Well, it’s true what they say, everything gets put off more and more with your second child. Here I am almost two years later, finally getting to finish writing her birth story.
Oh my sweet Ada James – I was very ready to meet her by the end of my pregnancy, and her birth experience really tells that story.
Ada James was due March 20th, and as St. Patrick’s Day drew closer, Steven and I continually talked about how cool it would be to have a St. Patty’s Day baby. The night before the holiday, Steven was on shift and I had called him on and off throughout the night. I wasn’t able to sleep at all, was really uncomfortable and would have contractions that kept me up every time I’d try to rest my eyes. I was sure I was in the beginning stages of labor! I ended up being right, but man did those early stages drag on and on with the slowest progression. Steven was supposed to stay at work after his shift for a training for most of the day. Because we had a one and a half year old running around, he came home to be with me in case things progressed quickly. Spoiler alert, they didn’t..but it was helpful and wonderful to have him home anyways!
We spent the day together as a family, and I tried to complete last minute things, as I was sure she would be here before the weekend. I ran to get one last grocery haul while Teddy and Steven napped, so we’d be set for the next few weeks. While at the store, I picked up ingredients I’d researched for what’s called a ‘Midwife’s Brew.’ Steven and I now kindly refer to it as the ‘Witch’s Brew’ for reasons I’ll later disclose. Basically, it was a concoction of ingredients that is supposed to kick start labor (IF your body is ready that is). It causes diarrhea, which causes contractions, which have been said to kick start actual labor contractions. Unfortunately, WalMart didn’t have Apricot Juice, one of the called for ingredients, so I substituted with Prune Juice instead. While it may seem like a random piece of info, it will come into play a little later as well. In hindsight, it wasn’t the most wise decision I had ever made. And I’m not sure I’ll ever again be coaxed into starting labor with this ingenious brew.
After getting home and getting the groceries put away, the boys were still sleeping so I mixed up this pre-labor drink. ‘Now’s as good a time as any’ I thought. After suffering through its terrible taste – I think it tasted even worse than it smelt – I woke Steven up and explained to him that I was trying it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Steven wasn’t the most happy with me for my decision, but I was not practicing my greatest efforts of waiting patiently..
Teddy had woken up from his nap, and we went to a local restaurant to pick up carry out St. Patrick’s Day dinner platters. Sidebar – I’d love to have made our own corned beef and cabbage meals, but not just shy of 40 weeks pregnant! After devouring our delicious dinner, we got ready to go on our nightly walk. Right as we were heading out, I knew the ‘Witch’s Brew’ had started working. My belly was rumbling, and had me running to the bathroom in a very pregnant waddle! After that episode, I was a little nervous about attempting a walk, but figured it may help to get things moving along as they say. I made it pretty far into our walk with a few contractions and some excessive tummy rumbling. Once we got closer to home I knew the bathroom was calling me so desperately. These are the less than glamorous side effects of trying to induce your own labor. While I 10/10 don’t recommend it, even in the height of your impatience to meet baby, I can say it truly worked! We had recently gotten into a routine of going for ice cream at our local walk up Dairy Queen at the end of our nights. While on the way to our nightly visit, I experienced a storm of contraction waves. They came quick, were close together and were very intense in pain. The fact that they weren’t easing up made me extremely nervous, since my Mother in Law wasn’t in the area yet to take care of Teddy while we delivered. I called my sister and talked her through what was going on – her opinions confirmed my fears that we were indeed going into labor.
We returned from our ice cream run, where I hadn’t touched any of my treat – a true sign I was in a lot of pain. 😉 My contractions continued in pain, but slowed to a lesser frequency. While we knew labor was pretty much imminent throughout the night, we called my Mother in Law to head our way. We went about our night and had one last normal bedtime routine with Teddy for the foreseeable future. I knew as we put him to bed that this would most likely be his last night as an only child, and that everything would change soon after. There truly is a unique and special emotional experience in the transition from one child to two. He had no idea what was coming, but definitely soaked in all the love from Daddy and Mama he could get.
