Emerson's Birth Story

In between 35 and 36 weeks two things happened – one I started to loose bits of my mucus plug and two my blood pressure started to go up. My Braxton Hicks contractions also started to pick up a bit and it felt like I alternated between those and the real deal contractions, you know (or maybe you don’t), the kind that start on your stomach and wrap around into your back and down into your legs.
At 36.5 weeks Joyce and Delilah both came over. D came to discuss my birth plan and all that good stuff that I really didn’t have all that planned yet. Joyce came for our visit so that she could see where our house was located. We discussed where Emerson would be born, where the birth tub could go and where it couldn’t. Turns out our bedroom was too small so we decided that we could move the table in the breakfast area or put it in what will be Emerson’s room, if I can get it cleaned out. This worked out well because Joyce is allergic to cats and my two cats mostly live in my bedroom and bathroom. After the visit prodromal labor really kicked in and I convinced myself that these contractions had to be doing something. No way would I start labor like I did with Ethan (effaced 25% and dilated to 1 cm after 3 hours of labor)
At my 37.5 week appointment my blood pressure was still up – not to the point where it had been with Ethan – but up enough that we were all starting to get concerned. Joyce and I talked to Kathleen and she said that this is just what my body does at the end of pregnancy and I just need to get the baby out. They told me to get a bottle of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea capsules and over 3 days take the whole bottle. I had about a third of a bottle at home already so I picked up a new bottle of Red Raspberry Leaf Tea capsules and a bottle of Evening Primrose Oil that evening after picking Craig up for work. I also stopped by Lab Corp to pick up my container to test for protein in my urine.
On Thursday, I started my 24 hour urine and popping the RRL pills. I divided up the bottle and put 1/3 into a little Tupperware container and every time I walked into the kitchen I grabbed a couple. The contractions really picked up in the morning and then eased up in the afternoon. Friday, Ethan and I went up to Lap Corp to drop off my 24 hour urine and ended up missing play date because we had to sit in the waiting room for over an hour. I hope to never sit in a packed waiting room with a jug of pee and an active toddler again. It was incredible painful. Saturday, I was especially grumpy, there were a lot of things that I wanted done that were so not getting done and it was really getting annoying to watch Craig just lounge around the house. In the evening I beat Guitar Hero on medium and jokingly said “maybe that’s what was keeping me from going into labor maybe I’ll have the baby now.” After that I decided to go to bed because I really wasn’t feeling well.
The next morning I awoke between 5 and 5:30 feeling miserable. I was having contractions again but they were different from any of the contractions I had ever had before. They were concentrated in the front and felt exactly like period cramps. When Craig woke up I told him I might be in labor, at least I thought I was, but wasn’t sure. I called Delilah and Joyce to let them know. The contractions at this point were about 10+ minutes apart lasting for 45ish seconds. Delilah told me to call her around 12:30 and Joyce told me to keep her updated. By 12:30 they were only a little bit under 10 minutes and still not really lasting a minute. I knew D wanted a call but was really bummed about the news that I would have for her. Eventually I put it off long enough that she called me. We decided that Craig would come over with Ethan to get the birthing tub and she let me know that she was taking Vanessa to church around 4:30. In the back of my mind I was thinking I should tell her not to go but I told myself that if Emerson did come it wouldn’t be until the middle of the night or tomorrow morning. I was convinced I would have a long labor like I did with Ethan.
I talked to Cheryl who was actually calling to tell me that she was going to have surgery but upon finding out I was in labor decided that her news could wait until later. I knew that Cheryl would call the family so was not surprised at all when a little while later I heard from Jennifer. I told her that I was fine and that I might be in labor but again if I did have her it would probably be the middle of the night or tomorrow morning.
I spoke to Joyce before the Cowboys game was about to start and she asked if I was going to be a good little wife and wait until after the football game to let my labor really kick in and have the baby. I laughed and told her that if my evil plan worked that I would have the baby during the game. She told me that I better get busy if I wanted that to happen. Again, I should have listened to myself and taken myself seriously.
A little bit after that I decided that I would get in the shower and hang out in there for a little while. The contractions were hurting a little bit more but they were still very short and leaving me with a fairly long time to rest in between them. I don’t know how long I was in there but I got out while the water was still hot so I couldn’t have been in there too long. I laid down on the couch and had one contraction and asked Craig to warm up the heating pad for me. He brought it to me and I had a really long pause before the next contraction, well over 10 minutes. But when that contraction came I felt a pop and I moved faster than I had in months. I flew off of the couch because the one thing I did know for 100% at that moment was that I could not lay down any longer. When I stood up I realized that the pop was my water. Thank God for flannel pants because it held every drop of liquid that came out.
I went down the hall to the bathroom and realized that I should have had Delilah and Joyce come the last time I talked to them on the phone. I told Craig that he needed to call both of them right now because they needed to get here quickly. A couple of contractions later he still hadn’t called them. I yelled that he needed to call them and he needed to do it now, there was nothing more important then that right this minute. He got mad that I was yelling at him and I told him now was not the time for him to get upset he needed to listen to me. He was very slow in accepting how fast things were progressing. I think because everything moved so slowly with Ethan that he thought that was how it would go this time. I heard him on the phone leaving a message for Joyce and then calling Delilah. At this point I started praying – which is something that I don’t do often – that the baby would please wait until Joyce got here to come out and that Joyce wasn’t all the way in Lucas. Which I think she was but she did end up making it for the baby. I knew the contractions were close together but they still weren’t lasting very long and I didn’t feel pushy but I did feel that urgency and just knew the baby was coming soon.
I talked to Joyce on the phone and even at this point I could talk through my contractions. She said that if I felt pushy I needed to lie down and that I needed to time the contractions and call her back. Craig timed some (hey were about 2.5 – 3 minutes apart lasting 30 seconds) for me and called her back and at this point I started to feel a little bit pushy. Joyce told Craig that I had to lie down. I was in the hall bath leaning against the wall and really didn’t want to move but I made myself go into Emerson’s room laid down where it looked to me like there was the most room.
In hind sight I probably shouldn’t have gone to the coldest room in the house and laid down next to the large window, especially after I found out that the reason the house was so dang cold was because Craig had gotten hot running around and turned the heat off. At this point Craig started to blow up the birt
hing tub and I really wanted him to stop because the noise was killing me and I knew that there wasn’t enough time to get it up and ready. Craig hadn’t read the instructions and I had, the tub had to be blown up and cleaned before water could be put in. I kept begging him to stop but I think he was nervous and felt he needed to be doing something and thought he was helping and he kept telling me that he knew he could get it up in time.
I could feel the urge to push starting to overwhelm me and was really getting scared cause I didn’t know how far away everyone was. I started trying to remember everything that I knew about delivering a child unassisted, all I could remember was that we would need to check for a cord before pushing the babies body out and something about wiping its mouth. Craig was on the phone with Joyce again and he got a large dose of reality when she asked him if he was prepared to deliver the baby himself. I heard him raise his voice and say do what by myself!! He was panicking and I felt really bad for him but not as bad as I was feeling for myself. She told Craig to make sure that I was taking really deep breaths and breathing out through my mouth to keep me from pushing. Sometimes I was successful but right before Delilah got there the feeling to push just built up and overwhelmed me and my body just took over. I had 2 to 3 really good pushes before Delilah got there. And when she walked in the room I think I was in the middle of one of them and I think she was a wee bit surprised to see that I was pushing. I was so glad to have her there and my anxiety was gone because although she isn’t a midwife and doesn’t have that training I knew that she was way more capable and calm then Craig to help me.
Joyce and her assistant midwife showed up and Delilah told me that I could push if I wanted to. I didn’t realize that at this point that they were only in the hallway and I also wasn’t aware that Emerson’s head came out. They said something like you could go ahead and push, with one more push you’ll be done. I just remember thinking really, I had absolutely no clue. I think what I told them was I don’t really feel like it but okay.

