Adventures in Life: Our Journey to Parenthood (part 3)

This is the final part of our journey to parenthood. If you would like to read part 1 click HERE and for part two click HERE. 

I am very thankful that our second pregnancy was a pretty uneventful one. I wish I would have posted more pregnancy updates, but time and energy were at a premium most of my pregnancy as I was working and we were working to finish the basement. I did manage to get it together enough to post a few times:

A new adventure
19 weeks
23 weeks
35 weeks
39 weeks

My due date came and went without any signs of labor. I was very thankful that the weather was unseasonably cool (mid 70's as a high!) as I was pretty uncomfortable the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I was starting to get a little anxious in the days after my due date because we wanted to do a natural birth as long as our little lady was doing well. So we tried everything in the book to get labor going naturally. I have to say that eating pineapple and bouncing on a labor ball were the jackpot methods for me! On Thursday, August 14th, after a day of random, mild contractions, and a long afternoon nap, my water broke. Daniel had just gotten home from work and we called the midwife to let her know. Since I was strep-b positive and needed 4 hours of antibiotics before our little lady way born, she said to get our things together and come on into the hospital.

Our only 'birth plan' was to have a natural birth as long as both baby and I were doing well. Our ultimate goal was a healthy baby and healthy mom in the end and if medical intervention was needed for that outcome we were fine with that.

We were admitted around 7 pm and taken to our labor room. My contractions were becoming more regular and intense but I could still talk through them. I got my first IV ever and we watched a few episodes of the Big Bang theory on TV. By about 11 pm the contractions were getting pretty painful so we decided to see if being in the shower would provide some relief. We tried a bunch of different labor positions that we learned in the birthing class we took, but sitting with the warm water spraying on my back was the most comfortable for a little while. 

Around midnight my midwife, Mary Beth, gave me the okay to labor in the birthing tub for a while. As a former competitive swimmer, water is pretty much my happy place, so I loved the idea of getting in the big tub. With dim lights and a quiet room I labored for another 2 hours before Mary Beth wanted to check my progress. One thing I really liked about Mary Beth and the other midwives is their philosophy of labor was very minimally invasive. If my body is doing what God made it to do, they just let me do my thing. So I knew things must be getting close if she was wanting to check - and we were excited to find that I was 7 cm dilated! I continued to labor in the tub for another hour or two ( the contractions were pretty strong at this point and this is where I start to lose track of my sense of time because I was so focused on breathing and staying relaxed and calm ). Around 4 am Mary Beth wanted me to change positions and use the bathroom, so we all moved back into the bathroom and I labored on the toilet for a while. Around 5am I was starting to feel the urge to push so we left the bathroom and I used a birthing stool for the first part of my pushing. 

I need to pause for a second and just say that in all of this Daniel was right at my side, holding my hand, rubbing my back, whatever I needed. He was awesome! When I was pushing on the birthing stool he was sitting behind me so I could lean against him and he did such a great job supporting and encouraging me. 

Ok, so I pushed. And pushed. Mary Beth kept monitoring Rebekah's heart rate as I was pushing and I didn't know it at the time but she was slightly concerned that it was dropping when I pushed - more than was normal. Around 6am ( I think)   I moved up to the bed and the room came to life with people and movement, Rebekah was almost here! 

The next part is kind of a blur. As I was pushing I was given oxygen because Mary Beth was still concerned about Rebekah. I remember her asking if some doctor was in the hospital and saying to have him come quick. I remember her telling me to not push for a few contractions to give Rebekah a chance to rest a little.... And that is the hardest thing ever! I remember her telling me that I needed to push Rebekah out NOW because her heart rate was very low and she was not getting enough oxygen, so with all of my might and energy I gave one big push and there she was! Our sweet girl we had waited and prayed for for so long. They had to take her away to the special infant bed on the other side of the room to get her breathing well, the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her neck, which was causing all of the problems. That was the hardest part for me, having to wait to hold her. And the only part of the birth that did not go as we would have liked - but it was a necessary change of plan in order to have a healthy baby. After the neonatologist and the pediatrician checked her, the nurse brought her back to me and I got to hold her on my chest.

I will always remember her little cry, her bright eyes looking around, and the feeling of her little body against my chest. She was perfect and we loved her a million times more than we thought we ever could.

And we were finally parents!

(So...this was a long post! Congratulations if you made it all the way to the end! Stay tuned for Adventures with Rebekah! )