Taylor had to work a 24 hour shift
on Sunday, June 26th, so he left bright and early for the Richmond
Lifeline base. I stayed in bed for a little while longer before getting up to
get ready for church. After I went to the bathroom I quickly discovered I lost
my mucus plug! (sorry, TMI) I called Taylor to tell him but we decided that we didn’t really
know what that meant, so I left for church. I was having some light Braxton Hicks
contractions, but this was nothing new since I’d been having them for several
months. After the service, I talked with my in-laws and they asked if I wanted
to get something to eat. Jena knew that I was having Braxton Hicks and had lost
my mucus plug and she seemed a little concerned. So we decided to eat brunch at
Cracker Barrel. I was hungry and thought that it would put Jena at ease to keep
an eye on me for a while. :) In the meantime, Taylor was still at work and was getting nervous that things would
start to happen while he was on a transport. I was still having a few Braxton
Hicks contractions each hour, but they were nothing more than an uncomfortable tightening
like they had always been and I was convinced that nothing was going to happen
for a few days at least. It was a hot, sunny, beautiful day!
I called Taylor on my drive home
and he reminded me that I had a “very low threshold” to call him when I felt
like things were different and labor was starting. Nothing concrete had changed
that I could verbalize to him. I just felt
different, but I kept telling myself there was no way I could be close to
delivering since it was still 9 days until Lucy’s due date! I had been trying
to mentally prepare myself for going past her due date… I was convinced there
was no way I would go into labor this early. I spent the afternoon cleaning the
house and organizing various things. I baked chocolate chip cookies and watched
When Harry Met Sally while I put together a lamp I had ordered for the nursery.
We still had a few finishing touches before the nursery would be officially
complete. For dinner I had leftover fajitas from the Mexican restaurant we went
to the night before. (Subconsciously trying some labor-boosting old wives tales,
apparently). By nighttime I was still having consistent Braxton Hicks contractions but
nothing about them had changed. Taylor and I talked once more on the phone
before I went to bed around 11:30pm. He was nervous that he would get called on
a transport in the middle of the night and not be able to come home quickly. We
prayed together and decided to go to bed; there was no good reason for him to
come home yet. Plus, I was still convinced that I would not go into labor for
at least another week!
I woke up around 2:00am on Monday,
June 27th to a new feeling in my lower abdomen- a tight cramping that was now
slightly painful. I opened the contraction timer app on my phone and timed a
few. They were lasting about 1 minute and were 3-4 minutes apart. I called
Taylor and told him “I think it’s time!” He didn’t waste any time coming home
and arrived in about 35 minutes (it usually takes him about 1 hour to drive
from Richmond…!) I was so glad he was back. I had hoped to labor for a while at
home before going to the hospital. For the next few hours I alternated between
sitting/bouncing on an exercise ball, walking around the house packing our bags
and then leaning over Taylor during each contraction. I found that I didn’t
like lying down and preferred to be upright during contractions. We called the
number for the Obstetrician at the hospital around 4:15am and after
answering her questions she told us to come to the hospital in about 1 hour if my
contractions continued. I labored for about 2 more hours at home and then we
decided to leave for Community Hospital North. I was not looking forward to the
30 minute drive, but I was also not excited about being told to go home because
I wasn’t far enough along. At my last OB appointment the previous Friday I was
3 cm dilated so I was hopeful that I would be dilated at least another
centimeter or 2 by the time they checked me. We left for the hospital around
6:30 am and arrived at OB triage just before 7am (and just in time for shift change! :P). There was another
couple in front of us already getting registered so I went to the restroom and
walked around the waiting room while I had a few more contractions. Once we got
checked in and I got hooked up to the monitor in the triage room, the nurse
checked my progress and found I was 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced! They decided
to keep us and started my IV and drew labs. Taylor called my parents to tell
them we were staying. They were on a trip that had been scheduled before get
found out we were pregnant. We didn’t know what they were going to do but I was
really hoping that my mom would decide to come back home!
I quickly discovered that I didn’t
like sitting on the bed and not being able to stand up or move around during
contractions. It felt like an eternity but finally another nurse came in to
take us to our labor & delivery room. I opted to walk there because I was
tired of sitting down through the contractions. Our nurse for the day was Laura
and she was awesome! She was with us for the entire labor which was a huge
blessing. When we told her about our desire for a natural labor & delivery she was
immediately supportive and asked for our birth plan. We gave it to her and she
taped it to the wall right inside the door. We had composed a birth plan as an attempt to be organized but were
holding most of it loosely because we knew how unpredictable things could
become. The main goal was to have a safe & healthy delivery for both me and
Lucy. We had taken a natural birth class, the Bradley Method of Husband Coached
Childbirth, and I felt prepared and determined to stick with what we learned as closely as
possible. Taylor was already being an awesome “coach!”
