Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Luke's Birth Story


If you’re anything like me and you love reading birth stories, you’re in the right place. I can’t get enough of the miraculous and magical event of bringing a child into this world. I’m in awe of how God designed our bodies to create and sustain life. What a woman’s body is capable of throughout pregnancy, labor, delivery, and recovery is beyond incredible.



Birth is the most magical thing to be a part of, and I feel so lucky that I experienced what I would describe as the perfect labor and delivery. First, here’s a little history to help you understand why. Our first child, Laney Faith, was born May 11, 2012. I had prodromal labor with her but I had no idea what it was at the time. Prodromal labor is basically real (and painful) labor contractions that don’t put you in active labor. These contractions can go on consistently for a day or two then completely stop. Since this was my first pregnancy, I had no clue what was real, I just knew I was miserable and I wanted that baby out, so we decided to induce labor at 39 weeks. It was quick and easy, and 5 hours after the induction started I pushed for about 10 minutes and Laney was born. She was a beautiful little red-head and completely stole our hearts.

About a year later, I was pregnant with our Emma Grace and there were many complications. Our team of doctors decided it was safest to delivery Emma via a scheduled c-section to provide her the best care possible. She was delivered on June 17, 2013, and it was a very traumatic day for me. I laid on the table completely helpless while this child was taken from my body to a foreign world known as the NICU. I knew she was where she needed to be to be given a chance of survival, but it was excruciating. The nurses brought her over to me so I could see her for no more than 10 seconds, then she was gone, and my husband was too (by my request-I wanted him to be with Emma since I couldn’t). I laid on the operating table alone, barfing into a bag that the anesthesiologist was so graciously holding for me, and crying my eyes out. After that, I was taken to recovery, where I laid on the other side of a curtain from another momma who was nursing her brand new baby. I was heartbroken, but I tried to stay positive. I scrolled through my camera staring at pictures of Emma that Justin had taken and studied her face as if she were in my arms. After I was taken to my post-partum room, I was told that I needed to lay in bed and rest for a minimum of 8 hours before I could go see Emma in the NICU. Nope. I basically told the nurse she couldn’t stop me, and she quickly called my doctor who (thankfully) approved for me to roll on down to the NICU in my wheelchair. Emma remained in the NICU for 54 days. The time I spent in the hospital was nice because I could walk down the hall to see her, but laying in that hospital bed listening to the cries of babies from other rooms stung very deeply. The day I was discharged and had to leave Emma was easily the worst day of my life. I still remember the sharp and excruciating pain from my fresh c-section scar as I was crying so hard I couldn’t walk out of the hospital. I remember my husband and my mother in law holding me and promising it would be ok as we watched other newborns leaving with their moms and dads. Traumatic is the word that best describes Emma’s birth.


4 year later, I was pregnant with Luke, and after an induction with Laney, and the trauma with Emma, I was longing for something different, something “normal”. It wasn’t until my prodromal labor started with Luke that I started researching it and realized it was the same thing that I had during my pregnancy with Laney. These “real” labor contractions went on for at least 3 weeks before I gave birth to Luke. My body was exhausted and sleep was a foreign concept. I was contracting every 5-10 minutes for hours and sometimes even days on end, and then the contractions would stop. I wouldn’t wish prodromal labor on anyone. Us mommas go through enough without adding on these pointless but painful contractions! I had been texting our families, who lived a few hours away, every time my contractions were consistently building, then I’d have to text them that it was a false alarm. I was beginning to think that kid would never come out! So there we were, on May 20, 2017, my contractions had been about 7-10 minutes apart for over 24 hours, and my mom showed up on our doorstep because she had a feeling Luke was coming soon. At this point, I trusted her intuition over mine, so I was just praying she was right. I went on lots of walks, begged and pleaded to God to “please get this baby out”, and began to accept the fact that my hope for a natural birth may not become reality. I had discussed this with my OBGYN and she was very supportive of my wanting to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) because of how easy my delivery was with Laney, and the fact that the c-section with Emma was elective. The ultrasounds with Luke revealed that he was a big boy which added onto the risks when attempting a VBAC. Still, I prayed daily that I would be able to labor naturally, and that there wouldn’t be any complications during delivery. I knew that God was capable of this, and it seemed like a small thing to ask after the big miracle I had already seen him perform with Emma. I trusted in whatever God’s plan was, and I was completely ready to accept His plan over mine.



