This is the birth story, of one of my coolest, and closest friends. She is flippin' awesome. Here's to you Olivia & Shelton!

The day Gabriel came into the world was a rainy, gloomy one. I had lots of pressure the night before and the doctor said I was already dialated to 3 centimeters! I remember calling my good friend and birthing teacher, Brianna, to make sure I wasn't already in labor. Contractions were coming about every four minutes when I headed to bed. 
Tuesday morning I got up as usual and got ready for work. As soon as I woke the contractions continued. They were still about four to five minutes apart, so I went about my day. I warned Shelton, my husband, that I may come home early if they continued, or got worse. I left the house at about 7:15am. I arrived at work and was only there about 15 minutes when the contractions got harder. I immediately knew these were no longer the "practice contractions" known as Braxton Hicks. I live about 35 minutes away from work and my hospital is only about 10 minutes from work. Feeling confident that I knew what was going on, I headed home. 
When I got there I drew a bath hoping to relax and possibly soothe any discomfort. The contractions continued to get harder and closer together. I had called my parents, who live an hour away, to come up for the birth. When they arrived my husband was timing the contractions and they were coming about every 2 minutes and lasting a minute or more. By this time it was 12:00pm. It was time to head out! The ride to the hospital was pretty uncomfortable. When I got there they put me in a room and I met my nurse, Amanda. She checked to see how far along I was and to my surprise, I was almost 7 centimeters dialated! What a relief! One of the first things she asked me was if I was going to have an epidural. I firmly stated that I wanted NO epidural or other form of pain reliver. She was very respectful of my decision and she put me at ease knowing she would help me through. To keep labor going I began to walk the halls. Luckily they have rails to hold onto! I did that for about an hour and then I went back to my room to be monitored. That was something they wanted to do for 20 minutes every hour. 

(Olivia will undoubtedly hate me for posting this pic.)

I then tried the birthing ball, which I was not a fan of. It put WAY too much pressure on my pelvic area.

I was about 8 cenimeters at this point. I walked some more and finally it was time for the bathtub. It was warm with nice jets to help with that lower back pain that came with the contractions! At this time my bag of water was still intact. My nurse informed me that I was progressing but the baby wasn't moving down. I was in the tub for probably an hour, maybe more. I knew I was in transition because I started to shake badly and I got sick. I was starting to feel a little urge to push. She instructed me to grunt a little to relieve that. It was about 4:30 when she had me get out of the tub, but not before breaking my water in hopes that Gabe would start heading south! This part or my labor was without a doubt the hardest. I was asked to lay down partially on my side, partially on my stomach, with one leg down and the other hiked up as far as I could get it. This was how I'd been sleeping, but with contractions coming every minute and dialted to a 9, it was no picnic. I had to stay in that position for about 30 minutes. This was the point where I lost the desire to talk or look at anyone. I tried my best to breathe through each one, one at a time, and relax in between contractions. I wanted to save all the energy I had left. 
A little after 4pm I got the urge to push. This was it! I tried a few positions, none of which felt right. I ended up on my  knees on the bed, holding the head of the bed, which was elevated. This position made it very easy to get enough strenght to push like I needed to. At this time I dont remember feeling anymore contractions. I just felt the urge to push, and I could feel the baby moving down. The "on call" doctor showed up in the middle of all this. I was way to focused to worry about him. At that point I dont think I cared who was behind me! One thing I won't ever forget was the "Ring of Fire." I remember the moment he crowned and then out came his head. I was told to stop pushing, which at the time I thought was ludacris! I needed to push, I needed this to be done. The nurse and doctor checked to make sure the cord wasn't around his neck and then I was told to push again.

 At 5:43pm out came Gabriel. I flipped over so fast, my mom thought I was going to kick one of the nurses by accident! They handed him over and my world was changed forever. That's a feeling I am very sure will stay with me the rest of my life. I cried, my mom cried, and Shelton had the biggest smile I have ever seen. He got to cut the cord after it was done pumping blood and oxygen to the baby. 

I didn't have Gabe weighed or cleaned for quite some time. They sewed me up and I held him the whole time. Finally we weighed him and he was 6lbs,15oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. He was perfect and healthy. I owe my wonderful experience to my wonderful Husband, my teacher and friend Brianna, and my awesome nurse! I will never forget the best day of my life!

This is the birth story of Charlee, the beautiful daughter of one of the most amazing couples I have had the pleasure of knowing, Al & Heather Crist.

