Hannah's Second Natural Birth

When I was nearly 36 weeks along I was at church and I fell down about five stairs and hit a wall at the bottom. I felt really sore, but nothing too painful. As soon as they saw me fall, someone from the church called the paramedics and they came and checked me out. I was fine. But my doctor wanted me to come to the hospital and make sure everything was fine. After calling a neighbor to see if they could watch our 16 month old son for a couple hours, we headed to the hospital to make sure everything was okay. As soon as we got to the hospital they put me on monitors. The baby seemed fine, I wasn’t dilated at all, and I wasn’t having any real contractions. I was having the same Braxton hick’s contractions that I had had for weeks.  They did an ultrasound and declared the baby and my uterus looked great and they estimated the baby’s weight to be 6 lbs 10 oz. I was getting ready to go home when the contractions started. These were different. The emergency doctor came in and checked me. He said I was now dilated to a 2 and the blood work showed that I might have a tear in my uterus so I should be prepared to have a baby. They were going to admit me. We called our neighbor and asked if our son could stay the night and I tried to prepare myself to have a baby. My first son had gone full term and I had prepared myself that this one would come at full term too. We were not ready to have a baby and it hurt to breathe from my fall down the stairs. I finally got it into my head that we were going to have a baby in the next day or so. We got checked in and by this time it was late in the night. The monitors were reading hard contractions every 8-10 minutes but I wasn’t progressing at all and the contractions weren’t super painful. About 24 hours after my fall the doctor came in, checked me, and said the blood work came back normal and since I wasn’t progressing, I should just go home until the contractions became painful.  I went home and for a week I was having contractions every 10 minutes. It was so exhausting. But at my next doctor’s visit I still had not progressed at all. I was very discouraged. Then at about 37 weeks, the contractions went away.

During this time I was worried that I would have a big baby. If my baby was 6 lbs 10 oz at 36 weeks, I couldn’t imagine how big he was going to be at full term. At my 39 week visit I was dilated to a 3.5 and I decided to be induced as soon as possible. I had to be given pitocin with my first baby, and I was sure I would need it again, so I might as well be induced earlier rather than later. Well because of a mixup between the doctor and the hospital the earliest they could induce me was three days after my due date, which just happened to be my birthday.

We got to the hospital around 7 am ready to be induced. The night before I had been having contractions that were different, so I asked the nurse if they could check me before they started pitocin. I really didn’t want pitocin if I didn’t need it. I wanted to go all natural and I know that pitocin makes the contractions harder immediately. They said they had to talk to the doctor about it and they would get back to me. About 9:00 my doctor came in, checked me, said I hadn’t progressed at all, and asked if I wanted her to break my water and see how that went before giving me pitocin. I told her that was what I wanted. She broke my water and left. I asked the nurse if I could walk around and she told me no, I needed to be monitored. I didn’t understand why I needed to be monitored. A couple minutes later a new nurse came in (apparently the other nurse didn’t want to deal with a woman who wanted to go natural) and I asked her if I could walk around. She said of course. Just come back every 15 minutes so that we can monitor a contraction and see if they are getting harder. My husband and I walked around the maternity ward. At first it was just a fun walk with a contraction here or there, but after about an hour, we had to stop so that I could breathe through contractions. At 11:30 they checked me and I hadn’t really made much progress so they said they needed to start pitocin. I knew that I was in labor and I didn’t want pitocin. The contractions were just different and they were hard. The nurse said, “All right I will give you 30 more minutes and then we have to start pitocin."

At my next contraction check 15 minutes later, I decided I was done walking. It just hurt too bad. At about 12:00 they checked me and I was dilated to a 4 so they said I could keep going. In my head I thought, I am only dilated to a 4? I am going to die! I think I better get an epidural! I will wait for 30 minutes and then I am getting an epidural. Then our nurse asked if I was going to get up and move. I said I didn’t know and she asked if she got a say in the matter. I said sure. She told me to get up and move my hips in a slow dance and it would help the contractions. She was right. We were listening to the piano guys Christmas CD during my labor, and so my husband felt like we were just doing some slow dancing. He loved it! The next time they checked me I was dilated to a 5.5, then an 8, then a 9. It all went so fast. When they checked me and I was at an 8 my nurse ran and called the doctor and told her to come over immediately because I was progressing so fast. Then she went outside where a midwife was talking to another nurse and asked her if she would come in because she didn’t think the doctor would get here in time. Well I started pushing as the doctor was running in. I asked if they could see the baby’s head and the nurse asked if I wanted a mirror to see. I said YES! I was so glad I did. It was surreal watching my baby be born. It hurt bad, but it was so wonderful to see him getting closer and closer. After pushing for about 15 minutes the baby’s head came out. I was so relieved to see him and I felt so much relief. I felt so good. I felt like I was done. The doctor looked at me and said, Hannah, you have to keep pushing. Only his head is out. I said that I felt fine, but the doctor convinced me that I needed to push the rest of the baby out. In one or two more pushes my baby was born. My first thought was that he didn’t look anything like his older brother. Tyler was born on my birthday at 2:34 pm and was 9lbs 6 oz and 21 inches long.

Beautiful mama and new baby.

