Confessions of City-Born Farmers: 2016

I had been having Braxton- Hicks contractions for weeks and weeks. These were not normal Braxton-Hicks either. They hurt, and they were every 5 minutes for hours and hours, or sometimes for even a day or two at a time. I had started dilating a little too, so my midwife put me on modified bed rest until 37 weeks. At 37 weeks though, I was up and going again! Two days before Parley was born (Wednesday, June 1) I was out vaccinating our calves, the biggest of which were a few hundred pounds! Aaron had to leave for work so I took over vaccinating, and did one BIG calf by myself and 7 more with Jess. It was a rodeo :)

Also on this Wednesday, June 1^st, I went over to the Richardson's house (a family from our ward) and did a few things to get labor going. Annie Laurie is more of a drill sergeant than any football coach! I jumped on the trampoline, ran down the driveway, did a few stairs...And nothing. No real contractions.

Thursday, June 2^nd, from midnight to 3am-ish I did have contractions. They stopped though and I went to sleep. The next morning about 45 minutes after I woke up, they started again. It was so, so hard to tell though if these were the “real deal,” or if it was more of my painful, Braxton- Hicks again. This time though, they continued, and they progressively got more intense. I had sent Aaron to work that day, but by noon I told him he needed to come home.

With every contraction, I had been practicing my Hypnobabies. Hypnobabies is technically self-hypnosis, but really it just means deep relaxation. How it works, is you imagine a light switch at the base of your neck, and when a contraction starts, you imagine that light switch turning off, and you let your body go loose and limp. This way, you don't fight the contractions. Your body and all of your birthing muscles are working in harmony and letting nature work as it was intended.

When Aaron got home from work we started walking the driveway, and walking across the yard. Aaron kept saying that maybe it was time to go to the hospital, but I kept saying no, and that it might not be the real time. I was so nervous from all of the false alarms before. My biggest fear was that they would send me home! At one point though I didn't do my hypnobabies light switch during a contraction, and I started crying- when before I was super calm and collected. That is when I realized it was really real! I think because I had been so calm and collected up to this point we didn't realize that it was really progressing. I also realized how important it was to do my hypnobabies, so I would have pain control.

We got kids loaded in the car, made last minute preparations, and drove to the babysitter's house. We then had to stop by Wal-Mart. I told Aaron that all I wanted during labor was strawberries. So we stop, and right in front of the strawberries I am having contractions and just standing there closing my eyes. We saw that they had lots of other berries too ( raspberries and blueberries), so we load up, because that is what I am craving during labor. Yes, my hospital and midwife were AMAZING and let me eat my berries and drink my Gatorade all through labor.

We get to the hospital around 8pm, they check me and I am a 3. They said that I will need to walk around for an hour and see if I progress at all, and if I do, then I will be admitted. If I don't then I will be sent home. We walked for an hour up and down the deserted hospital halls. I eventually told Aaron to sit down, and I walked circles around a small waiting area. We went back after an hour and I was at a 4. At this point I was officially admitted. They then had to give me antibiotics for being GBS positive. They also had to do external fetal monitoring for 20 minutes out of every hour. Our pattern was basically 40 minutes walking, 20 minutes on the monitor, and then check to see how many centimeters I was.

My midwife came in to check me. After checking me she was out at the nurse's station for a bit. She came in later to tell me that the CRNA had come- this is the person who usually gives epidurals. I am assuming they came to see if I wanted one. My midwife told them that I was doing hypnobabies and I was going to have a natural labor. The CRNA didn't believe it. Just then I had a contraction, and they could see the monitor since they were at the nurse's station. On the monitor they could see the mark of the contraction getting more and more intense, and then they saw the amazing thing...my heart rate went down. It is a very normal physiologic response to have your heart rate increase when you feel pain- but my heart rate was actually going DOWN each time I had a contraction. That shows how real this hypnobabies can be! It can help you to relax so much that you don't feel the pain. The CRNA was shocked, and now believes in hypnobabies.

Annie Laurie Richardson, (a very special friend from church who we invited to the be with us during the birth as a support person) came about 10 or 11pm and found us walking in the hall. She walked and walked with us. We all talked about everything you could imagine during this time together. It didn't seem like I was in labor, it just seemed like a walk with my husband and friend. At every contraction though, I would stop walking, turn off my “light switch”, and put my forehead on the wall. Aaron would stand behind me and put counter pressure on my lower back. It was exactly what I needed! As we walked the halls, I had headphones in one ear and the “Birthing Day Affirmations” track playing on repeat. It was wonderful to hear very positive messages about birthing during the contractions.

