« Isaiah Darin »

(Bekah) In preparation for this birth I spent about 18 months reading and researching the various options for birth after cesarean. I looked into repeat cesarean section (RCS), vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC), hospital birth, and home birth. After learning about the risks that accompany each choice, I didn’t like any of the options and felt unable to come to a decision. So Darin and I took it to God in prayer, and through scripture and conviction we were led to choose a home birth. Once the decision was made, I had more peace concerning birth than I had had since becoming pregnant with Linnea!

(Darin) On Thursday afternoon Bekah was 4.5 cm and 90% effaced. Our midwife, Michelle, was able to feel the baby’s head (with hair) and to check his position. He was a little crooked, like our first baby was but not as badly (OA with tilted head vs. Linnea’s position of OP and later ROT) so she recommended doing some lunges and walking.

(Bekah) Learning that his head wasn’t lined up right concerned me because it had been malpositioning that necessitated the c/s with Linnea.

(Darin) We went to bed Thursday night 3/17/11 around 10:30 not quite knowing what would happen.   Two nights previous Bekah had been awake from 2 – 7 a.m. with irregular contractions. Wednesday night was great!  Slept fine and had only mild contractions every half hour or hour, so we didn’t know what to expect.

(Bekah) That night I had a dream that I was walking the neighborhood with my close family and my midwife. We were going up the hill on the far end of our loop when I looked up and saw a shooting star with a very long tail. It was going through the sky very slowly, and I was having a contraction. Suddenly I felt a pop and awoke to a strong kick from the baby.

(Darin) At around 2:40 Friday morning Bekah felt a pop similar to what she felt when Linnea’s labor started. There was no rushing water this time though. Contractions were all over the place for the first hour, some were 6 minutes apart, some were 12 minutes apart and some lasted for 3 minutes, and some lasted for a minute and a half. We called Michelle and notified her and she said to give her a call again when Bekah had 6 contractions in a half hour. Around 3:40 the contractions started to get pretty regular around 4 to 5 minutes apart and 1 to 2 minutes in length. At first Bekah stood by the bed and rocked her hips back and forth through each contraction and then jumped back into bed to relax, but soon the contractions got pretty hard so we filled the bathtub up to the brim and she jumped in there and it helped ease it a little. She had 8 contractions in that, and we decided to text Bekah’s mom, Cindy, to come on over.

(Cindy) Bekah texted us a little after 4 AM, so my husband, Tim, and I got up and were on our way by 4:35. We were pretty sure this was not false labor, since she was overdue. So very exciting, we were going to meet our new little grandson soon! Remembering the troubles she had delivering Linnea, we were praying this one would be born safely and quickly. When we arrived Bekah was definitely in labor! I was so glad she had their huge tub to labor in; what a blessing!

(Darin) Around 5:12 a.m. we finally called Michelle and she got here around 5:45. We also woke Hoon Yong (our Korean exchange student) up and Tim, Bekah’s step dad, took him over to a friend’s house to crash before school. Tim also was able to hang out with Linnea once he got back from taking Hoon Yong over. They had a great time walking and picnicking! 

(Darin)Bekah stayed in the tub for another hour. Around 7 a.m. Bekah wanted to know how far she had progressed. In order to do this it required that she “jump” back in bed. Once she got there Michelle checked and found out she was dilated 7 cm. This discouraged Bekah because she still had to go through transition. However, the bag of waters still was around the baby which was a blessing!  She tried laboring in the bed for a little with her mom and me rubbing her back and legs. Her back and legs were cramping quite a bit and the bed wasn’t comfortable (Nothing is I guess during labor) so she got back in the tub and was able to press her back against the tub during contractions and the warm water helped ease everything up a little bit as well. She had quite a bit of back pain throughout labor. This is when she started saying that she couldn’t do this and that she was too tired. She was biting her lip, trying to not be too grumpy, threw a washcloth and started pushing hands away!

 (Bekah) I cried that I was afraid that I would never feel the urge to push, told them to just take me in and cut him out, yelled that I couldn’t do it, and felt like such a pansy!  I was surprised to be so quick to start saying things like that so early. I knew it was an emotional marker for transition, but couldn’t believe how true the words felt!  At this point I had to ask God for strength before every contraction because I felt I truly couldn’t go on. He gave me that strength, and it’s something that happened for every contraction after.

