A long over-due birth story

To any random person who finds themselves on my blog and/or to everyone about to read this post: I would definitely say there is some very graphic info in here of the birthing nature, so men most likely won't want to read this and CHILDREN, PLEASE GET YOUR PARENTS OKAY BEFORE READING THIS. Thanks :)

The weeks leading up to labor...

37 week check up and I was dilated to a 2.5 and 50% effaced. Not surprising since Aliyah arrived at 38 weeks. My midwife was fully convinced I would go into labor any second. Week 38 came and went, same dilation and effacement... pretty disappointing but nothing to do but wait! Had lots of 30-60 minute bouts of contractions, preterm labor, but nothing to write home about. I knew all those contractions were doing something but even at my 39 week appointment, I was at the exact same spot. I had asked God for a clear sign that I was, indeed, in labor since with Aliyah I got up to a 4 and never felt one contraction. I was scared about having to drive to Red Bluff in the throes of really intense labor, so God reassured me by telling me the sign to look for was losing my mucous plug (tmi for some of you, but let's face it... it's part of life! lol). I kept praying and every time I got any labor action going on, I'd go get a warm bath and drink a big glass of water and everything calmed down. In many ways, that was awesome because I was able to get lots of rest right up until I actually went into labor. I had been praying and asking God for my labor to be during the day because I had really had a lot of fears over the course of that 9 months during the night. I felt unsure about how I would handle labor during the long night hours but believed that God cared about even those details. For the last couple of months before my due date, I was doing my best to stretch and squat and do frequent pelvic tilts to do what I could to help my body be prepared. In week 39, I felt very peaceful, although slightly impatient, about the whole thing. My back and hips had been so sore that I was willing to do whatever to fix that! On Sunday I woke up and felt that the baby had significantly moved. He had been in the exact same position for as long as I could feel him in there. Head down with his back to my left side. He loved kicking my right side. That Sunday, when I woke up, He was so shifted that I wasn't even sure if he was still head down. I was afraid he had flipped but just kept praying that every thing was right. 

Actual labor story...

(I am pretty detail oriented in the telling of this, so it's long. This is for my own sake more than anything else, to remember for future birthing.)

Home:
Monday morning came with nothing, I went to my usual homeschool  co-op at 12:30 pm. After being there for just a few minutes, I began getting such intense labor pains to the point of breaking out in an immediate sweat. Sitting there in the nursery with a couple other ladies, I got a real glimpse and reminder of what labor was going to be like. Those precious ladies prayed for me, for grace in labor. These went on, every 10 minutes for the entire hour I was at co-op. I thought, "this is definitely labor!!!" but as soon as I decided to head home, in case it was the real deal, they calmed down. I also kept checking to see if I lost my plug yet and that didn't happen. I questioned whether it really was God that spoke that to me, but just kept praying. After an hour there, we headed home and I did my best to stay rested for the rest of that day. I even headed to bed early, I think at around 7:30 or 8 pm and that was such a good thing. That night I talked to my mom, who I desperately wanted to be with me during labor, and she very confidently said she was heading up to Redding in the morning because she thought my little guy would be born then. She was in Sacramento and John and I were still trying to figure out what exactly to do with Aliyah during the labor. We had the option of taking her to our friends house, but we knew she wouldn't be comfortable anywhere unless if was daytime, or taking her with us and having John with her in the waiting area until my folks got there. Neither option sounded awesome, primarily because I was very concerned with her feeling safe and not being uncomfortable wherever she was. John didn't get home from work until 2 am and didn't wind up sleeping until 3. I knew he'd be tired so my plan, in the instance I did go into labor during the night, was to not wake him up until I was pretty ready to head to the hospital. I was awakened at around 4:30 am with my first contractions. They were on the more painful side but not anything like the ones from earlier that day. I'd say a 5 on the scale of 1 - 10 but they were every 10-15 minutes apart. I took all of my usual measures to see if I could "scare" the labor away. I took a warm bath and tried to relax (although at this point, I was just so ready to not be pregnant any more) and then drank a big glass of water. The contractions didn't get any less in pain or more in duration and then the ultimate sign occurred during one of my bathroom trips. I was so excited that I actually knew today was the day, that I finally woke John up. That was about 5:30 to 6 am. My contractions continued and at some point the pain increased to about an 8. I'd say around 7 am. At that time, we were all awake and I was pacing in the living room and praying in tongues (especially loudly when a contraction would come) but I still didn't think it was time to head to the hospital because I was looking for all the "normal" signs. I was waiting for the contractions to be 3-5 minutes apart. During this part of my labor, as I was walking around my living room, I realized I would feel the most comfortable if Aliyah was not at the hospital waiting. I also felt sure that she would be happy and safe at our friends house, so we decided to go that route. This was something that I was concerned about for at least the last 3 months of my pregnancy. It finally felt "right", even though I couldn't have foreseen that I would go into labor during the day, it worked out perfectly.

