Elliot's Birth Story

Monday September 15th-  (4 days before my scheduled induction), At my last doctor's appointment, the dr. said I was dilated to a 5 and she stripped my membranes. She was doubtful that I would make it all the way to my induction but said that if I did have to go in that morning, probably all they’d have to do is break my water.

So that was reassuring to me – maybe I wouldn’t even need Pitocin! With Anthony, things progressed pretty quickly after they broke my water so I was in hopes that the same thing would happen this time.

Monday after my appt, I was having quite a few contractions but nothing too painful or long lasting. We thought maybe things would happen that night though so my parents came back from out of town early and we more seriously got our bags packed and things ready to go. When I went to bed that night, the contractions basically stopped.

My BUNCO group Tuesday night couldn’t believe I was already dilated that far and still walking around and doing things – they joked with me about running around the church between rounds, doing jumping jacks, squats, etc. Many predicted that I would go into labor the next day – but Wednesday came and went and nothing happened. We had small group on Wednesday night and a normal day on Thursday – and then that night we brought the kids out to my parents’ house to spend the night since our induction was scheduled for 8 am that next morning. I slept ok that night – probably as good as can be expected knowing I was having a baby in a few hours!

Friday September 19 - I got up at about 6:30 am and got ready and we headed to the hospital and arrived shortly before 8 am. They got me checked in and put an IV in my arm after I got my hospital gown on. I was really hoping to not need that IV but I guess it’s standard procedure for them to put one in just in case.

My main nurse during labor was a girl who I recognized from when Anthony was born so that was cool. She was super sweet and we couldn't have asked for a better nurse. She checked my cervix and said I was at a 5-6 and I think 90% effaced. Dr. R was on call at the time and so the nurse asked her if we could just break my water rather than starting any Pitocin. Dr. R came in and confirmed that baby was low and I was about at 6 cm so she then broke my water at 9:15 a.m. I was hoping that things would start to progress fairly quickly from there. I was able to walk around (we walked up, down, and around the halls quite a bit), and bounce on the jellybean-shaped bouncy ball. About every hour or so they checked baby’s heartrate and then put me on the monitors for an NST for 20-30 minutes once about every 1 ½-2 hours. Baby was looking really good. Besides walking around, Tony and I just kinda hung out in our hospital room, watched The Price is Right and a couple other shows that were on at the time. A few hours passed and nothing was really changing. The next time they checked I was dilated to a 7 but I stayed there for quite a while – I was feeling ready for hard labor to come on, knowing that would mean baby was on his way sooner rather than later. I think I went into this labor having prepared myself mentally for a drug-free, natural birth and so I was kinda feeling ready to “take on the world” and to get it over with all at the same time! I was thankful that early on when they asked me if I planned to have an epidural and I said no, there was no pressure at all and they said they would do whatever I wanted.

Tony went down to the cafeteria and got himself some food and it all looked and smelled so good – I wasn’t at all used to going more than a couple hours without food during this pregnancy and was soo hungry!! I remember smelling chocolate chip cookies baking and thinking how good they smelled- seemed like torture when all I could have were ice chips and some sugary-sweet popsicles.

Dr. L came onto her shift at noon and came in to check on me. The nurse had asked us how long we wanted to wait and see what my progression was before taking the next step toward Pitocin, etc. We agreed on waiting a couple more hours and seeing what would happen, hoping labor would take its “full effect” soon. 2:00 p.m., a couple hours later, rolled around and still not a whole lot more than a few contractions here and there but nothing very painful.

A little after 2 p.m., I texted my sweet friend Charissa who is a doula and asked her if she had any recommendations for getting past 7-8 cm and getting baby out. She suggested getting in the tub and, oddly enough, using a breast pump to increase the hormones that cause the uterus to contract. Shortly after I talked to my dr. about doing something other than using Pitocin and she suggested the exact same things – so my nurse got the bath ready and at around 2:30-2:45 I got in the tub and also pumped at the same time. The bathtub there in the L & D room is nice and deep with jets and it felt really good. Within probably 10 minutes or so of being in the tub, I started to feel some hard contractions coming on. I breathed through them and tried to relax as much as possible. It sounds weird, but I was excited to be having these contractions!! Things were progressing. I counted a total of about 9-10 hard and fairly long contractions and Tony came in to check on me and I gave him an update. He could tell that I was getting more uncomfortable and was in labor now "officially" – and he was starting to get a little worried that baby would be born in the bathtub! I told him it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world – people do that quite often!

