Ready...Set...Here comes Lynnlee!!

I want to start off by warning you, this post is really super long and super detailed. If you aren't sure you want this much detail feel free to stop reading at any time and you will NOT hurt my feelings. I want to put my experience out there detail by detail in hopes that maybe what I say here in this post could possibly help other women who are caught between decisions to have a birth center birth vs. hospital birth as well as a support person to someone who has made that decision to take this birth decision head on!! In my previous posts you will read about my decision and how I made the switch to a midwife. So this post is purely about the birth. I believe I was super blessed with a nice easy 8 hr labor!! Here is my story....

I want to shout out to two AMAZING women who have been there for me from prenatal care to birth/labor support to postnatal care and support. In the photo below Amanda Prouty and Kim Daly with Beautiful Beginnings Midwifery (http://beautifulmidwifery.com/). They have been so amazing from day one.  From the first appointment at my 15 week mark and currently now two weeks after Lynnlee's birth, Amanda Prouty, has been someone I can text late at night with whatever it may be. My relationship with her was 100% patient/health care provider professional but at the same time 100% personal as well.  Thank you for that Amanda for all your support through my pregnancy up to now!

So the time is roughly 7:45 am, Monday October 15th. There was something about this morning. I was feeling good and ready to take on a nice breakfast of pancakes. As I tried to wake up and get my day going, I started noticing some mild menstrual type cramps that were a little more serious than I had noticed before.  As I started to prepare to make my pancake breakfast I realized the cramping was a lot more intense than I could handle, so dropped the pancake idea and settled for a pre-made blueberry muffin and hot chocolate instead. At this time its 8:00 am and I decide its time to start timing these cramps, which I have identified now as contractions. 9:13 am I sent Amanda a text  to let her know that I was counting contractions and that today may be the day. I sent her a photo screen of my tracker and her instructions were to go about my day and try not to think about them. Since I had already made plans to meet with Theresa (a friend and manager I work with) I called and let her know of the new progressions. We decided to just let her come to my house to pick up the pictures I had for her. By 11:30am I sent her a text to let her know the contractions were more serious  and harder. Basically telling her, in a round about way, she might want to hurry!! LOL...When she got to the house I didn't see much of her because my contractions were serious at this point. Once she left I got into my tub trying to do all that I could to keep relaxed and trying NOT to think about the contractions  as Amanda had instructed me to do. 12:30 pm I am now in our bath tub with Brad on the floor with my phone app timing my contractions and keeping contact with Amanda. At this point, I feel in my heart that we are moving along very fast.  By 1:45pm Amanda instructed us to go ahead and meet at the birth center in one hour. Being a first time mom, Amanda was trying to hold me off as long as she could, since my water hadn't broken yet and I still hadn't had my "bloody show" yet (which happened right before we left the house). Also after the fact, I think I might have been timing the contractions wrong. Instead of timing them from time they started until they were over I think I was timing them from time they peaked to the time they let up. So they weren't lasting long enough and Amanda was getting wrong information from us. Oops. So...I got out of the bath, Brad finished loading the car (which he started loading at 8am LOL) and we were on our way to the B.C. by 2pm.

What seemed like the ride of a life time, only took about 20-25 minutes. Contractions cramped up in a vehicle isn't the easiest thing to do. When we arrived, being that it was a Monday there was no one there yet. I jumped out of the car and assumed the best position I could to ease the contractions, standing outside the car feet on the pavement and bent over with elbows on the seat. Within a few minutes, Kim showed up and let us in. This is when the real fun begins. I found at the house and even at the birth center, my favorite place was on the toilet just because it relieved pressure. It wasn't 15 minutes we were there, Brad was still unloading the car, I was working through a contraction, on the toilet, and  I felt a pop and a gush and later was told it was my water breaking. Good thing I was on the toilet when it happened!!!  It was shortly after that when all of a sudden I got this urge to push. My body was actually doing it for me and there was no stopping it. Amanda had not made it there yet and neither did my photographer. Kim started up the tub, at this point I'm still thinking we are having a water birth because our little princess turned the weekend before...or so we thought.  The water in the tub felt nice and helped to relax me but actually did nothing for the pain. In my mind with each contraction I pushed and I kept thinking "it's only gonna get worse...but you can do it". With each contraction and push I closed my eyes, fell deep into a state of relaxation and meditation and prayed to God to help me through the next. Amanda arrived and immediately came over to check me. When she did she told me that I was complete and that I was doing good. However, she didn't want to worry or freak me out but baby was breech.  In the heat of the moment I now was trying to prepare myself mentally for what could happen ahead, but at the same time there was no stopping this baby, she was on her way!! Being that I spent the last 10 weeks or so already trying to prepare myself for this, I had no time to really process what was going to happen or what could happen but to just go on. There was no time to pull back, she was coming whether I wanted her to come breech or not.