Going to the hospital:
Well, around 7:30 am, I decided that if we didn't leave then I wouldn't be able to handle the 30 minute drive to Red Bluff and the additional 15-20 minutes to take Aliyah to our good friends house. We made the calls, including to my mom and stepdad who were already on the way, and headed out. My contractions were definitely painful at this point but still only 5-10 minutes apart. We got in the car and got stuck in our driveway for an additional 15 minutes and 1 very yucky contraction, due to the fact that we lived right up the street from a high school and all the traffic going there would not let us pull out of the driveway. Finally we were able to get on the road and head to our friends. I only had 1 more contraction just as we pulled up to her place. John walked Aliyah in and we headed out, as fast as the speed limit would allow us ;) I had 2 contractions on the way and I am so grateful that they weren't any more frequent because there was no possible position in that small front seat that could get me comfortable. At this point, I'm just praying and telling God that I will definitely be getting an epidural if I'm not at least a 5. The pain was intense and I knew I needed some encouragement that it was doing it's job. 

At the hospital:
We had preregistered and so headed right to the L&D floor. We walked in and I saw the Doctor standing at the front desk that was the main doctor for my midwives group. I very badly didn't want him to attend my delivery and so asked the nurse to please call Pam, our midwife who had agreed to come in even on her day off, to deliver. I didn't know if they would be able to reach her, but it worked out and she attended me. We checked in at 8:25 am. They put us in the labor triage room to see how far I was. It was very intense at this time. I lost track of how often but they were definitely a 9 or 10 easily on my pain scale. The nurse was GREAT. She spoke softly and kindly, she didn't force me to do anything. When she needed to check me or do anything else, she waited until I didn't have a contraction and was exceptionally patient. What a God send. John and I had practiced for months to do the Bradley method, or husband coached childbirth. I am so glad my husband was willing to do all that practicing but when I got in labor, I just wanted as much quiet as possible and I didn't want anyone to touch me. I remember him rolling our suitcase into the triage room, so I could get changed and it felt like that noise magnified my pain exponentially!!!! I kept telling him to shhhshshshshhhshhhsh! I was sitting on the edge of the bed and using my entire upper body to brace myself during contractions. The nurse checked me and THANK GOD I was at a 7 and she knew I was going to have the baby soon. She started filling up the water birth tub right away. If felt like so much time in between each time she came in but I'm guessing it was only a few minutes. She checked the baby and everything looked perfect, another THANK GOD! She had to give me an enema, for me to have a water birth. As soon as that happened, my labor just got that much more intense. I all of a sudden felt like puking with every contraction and they were much more close together. She quickly moved us to the l & d room and helped me get in the shower to do the required "antibacterial" shower before getting in the tub. While in the shower, I actually felt somewhat better from the hot hot water. I couldn't even wash myself because of the contractions, so that kind nurse got me all taken care of. We went straight to the bath and she helped me step in. This was all happening so fast, I had only been there for a little over an hour, and it took that much time for them to get someone to draw blood on me (which, what the heck? did that really do anything? I mean, that lady wasn't even back to the lab by the time I was pushing... but oh well! lol). I am a huge baby about getting my blood drawn. This is when I finally let my husband touch me, I had him come and hold my hand. Just as she was finishing the blood draw, I was in the tub, I had a whooping contraction and my body started pushing on its own. I remember Pam being in the hallway and she heard my voice change to the "pushing" voice and she yelled "don't push!! I have to check you first!". Well, I couldn't help it but thankfully my labor slowed down just in that second and I didn't get another contraction for 5 minutes solid. By that time, the nurse had checked me and confirmed that I was a clear 10 and was allowed to push. But then I could not get comfortable in the tub. Pam wouldn't let me be on my hands and knees because of some good reason but it forced me to positions that just didn't help me push. I felt so bad, because I had only been in the tub for less then 10 minutes when I told them I needed to move to the bed. After the next contraction they helped me get there. I started on my hands and knees, my water bag still hadn't broken so during that first contraction on the bed, Pam bursted it. Immediately she got concerned due to Meconium in the water. I could sense her urgency at that point. She said I couldn't push him out until a pediatrician arrived but once he got there, she wanted baby out straight away. My labor had calmed after that first push contraction, so at this point I could manage through them okay and they were every 3-6 minutes apart. The baby was in some distress and she couldn't track his heart rate very well while I was on my hands and knees, so she had me flip to my back. I hated being on my back because I had nothing to push against to help me push, but I had no choice at that time. She had me push with every contraction while about 4 other people stood around waiting for me. This made me feel quite pressured and apologetic, every time a contraction didn't get the baby out. This went on for about 15-20 minutes (about 4-5 pushes). At that point, the baby was stressing again and Pam had me move to my side. This was a better position for me and Pam and John helped me get in the right position. My mom arrived at this point but I couldn't even think about anything other then getting this baby out, so her and Tony prayed in the waiting room. I know that helped. Finally during an incredible push, he crowned. They told me I COULD NOT PUSH again until they had suctioned him out due to the meconium situation. Slightly graphic to think, but his head was fully out and I had to wait to push his body out until the next contraction. The nurse excitedly said "the baby's here, you can feel if you want" but I was so freaked out by it all that I was all "no, no, I just want to push him out all the way".  