After we got into the room, Laura
hooked me up to the toco-monitor to get a 20 minute reading of Lucy’s heart
rate and my contractions. Since I was planning to labor naturally, I was
allowed to be off the monitor for 40 minutes of every hour, as long as
everything was going well. I was also able to drink clear liquids, so Taylor
gave me sips of water and Gatorade throughout the day. The 20 monitored-minutes
seemed like forever because I just hated lying on the bed! But then Laura
unhooked me and suggested using the exercise ball that she had brought into the
room. I found that sitting on it and slightly bouncing in between contractions
and leaning on Taylor during them was the most comfortable routine for me.
Before I knew it, Laura came back in to hook me up to the monitor again. She said
I could stay sitting on the ball while on the monitor and I was so glad to be
able to remain in that position! But then all of a sudden I got super hot and
sweaty and felt nauseous. I was pretty sure I was about to throw up so Laura
got a basin for me and Taylor helped put my hair up. Laura also gave me a cool
washcloth for my forehead. The feeling passed a few minutes later and I was glad I didn’t vomit. I wondered if that signaled my transition from first
to second stage labor, but I thought it seemed too early in the process to be at that point already.
I continued the sitting, bouncing, water-sipping
and leaning through the contractions. The whole time Taylor was there
encouraging me with words and his presence. I asked him to read some Scripture
to me from index cards that I had written out. He read a few but then for some
reason I needed him to stop talking so I could repeat just a few words in my
head, over and over, during each contraction. Those words were short prayers to
the Lord for strength. Never before have I prayed so consistently or every few
minutes for so many hours, and never have I been so desperate for God’s
sustaining hand. The Lord was so faithful to give me peace and comfort in my
spirit despite the physical pain and discomfort in my body. He allowed me to be
calm and speak kindly to Taylor when at times I felt like being rude or short
with him for no other reason than because of the pain. I was determined to
continue laboring naturally and knew that complaining about a choice that I had
made would be pointless. Plus I knew that remaining calm during the process
would bring glory to the Lord because there would be no possible way I could be
patient and peaceful if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit’s presence and power! There
would literally be no other explanation for behaving counter to my sin nature! More
than anything, I wanted the entire experience to bring honor to God… whether I
had to get a C-section, or was able to deliver naturally. This was my true heart’s
desire!
Our nurse checked me again around 9:45 am
and I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Knowing I had only 3 cm to go really
motivated me to keep going! I kept focusing on my breathing and relaxing my
whole body during each contraction. Taylor said I was “in the zone” which is a
good way to explain it because I don’t have many clear memories from this time.
Since I had nixed the Scripture reading (ha!), Taylor played worship music on
his phone instead which was in the background for most of the rest of labor. It
was so soothing for both of us. We continued the pattern of intermittent
monitoring and spent some time walking the halls. I was also able to get in the
shower which was a great suggestion by Laura. The hot water felt so good on
my abdomen and took the edge off during contractions. At some point during the
morning my mom texted Taylor to say that she had gotten a flight out of NYC and
was landing in Indy at 4:20pm. I was so glad and thankful she was going to be
here to meet Lucy as soon as she was born. Knowing she was on her way was so
reassuring!
My dilation was checked again at
noon and it was 9 cm. The hours after that seem like a blur in my memory. I
continued to breathe, bounce and lean through contractions that were getting more
intense and a little closer together. The doctor came in to meet us at some
point during the day; I can’t really remember when. Dr. Wagner introduced
himself and explained that my OB, Dr. Pierce, was at another office for the day
so she wasn’t able to be there for the delivery. A little while later I was at 9.5 cm and soon
after that, 10 cm and Laura suggested that I try to push. I really wasn’t
feeling the urge to do so but she thought it might help Lucy get into a better
position. We tried a few pushes but nothing really happened. Laura thought Lucy
was still too high up. So, I got back off the bed and onto the ball and
continued to work through contractions for another hour. I knew we were getting
close to meeting our little girl!! The next hour seemed like a blur.