Tuesday I woke up and decided to go through and clean absolutely everything that could be cleaned...floors to linens and everything in between (nesting much?! but not the first time I had done this in the past month that's for sure). That day I also went and got acupuncture and adjusted for the 4th time since trying to induce my own labor. Al and I gave it one last "go" to try and jump start things too since I was feeling extra desperate with the impending induction on Thursday. That night I ate dinner then took a long warm bath (again, not the first time I've done all this routine). We went to bed at about 9:30 and my body was so sore and tired from the days activities. I woke up at 11 with contractions but just went pee and went back to sleep. At exactly 1247 I sat up in bed with a pretty strong contraction. I tend to get them at night and they usually are caused by a full bladder so I got up to pee and nothing came out...so I laid back down and had 3 more in less than 10 minutes! So I got up and went to the living room cause I didn't want to wake Al, especially if this was false labor like the past few times. I sat down and started to time the contractions. They were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting 60-90 seconds long....this is where we had talked about that we would go to the hospital. So I went and woke Al up and we got our stuff together and headed to the hospital. They continued to get stronger and stronger. I can only describe them starting off as the worst menstrual cramps with a lot of vaginal pressure. That's how it all started...

We get to the hospital to check in, and are brought into a preliminary room for monitoring. By this time is is about 2:30 am. My blood pressure was really high, I was still only 2 1/2cm dilated 90% effaced and her head was still really low. After an hour of monitoring I was given the option of walking the halls for an hour or going home....I knew this was it so I chose to walk. By 45 minutes of walking my contractions were very painful and 1-3 minutes apart and 90+ seconds long. I got checked again and was 3cm at that point. They went ahead and admitted me due to my high blood pressure, my strong contractions, and the fact I was overdue...I guess they want you to be at least a 4 before admitting. Glad they did because almost immediately I went from a 3 to a 7. I used the jacuzzi and did several other positions to get through the most painful thing my body has EVER experienced. I was very vocal, which I would have never guessed but it is something my body just did and I had no control over. Without the support of Al and my nurse I couldn't have done it. I had a lot of back labor which was really hard to handle as well. The tennis ball and lots of back rubs from Al, the nurse, and my mother was what helped a lot. By 10:50am I was complete and ready to push (thank goodness!). Within 3 contractions I pushed out the most beautiful angel on earth (in my opinion of course  )... She was born at 11:03am, weighing 7lbs 13oz and 19" long. She had a head full of beautiful dark blonde hair with light blonde highlights (she is already a diva and high maintenance LOL). Life is good and I am so blessed!

The Birth story of my fabulous little daughter, Tator.

The Birth of Emma McKenzie Walters

06.27.10 3:30pm

^Don't you judge me!^

On Sunday June 27^th, 2010 I woke up a little before 6 am feeling some contractions.  I had been having contractions everyday for the past several weeks, but these felt different, they were more intense, and I wasn’t able to sleep through them.  That day we were celebrating Mom and Dad’s anniversary and I was making lunch for the whole family. I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and put our birth kit in the car, just in case the contractions turned into something.  I laid in bed until Scott and Weston woke up around 8.  At this point we were late for church so we rushed around and ran out the door.  I was still having contractions but they were really irregular and spaced out.  Once at church we discovered that we had forgotten all of the food for lunch at home, so I left Scott and ran back to the house.  Once back at church we had to be door greeters until the service began.  Just before leaving I had a contraction that took a little more concentration and focus than any of the previous ones.  We decided not to tell anyone that I was experiencing contractions, just in case they died out.

            We arrived at my parent’s house around 11am and I immediately got started preparing lunch.  My mom and sister jumped in and helped.  At some point shortly after that, the contractions picked up a little bit, causing me to have to stop and lean against something during them.  But they were still really irregular, so we continued to try to keep it quiet.  My mom noticed and asked if I was having contractions, I said yes, but that we weren’t saying anything just in case they fizzled out.  By 12:45pm we decided that we better go ahead and put our midwife on standby, because they had increased in intensity a bit and they were only 5-7 minutes apart.  We sat down and ate lunch at which point I wasn’t able to actually sit, I knelt on the ground and rocked back and forth.  But I was still able to talk during contractions and was in a pretty good mood.  We cleaned up lunch, and I called our midwife back to let her know that this was definitely labor, but that we didn’t need her yet, contractions were only 30-45 seconds long and around 2-3 minutes apart.  I wasn’t able to talk during them, but I felt that we were still fairly early in the game. 