I was able to continue to labor in the tub until I started to begin to "crown" or whatever they call it when the baby is breech. Once the time was right I got out of the tub and found the familiar position that worked for me, feet on the floor and elbows on the bed standing. I spent an hour in the tub and an hour laboring standing up but because of my deep relaxation and meditation it only seemed like minutes. Thank GOD! That "it's only gonna get worse feeling" only got worse for a few minutes then before I knew it, she was crowed, I laid on my back and here she came.

Because I was the first of my family and many of my friends to make the decision to give birth in a birth center instead of hospital, many people tried to scare me, tried to convince me that I was crazy for wanting my birth this way. They acted shocked with disbelief when my response was "no" when asked "are you having anything for pain?" I was totally out of my  mind for not wanting a hospital and nurses, doctors etc.  The only response to these questions and comments before my birth experience was" it just wasn't what I wanted" but didnt really have a real reason or experience to base it off of.  Now I do. I would NOT have done this any other way!! And even knowing what I know now and going through what I went through I still wouldn't do it any other way! Although, my sister and several of my friends and family had successful hospital births, I could not imagine laboring in a hospital strapped to a bed with IV's and constant poking, monitoring and machines. Don't get me wrong, there are some who need that and who are at risk or have complications, I understand that, but if you have a healthy no complication pregnancy and want to have your birth your way...do it! Because my baby was breech MOST doctors wouldn't have let me deliver her naturally. I would ultimately had to have a c-section and that was NOT part of my plan!!  There was nothing like this experience. Oct. 12th I got a text from a friend who told me something very comforting and during my labor I constantly thought of her words and really think that they helped...she said "when time comes for your baby girl to arrive know that you can deliver her on your own.  Give into your body and let it work.  When you think you cant go no longer you are very close.  Take it one step at a time". Thanks Amanda Richardson for those words, I tell the truth when I say they really stuck with me during labor. The point to this last paragraph is for all the women out there reading this who are trying to decide in this choice of birth, if you decide to take this route and have a natural, non-medicated birth with a midwife at a birth center instead of hospital the most important advice I can give which was given to me is (1) do your research, if your pregnancy is a no risk normal pregnancy find a midwife you connect with and feel you are comfortable with. Research your options and really know what you are facing with natural birth (2) surround yourself with positive support. People will try give you advise about labor and it can make you second guess ability to do this, but as long as you keep a good support system in tow you will always have that positive reinforcement to back you up. Everyone's experience is their own, no two people are alike in their experience (3) Believe in yourself. Trust in your gut and trust in God to guide you and lead you throughout your pregnancy and labor. 

To conclude this very long post, here are some pictures for your enjoyment to share our birth experience and the very first moments of Lynnlee's arrival. These moments I will never forget. Thanks to Alyson with Timeless Memories( http://www.timeless-photography.net/) for making sure we never forget this day with awesome photos.

WELCOME Lynnlee!!

Bright Eyes...another advantage of natural birth, no drugs in me and no drugs to her. She was wide awake and so alert.

Proud of momma!!

The cord may have been cut but I will always be connected to this little angel more than she will ever know.

Love at first sight!!

Family time just the three of us in the herbal bath

You have made it to the end of the blog...thanks for reading and once again to those who want this birth experience...you can do what your body was made to do. Just when you feel that you cant go any further take a deep breath and let your body tell you what to do!!

Making the Switch - May 7, 2012

Making the Switch – May 7, 2012

So for me, making the switch from OB to midwife was easy. I started with internet searches viewing profiles and web pages of midwives and also spoke with some real women who “had been there done that”. Once I found the one that I wanted to meet we set up the appointment. She sat down with Brad and I and we just let her have it with all the questions and concerns. She provided us with a folder with all the information we needed including a helpful spiral of all the things from what supplements to take to birth and after birth. I felt so comfortable when leaving there that I asked her the very next day to schedule me an appointment and run my insurance. A few days later she called me and said that I owe her a whopping $25 for the entire birth. I just knew this was my sign from God that this was the true decision for us. So we scheduled for our first appointment for May 7, 2012 with Amanda at Beautiful Beginnings. After my first appointment with Amanda I was convinced that this was the way best for us. I understand unforeseen events and that this is an unpredictable process, but Amanda assured us that she will monitor and keep me and baby safe throughout the birth process.  She was very soothing and confident and it in turn trickled down over us and even Brad felt better about moving forward with this process.

