WARNING: Don't read if you don't like words like 'bloody show'. :)
TOTALLY UNEDITED- I take no responsibility for typos, etc.
TOTALLY UNEDITED- I take no responsibility for typos, etc.
The Birth of Everett Todd Long
My ‘due date’ was August 18, 2009, but just like my other pregnancies, that day came and went. On Wednesday, August 26th my Activity Days Girls (church calling) threw me a sweet little baby shower – a nice way to keep my mind of the fact that I was still pregnant. The next night, the27th, a friend threw a little ‘Girls Night Out’ for Melissa (one of my closest friends who also was quite pregnant) and me. We had pedicures/manicures, ate cake and got a few little gifts. I had been having bloody show for the past 48 hours so I knew that the baby wasn’t too far from coming, but still it was a waiting game. I was contracting every 15 minutes or so during the Girls Night Out, but still wasn’t banking on having a baby that night. I could hide the fact that I was contracting, but did tell a couple people. I headed home about 9:30pm and after organizing the presents I had gotten, climbed into bed. The contractions kept coming but I could sleep in between and lay down during so nothing too exciting. Around 11:30pm on the 27th I had my first contraction that I really had to work through. Although the contractions were STILL 15 minutes apart the intensity was strong- they actually stayed the same strength from 11:30pm until the actual birth. I tried laying down, leaning over the bed, bouncing on the birth ball, walking around, the shower, the tub, really anything I knew to do. About 4:30am Josh got up with me and tried watching a movie on the laptop while sitting in the tub between contractions and standing up during. I liked counter pressure on my lower back during the contractions. Somewhere around 6:00am on the 28th I started feeling adhesions tearing near where my cesarean scar is. OUCH! I became fearful, because the only time I’d ever felt them in labor was during my labor with Jack and I never want to re-live the pain I felt then. I asked Josh to give me a blessing of comfort and he did- immediately I felt peace and no more tearing! At about 6:30am I tried checking myself and could feel a little cervix, but not much, so I called Amy. She had only been home 3 hours from another birth so we decided I would try a little longer and call her again. For the next 2 hours I had virtually one contraction on top of the other- it was to make up for those contractions that were 15 minutes apart for the first 7 hours. My mom came and picked up Jack and Gracean at 7:45am or so and left the two bigger girls so they could be at the birth. At 8:30am I tried checking myself and Josh tried too- neither of us could feel cervix, so I called Amy again. While I waited I kept telling Josh I was going to have my water broken as soon as Amy got there. Both Amy and Vicki arrived around 9:20am- I immediately made Amy check and got a definite ‘complete’. She broke my water and I labored a bit longer waiting for the insuppressible desire to push. It did come and I tried pushing standing straight up. I made no progress in this position (I couldn’t get leverage) so I laid down in Simms (side-lying) which is how my last three babies had been born (by my choice). I couldn’t get ‘into it’ this way either so I tried a supported squat/dangle while Josh sat on the bed supporting me under my arms. (Later my legs would be so sore from squatting!) This was it. I pushed with all my might and his head finally emerged. The girls (Morgan and Raelyn) came in at this point. It was the best I’d ever been able to see my own birth, because I was squatting and could see his head right there. I wanted him out so bad at that point and I remember Amy saying ‘Look at the vernix’ because vernix had come out with some of the water. I had never had a baby with any vernix so they were all fascinated, but instead of wanting to wait for him to rotate around like babies do I just pushed. I knew in my mind that this wasn’t the best move at that point, but no one could tell me otherwise and I pushed. Everett Todd Long was born at 9:47am and I got to sit back on the floor and hold my sweet little boy. He weighed 9lbs 11oz and was 20 inches long (our shortest baby thus far, but our next to heaviest). What a sweet little angel. We named him Everett after my great-grandfather and Todd after my dad.
Josh was (as he always is) such a support to me during labor- very intuitive and he really desires for me to have a wonderful experience. I could never have such great births without his support. Amy and Vicki are truly gifts from God- both wonderful and very patient with me as I take over the parts of laboring woman, doula AND midwife during my own births.
