Karis Juliana, 9lbs 1oz, 22in, 12/9/13 5:58am
The Friday before Juliana was born I was sooo excited
because I had some bloody show and was cramping some. I just KNEW I was in
early labor because that is how labor started with Joseph. We were all prepared
to end up at the hospital at some point on Friday! I was pretty disappointed
when I went to bed Friday night and woke up Saturday morning still super
pregnant. On Sunday, December 8, I woke
up feeling really discouraged and weepy. I was cramping on and off all day long
and remembered that this was the way I felt the day before going into labor
with Joseph, but I didn’t want to get excited because I had been so
disappointed about what happened on Friday. Edward and I decided Sunday morning
that we would take the kids to McWane because walking would be good for me and
they had been begging to see the winter exhibit. We had a lot of fun at McWane
and I resisted the urge to play on the zip line. HA! We went to the 6pm service
at Grants Mill and I was pretty sure I was having contractions on and off
throughout the service. I assumed they
were Braxton Hicks because I had been having those and they were uncomfortable.
Josiah told me before he went to bed that he had a gut feeling we were going to
need to go to the hospital during the night. I told him I thought he might be
right because of the way I had been feeling all day, but we would just have to
wait and see! Edward and I stayed up until midnight watching a movie. At 2am I
woke up and immediately knew I was having real contractions. I didn’t want to
do like I usually do and get too excited about labor and rush to the hospital
too soon so I decided to try to use the bathroom and go back to sleep. With
each labor I set a goal for myself and it was my goal this time to stay at home
as long as possible. I used the bathroom and went back to bed twice and then I
knew I had to get up because these were too uncomfortable to sleep through. I
woke Edward up and told him I was in labor, but to go back to sleep and I would
wake him up when I needed his help/we needed to go to the hospital. I decided
it would be a good idea to get our toiletry bag packed and put the bags by the
front door because I was sure this was it! After getting the final stuff
together, I headed downstairs to prepare my area for labor. I have had SUPER
long labors with all of the other kiddos so I had no reason to think this was
going to be really quick. Since we had been praying for a quick labor and
delivery I did expect it to be faster, but not as fast as it was! At 2:25 when
I was sure we were going to be heading to the hospital at some point in the
next few hours or so, I called mom to wake her up because I was not sure how
long it would take them to get ready and drive to the house. I put lavender oil
in the diffuser and got that going, turned on my birth playlist, and jumped
into the tub to see if that would help me feel better. At this point the
contractions were coming every 5 minutes and lasting for about a minute,
sometimes a little more. They were painful, but I felt like I worked through
them well by myself and I wanted to let Edward sleep as long as possible. I
only stayed in the tub for about 5-10 minutes because it wasn’t helping
anymore. I felt like I needed to stand up and move. I paced back and forth
during each contraction, trying to focus on worship. At 3:30 it was very clear
to me by my pain level that we were going to need to head to the hospital soon
so I woke Edward up. I was really
hurting so I headed back downstairs to try getting on the birth ball, which had
always been helpful before. I could still talk and walk through contractions
though so I knew we’d be ok to wait on my parents to get there before we left. Edward
woke up Josiah because he wanted to be at the hospital with us and they both
got ready really quickly. I found during this labor, sitting down on anything
wasn’t helpful. I did lean over the birth ball and rock with each contraction
and that seemed to help some. Mom and dad got to my house around 4:45 and I was
already “not here” as Edward put it. At some point between 3:30 and 4:45 I
stopped being able to communicate well between contractions. As soon as my next
contraction passed, I walked straight to the car and got in the floorboard of
the backseat. Mom drove, Josiah sat in the front with her, and Edward and I
were in the back. Edward squeezed my hips as hard as he could with each
contraction to help with the pain. The car ride was AWFUL! I was hurting sooo
badly and I think everyone knew by my responses to them ( I could not talk, could only give yes and
no answers, was snippy) that I was in transition. Even though it was cold and
rainy outside, I HAD to have the window down all the way because it helped. I
remember having a hard time focusing through each contraction and then I just
started picturing Jesus on the cross. I thought about all that He suffered for
me…for my new birth…and that seemed to help. It had to be the Lord giving me
that picture because I really felt like I was dying until I saw that picture
and began to focus on it. With each contraction I would seriously call on His
name out loud. Mom said the contractions were coming every 2 minutes at this
point. I remember being a little surprised that Edward and my mom were asking
Josiah for directions to the hospital because neither one of them were 100%
sure which exit to take. HAHAHA!!! I also decided in my mind that I didn’t have
to go natural this time and if we got to the hospital and I was less than 7cm,
I would get an epidural. We got to labor and delivery at 5:22 and I could not
believe that I had to go from the main lobby to the 3rd floor! They
offered to bring me a wheelchair, but as I said before, I could not sit down. I
HAD to be standing up so I walked to the elevator and then walked to my l&d
room. I think as soon as my nurse, Amy, saw me she knew I was in transition. I
was hurting so badly when we got to the room that I couldn’t sit down right
away for her to check me. She was sooo great…a very laid back nurse who just
let me do my thing! As soon as I was able to sit on the bed long enough for her
to check me, I was 8cm. She immediately started getting everybody in to get
things prepped for Juliana’s arrival. As soon as she was done, I stood right
back up and within just a couple of contractions felt like I HAD to push. I
remember reading about taking short breaths if you need to hold back pushing so
I tried this through a couple of contractions because I was worried that I was
trying to push too soon. It didn’t work that long though and I HAD to push with
each contraction. Amy assured me it was okay and just to go with what my body
was doing. She did get eyeball to eyeball with me and tell me she REALLY needed
me to sit down in the bed because she
didn’t want Juliana to fall out onto the floor. When I sat down she confirmed I
was complete and I really started pushing. I felt like I was in an awkward
position this time and didn’t feel like my pushes were working as well. I
didn’t push that long (maybe 5 contractions), but it seemed like a lot longer
than last time and now I know that was probably because Juliana was so big! I
was sure to keep my eyes open while pushing this time because I wanted to see
her being born. At 5:58 my sweet girl entered this world! She was delivered by
Dr. Campbell, the Dr that was at the hospital, because the Dr on call for my
office didn’t have time to make it there. He got to deliver the placenta, but
not the baby. J
This birth blew my mind! It was wonderful and crazy all at the same time.
Things that had helped me cope with pain during previous births just didn’t
work this time, but God provided new ways of coping. There was no time to call friends who were planning on helping me and taking pictures for her birth, not even time for an
IV hook up, no time for my antibiotics that were needed because I was group b
strep positive, no time for monitoring…it all went sooo quickly! The end result
was absolutely amazing…the most wonderful, beautiful gift of a new, precious,
life added to our family. To God be the glory for all the great things HE has
done! He is sooo good!!!
