The WHOLE Birth Story...

What a beautiful, wonderful, spiritual, frustrating, terrifying, near agonizing experience this whole pregnancy and finally BIRTH (yippee!) has been. Most birth stories begin at the onset of labor mine begins an agonizing month before. In the week or so before Jeremiah left (because we were moving to Kansas) I literally did everything I knew how to do to hurry along the process so that he could be there. I walked several miles everyday, I danced around the house, I took loooong showers and talked to my belly trying to coax Liam out and I prayed. Oh did I pray...I prayed and I prayed and I prayed. I begged the Lord, "please don't let me have this baby without his father here...Jeremiah needs to be a part of this...please." No baby.

March 29th came so quickly, Jeremiah was all packed up in our moving truck and ready to leave. In my sadness, just like that he was gone and I was STILL pregnant. We had scheduled a plane ticket for him to fly back on April 5th (because surely I would've had the baby by then, right?!) The plan was that we would all pack up in our mini-van and ride off into the sunset as a family to start our new life in Kansas. Instead, Miah flew in, baby was still snug in my tummy, he packed up the minivan, loaded up my children, took my father with him for back up and THEY rode off into the sunset and I was left behind here in Vegas at my mom's to wait..how very, very long that wait was.

I continued to pray, to walk, to beg Liam to come out. I had several false starts but still nothing. Jeremiah had to fly back for a meeting on the 28th and he kept saying he felt like he was gonna fly back to Vegas before I ever made it out to Kansas. My midwife didn't think so...I was ripe and ready there was no way I could be pregnant that long...I was 4 cm! It was time. But I was pregnant for "that long."

I decided to resort to Castor-oil on Wednesday April 23rd. That day I kept talking to baby Liam in my belly and telling him it was his birthday...nope! Nothing happened beyond some very manageable discomfort. However, in the middle of the night I woke up in a panic. I was having an extremely strong, intense contraction that would not let up. My stomach remained very hard for a very, very long time. I got up and tried to walk it off in my mother's living room. I was freaking out, praying....I couldn't feel the baby move. I tried the old orange juice trick to get him moving...nothing. Finally, crying and shaking I called my midwife at 3am and said "The baby stopped moving" She got to my mom's house about 15 min later...I was a wreck, she was a wreck, my mom was a wreck. She pulled out the doppler looking for a heartbeat...initially nothing. My heart sank. But then there it was soft but steady. It was a little slower then usual but it was there. In the morning any sign of contractions was gone. I rested up the whole next day still anxious and praying.

By this time I had resigned myself to the fact that Jeremiah would not be present despite my pleas to the Lord a month earlier. In just two days my husband would be flying into Las Vegas and in my mind it'd be cool if I had the baby before he got there so he could spend some time with his son. Nope! I talked to Kaye the midwife the evening before he arrived and asked if she could strip my membranes the next morning in hopes that I could have the baby while Miah was present. She agreed.

That night I felt horrible, I tossed, turned, ached...I lost some of the mucous plug in the morning (which honestly meant nothing to me because I had also lost it the week before) but I felt real icky. Kaye arrived around 10am checked me...4cm...ready to go (like I had been for 2 weeks)...having mini contractions and she was fairly certain I was in pre-labor. (whatever, right?!) She stretched my cervix a bit which was extremely painful (to the point where I had sweat dripping down my brow) Thankfully, my mother was beside me holding my hand through the whole thing. Afterward, Kaye left but said she would return later to check my progress.

At that time my mother and I went for a walk. I felt some contractions but nothing really strong. I felt the the best when I was rocking in my mothers reclining couch listening to John Denver sing "Sunshine on my Shoulder" and "Rocky Mountain High" Jeremiah arrived from the airport around 2pm just as Kaye arrived to check my progress...there was none...except the slight contractions I was having. She then left and asked us to call if anything. We hung out in the house for awhile then Jeremiah, my mom, and I went for another walk...I was sort of feeling contractions but they weren't intense and the hopelessness was setting in. Just then we saw an ice cream truck...surely a popsicle could cheer me up! (and it did, lol)

We returned to my mothers at about 4pm and began to listen to John Denver as we sat in her living room talking and enjoying one anothers company but I was mindful of the slight, irregular contractions I was feeling. I didn't want to get excited because this had literally been going on for weeks. At exactly 4:47pm I sent a text message to my friend Sarah saying that I was having contractions but I didn't want to get my hopes up...I pressed send and then I got up and went to the rest room. While there I had the BIGGEST Contraction. My mom said we needed to call Kaye right then. I waddled out of the bathroom and began to say that I really didn't think it was necessary and then BAM! another strong contraction and I was on my knees. Jeremiah called Kaye from his cell and left a message. I waddled into the bedroom and began having major contraction after major contraction. I wept, I moaned (I like to sing out the pain) Kaye called back, she talked to me for a second and I told her I was fine (I lied)...I hung up and the next instant I was having another contracton they were coming on top of eachother...Miah called Kaye again. She was on her way. When she arrived my moans were already sounding really "pushy" so she only had time to set up everything in the living room and I waddled, crawled, clung to Miah as I made my way to the living room where she had set up the blankets and place where I would have my baby boy. I got down on all fours....actually I kind of landed there and couldn't move. Jeremiah was right beside me holding me, cheering me on, helping me through it all...I was in so much pain...his arm was right next to my mouth...I cried out and nearly bit into his arm but realized just as I was about to and didn't..thank goodness! I pushed with all my might and then at 5:33pm (not quite an hour from when the first contraction started) my beautiful baby boy slithered out and was pushed toward me. We rejoiced, we cried, we embraced. As soon as I was able I took a hot shower and then sat down to snuggle in with my sweet new baby boy, Liam Conor....all 9 lbs. 9 ozs of him!!

Home birth is so incredibly empowering and such an amazing spiritual experience. I feel honored and so blessed to have had the opportunity to birth my babies at home. The greatest thing I learned in this experience was to trust in the Lord and in his timing. I plead with him to make it possible for Jeremiah to be there and I felt like HE ignored that plea. But in his timing the Lord came through and my wonderful husband was right there cheering me on and lifting me up as I birthed our 5th child in the safety of his arms. The Lord always knows what he is doing.