My ‘due date’ was August 18, 2009, but just like my other pregnancies, that day came and went. On Wednesday, August 26th my Activity Days Girls (church calling) threw me a sweet little baby shower – a nice way to keep my mind of the fact that I was still pregnant. The next night, the27th, a friend threw a little ‘Girls Night Out’ for Melissa (one of my closest friends who also was quite pregnant) and me. We had pedicures/manicures, ate cake and got a few little gifts. I had been having bloody show for the past 48 hours so I knew that the baby wasn’t too far from coming, but still it was a waiting game. I was contracting every 15 minutes or so during the Girls Night Out, but still wasn’t banking on having a baby that night. I could hide the fact that I was contracting, but did tell a couple people. I headed home about 9:30pm and after organizing the presents I had gotten, climbed into bed. The contractions kept coming but I could sleep in between and lay down during so nothing too exciting. Around 11:30pm on the 27th I had my first contraction that I really had to work through. Although the contractions were STILL 15 minutes apart the intensity was strong- they actually stayed the same strength from 11:30pm until the actual birth. I tried laying down, leaning over the bed, bouncing on the birth ball, walking around, the shower, the tub, really anything I knew to do. About 4:30am Josh got up with me and tried watching a movie on the laptop while sitting in the tub between contractions and standing up during. I liked counter pressure on my lower back during the contractions. Somewhere around 6:00am on the 28th I started feeling adhesions tearing near where my cesarean scar is. OUCH! I became fearful, because the only time I’d ever felt them in labor was during my labor with Jack and I never want to re-live the pain I felt then. I asked Josh to give me a blessing of comfort and he did- immediately I felt peace and no more tearing! At about 6:30am I tried checking myself and could feel a little cervix, but not much, so I called Amy. She had only been home 3 hours from another birth so we decided I would try a little longer and call her again. For the next 2 hours I had virtually one contraction on top of the other- it was to make up for those contractions that were 15 minutes apart for the first 7 hours. My mom came and picked up Jack and Gracean at 7:45am or so and left the two bigger girls so they could be at the birth. At 8:30am I tried checking myself and Josh tried too- neither of us could feel cervix, so I called Amy again. While I waited I kept telling Josh I was going to have my water broken as soon as Amy got there. Both Amy and Vicki arrived around 9:20am- I immediately made Amy check and got a definite ‘complete’. She broke my water and I labored a bit longer waiting for the insuppressible desire to push. It did come and I tried pushing standing straight up. I made no progress in this position (I couldn’t get leverage) so I laid down in Simms (side-lying) which is how my last three babies had been born (by my choice). I couldn’t get ‘into it’ this way either so I tried a supported squat/dangle while Josh sat on the bed supporting me under my arms. (Later my legs would be so sore from squatting!) This was it. I pushed with all my might and his head finally emerged. The girls (Morgan and Raelyn) came in at this point. It was the best I’d ever been able to see my own birth, because I was squatting and could see his head right there. I wanted him out so bad at that point and I remember Amy saying ‘Look at the vernix’ because vernix had come out with some of the water. I had never had a baby with any vernix so they were all fascinated, but instead of wanting to wait for him to rotate around like babies do I just pushed. I knew in my mind that this wasn’t the best move at that point, but no one could tell me otherwise and I pushed. Everett Todd Long was born at 9:47am and I got to sit back on the floor and hold my sweet little boy. He weighed 9lbs 11oz and was 20 inches long (our shortest baby thus far, but our next to heaviest). What a sweet little angel. We named him Everett after my great-grandfather and Todd after my dad.
Josh was (as he always is) such a support to me during labor- very intuitive and he really desires for me to have a wonderful experience. I could never have such great births without his support. Amy and Vicki are truly gifts from God- both wonderful and very patient with me as I take over the parts of laboring woman, doula AND midwife during my own births.
If you want to go back and read Gracen's birth story here it is.
3 comments:
It all sounds so calm. You never even mentioned that you thought you were going to die from the pain:) You truly are an amazing woman! It was a fun read and thanks for sharing.
Now you don't have to tell your story a million times to people, just tell them to read your blog. You do sound very calm during the whole process. Congratulations. I still haven't seen him in person yet.
Perfect timing... this is just the time in my pregnancy when I love reading birth stories. BTW, Millie and Everett share a b-day.
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