorry”!!!!! He asks me why and I reply “because I’m getting you all wet!” My midwife and doula could both tell that we were nearing the end so they asked me where I wanted to have the baby. I had my bed all set up so we headed to our bedroom. AT this point I explain to my midwife, “I will not push until you tell me that I am complete. That is just how I am, PLEASE check me and let me know that I am allowed to push!!!!” Although she encouraged me to just listen to my body I still needed to hear that it was ok. She checked me and I was complete! (8:45pm) This is where my doula came in and I needed her most! Pushing was much more difficult this time around than the last. I only had to push two times with Mackenzie . I wasn’t so lucky with Quinn. I started pushing in a squatting position. Then I changed to on my back. Then I tried on my side. Nothing felt right! Katie, my doula, got down on the bed with me as I sat on all fours and gave me the pep talk I needed. I kept comparing this labor to my last and it was so different, which felt ‘wrong’ to me. But she assured me that every labor is different and things were going great! She gave me the encouraging word I needed to hear to fight the discouragement I was feeling. Right before I switched positions I was leaning on Chris and asked him to pray for me. I could tell that I was struggling with fear for some reason and needed him to pray over me. I felt like something was holding me back from pushing with all of my strength. Part of it was that pushing did not feel good….it didn’t give me the relief that I expected and just felt impossible! After he prayed my midwife suggested I get on all fours again and push that way. So I got on my hands and knees and buried my face in my husbands stomach and pushed with everything inside me. I could tell the Lord was working because he gave me the strength I needed to push as hard as I did. I’m guessing little Quinn was not in a very good position! After twenty minutes of pushing, and my water finally breaking during a big push, she began to crown. Then began the most difficult part of all. My goal this time around was not to tear, so I had been instructed to listen closely to my midwife and her instructions for pushing, or should I say, NOT PUSHING! By God’s power only, was I able to not push and allow Quinn to slowly come down to keep my perineum intact! But it worked and out she came! She turned pink super fast and received a score of 10 on the Apgar test! I flipped over onto my back quickly and held my beautiful, dark haired, Quinn Uriah in my arms! She was born at 9:06pm(4 ½ hours of active labor, so much for taking a long time lol) on September 2nd 2013, weighing 8lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. And was breastfeeding within an hour of being born! What an awesome God I serve!!!!