Ellison's Birth Story

It is amazing to me the way that God’s providence is so evident in hindsight, especially in circumstances where it was hard to see while in the midst of a particular event.  In relation to Ellison’s birth, God’s gracious and meticulous control of the timing of everything is the thing that has struck me the most.  For the delivery of baby number three, my big prayer was that I would be able to go into labor naturally without needing to be induced, and that I would be able to go through the process of labor naturally without needing an epidural.  I know some of you think that’s crazy, but based on how smoothly my previous deliveries had gone, I really felt strongly this time that I wanted to go the “all-natural” route.  I had read up on every possible method of helping to facilitate this, but ultimately I knew it wasn’t totally in my hands because, let’s face it, I can’t make contractions start.  Because of my gestational diabetes (which I’ve had in all three pregnancies), I knew all along that the OBGYN midwives would ultimately decide when I would need to be induced, if labor had not yet started on its own.  Up until about week 38, I had been told that my due date, Saturday, May 4, would be the day to plan on being induced.  On Thursday, May 2, I had my final checkup with my midwife.  Everything was looking great with baby, and her size was measuring right on track (not huge).  I was already 4cm dilated, and I had my membranes stripped to possibly help labor start.  My midwife felt certain that my labor would start naturally before the weekend, but we needed to go ahead and schedule an induction in case it came to that.  I was pleasantly surprised when instead of Saturday, she recommended TUESDAY morning!  I was stunned that she was so willing to let me go past my due date by three days, as this had never been presented as an option up until this moment.  I left the office happy and confident that we were probably going to have a baby the next day.  Upon arriving home, I did all the things that are recommended to help labor start naturally, including walking a mile through the neighborhood and doing some yoga. 

Friday arrived.  I walked another mile through the neighborhood.  Rob had a sore throat and decided to make an appointment with the doctor to have it checked out.  I assumed it was just related to seasonal allergies.  I rode with him to his appointment, expecting that we would leave there and go wander the aisles of Target to get some more walking in without having to be out in the heat.  The doctor’s appointment was quick because Rob immediately tested positive for strep throat.  Our efforts at trying to start labor came to a screeching halt.  Rob would need to be on antibiotics for a full 48 hours before he would no longer be considered contagious.  Our fear, of course, was that if I went into labor within these 48 hours, he may not be allowed into the delivery room.  (In reality, I have no idea if this is the case, but it seemed plausible.)  This is when my emotions began to roller coaster like crazy.  We returned home for the day, with Rob quarantined in our bedroom, and me basically sitting around trying NOT to go into labor.  Rob’s parents picked up the kids from school to keep them until at least Sunday to help prevent anyone else from getting sick. 

Saturday was another day of sitting around the house. 

Sunday, Rob was feeling much better, and it had been nearly 48 hours, so he decided to go to church.  I decided to stay home, as my introverted self couldn’t stand the thought of having to answer the same questions over and over… “You’re still pregnant?!”… “When are you gonna have that baby?!” etc.   My emotional state could not have handled it that day.  Rob’s parents brought the kids to church and afterward went to the minute-clinic where they, too, tested positive for strep.  Holy cow.

Sunday night/Monday morning, my throat started feeling tight.  On a normal day, I would have ignored it, thinking again that it was allergy related, but in this case, I wanted to be on the safe side.  I scheduled a doctor’s appointment to get tested for strep.  The earliest appointment available was 11:30 Monday, but as there were no signs of labor at this point, time of day didn’t seem to matter.  I went to the appointment, tested negative (praise Jesus), and was put on antibiotics as a precautionary measure, in case I was actually in the early stages of strep.

I got in the car to leave the appointment at noon and realized I was starting to have contractions.  The REAL kind, not the Braxton Hicks I had been having for weeks.  I started timing with the digital clock in my car as I drove home.  They were seven minutes apart and intense enough that I winced a little with each one.  I came home and informed Rob and kept timing, thinking we would probably be staring at the timer for the better part of the afternoon.  Seven minutes apart quickly turned into two-and-a-half!  30-seconds long… 40-seconds… 50-seconds… 1-minute.  We live 30 minutes from the hospital, so we decided the smart thing to do was to at least go ahead and get to St. Augustine.  I didn’t want to check into the hospital too soon because I didn’t want to be strapped to monitors all day, so we discussed the idea of going somewhere close to the hospital to walk around a bit.  By the time we had driven the distance though, that idea was out the window.  Labor was coming on FAST, so we went straight to L&D at the hospital.  Upon arrival at 2:00, I was at least 7-8cm dilated, although the nurse couldn’t be sure because she didn’t want to risk breaking my water while checking.  Contractions were now intense enough it was work to walk down the hall to my next destination.  I was set up in a delivery room, attached to the monitor, given an I.V. port, and Rob procured the birthing ball I had requested.  (I had told him I wanted all the props that were available, but we only had time or need for the ball at this point!)  Contractions were coming strong and fast.  I sat and rocked on the birthing ball while Rob gave counter-pressure on my lower back.  My midwife Amy checked in with me and said she’d be in the hall staying out of my way until I needed her.  (She also was great about getting me detached from the monitor, even though I had been told I would need continuous monitoring the whole time.  I love how she trusted her gut rather than protocol.)  Rob and I went through a few more rounds of contractions on our own on the birthing ball.  I don’t know how many, but it seemed like only a few minutes had passed before I felt like it was time to get ready to push.  This is the part of labor that I had not ever experienced before due to my epidurals.  It is wild how your body just knows what to do!  In my case, instead of just feeling pressure internally, it was like I could feel baby Ellison’s head pushing onto the birthing ball!  We buzzed for the midwife; she and the nurses burst through the door and set up the room for delivery in a flash!  I was ready to go.  Amy thought she might break my water to help things along, but we were already past that being an option, as all she could feel was baby.  I had done my research on birthing positions, and I knew I didn’t want to lie on my back, so I used a position I had read about that looked the most useful and supported.  Again, I was incredibly pleased that Amy was supportive of me giving birth in whatever way I felt comfortable.  With the delivery bed in a fully-upright position (like a chair), I knelt on the bed, facing the upright part and using it for support.  It was surprisingly perfect.  It was just the right height for me to hook my arms over the top edge for support.  In a matter of minutes (maybe four contractions), my water broke and soon after Ellison was born!  The contractions and pushing were physically intense, but I was surprised at how mentally alert I felt.  I remember giving myself a little mental pep-talk after thinking it felt like baby wasn’t going to fit!  She, of course, did, because the female body is amazingly designed for birth.  She was passed up to me where I held her moist newborn body up against my chest.  As soon as the delivery process was over, I was amazed at how I felt.  Rather than being overwhelmed with pain, I felt empowered by what I had just done.  Yes, I was a bit sore from all that hard work, but it was so much more positive of an experience than I had ever expected.  I don’t want to gloss over it and make it sound like it was easy or pain free.  That’s not the case.  Labor is intense, no matter how your experience goes.  Mine just happened to be fast and furious!  I believe going into labor naturally without being induced and having an unmedicated birth helped my body do exactly what it was designed to do.  I was able to listen to its cues and do what it needed.  The hormones and oxytocin and adrenalin that flood a woman’s brain during labor are also pretty stinking amazing and do a great job of helping you to kind of forget the intensity of the pain you’ve just been through.  My recovery from this birth has also gone faster and easier than my previous two.  I give some of that credit to the fact that my body is more experienced with the birthing process now than it was as a brand new mom, but I also think going all-natural helped, as well.  I am incredibly thankful for this experience going the way that it did, and I could not have dreamed of it going any better.