On May 21 my contractions were still going strong. Around 8 or 9 pm, they were 5 minutes apart, so Justin and my mom (finally) convinced me to call the hospital and the nurses told me I needed to come in right away. I still wasn’t convinced that this was the real thing, I figured my body was still playing tricks on me with prodromal labor. After arriving at the hospital, getting examined, and getting hooked up to the monitors, our nurse, Quita, told me that I wasn’t leaving the hospital without a baby. If I was able, I would’ve jumped off the bed and hugged her! I was so happy. I had some pretty intense contractions while waiting on my epidural, and Quita told me she was shocked at how well I handled them. Shortly after I got my epidural I realized just how much pain my body had gotten used to. I felt so relaxed that it was almost overwhelming, so Justin and I tried to nap a little. In the meantime, my mom was driving our girls from our house over to my sister’s house (in the pouring rain-sorry mom!) so that she could come up to the hospital, and Justin’s mom was making the 2 hour trip to be at our sides as well. It was at this time that we told our mothers what our plan had been all along: we wanted them to be in the delivery room with us. I had this idea very early in my pregnancy, and thankfully Justin was in agreement. We wanted to share this very special experience with our mothers, and they were happy to be included. While we were waiting on our mommas to arrive, my water broke, and the contractions really kicked into gear. Our moms arrived and I don’t remember much time passing before I told Quita that my epidural was wearing off and I felt A LOT of pain, and I had the urge to push. She checked my cervix, and indeed it was time. I asked her if I could have more pain meds, and she explained that if I got more, I may not have the strength to push this big boy out. I decided against meds, and all of the nurses quickly came in the prepare the room. I don’t know how long I was pushing, but I know it was longer than I did with Laney, my guess would be 20-30 minutes. Justin was coaching me and encouraging me, and making me feel like the queen of the world even though I was probably a hot mess. My mom was praying over me quietly next to my head, and my mother in law was fighting back tears as she watched her own son supporting his wife. It was a beautiful moment, and I will cherish it for the rest of my life. I continued pushing, sure that my face was turning blue. No matter the pain, I was determined to get that boy out naturally, and I did.


Luke was born via VBAC at 4:05 a.m. on May 22, 2017, and our world would never be the same. We were all crying as the doctor put Luke on my belly and we saw him for the first time. He was beautiful, perfect, and.. wait a minute.. he’s huge! I held him for a few minutes but I was in a lot of pain so I asked someone to take him, and believe they set him on the table to do his newborn assessment. He almost didn’t fit on the table, and when they announced that he was 11 lbs 9 oz there was a collective “GASP” in the room. We were all shocked. They measured his length and he was 23 ½ inches- almost 2 feet! Wow. He was perfectly proportional, but he looked more like a 3 month old than of a newborn.



While Luke was being measured, the doctor was finishing up “down there” and- I won’t get too graphic, but I will say that yes, I felt EVERYTHING. Yep. 



Luke was having a little trouble “transitioning” as they called it, or calming down and breathing this air that he wasn’t used to, so the nurses suggested that we try skin-to-skin to see if that would help, and it did! It was in that moment that I knew just how strong our mother-son bond would be. He calmed down almost instantly and melted my heart as he nuzzled his head into my neck. I felt like my heart could explode at any minute. A few minutes later I had to use the restroom, so I got up and walked there. I thought Quita was going to fall over when she saw me walking that soon after a VBAC. She nicknamed me “The Soldier”, and apparently that nickname caught on as I was told that the other nurses and staff were using the nickname and they all wanted to come in and see quite possibly the largest baby ever born at that hospital (so we were told).



The moments that followed were better than I could have ever dreamed. I got to snuggle our new little boy as much as I wanted without anyone telling me “times up” like they did in the NICU. I watched my husband bond with his son, and I began imagining all the fun they would have a few years down the road as fathers and sons do. I watched our mothers gaze upon the face of the newest gift our family has been given. My sister brought our daughters to the hospital and the moment they walked into the room to meet their new little brother was another magical moment. We snuggled up on the bed while Justin read "On the Night You Were Born" to Luke and tears streamed down my face. I never knew my heart could hold so much love. My dad had been out of town and was able to drive up that day to meet his newest grandson as well. I'm so very thankful we have such a wonderful family to share these moments with. I will never get tired of hearing my husband or our mothers talk about Luke’s birth (and of course when they say how they were all so amazed at how tough I was- it just feels good!). It was an incredible moment shared between the four of us and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing about it. We were all so full of love and amazement. I remember praying and thanking God for a healthy child and for the most perfect delivery free of complications. After such a traumatic experience and almost losing Emma 4 years before, this delivery truly was everything I had hoped for, despite the extreme pain. Us mommas put our bodies through a lot, and I am very proud and thankful that I have been able to bring 3 perfect children into this world. Now you know why May 22, 2017 was a perfect day.