When I arrived at home at about 4, John had me contact our back up babysitter as a “just in case” and then he decided to run a few errands before things got moving. As he was leaving, he asked me to see if my mom would be willing to just head over to our house then and spend the night that way if something happened, she would already be there. At this point, I was starting to have contractions that I had to actually work through and concentrate on. Nothing too painful (there was pain in my back mainly), but they weren't too bad. I continued to clean house and get things ready.
My parents said that they were going to head down after finishing dinner and dropping my brother off at a youth group event and my other two siblings to my grandma’s. My mom told me to call if things started picking up though so they knew they had to rush. Things did start to pick up, but I guess I was still in denial and didn’t think to call them until John got home. They were still a ways out so John had me then call my grandpa to make sure he could get over to our house in case they didn’t make it. He then had to head out again and run into work for a bit. I put Levi to bed in between contractions. Let me say, it was hard laboring with a toddler and I was getting frustrated. Some of the contractions (depending on what position I was in when the contraction started) I would have to get on my hands and knees and sway my hips....well Levi would think it was wrestling time....Or the most comfortable position for me during a contraction was leaning up against something tallish and sticking my hips out and swaying them....when I did this, Levi thought it was fun to run under my tummy back and forth like we were playing London Bridge or something. Lol Again, not fun, but I was trying not to get frustrated at him since under normal circumstances I would have not minded it at all. I was able to put him to bed finally and then just rested.
I was still in denial because in between contractions I was able to talk and carry on a conversation, but my contractions were definitely 5 minutes apart and had been for well over an hour. I called the hospital to see what they said. Since I was able to talk through a few of the contractions, the midwife said to call back in a half an hour and then she’d probably have me come in. This was at 7:30. By the time it was time to call back, I couldn’t call because it was too hard to have a full conversation in between so John called...and they told us to come in right away.....but my parents weren't there yet. John called my grandpa and he got there in what I thought to be a really fast time. John also got my playlist going for me. Little did I know until AFTER labor, but he put two songs on there and had me pick which one helped me the most. One of them was just a placebo and the other one was the one that was a pain relieving track. I picked the pain reliever, but totally not knowing the other one was just a nonsense track. I used this track when I was in labor with Levi as well. It helps me to block out everything else going on around me and really helps me to focus. It’s awesome!
When my grandpa got there, I was leaning on the couch working through a contraction and since I had my headphones on, I didn’t hear him walk in. John was packing the car quite quickly and after the contraction was over, I popped off the couch and saw my grandpa standing there. I waved and we rushed to the car before another one hit (at this point they were close to 3 minutes apart). I was still not very hopeful because I could talk and laugh in between. John and I talked throughout the car ride and during a contraction, I’d turn up my song and breathe. I would find myself tensing up especially where it was bumpy, so I had to really focus on relaxing. I would focus on relaxing my shoulders and arms and found as long as they were relaxed, I was good.
We got to the hospital at 9 and I got to go straight to labor and delivery. They did an initial cervical check and I was disappointed to hear I was only at 4.5 centimeters. I was 4 centimeters 6 hours before at my appointment! They hooked me up to monitors for 20 minutes then let me get right in the WONDERFULLY hot tub. It was amazing. The contractions at this point were getting to where I would consider them “painful” though it was just very intense. I really had to concentrate on breathing, but again was disappointed I could talk in between. John was getting really bored and wanted to know if I wanted to watch a movie, I laughed and said no thanks, but told him to thinking it would be a long time before anything happened. He must have told the nurse I was hungry because he then told me I could order room service because the nurse said my food wouldn’t digest before the baby was born. This was the best news ever because that meant it wouldn’t be much longer before Jahs was born. I started doubting and because I started doubting, I knew I was probably near or in transition. When I tried ordering food, John kept asking me questions and because I couldn’t concentrate enough to answer and just said I don’t care, I also knew I was in transition. After we ordered, had one intense contraction where it was very hard to stay relaxed and I started breathing and “cooing like a retarded duck” as John said. Lol It felt like there was a bunch more pressure and I told John that I was afraid to get excited but the last contraction definitely felt “pushy.” Sure enough, when the next one hit, I knew my body was pushing on its own, and had a hard time telling John. They got me up on the table and the midwife checked me and I was 9.5 centimeters, but my body was pushing regardless. John kept asking if I wanted on my hands and knees like I had asked to be reminded and at first I didn’t, but I am so glad he kept asking because it was so much more comfortable than on my back. At one point, it felt like my back was going to break just like with Levi and John and the nurse put counter pressure on my back which helped a ton. John was amazing and kept telling me I was almost done and encouraging me. It helped a lot. He said he didn’t know if it was annoying me or not after, but it really helped. I also breathed a lot more with Jahs than with Levi especially when he was crowning because I didn't want to tear. We found out later that I pushed for a whole total of 3.8 minutes! Thank you red raspberry leaf tea! My uterus was toned! Lol There was no tearing at all and I didn't even end up swelling. I think that all had to do with the fact that I was on all fours and that I breathed through most of the crowning. Jahs came out with his hand and his head together (another reason everyone was shocked I didn't tear). Oh and remember the room service, well the lady came in to drop the food off as I was pushing. Lol the nurse was right, my food definitely wouldn't have been digested before he was born. :P
He also latched on right away and kept nursing every 30 minutes to 2 hours the whole time we were in the hospital which was wonderful. I felt amazing afterwards and was really really surprised. They let me take a hot bath right away (though I waited until the next day) and I soaked in my herbs I bought, though since I didn't even have swelling, it didn’t matter that much (remember those padsicles....yeah I feel like that was a waste too, but you just never know so I’m glad I had them just in case.....just trying to figure out what to do with them now....).
It was intense and I guess you could say painful, but more just intense and lots of pressure. I am still shocked at even up until the pushing contractions, I was able to talk in between and listen and such. God is awesome. Jahs is doing well and even though we are tired, we are all doing very well. John has been such a wonderful help and I will be writing another blog post about that later. I think I’ve written a long enough one so far. ;P
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