March 24, 2012 - The Shocking!

So, we decided since our families had almost about given up on us extending our family with some human babies, we decided to give them a real shocker. We invited mom, dad, Carrie, Carlie, Raylan, Pat, Jamie and her family and my grandmother Mammy over for dinner in celebration of Pat’s 62^nd birthday. After talks about how on earth we could do this to make it perfect for EVERYONE, we decided to show a video. Even though I hadn’t said it out loud yet I was thinking this would be perfect. One day Brad came to me and said “lets show a video of all my SWAT photos from me at school last summer and at the end we will throw the sono picture in there”. It was amazing that he thought of this at the very same time I was already trying to scheme up a theme for the what will be known as the shocking reveal. Surprisingly Brad emailed me a rough copy of the video he worked up on his very own for my approval and suggestions on changes. The video had some minor tweaks that we worked out but after it was all said and done it was indeed the perfect reveal.  The day of the party, March 24^th after everyone arrived we decided FIRST thing was FIRST…we are showing this video. Holding this in for a month and a half was hard enough you would have thought a couple more hours would have killed me!! So we gathered everyone in front of the tube and we played our video. With my heart racing and his palms sweating we stood there next to each other just waiting for the moment of a life time, the moment our blessing was announced. We set up our camera to video the reactions and it was priceless. Tears of joy and laughter, shocking facial expressions to my poor Mammy, who sat there not sure what was going on thinking the house was on fire (we had the grill going in the back so that was what she was smelling and then mixed with screaming she was left to think the house was on fire).

Needless to say, we will never forget the day of The Shocking…

Watch the family reaction click here...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or7tKICeVPk

A Special Day...

February 16, 2012 -

After about 3 months of “not trying” for a little blessing the day finally came. I remember February 16^th I woke up at 8am I decided this was the day I should probably take a test, "let's just see". Not really paying attention to the fact that I was probably at this point about a week late on my menstrual cycle, my sleepy eyes glanced down at the pregnancy test and to my shocking surprise there where two little lines indicating that indeed we were officially “expecting”. 

Immediately upon finding this out, I decided I needed a deep thinking, good soaking in the warm bath. Constantly looking at the test...just to be sure it hadn’t changed :o) After the bath I call my OB/GYN and told them the news to find out where to go from here. She determined that I was roughly 5 weeks along and they do not schedule appointments until at least 8 weeks. She set me up for March 14^th at 10:00 am. That entire morning I held out and did an awesome job not spilling the beans to Brad, though it was extremely hard, I carried on my sealed lips the whole day.  I didn’t tell a sole. Its hard for a hair dresser to not gossip!! LOL...It was only respectful for the father-to-be to know second (I was the first obviously).  A clever plan was brewing in my mind on how I was to tell him all day long. Since Valentines was earlier that week and since we didn’t do anything special this year, I decided that I would make him a mock invitation to his baby’s first photo shoot. The invitation border was filled with baby novelties, strollers, bottles, pacifiers, etc. and it read:

Brad,

You have been invited to your

BABY’S FIRST PHOTO SHOOT

When: March 14, 2012

At 10:00 am

Where: Dr. Joan Bergstroms Office

Arlington, TX

I put it in a photo frame and wrapped it in tissue paper tied off with a bow. Later that evening when he came home, thankfully on time, I had the present sitting there next to me. Standing above me Brad was upset that I had gotten him a gift even though we agreed not too this year. I told him “this was something I thought he might want”. He opens the tissue paper and for about what seemed like 20 seconds, he just stands there looking at the photo frame. In the meantime, I have the test in a plastic baggie just waiting for the right moment to pull it out. He looks at me and his first words, which I do not remember exactly, but somewhere along the lines of “No way” or “Seriously?”. I think he was confused at first.  At that time I pulled out the test and dangled it in front of him and said he could see for himself. He was ecstatic and that moment will be one that neither of us will ever forget. The day we found out…