            About 15 minutes after calling her, Scott started timing my contractions, they had increased already to 1 minute long and 1-1 ½ minutes apart and were getting pretty serious.  He suggested calling the midwife back to get her started on her way.  I didn’t want him to as I thought it was still way too early for that.  We went back into my parents room and got things ready, stripped the bed, turned the lights down, music on, etc.  My mom left to keep Weston occupied while Scott and I stayed and worked through the contractions. At some point I decided that I needed to go the bathroom, so I went in while Scott waited at the door.  While I was sitting I had 2 or 3 contractions that were right on top of the other, and I wasn’t able to get up because of their strength.  Scott asked how I was and I told him I was going to get into the tub. I very quickly disrobed and hopped in.  I asked Scott to get me a sports bra from my mom.  He left and she returned giving me one.   Scott had stayed with Weston to try to get him to take a nap, and my mom stayed with me.  She kept pouring the water over my body, which helped me relax a little bit more.  The contractions were really hard and intense, and I asked her if we needed to call the midwife.  With a look of amazement and horror she said, “Oh sweetie I thought she was already on her way.”  She started to get up and I begged her not to leave me, so she yelled to my dad to call and get the midwife here.  Scott came back in and got in the tub with me, cradling me in his arms.  Just his presence helped ease the contractions it seemed, and being cradled in his arms helped me get through them.  During one contraction I started pushing, involuntarily, and said, “Oh shoot, I think I’m pushing.”  I started to panic because our midwife wasn’t there, and I was worried that it would be too soon.  The contractions were coming so hard and so fast I moaned loudly to get through them.  I kept saying, “Oh I can’t do this, I don’t want to do this.  It hurts. I’m scared.” I was shaking and crying, really terrified that I somehow wouldn’t be able to handle this.  Scott and mom kept gently, but forcefully reassuring me that I could do this, and that I had to do this.  Mom grabbed be by the cheeks and looked into my eyes and told me “honey you have to calm down, you can do this.”  Which helped me to regroup and focus on getting through just the next contraction.  I didn’t have to handle any more than 1 at a time. I had a couple of contractions right in a row where my body pushed, not a hard push, but a grunting push.  I began to feel pressure in my rectum, which I knew was the baby moving down.  Mom noticed that there were white flecks in the water and suggested that perhaps my water had broke.  We got our midwife on the phone and told her that the baby was coming, so she stayed on the line while things progressed.  After a couple of grunting contractions I could feel the baby in the birth canal, so I reached down with my hand and felt for the head, it was still 2-3 inches inside. Mom kept telling me to breathe through the contractions until I just HAD to push.  On the next contraction, I tried to just breathe through it and relax, but my body took over and with one big push by my uterus, and a very loud yelp the head was out. It went from being completely inside like 2 inches to completely out in one push.  Talk about ring of fire.  Mom was on the phone with our midwife who was still guiding us, she told us to check for the cord around the neck, which it was.  Then she told us to loop it back over the baby’s head.  Mom and Scott both tried but thought it was too tight.  She kept telling them they “Had to get it off, right now, it won’t rip or tear, but it HAS to come off.”  I was reaching down feeling her head with my hand, and I found her ears, I started crying “It has ears, our baby has ears!” In addition to ears, she had her little right hand up by her face. With the next contraction, the baby turned just a little allowing some more slack in the cord and it slid right over her head.  The next contraction yielded her body to her legs, I thought she was completely out so I reached down and started pulling her up.  Mom stopped me because her legs were still inside.  So while we both held her up, with the next contraction out came the rest of her and I lifted her straight to my chest.  

She never cried, she opened her eyes and looked around, but never cried.  She was very blue from the amount of blood in her body, and she bruised slightly from coming so quickly.  She let out a little yell and started breathing.  Her cord was still pulsating strongly, and she was breathing.  Still not crying, just alert and looking around. We put a warm towel over her and me and waited for our midwife to arrive, which happened about 10 minutes later.  Scott was able to announce her gender, as we didn’t know what it was, and we all started crying.  “It’s a girl! She has ears, and hair, and eyes, and it’s a girl!” I kept saying over and over again. 

Weston woke up and came into the bathroom and got in the tub with Scott and I.  He marveled over Emma, just looking at her in awe.  Scott stayed in the tub with me and Emma until the placenta came, which took 1 hour and 5 minutes.  After that, my mom clamped and cut the cord and Scott took the baby while I took a shower and got cleaned up.

 Emma weighed 7 pounds and was 19 3/4inches long, the exact size of Weston. 

            This was such a wonderful and beautiful experience, hard and intense, but so worth it. There is nothing more empowering than the act of giving birth, and I am glad that we were able to give our daughter the best possible start in life.  

For the next two posts, I'm going to share my birth stories. Starting with, of course, my handsome prince, Weston.

            My husband and I conceived on our wedding night, which wasn’t exactly the plan.  We had both agreed to wait 3-4 years until even trying to become pregnant. I was only 19 at the time, and having a baby was not exactly what I wanted.  However, I did know that I didn’t want your typical “knock ‘em out, drag ‘em out” birth.  I knew from hearing different relatives talk about natural childbirth that it could, and should be a beautiful experience that should be enjoyed not dreaded.

            Scott (husband) and I took Bradley classes taught by Amber Walla, and that is where I learned everything I know now about how to enjoy being pregnant and how to enjoy birth.