Bringing home a second baby was nothing like bringing home a first. I had all of these imaginations of how hard it would be to have a 16 month old and a newborn. I was really scared. We had just moved to Texas two months before the baby was born and all of mine and my husband’s families live in Utah. I didn’t know anyone here. I didn’t know how I was going to do it. But it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, I love being a mother of two. That doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. Daniel comes and throws balls at Tyler; he kicks Tyler and hits him. He doesn’t understand why he can’t squeal really loud in Tyler’s ear while he is going to sleep. But I didn’t think about the wonderful times that we would have together. I love it when Daniel comes to Tyler and “reads” him a book, or when Daniel gives me a toy to share with Tyler. No, I don’t get to sleep while Tyler sleeps, I feel like I change diapers all the time, and I never have a moment alone, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love my boys! I love seeing their smiles. I am excited to see them grow up together. I love being a mom!

Such a sweet family!

Please contact us if you have any questions for Hannah! 

Hannah's Natural Birth Story: Her First

We were expecting our first baby and I was so excited! I was ready for him to be born.

At my 36 week appointment they asked if I wanted them to check if I was dilated because they were already doing the strep B test. They said that usually first time moms are not dilated so it was just my choice. Well my midwife was very surprised when I was dilated to 1.5 and 70% effaced. She told me to try and wait to go into labor for another week so that I was full term, but she wasn’t sure if my baby would wait that long. I went home and called my dad to tell him the exciting news. His response was “Don’t get too excited. Your mom was like this with all of her babies and only once did a baby come early and that was because you were a twin. Just be patient.” That was not what I wanted to hear, but he was right. By my 39 week appointment I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced. Every appointment my midwife was surprised that I hadn’t already had my baby.

At 39 ½ weeks I was outside blowing bubbles with my niece and nephew at around 1 pm when I felt a little gush of water. I wasn’t sure if I had peed my pants or if my water broke. Soon after my sister-in-law left with her kids, my husband and I went up to our apartment. I told him my water might have broken, but I didn’t want to go to the hospital unless I was sure. So we sat down and watched a movie. When I stood up after watching the movie there was more of a gush of water, so I knew it was my water that had broken. We got ready and went to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital they checked to make sure my water actually had broken and then checked us in. And we waited…. The contractions never came. At about 5:45 they decided to start me on pitocin. We called my aunt who was going to be our birthing coach. She got there as the contractions were getting hard, which were really soon after they started the pitocin. I really wanted to go naturally. At 6:00 a nurse named Zandy came on shift and she had had a baby naturally less than a year before. She made me commit to her that I did want to go naturally. I will just write what I wrote in my baby’s journal:

“So Zandy came on shift about 6 and that is when real labor started and it hurt! First we just did back pressure during contractions while I was sitting on a birthing ball. Then as they got worse we added hip pressure. So Josh was on one side of me and Zandy was on the other side and they were pushing my hips while Aunt Jenise was pushing on my back. Then they just kept telling me to breath in my nose and out my mouth. I was in control for the first while and then it kept hurting more. Soon I was dilated to a 7 and the nurse called the midwife to hurry down because she was sure the baby was coming soon. Aunt Jenise said she went from this point to pushing in 20 minutes so I was excited to be almost done. I kept asking how long do I have left and they kept saying that you (my baby) would be here soon. Well 20 minutes turned into and an hour and then 2 and you were just not coming. Finally I was dilated to a 9 ¾ but there was just a lip left. That lip kept not leaving. I said that I felt like I needed to push. After a little bit of my midwife telling me not to push, she finally told me it was okay and she would work your head around the lip. During the last half hour before I could push I was in so much pain. I was kneeling on my bed with my arms over the back. I would sleep for the 30 seconds between contractions because I was so tired. I begged for medicine but they said it was too late. At this point I felt help from my mom (she had died 7 years previously). I don’t know how it worked but God let mom come help me and give me physical strength.

Finally I started pushing. It hurt really bad, but at least I felt like I was finally doing something. Then Josh was telling me he could see your head. SO I kept pushing. I wanted to meet you! All of a sudden my midwife told me to stop pushing. I told her I couldn’t stop pushing. Her voice was not panicky, but with more force she said, “Hannah, stop pushing.” I really tried. I told my body to stop pushing, but it didn’t respond. I saw that Josh had a kind of panicked look in his eye and then my midwife said, “Hannah’s not stopping. I guess I will figure this out.” They then told me that your umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around your neck. With the next couple pushes you came out and my midwife maneuvered you through some gymnastic tricks to get the cord off your neck. Why you finally came out I felt the biggest feeling of relief that I have ever felt. It was amazing! I love you so much! I just wanted to hold you. Josh got to cut your umbilical cord and then they took you over and got you breathing and weighed. But you had also swallowed amniotic fluid so you weren’t breathing as you should. So they let me hold you for a second and then they whisked you off to the nursery. During that time my midwife sewed me up. After they determined that you were okay, I finally got to hold you skin to skin.” 

Daniel was born at 11:11 pm and was 8 lbs 5 oz and 21.5 inches long.

For months after having Daniel I would shudder every time I thought about the pain of the last hour or two of labor.  But I would not have traded it for anything. Giving birth was the most amazing experience I have ever felt. I couldn’t sleep for hours after giving birth because I just stared at this amazing baby that we had created. Being a mother is the most worthwhile thing I could ever do!

If you have any questions for Hannah, please send them to us! 
Look for the story of Hannah's second birth on Tuesday!