Katie's birth was great...the recovery was hard and I had avoidable complications that led us to find another midwife for this birth. We decided to go with Audrey Stucker here locally who was actually Manly's first choice with Katie's birth. He was right...I am so grateful for her and her patience during the whole thing. It was so much better than last time! Mark was an incredible support and encouragement...I love going through a birth with him. I just feel like it brings us so close and i love how wonderful he is.
I feel like Weldon's birth story starts around 33 weeks. I went in for my regular appt and we found out that he was head down, in an idea position and very very low. Between a 0 and -1 station and we were a little concerned that he may be small because I was measuring a few weeks behind. We went in for an ultrasound to make sure that he was growing just fine (and he was) and then started being very careful so as to not have a preemie. It was a constant challenge to not worry but still be prepared and not do too much as I kept having bouts of contractions. We made it to 37 weeks and I started to relax and stop worrying.
Fast forward to my due date when I started having contractions, mild but a minute long and 5 mins apart... for the next 12 hours... we called Katie W who was coming down from NE and had her go ahead and start her treck down. That was Thursday and then began the longest weekend of my life probably. I continued to have contractions all day and through the night from 10-5 minutes apart and just strong enough to keep me up at night but not to do anything. By Sunday evening I had tried castor oil and several tinctures and had my membranes stripped so we went in to the Birthing Center to see what was happening and I dilated less than 2cm. We went back home so discouraged. I was exhausted, and a little stressed out that I kept having all these contractions, Katie was taking off work to be there and the baby wouldn't come!! My contractions finally tapered off and We decided that Katie should head home early in the week and save some of her time off to come see the baby after he actually came.
The next week and a half were much harder than I expected. I wasn't dreadfully uncomfortable (both hips were out and other general discomforts but fine really.) but the emotional roller coaster of being just fine and then wondering if baby would EVER come? would he be huge? would he be okay? and back to being just fine and patient...several times a day, was harder than I had expected being over due to be.
Finally Wednesday morning the 11th I had a midwife appt and asked her to strip my membranes again just to see if it would kick start anything. I had several nights of good sleep behind me and was feeling pretty good. She did and said I had dilated another cm and was effacing nicely. By that afternoon I was having some decent contractions, but not very close together. We decided to go out on a date just in case the baby came so Manly and I headed to Rockwall and Chipotle. I was having decent contractions the whole time and secretly felt in my heart that this was the real deal, but didn't want to get my hopes up.
By 9pm we got home and settled, I was having pretty strong contractions and they were evenly 10 mins apart. I texted Audrey and she said it sounded like the real deal to her and we decided I would try to get some sleep. I went off to bed and slept from 10-11 where contractions woke me up too stiff to sleep through.
They continued every 10 minutes until 2am when I decided to try taking a shower and moving around. They got a little stronger but not any closer than the 8-10 minutes apart. I tried going back to bed but wasn't feeling good, couldn't eat and was starting to feel panicky during the contractions.
I woke Manly up at 4:30 and decided to go into the house because I couldn't lay down any more. As soon as I got up the second time my contractions immediately went to under 5 minutes and I was nauseated and panicky with each one. We decided to gather our things, text Audrey and go right into the Birthing Center.
Katherine was awake so I gave her instructions to move Katie to the house and told her to stand by. I had two contractions on the 10 minute ride to the Birthing Center and tried to make it into the Birthing center before the next one hit but I only made it to the hood of the car!
We got checked there and I was dilated to 8cm! I was shocked! We told the girls to come on over and I texted Esther and told her to go ahead and come as well.
I dont really remember much of them being there. But I do remember them arriving!
Contractions were really strong and about 3 minutes apart so I went ahead and got in the bath as quickly as I could. After probably an hour or and hour and a half I started feeling "pushy" and Audrey said I could start pushing gently whenever I wanted to.
I tried a few little pushes and started really feeling the urge to push strongly but didn't feel like I was getting anywhere. Audrey checked and discovered that I had a cervical lip that needed to be moved over his head. That sucked. I pushed and she held the lip up until his head got past it, so so painful but as soon as it was out of the way I could feel myself finally making progress.
I hate hate hate that feeling of the baby's head moving down but at the same time it was encouraging to know that it would all soon be over. The head finally crowned and was delivered. Katie never turned after her head came out so I tore badly when I delivered her shoulders. Weldon however turned like a good boy and that hurt like crazy!! I had no idea what a huge body like that felt like turning inside you! One of his shoulders was "a little sticky" coming out but once both arms came out it felt like his chest just lodged right there. I remember Audrey telling someone to grab my leg to hold it back and telling me to keep pushing. I pushed with all my might and she pulled and moved him back and forth. I knew he was being a little sticky because she was shaking the whole lower half of my body back and forth trying to get him out. It felt like forever but I know it was only a few seconds and at 7:24 he was born and in my arms.
He was so squishy and bigger than I thought he would be!
They cut the cord, I delivered the placenta which was HUGE and actually hurt and I had to push a little to deliver, which was completely opposite of Katie. Everyone went into the other room with the baby while they got me out of the water and settled in the bed to check the damages. I was SO worried about tearing this time since my last experience was so awful with tearing and being stitched incorrectly. I bled a lot getting out of the tub and into bed so they gave me pitocin to stop the bleeding. I ended up tearing but not as badly and only needing 3 stitches. They did a great job getting me stitched right up and everything taken care of.
After a while Elizabeth brought Katie over to meet him and her reaction was priceless!! she came in the door asking for me, took one look to make sure I was okay and then immediately started looking around and asking for "Baby". She was in awe and in love. I cried. Nothing like seeing the delight and love on her face when she saw him. She wanted to hold him and then cried when she left.
They measured him and he weighed 8lbs 14oz, was 22 inches long and his chest was 14inches...a whole inch bigger than his head which explains the struggle to get it out! I was shocked!
Everyone went home, I dressed Weldon, and had some OJ and a cereal bar (I was starving!) and we headed home around 10. Soon after we left the birthing center I was so exhausted and started feeling nauseated. I asked Manly to pull over because I was feeling so carsick. I remember him pulling off to the side of the road where I told him I might pass out and the next thing I remember He had my door open and was on the phone with 911 telling them that his wife had just passed out in the car. He sounded SO far away but gradually got clearer and louder back to normal. I felt AMAZING. Apparently I had passed out for about 30 seconds but I felt like I had just taken the most amazing nap! I felt great! We disregarded the 911 call and kept on our way. I called Audrey and told her, so she said to go straight to bed and eat some eggs when I got home.
I went right to bed and could barely keep my eyes open to even eat the eggs. I have never been so tired in my life! Weldon and I just snuggled down and it was all over.
Katie's birth I went home saying "I could totally do that again!!" This time..... I have a lot of forgetting to do before I ever want to repeat that. It wasn't technically harder in a lot of ways, and only 8-10 hours active labor, but the whole huge chest thing was a struggle. But he's adorable and we love him... I'd do it again to get him! <3