            My estimated expectancy date was October 25, 2008.  However, on the evening of October 2, 2008 my water broke.  It was a little after 10pm and I had just finished going to the bathroom before going to bed.  When I stood up I noticed that liquid kept trickling down my leg. Not much but a noticeable amount.  Mortified that I had perhaps just urinated in my pants I sat back down and repeated the whole process about 4 times before finally realizing that my water had broke.  A steady stream of fluid continued for about 30 minutes, so Scott and I decided we would take a shower.  After the shower I had stopped leaking, and went to bed.  Scott was convinced that I was going into labor, but I was convinced otherwise.  It was too early, and we had heard about women’s bag of waters breaking and then labor not occurring for several days. I just had to drink lots of water. We went to bed around 11pm that night.  I woke up pretty early the next morning because I was no longer able to sleep through these cramping pains.  I estimated they were 5 minutes apart, but they were pretty easy going.  I got up and made some breakfast, walked around the house, did some pelvic rocks, all the things I knew to try to subside Braxton-Hicks.  Since I was still convinced that I was not in labor Scott left for work around 7am, and my mom arrived around 7:30am.  Shortly after she arrived I called into work and told them I was in labor. By the time 8am rolled around my contractions were much harder and much closer together, double peaking at times and I was unable to talk through them, they were taking a lot more concentration.  I decided that I would be more comfortable lying down in the “running” sleep position, as I was having strong back pain.  As I lay on the bed supported by pillows, my mom spoon-fed me some yogurt in between contractions to help keep my strength up.  My sister packed our clothes since we hadn’t packed yet.  Mom called Scott at 9am and told him to get home quickly because I was progressing rapidly.  When Scott got home we left for the hospital where my midwife was, so that I could be checked.  Scott was almost 100% sure I was heading into transition but wanted to be sure before we committed to going to the hospital we would deliver at. 
              It seemed like we had parked in the farthest parking spot away from the building, and the ride up the elevator to the third floor seemed agonizingly long.   With every contraction I would lean on Scott and let him support my weight while I focused on relaxing as much as possible.  Kim (midwife) checked me as soon as we got there and I was dilated to six centimeters.  When she asked if I had been leaking any fluid I told her no, knowing that if I admitted to her that my water broke that I would be on a time limit. She told me that by law she was required to tell me to go to the hospital now, but knew that I was stubborn and wouldn’t, so she gave us her pager number and told us to page her the minute we left for the hospital.  By the time we got down the elevator and out into the parking lot I hit transition.  I was leaning on Scott, crying, and blocking two lanes of traffic saying “I don’t think I can do this anymore.” Yep, there it is, transition.  We left immediately for St. Mary’s hospital where I would give birth.  I laid in the back of my mom’s van while she drove and Scott lay with me, talking softly in my ear and rubbing my back. 

            The hospital required that they have a fifteen minute reading on the EFM, so when we first got there I had to get in the bed. Kim arrived shortly after we did, and came in to make sure I was ok, and to check me again, this time I was dilated to 9 centimeters. There were about 10-15 neonatal staff in the room, since Weston was three weeks and one day early he was considered premature. Weston’s heart rate would drop so low during the contractions that it would completely bottom out, the machine would beep and nurses would look panicked. Because of that they made me move positions every three or four contractions to try and “unkink” the cord.  I also had to have a bag of fluid to try and get his heart rate to stabilize.  We tried to fight it, knowing that means a cesarean section would be that much easier for them to push on us.  We arrived at the hospital around 11am and the first contraction that made me push was around 12:15pm.  I say made me push because it was uncontrollable and involuntary.  My body just took over.  Weston was born at 12:55pm on October 3, 2008, weighing 7 pounds even and 19 3/4 inches long; he was placed directly on my breast to begin bonding and breastfeeding.  He was strong, alert, and the only signs he had of prematurity was the thick peach fuzzy body hair all over him.  He was super clean, not a lot of vernix on him.  Scott was able to cut the umbilical cord after several minutes, and shortly after that I pushed the placenta out.  Weston began to breastfeed almost instantly. I did tear slightly on the inside of my vagina, but I was able to hold and caress Weston the entire time I was being stitched up.

            There is no way I could have done that without Scott right there by my side. He would talk softly to me; encourage me when I was feeling doubt.  He made sure I had water to drink if I was thirsty, he kept a cool rag on my forehead, and he rubbed my back anytime that I asked him too.  He was the perfect coach.  My mom, was also a crucial support person. She helped keep Scott calm, and assisted him in assisting me. After Wes was born, natural childbirth really became a passion to me.  I can talk to anybody about it.  When I hear women say they hated going through birth, I jump on the opportunity to share with them how it can be better.  Our next child we plan on having at home, even though our hospital birth was pretty amazing, I know that it can be even better if we aren’t bothered by 15 different people, beeping machines, or screaming women being delivered from their babies.