Emerson’s umbilical cord was a little short so she didn’t reach all the way to my chest more like in between my chest and stomach. I delivered the placenta and then they moved me to the bedroom. My body kept filing up with blood instead of expelling it so this kept my uterus from contracting which in turn caused it to continue bleeding so at 45 minutes post partum I received a shot of pitocin. Because of the bleeding I was extremely uncomfortable and it was unbearable for me to hold Emerson. I felt absolutely horrible that I couldn’t hold my baby; but around that time Brandy, who came to watch Ethan, got there so she could hold Emerson for me. Brandy oozes motherly love and so I felt a sort of relief that she was holding her. I guess I felt that if she couldn’t feel the love from me she was getting it from someone.

By an hour post partum the bleeding was under control and they were sure that everything was fine. I ate a banana and a peanut butter sandwich and drank a bottle of water and some OJ while getting post partum instructions from Joyce. They set up a little baby station for me on my bed side table and left. A little while later Delilah and Brandy left too.
Emerson’s birth was such a whirl wind experience and completely different from Ethan’s. They were both little miracles and I am so happy to be in the small minority that experiences natural child birth and home births. It is such an empowering and moving experience that I wish everyone could experience the feeling.
If there is a moral to my story it is that I have listen to myself more closely and not push aside my feelings for what I expect to happen. And my morning call will be “Hey, I think I’m in labor, do you want to come over” and most certainly not “Hey, I think I’m in labor, I’ll keep you updated.”