A birth story for baby number 5 is not what I had imagined I would be writing LOL
BACKSTORY: If you have been following along, or if you follow our Youtube Channel, you know that baby number 5 was pretty unexpected for us. In Feb/March 2020 we decided that we would try for ONE month, and if it happened, then great! But if not, we decided we would be done having babies. So we tried, and to our surprise, we were pregnant! However, at 6 weeks, we lost our baby and decided that we did not want to go through that again and that we were 100% content with our four boys.
In April and May 2020 we continued on our journey to become foster parents, and at the end of May, we were done with our Foster Care foundations training and we spent the month of June filling out all our paperwork. A few weeks into July, we finished our paperwork and I made plans to go to the office and submit it. THE DAY BEFORE I planned on turning in our paperwork, I took a random pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE. I was floored. Disappointed and terrified actually. We were done having babies, we made our peace with that, we didn’t want to experience another loss, we were one step away from becoming certified foster parents, I was in the middle of graduate school, and we were on the next step of our lives. I have been on medication for anxiety and I was worried about how that would effect the baby. Mac was PUMPED but it took me a few weeks for it to settle in, and although I was extremely anxious for the future, we were excited!
My pregnancy was way different than the other four. I was sick and nauseous until about 25 weeks, extremely exhausted, and actually very anxious about having a girl. I saw a chiropractor regularly throughout my pregnancy and it made a HUGE difference. My body felt great most of the time, even though I was emotionally/mentally drained most of the time, especially at the end.
The last month or two, I had a lot of regular contractions and I wondered if my water would break to start labor like it did with the other four. Actually, because of my SUPER quick labor with Sawyer, we had been planning a 39 week induction in order to control the speed of my labor but we decided against it with my midwife because at 39 weeks, I was still only 2 CM and hadn’t progressed with my prodromal labor over the last 2 weeks. SO we hoped that the baby would come on her own, slowly and safely BEFORE my midwife planned to go on vacation.
A Birth Story for baby number 5
Our birth story for baby number 5 starts on Sunday March 14th (39 wks 4 days), I did the “miles circuit” in the morning and went on with my day. Decided to take on a nesting project, and I took all of my clothes out of my closet and dresser to switch it out with my Spring/Summer wardrobe. After boxing up my Fall/Winter stuff and reorganizing everything else we had dinner and put the kids to bed. After trying one more labor-inducing trick before bed, I immediately started getting contractions every 6-7 minutes around 8PM. I took a shower and the contractions continued. They got a little closer together and a little more painful over the next hour and a half. I decided to call the hospital when my contractions were 5-6 minutes apart and they wanted me to come in since I’ve had such fast labors.
We got to the hospital around 10 and they checked my cervix and I was dilated to 3 CM so they decided to admit me. Although this might be weird to you, my idea of a perfect labor this time around, was a SLOW labor with an epidural and possibly Pitocin. It’s just what I wanted and imagined. I told the midwife on call that I would probably want an epidural and I got one at 11 PM. Shortly after, I was dilated to 5 CM. We slept through the night until about 4 AM. My contractions continued throughout the night, but started spacing out a bit more than we wanted. My water still hadn’t broke, so I asked them to break my water around 5 AM. My contractions were regular again but not closer together and I wasn’t dilating as much anymore.
My midwife and I discussed doing a small amount of Pitocin and it was just what I needed to keep my contractions going and get them a little closer together. They were back to about 5 minutes apart but I was only dilated 6 CM at about 7 AM. Around 8 PM the gave me a little more Pitocin and my contractions were about 2 minutes apart and things got intense. My epidural stopped working mostly and Mac was doing AMAZING at helping me through my contractions as always. I felt like I needed to push and I called the nurse to check me again and I was only a 6.5. I was so confused but after 20-30 more minutes of breathing through intense contractions, I felt like I needed to push again and I was at 8.5 CM around0 8:30 PM. I breathed through another contraction or two, slowly and carefully pushing as I felt my body progress, and less than 10 minutes later I was a 10!
**The way our hospital works is that you get whatever midwife is on call during your labor and I was never able to have my midwife there for ANY of my births. However, some time during that last hour or two of my labor, my midwife showed up before her shift because the midwife on call, saw a note and called her in to come deliver my baby. It was the most AMAZING surprise to have her there to deliver our last baby after hoping to have her there for the previous 4! It was such a beautiful moment.**
Back to the story! After MY midwife told me I was ready to push, everything stopped. The pain. The contractions. The noise. I froze and enjoyed the moment. I didn’t want to push yet. I took a minute to sit there and laugh and savor that last moment that I would have her still inside me. It was peaceful and SO incredibly beautiful. It was something about her being a girl, being our last baby, having my midwife there, hoping my mom would make it (that’s another story), and just wanting to sit and experience that last moment of labor.
I finally decided I was ready, so I pushed once and her head was out, I pushed again and her shoulders were out. My midwife told me to reach down and push slowly as I pulled her out of my body and she was here. My midwife and Mac reassured me that she was indeed a girl, but I had to check a few times to be sure LOL 🙂 Her cord was really short so I was hard to hold her before I delivered my placenta but I laid her on my stomach and held her where just just was inside my body. She was FULL of vernix and looked so blonde, bald, and beautiful. I love babies covered in vernix.
She laid on my stomach for a bit while her cord finished giving her the rest of its nutrients and Mac cut the cord when it was ready. So much of this birth was similar to our first baby and me getting to pull her out AND have my midwife there was the perfect end to this chapter of our lives. I loved every second of her labor/birth story and I will remember it forever.
Women shouldn’t be ashamed to want an epidural or a repeat C-section or a natural home birth. Every birth is special and unique, especially if the mom is able to feel heard and empowered. I had the labor and birth story that I envisioned and it was perfect. I had fast, natural births that I envisioned and those were just as perfect and amazing. Do what feels right and empowering to you and enjoy every second of it if you are able.
London was born on March 15, 2021 at 8:44 AM – 7 lbs 7 oz and 20.5 inches long. Welcome to the Ox family baby girl!
Find our birth vlog/birth story for baby number 5 on our Youtube Channel