In Hypnobabies there are “Joyful” pregnancy affirmations that I would listen to every day before the birth (for about 5 weeks). One of the affirmations says, “After each pressure wave (aka contraction), I smile and feel very happy.” I thought that was silly, but I chose to implement it. After every contraction I smiled, and would say thank you to Aaron for his help in getting me through it with the back pressure. Another of the affirmations said, “Each pressure wave feels like a tight hug for me and my baby.” Since I had been programming my mind to think positively about child birth, this really was true for me. When I gave birth to Peter, I had halfheartedly prepared using hypnobabies. I was in sooooo much pain. I remember crying and being near hysterical at 3.5 cm. I know, I am a pansy for pain. This time, I chose to think positively and I didn't feel the pain of contractions. I felt pressure, and that pressure just felt like a tight hug. The mind is absolutely amazing.

At one point, I remember being a little impatient to go out and walk again after my 20 minutes on the monitor. The hour before when they had checked me, I was a 5. This time when they checked, I prayed and prayed that I would at least be a 6. The nurse's first words were, “I need to go call Tracey (my midwife), you are an 8.” In an hour I blew through the transition phase, which many women would call one of the worst parts of child birth. I didn't even know that I had passed it! I was busy walking, talking, and laughing. This was 2am. After my nurse called Tracey, I wasn't allowed to leave the hospital room...I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to deliver a baby in the hall way either.

There was just one problem though, I felt the NEED to walk during labor. Sitting down, or laying on the bed was torturous- walking however was just fine. I started pacing my hospital room. There wasn't enough room for all three of us to walk, so Aaron and Annie Laurie sat down. With each contraction I would walk over to the wall, put a wash cloth on my forehead to keep my head from pushing too hard into the wall. I would say, “Aaron,” and he would jump up and come over and push on my back.

Aaron was seriously amazing during labor. He was so attentive and helpful, and supportive of my choice of doing it naturally. I don't know how to explain the need I had of having him right beside me and touching me through every contraction, but I needed it. I couldn't have done it without him RIGHT there!

From 8-9cm it took one hour. This is where things heated up a little bit. It got harder to be positive through the contractions. It started to get a little painful. At one point I just started to cry a tear or two as I leaned on Aaron between contractions. I was starting to feel I couldn't do it. I knew though that I had to stop. I couldn't let myself give into the pain, because it would only get harder. I pulled myself together and kept going. At this point I asked Annie Laurie to come and rub my back. She was very helpful, calming, and reassuring. She helped me to visualize beautiful things, and it gave me a realization again of how sacred and special the birthing time is. It is a time when I truly believe heaven is VERY near, and heaven's help is available.

When I laid down to be checked and was at a 9, I just stayed in the bed. For the first time I didn't want to get up and walk. I laid on my left side and had a peanut pillow between my legs. Annie Laurie was in front of me keeping my leg from falling off the pillow. Aaron was behind me continuing to give me counter pressure on my back with each contraction. Going from a 9-10 happened relatively quickly, maybe 20 minutes.

I remember having the urge to push, and starting to push. After a push or two, then my water broke. Remember how I said I had the peanut pillow between my legs? Well, this pillow was making it so no one could see the baby coming out. Tracey said she needed to move the pillow to see, I said “NO!” Women in labor (aka me) can be a little irrational. When she moved the pillow there was a baby coming! She didn't have time to get her gown on to cover her clothes. She just had her gloves on. I kept pushing, and I could feel him coming more, but he wasn't out yet. After that contraction ended, Tracey said that he would be born with one more push. I pushed right then. I didn't wait for the next contraction- and BABY! He was born at 3:25am on June 3, 2016.

How amazing it feels to have them hand that little newborn up to you. They laid him right on my chest. Aaron and I dried him off. After the cord stopped pulsating, Annie Laurie cut it. Parley was breathing and grunting, but he wouldn't cry. For six awful hours he wouldn't cry, and he struggled to breathe. He was having retractions and would grunt with each breath. They took a chest x-ray and saw some fluid in his lungs. He had TTN- transient tachypnea of the newborn. It means he was breathing poorly and rapidly, but it would pass with time. For those 6 hours he didn't eat either, even though we tried and tried. At 6 hours, our nurse gave him a drop or two of sugar water and he perked right up and breastfed for the first time. Right after nursing for the first time, he breathed beautifully! He then could cry too.

The recovery from having Parley has been a night and day difference from my recovery with Peter. I attribute it to a much more peaceful and prepared for birth experience. Peter and Jess adore their little brother! We are loving having a new baby in our home again!