I tried
pushing again around 2:20 pm and Lucy had progressed further down so we decided
to keep at it. I kept waiting for the feeling that I’ve heard women talk about,
that “overwhelming urge to push.” I felt a little pressure and a different type
of sensation, but no overwhelming urge. I felt slightly discouraged because I
thought that meant we weren’t as close to the end as I had hoped. I was
positioned on the bed with Taylor at my right and Laura to my left with my
knees up to my chest. I hadn’t necessarily wanted to push lying on my back (had
originally planned on squatting or semi-squatting) but at this point I didn’t
care. When each contraction started Taylor counted me through each push with a
deep breath- “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!” Strangely the pushing took away
the discomfort of the contractions and this motivated me to continue. Maybe
this was the “urge” people talked about? I kept pushing for about 35 more
minutes when all of a sudden Laura said “Okay stop!” during one push. She could
see Lucy’s head and quickly called for the doctor. It seemed like he took
forever to get there but he arrived in only a few minutes. I was worried I
wouldn’t be able to push during my next contraction which didn’t sound fun
because of the pain that was more present while not pushing. But when he got there he told me I could keep at it
and he and Laura prepped the drapes while Taylor kept coaching me through each
push. I pushed for about 10 more minutes before Lucy’s head came out! I was
working so hard with each push and was starting to get tired. I just wanted the
contractions to stop and for our little girl to be born! During the push where
her head emerged Taylor’s face looked worried all of a sudden. He said “push,
push!!” and the look on his face and sense of urgency in his voice made me give
it every last ounce of effort I had. I heard Laura page the NICU team and then
she started putting a ton of pressure on my pubic bone. At this point I knew things
were serious and that I had to give it everything I had. Several more pushes and
about 1 minute later, after 13 hours of active labor, at 3:06pm, out came our girl! I
didn’t hear any crying but I was strangely at peace. Again I knew it was the
Lord sustaining me in that moment. I could see my baby with my own eyes and
felt such relief. I didn’t know this at the time but Lucy’s shoulders had
gotten stuck and her face was blue when her head came out. That is why Taylor looked so alarmed. They took her over
to the baby warmer to stimulate her and then I heard her cry. I spoke a prayer
of thanksgiving to the Lord and nothing else mattered! Our daughter had been
born! They placed her on my chest and I was overcome with disbelief and joy. I
couldn’t believe she was finally in my arms. Then they took her back to the
warmer and weighed her; she was 7 lbs 15.9 oz so they rounded up to 8 pounds! I
heard someone say, “wow, Big Lucy!” I was tickled to know I gave birth to such
a big (in my opinion) baby! We had not expected an 8 pound newborn, especially since she
was 8 days early!
There is a little more to the story
because Lucy’s oxygen levels were in the 80’s (normal is high 90’s) and she was
making little grunting noises, both of which indicate inadequate oxygenation. The
NICU physician was paged and evaluated her and put her on a little bit of oxygen. He suggested she go up to the NICU
for observation. I expected to become emotional and at least tear up when I
held Lucy for the first time, but there was so much going on that the urgency
of the moment seemed to cancel out the happy tears, at least for the time
being. Taylor went with her to the NICU and I stayed behind to get stitched up
and to receive some Pitocin to help my uterus clamp down. In about 30 minutes,
as soon as I was allowed to get out of bed, Laura helped me get cleaned up. It
hurt a little to walk but the pain seemed irrelevant at the time because I just
wanted to see my baby! Laura got a wheelchair to take me up to the NICU to be
with Lucy. At that moment I could not have been more grateful that I didn’t get
an epidural because I wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere if I had! Another
one of God’s gracious provisions. When I was wheeled into the NICU room where
Lucy was, I saw the most beautiful sight that brought tears to my eyes for the
first time that day- my husband holding our newborn daughter. She was all bundled
up and he was looking down at her so sweetly. She was hooked up to the monitor
and a quick glance at it told me that all her numbers looked good. Thank you,
Lord! Taylor and I switched chairs so I could hold Lucy and try to breastfeed
her for the first time. As I held her in my arms, it still felt surreal that
our baby had finally arrived!
We were able to get Lucy moved back
down to my hospital room in less than an hour. Her assessment and vitals were
normal and she wasn’t grunting anymore. We were rejoicing in her good health
and quick improvement! As soon as we got back downstairs we let our families
know they could come back to see her. My mom had arrived from the airport and
Taylor’s parents and sister were in the waiting room. It was a very special
time to see them meet and hold their granddaughter and niece for the first time. We
started texting and calling friends and family to share the news. My brother
was on a summer mission trip in Colorado so I was able to call him and tell him
that he was an uncle! He was going to get to come back in the middle of his
mission trip to meet her 2 weeks later. Taylor and I spent the evening holding
our little girl and gazing into her sweet, sleeping face. We were officially a
family of 3!
Giving birth was the hardest, most
rewarding and most worshipful experience I’ve ever had. It was also a strengthening
experience that deepened our marriage. It was like running a marathon, half
naked and up a steep hill, and receiving the best prize at the end. No, not a
shiny medal or banana and cookie, but instead we received a precious, angelic
bundle of joy… our daughter Lucy Rose! It was truly the most amazing experience. It was exhausting, messy and not at all glamorous, but at the same time it was beautiful. Our daughter came straight from our Heavenly Father… entrusted to us for this life. What
a priceless gift! We truly felt the prayers of friends and family during the
entire day. We are so thankful for a healthy outcome for both Lucy and me. God’s
goodness has never been more evident to us- to Him be the glory! Little did I
know that there were many challenges yet to be experienced as first time
parents of a newborn, but God’s faithfulness has only continued. The adventure
has just begun!
