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Birth Story of Baby G #3

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At my 37-week appointment, baby's head was so low that my OB couldn't even reach my cervix to know how dilated I was. My parent's, who live 11 hours away, were in town for 2 weeks in order to take care of our boys when I went into labor. I was anxious to have Baby come before they left town but since my other boys had come early I was sure this baby would too! 

At my 38-week appointment I was bummed to discover I was only 4cm dilated and 50%. While that may sound like a lot to some, my labors are a bit "unique" and with my first son I was 7cm without a single sign of labor and with my 2nd I was 8cm without a single sign of labor. So to me, 4cm was a bit of a letdown as I only had a week to go with my parent's being here. However, my sister came to spend time with us and chose to be here a week after my parent's left just in case Baby waited till near my due date. Phew! 

All weekend long I thought for sure that Baby was going to make his or her appearance, but nothing! Not even one sign of labor. My parent's stayed one extra day "just in case" but alas it was not to be and they had to head back to California. I was so relieved my sister was able to stay for another week.

At my 39-week appointment I was only 5cm and 60%. UGH. I was quite discouraged. It was Tuesday and my sister was to leave the following Monday. Because of where we live and the fact that we moved here not too long ago…we didn't have anyone else who could watch our boys while I labored and stayed in the hospital and I REALLY wanted to have my hubby there with me. But more importantly, I tested GBS+ again. With my first 2 boys I was "induced" by breaking my bag of waters at 7cm the first time and 8cm the second time. Because we now live an hour from the hospital and I have never had a labor (start to finish) over 4 hours (time required for first round of antibiotics), I decided that the risk to baby was too high to "wait" until my body started labor and plus I wouldn't have my sister here. Plus, if Baby gets infected from GBS, they have to be life-flighted 2 hours away to the big city hospital and I did not want to deal with the stress of that.

So alas…despite the fact I really wanted to let my body do its own thing, I decided after much prayer to go to the hospital Friday morning to receive antibiotics and then to have my water broken Friday afternoon.

Friday came and we got to the hospital at 8am. I was 39 weeks, 3 days. The two L&D nurses were super sweet and got me hooked up to antibiotics. In between antibiotics and intermittent fetal monitoring, my hubby and I walked the halls and sat outside in the fresh mountain air and sunshine. I was not nervous like I thought I would be. I knew God was in control even though I was bummed I had to be "induced." I expected a really long (well long for me) and intense labor since I was "barely" dilated.
Around 1pm, my OB came in and painlessly broke my bag of waters. I was at 6cm and 60%. My doula had also arrived so we started walking the halls trying to kick-start labor. I also used that time to sneak in some snacks that I knew I would need to make it thru labor. Boy was I glad for that food!

At 2:30pm I felt tightening on my abdomen and thought maybe I felt a contraction, which the monitors showed. However, they were irregular and I couldn't feel most of them.

At 3:30pm I felt a noticable contraction. Excitedly my husband started timing them. They were coming at 5 minutes apart but were easy to breathe and walk thru and were almost unnoticeable. Then the contractions backed off to one every 20 minutes or 10 minutes or 5 minutes. They were irregular and all over the place.

Around 4:30 or 5pm, I went to the bathroom and had 3 fairly hard contractions. Immediately I started thinking "I dunno if I can do this for several more hours!" Then it registered….maybe I was in transition? No…no way was I that far along.

After those 3 hard contractions, the contractions eased up again and were easy to breathe and walk thru. I wasn't discouraged though…I knew my body was going to kick in soon.

Sometime after that I started feeling pressure in my pelvis with each mild contraction. We walked a couple more minutes until my OB decided to do a dilation check. I was discouraged because I thought for sure I was only 6 or 7cm. We were SHOCKED however to find out that I was 9cm and 100% and 2 station! What!? My contractions were still easy to breathe thru and basically painless and they were still irregular and at times 20 minutes apart. I told everyone that I was ready to cry tears of joy. I knew I was getting close. 
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My awesome labor & delivery gown a friend made!
Shortly after that I felt more pressure in my pelvis and thought maybe it was time to push even though I didn't have a strong urge yet. My OB and OB intern (who was awesome too) got all geared up and saw I was complete. However, my contractions were spaced so far apart and were so "easy" that I had no momentum to push thru since at times my contractions were anywhere from 5 to 10+ minutes apart and each contraction peaked for only a few seconds. 

After several times of trying I just no longer felt the urge to push. My OB was wonderfully patient and told me to just let her know when I was ready.

I waited thru several more contractions until I felt a lot more pressure. Everyone came back in and it was time to push! Now I was in a lot of pain for the first time and I was just praying with each push. However, my contractions remained a few minutes apart and barely "peaked" and so it was hard to have the momentum again, much less have enough of a peak to get a single push in (instead of 3+ pushes per contraction one "usually" gets). My OB said she had never seen someone complete and ready to push with contractions spaced so far apart. But because they were spaced so far apart, it took me a lot longer to get Baby out. I wasn't watching the time, but I think it took 30-40 minutes of pushing the 2nd time I felt ready until Baby was born.

At 7:26pm the Baby was out and my husband announced it was a boy! He weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19.5 inches and is my tiniest baby by nearly a pound. He latched on perfectly and has been a terrific nurser. In fact, at 3.5 days his jaundice levels were perfect and he had already gained several ounces on top of his birth weight, which is nearly a pound gained from his discharge weight. He is obviously trying to catch up to his big brothers quickly!


Meet Jotham William. Jotham means "perfection of Jehovah" and his middle name William is taken from his awesome Grandpapa.
I am so blessed to now have 3 little boys, 3 and under. Both big brothers are in love with Baby Jotham and love giving him lots of hugs and kisses. 
This was my longest, but easiest birth I have experienced. I spent a lot of time in prayer to have a good labor experience as my first 2 experiences were somewhat of a nightmare. I also practiced relaxation nearly every night for several months of the pregnancy. Ultimately though, it was nothing short of God's grace that gave me this amazing labor experience. 

I'm so thankful my sister was here to watch my boys so that my husband could be with me. He is always such an encouragement and I'm blessed to have a best friend like him. Our doula was also amazing and so encouraging! I am still amazed at how wonderful this hospital birth was. It was as close to a home-birth as I could get. :)
Linked up with the fabulous ladies at http://the-life-of-faith.blogspot.com and http://www.proverbsandpacifiers.com

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