So I've gotten a few questions about how Caroline's birthday went and how our experience was this time around. I have been meaning to post about it, but as you know, I've been a little busy!
Disclaimer: This is a birth story, so if you don't like the idea of reading about birth... you may not want to continue. :)
So the morning of Tuesday, February 22 came and my Braxton-Hicks (non-painful) contractions felt a little more crampy then usual. But I'd been experiencing them since the second trimester, so I didn't think much about it. JC left for work, and Molly and I got ready and left for our Tuesday morning bible study at church. On the 15 minute drive there, I had three braxton-hicks contractions five minutes apart. (Note: because I was dilated to 3cm, 90% effaced, and 35 minutes from the birth center, the midwife had told me to get on the road at the first signs of labor.)
I called JC and told him, but said I probably just needed to get up and walk around and they'd get irregular again. I dropped Molly off at the nursery and sat down with our small group. The contractions were still every few minutes, so I texted JC to let him know that maybe he should leave work sometime. He replied that he was already in the parking lot at church! He doesn't like to mess around. :) So I excused myself - "I may be having a baby soon... see you guys later!" and we picked up Molly after about 15 minutes.
When I got to the birth center, they checked me and I was 5cm dilated. They said to stay within a mile or so of the birth center, but that we could walk in the park, go eat, etc. We went to lunch, to Target and took a bunch of power walks around the park. Basically, nothing was changing and I wasn't in any pain. I was 7cm at 4:15, and the midwife gave me the option of breaking my water and getting things going. We said sure! Let's have a baby.
I had my first "real" (aka painful) contraction about an hour later, at 5:20. Contractions kept getting harder and at a certain point they were coming on top of each other. I moved downstairs to the main birthing room and planned to get in the hot tub. But after a rather intrusive check by midwife Cherie, she announced that the baby was now turned around (which was good, because she was posterior [face up] until then) and that I was now at 10cm. Time to have the baby! During the next contraction came the need to push. Pushing was a pretty excruciating 16 minutes, I'm not gonna lie.
But there Caroline came, at 7:04pm. JC caught her - Super-Dad again! She let out one loud cry to let us know she was okay, but after that was very calm. We knew right away she had such a sweet temperment. What a little angel!
After a couple hours of recovery and cuddling Caroline, we asked when we could leave. We were ready to get in our own bed! They said after 4 hours we were free to go. So a little after 11, we all got in the car. It was so nice to get home.
Again, we were so blessed by the birth center. We were empowered to make our own decisions and work with God's natural design for birth instead of against it. I would encourage anyone who was less than pleased with their hospital experience to look into it. I am so glad I did!
So, there it is. Caroline is a very special little girl and we were privileged to witness her entering the world!
Disclaimer: This is a birth story, so if you don't like the idea of reading about birth... you may not want to continue. :)
So the morning of Tuesday, February 22 came and my Braxton-Hicks (non-painful) contractions felt a little more crampy then usual. But I'd been experiencing them since the second trimester, so I didn't think much about it. JC left for work, and Molly and I got ready and left for our Tuesday morning bible study at church. On the 15 minute drive there, I had three braxton-hicks contractions five minutes apart. (Note: because I was dilated to 3cm, 90% effaced, and 35 minutes from the birth center, the midwife had told me to get on the road at the first signs of labor.)
I called JC and told him, but said I probably just needed to get up and walk around and they'd get irregular again. I dropped Molly off at the nursery and sat down with our small group. The contractions were still every few minutes, so I texted JC to let him know that maybe he should leave work sometime. He replied that he was already in the parking lot at church! He doesn't like to mess around. :) So I excused myself - "I may be having a baby soon... see you guys later!" and we picked up Molly after about 15 minutes.
When I got to the birth center, they checked me and I was 5cm dilated. They said to stay within a mile or so of the birth center, but that we could walk in the park, go eat, etc. We went to lunch, to Target and took a bunch of power walks around the park. Basically, nothing was changing and I wasn't in any pain. I was 7cm at 4:15, and the midwife gave me the option of breaking my water and getting things going. We said sure! Let's have a baby.
I had my first "real" (aka painful) contraction about an hour later, at 5:20. Contractions kept getting harder and at a certain point they were coming on top of each other. I moved downstairs to the main birthing room and planned to get in the hot tub. But after a rather intrusive check by midwife Cherie, she announced that the baby was now turned around (which was good, because she was posterior [face up] until then) and that I was now at 10cm. Time to have the baby! During the next contraction came the need to push. Pushing was a pretty excruciating 16 minutes, I'm not gonna lie.
But there Caroline came, at 7:04pm. JC caught her - Super-Dad again! She let out one loud cry to let us know she was okay, but after that was very calm. We knew right away she had such a sweet temperment. What a little angel!
After a couple hours of recovery and cuddling Caroline, we asked when we could leave. We were ready to get in our own bed! They said after 4 hours we were free to go. So a little after 11, we all got in the car. It was so nice to get home.
Again, we were so blessed by the birth center. We were empowered to make our own decisions and work with God's natural design for birth instead of against it. I would encourage anyone who was less than pleased with their hospital experience to look into it. I am so glad I did!
So, there it is. Caroline is a very special little girl and we were privileged to witness her entering the world!
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