After a few more minutes passed, I started feeling an urge to push and told Tony. He (apparently unusually calmly, a nurse told me later) went out into the hallway and informed the nearest nurse that I was feeling pressure. I think that made the nurses move more quickly!

I was soon out of the tub and on my bed and I remember looking at the clock and it was 3:30 p.m. Dr. L was there in her scrubs and the nurses were getting all set up for the delivery. She told me I could be in whatever pushing position felt most comfortable and they got me a squatting bar to hold onto. I closed my eyes tightly during the hard contractions and when Dr. L checked me this time, she said there was still a small “flap” of my cervix in the way so she would try to move that to make way for baby’s head to come through the birth canal. So apparently I was dilated to more like 9 than 10 but it was still ok to push. Dr. L then also discovered that baby was turned sunny side up (posterior) and that was probably why it had taken longer than expected for things to progress. That was also the reason why I was now experiencing a lot of back labor pains.

I remember looking up and seeing the Dr. and probably at least 3 nurses standing there waiting for baby to make his way out – for a very short moment I felt like they were staring at me and it kind of annoyed me, haha. But I then ignored it and focused on pushing through the contractions. Tony stood on my left side and held my hand and I asked him to count during my pushes. After Dr. L moved the flap, it then went back into the same place so she said I should just labor through it so after a few contractions without pushing, I was fully dilated and able to push again. I was getting pretty tired and felt like the pushing was taking forever. I remember moaning and yelling loudly and feeling like I was going to lose my voice from all my yelling. I remember saying “Come on, baby!” Tony told me later that my "yelling" was probably only "average" on the scale of how loud women may be during labor.. haha, so that made me feel a little better. I was just hoping that those in the nearby rooms couldn't hear me!

The nurses and doctor and Tony were all very encouraging, telling me I was doing great and to keep pushing – I appreciated that because I felt like I didn’t even know if the pushing I was doing was accomplishing anything. But obviously it was! After a few more pushes, his head was crowning and then what an incredible feeling it was to have his head come out and then the rest of his body on the next push and to know that he was here!! He cried right away and they placed my beautiful baby boy on my chest. It felt so surreal at first and I felt like I was in a dream. It was incredible to know that with the Lord's strength and help and the encouragement and support of Tony and my doctor and nurses, I had done it – I had accomplished my personal goal of delivering a baby without any aid of drugs or pain killers. Everyone's experience is different and I totally and completely understand why some ladies choose to have epidurals - I had delivered my first three babies with epidurals as well as with the "help" of some Pitocin during labor, and with Hannah Beth and Anthony, I was also on an IV for testing positive for Group B Strep. But I am so very thankful that this time around I didn't need Pitocin or the antibiotics for Group B. Something about doing it the “old-fashioned” way was just really neat. A natural childbirth had been my goal from the beginning of this pregnancy and it felt amazing to have met that goal. (I was thankful a little later on too that I was able to get up and move around so soon after Elliot's arrival and felt like it made my recovery quicker as well.)

But so much more importantly than a medication-free birth was the blessing of a beautiful healthy baby boy. God is faithful and good and we will never ever take for granted the blessing of bringing a healthy baby into the world.

Elliot William David was born at 4:04 p.m. on Friday, September 19^th.

Right away I could tell he looked like a Myers baby – brought back flashbacks of having Alethia (like each subsequent birth has) – each of our children definitely has their own look, but also look like siblings without a doubt.

The dr. waited for his umbilical cord to stop pulsating – several minutes – before Tony cut it. I held Elliot for a long time and we took pictures right away and then I nursed him soon after that. He nursed for probably a total of 45 minutes and was a pro at it right away. What a blessing - being able to breastfeed is another thing that I never want to take for granted.

When he was finished eating, the nurse took him and weighed and measured him and cleaned him up a bit.
That evening, my parents came up to the hospital and brought Hannah Beth and Anthony to meet their baby brother. It was so sweet to see them meet him (HB especially was very excited and kept saying how cute he is!).
We cannot say enough how thankful we are for this gift that the Lord has given to us!

Psalm 139:13-14, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."