Throughout my contractions, I packed our last minute items for the hospital bag. Time and time again I unpacked and repacked this bag through both of our pregnancies. Each time I overpacked for us both, and naturally we didn’t end up using a quarter of the things I brought us. Once I had a peace about being ready to go whenever baby told us so, I drew a bath. While I was in the bath, my contractions slowed down a little in timing. I talked to my mom and explained where we thought we were at in the early stages. I wanted to slowly assess our progression, trying to get the timing right to call our midwives. I soaked in the tub for a while, and got cozy (as cozy as you can be at almost 40 weeks pregnant).
We welcomed my Mother in Law once she arrived, and gave her an update on our progression. I attempted to finally sit down and eat my previously purchased dessert (no luck, dang labor). I was having more intense contractions at this point, that seemed to be lasting longer. Following the 5-1-1 rule of labor, I figured it was time to at least give the hospital a call and heads up of where we were. Living a little ways from the hospital, I have an impending fear of not making it to the hospital before the baby comes. Looking back, it’s almost always comical how early I leave for the hospital – but baby comes nonetheless! After talking with our midwife, we decided it was time to the hospital and get checked. We loaded up and prepared our hearts as we headed to meet our sweet baby girl.
Arriving at the hospital, it was almost midnight. Looks like we wouldn’t likely be getting our St. Patty’s Day baby at this point. Our midwife met us in triage and checked on the status of baby – we were at a comfortable three. They monitored both baby and my hearts, as well as our contractions. Our contractions were intense and constant, at a good 3-4 minutes apart for about an hour. As we were reassessed, we weren’t seeming to progress at a very steady rate. Our midwife gave me some different positions to try laboring in to help baby girl drop a little more to keep things moving. One hour at a time, we labored and labored, and checked the updated status. Around 4am, we landed at about 5cm dilated and seemed to be getting somewhere good. Poor Steven had started falling asleep in the hospital chair as our labor drug on and on.
My midwife came in to inform me her shift on call was ending, and our other midwife Abby would be taking over in our delivery. At this point I had been moving from tub to toilet to bed trying to find a comfortable position to labor in. I was beginning to get extremely uncomfortable, and was consistently waking Steven up with each contraction. At this point, our dilation was progressing more quickly, and I began tensing up unfortunately. When I couldn’t find the best position of comfort, my midwife suggested lying on my side with a peanut ball to welcome baby to drop further. She dimmed the room lights, covered me in a warm blanket, and provided me some much needed comfort. We progressed to my absolute least favorite part of labor, the transition.
Over the next few hours, I was moving along in dilation, and becoming more and more fearful of the pain. Each contraction became longer in duration and more intense than the last. I begged Steven to pray over me, read scripture over me and let me squeeze all my painful contractions into his hands. I’ll forever be grateful for a husband that knows how to be the most caring and intentional labor partner.
It’s an interesting thing having your second child, since you know way more of what to expect in the delivery. I’d consider myself a strong woman, but yet I am not ignorant of the pain that comes with delivering a baby. I feel like my knowledge of that pain tricked my mind to tense up, and thus prolonged our delivery. I cried and begged for us to be at the end, but your body simply needs time to do what it knows how to do. It’s a beautiful and life changing thing, witnessing just exactly what God has made a woman capable of.
As my midwife checked me again, she told me I was at a 9. Even as she said that, I could feel my body naturally feel the urge to push. My midwife said I wasn’t ready yet, as I wasn’t at a 10, but I could feel everything in me telling me otherwise. She agreed to have me start pushing during my contractions. Eventually in the process of pushing, she started making her descend. Steven and Abby readied themselves to welcome her into this world. Even while I was in so much pain, I was very aware of Steven getting the privilege of delivering our daughter. I could hear Abby talking him through it, step by step. A handful of pushes later, and Steven was guiding Ada James into his welcoming hands. I got to hear her beautiful cry, and she was placed on my chest to meet her Mama.
It’s a beautiful privilege to meet your daughter, and get to introduce her to her big brother. Teddy was smitten with Ada James from the beginning, and so proud to have a baby sister all of his own. Thank you Lord for these beautiful blessings we get to call ours temporarily on this earth.
Welcome to the world, our sweet Ada James!
The Luckiest 