| Kyla Beths Birth Story Well, my 7th baby, and 6th dd, entered our family on 7-27. She weighed 7#12oz. and is 20 3/4" long. She has fuzzy blondish hair, no big surprise there as we're all blond, and has the sweetest, tiniest little head and face. All her sisters and her 3 year old brother are fighting over they're turn to hold her! Anyway, we thought she would arrive around 7-17, evidently she had other plans. On Sunday, 7-25, on the way to church I started having contractions about 10 minutes apart. They weren't too uncomfortable but were noticeable. They continue like that all day, when I went bed for the night they stopped. Woke up with menstrual like cramps, then had a repeat of contractions 10-15-minutes apart all day. Alittle more painful but still just annoying in that they wouldn't get closer. Tuesday started of the same way, 10 minutes apart. This was getting REALLY OLD! About 9:00a.m. they shifted to 4-5 minutes apart. By 11:00a.m. they spaced out and got irregular. I thought, OKAY, I'm never gonna have this baby! At 12:00 noon I went in the kitchen to make lunch. As soon as I started walking around contractions went to 2-3 minutes and I had to hold on to something and breathe. At 12:45 p.m. I went to the bathroom and had bloody show. I knew this was it. I called my midwife and the friend who was getting the children. My friend got here about 1:15 or 1:30 and midwife got here about 2:00. I was walking around leaning and working through contractions that were about1-3 minutes apart. The assistant and apprentice arrived and everyone was getting things set up. I was feeling okay between contractions and found them easier to stay relaxed through on my feet. My midwife wanted to check me about 2:30. I was told I was 8-9 cm and waters bulging! I was excited it was almost over, but at the same time dreading what I knew was only minutes away. Sure enough 5 minutes or so later my water broke, I was standing up again and there was TONS OF IT! This is the first time my water broke on it's own. After another contraction we decided it was time for me to get on the futon and deliver this baby. I did what I tend to do, fight the inevidable. I HATE THE PUSHING PART! After kind of sitting out a contraction I gave in to my husband's urging to push. I pushed three times with the contraction and her head came to the edge but then I took a break b/c contraction was over. I tried to just close my eyes and relax, my midwife began praying for me and reassuring me of God's presence and strength to get me through. When the next contraction came, I realized I just had to really do this and put more effort into it. Again about three good pushes and her head was crowning and born. Here's the part were it got a bit tense, especially for my dh. The cord was around the neck twice. I had my eyes closed the whole time and was just listening to my midwife's voice and instructions. I was not worried for the baby b/c I knew Heather didn't sound worried. She was saying the baby's head color looked good and HR was 118. Anyway, she quickly determined she would have to clamp and cut the cord to finish the delivery. I was confident the she was in control, and was just anxiously waiting her okay to birth the shoulders b/c it was VERY uncomfortable there for a minute or so. When I knew it was okay I pushed her out and was soooo relieved it was over! She was covered in vernix, none of mine have ever had that much. She was alittle dusky at first but I just held her and started talking to her and she started pinking up. She was quietly looking around and didn't cry at all, as my other two who were born at home did as well. Very peaceful and beautiful. She nursed great about 15-20 minutes later and placenta was delivered and checked out. We're so thankful for the wonderful knowledge and skill of our midwives who handled a potential complication so perfectly. I thank the LORD and praise him for his wisdom given to Heather and the others present and for his protection and strength to Kyla and myself. He is go GOOD! We are thrilled with this addition to our family and for the marvelous birth! One last word of wisdom learned from this pregnancy, Red Raspberry Leaf really makes a difference! Not only was the pg easy and without much aches and discomforts, this was my easiest labor, and almost no after pains! Very endurable even while nursing. This is my 7th baby and I've always suffered from KILLER after pains with 2nd-6th births. This is the first time I drank RRL faithfully the whole pg, a qt. a day the last 6 weeks, and I firmly believe in it's value now! I feel great! |