He's here!! He's here!!
Finally I gave the last push and out he came. They took him right to the pediatrician and he got checked, right there in the room, and he was back with me in less then 5 minutes. Straight to the breast and boy, was I shocked to see my little creamy white babe. I had so expected him to be much darker and he was just the palest little guy I have ever seen. Perfectly healthy, all 10 fingers and all So precious! The next hour was a blur of precious babyness. Daddy was pretty amped up on adrenaline that he seemed almost spacey. My parents came right into the room as soon as baby was checked out. After a short time of meeting the new baby, my stepdad left to go back into Redding and pick up Aliyah so she could meet her baby brother. The amazing nurse was still there, so she helped me get myself showered and back into bed before Aliyah got there. It was quite an amazing thing. God was so present and his kindness was all over the whole situation. After a pregnancy filled with many battles against fear and insecurities, God's faithfulness was so obvious. I was so grateful that he had answered all of my prayers, even the silly ones like laboring during the day and having a sign to know when labor truly started, not to mention having everything work perfectly for Aliyah to be in a safe place where she felt comfortable. God even made it clear how in charge of everything he was, down to the minute. My little guy just so happened to be born at exactly 10:25 am on 10/25/11... exactly 2 hours to the minute that I checked into the hospital. God is so so trustworthy! It was even amazing how my little guy literally stayed head down and in the correct position for labor since he was only a few months in utero... one less thing to worry about. I know God was present and active in my entire pregnancy, as He is in every one. He truly cares about our hearts and longs to reveal Himself as a tender Father. 

 Malachi Phinehas 6 lb 15 oz 19 inches long

 with dada

 Malachi, my precious son.

Malachi with Aliyah, she finally had her brother!

The sum of it all:
Now that little creamy white boy is 1 year old and it's hard to believe it's gone by so fast. That first year is sorta intense, but worth EVERY SECOND. Not kidding. EVERY SECOND of not knowing why they are crying, of sleepless nights, of rearranging their sleep clock, of poopy diapers and spit-up, of new parent/baby anxiety. I look at my boy EVERY DAY and ALL DAY with this kind of awe and amazement that he grew in my belly, that he has my husband's and my dna, that he has this personality that only God could've given him. Those babies in all of those mommy's bellies... they are ALL miracles. Don't ever believe that lie that not all babies are miracles. They ALL are. Every single one of them.