(Darin) She stayed in the tub for another hour or two and started to feel quite a bit of pressure so pushed a couple times and then got back in bed and checked again and was 9 ½ cm this time. Progress, Yeah!  There still was a little bit that didn’t want to go away so Michelle lifted up on the lip while Bekah pushed to see if  that would help anything. This happened around 9:30a.m. Did this for a little while and didn’t seem like baby was moving, and Bekah was getting more and more tired. At this time Bekah was like, give me some drugs I’m done, can’t do it. There didn’t seem to be any progress. It seemed like the exact same thing was happening that happened with Linnea (He was stuck and not moving).   I suggested that if we gave him a name maybe he would come out.

(Bekah) I said maybe getting a name after he was born would motivate him to come out!

(Darin) Anyway, Michelle continued to lift up on the lip during Bekah’s contraction to hopefully get the head past her cervix. At one point the lip disappeared but it came back again so she had to again lift up on the lip as Bekah pushed. Was this baby ever going to descend?!  Finally, things started to get a little more bulgy.

(Bekah) After about 2 hours of pushing there had been little to no progress, the lip of the cervix kept going away when pushed but then coming back a few pushes later, and I could see the midwives’ faces beginning to show some concern. At this point Michelle did something she says she only does in about 2 out of 50 births; she lifted up on my pubic bone during a contraction while I pushed. That was probably the most painful contraction before he crowned, but it did the trick!  She felt him shift and all of a sudden it was like I wasn’t my own person anymore. I roared and pushed my husband and midwife out of the way, rolled out of bed and ended up squatting on the floor pushing completely involuntarily. I was so relieved to have my body take over because I had completely run out of energy at that point and had begun to truly believe that we were in for a repeat performance, as when pushing Linnea the 2 hour mark was when they called a c/s . Once I was on the floor squatting I could stand bent over the bed between contractions, which helped ease the cramping and sciatic pain that had become nearly unbearable when I started the pushing phase.

(Darin) Slowly he came down. We were now able to see the bag of waters hanging out. It was still intact!  He was right behind it. Bekah kept saying she felt a lot burning and felt like she was going to tear.

(Bekah) It seemed to take forever, but after about half an hour Michelle reminded me that she couldn’t do much to help me in the squatting position. So although I couldn’t handle lying on my back on the bed, I did transfer before the next contraction to hands and knees on the bed. Just a few contractions later, during which I screamed “OUT,OUT,OUT!” with every breath at the top of my lungs, his head came out still inside the amniotic sac!  As he emerged the bag broke and peeled away from his face, and the midwives started yelling “PUSH!” because he was purple and I had paused a bit afterward thinking he might just come on out on his own. Nope, his chest was the same size as his head so it took me another 2 minutes to push him out the rest of the way. Once he was out, I lifted my leg over the umbilical cord, laid back on the pillows, and got to hold him on my chest right away while they worked on him and he took his first breaths and cried!  It was the most amazing moment, especially because it was what I had missed with my daughter!  He started nursing pretty quickly, but not consistently until about an hour later. He’s a champion nurser now, though.

(Cindy)When I first saw his face, I was amazed at how dark his color was, like a purple plum, and how swollen his lips, cheeks, and eyes were. I thought, “That little boy needs some air!” I watched the midwives carefully, and they quickly cleaned out his mouth and nose, and I saw a dusty pink rush of color wash over his face from his left temple to his right cheek, and he made a little cry. Soon he was making more effort to cry, and what a beautiful sound it was!

(Bekah) Darin was able to cut the umbilical cord, and about 5 minutes after he was born I was able to push the placenta out. I immediately began to hemorrhage and the midwives, though leaving baby on my chest, were right on top of it and stopped it quickly. It took some vigorous abdominal massage, some pitocin, and a methergine tablet, but it stopped. I lost about 4 cups of blood. I also had a 2^nd degree tear. I almost blacked out when I tried to get up, so they told me to stay horizontal and really tank up on fluids.

We looked at the placenta and it was definitely old, which surprised me because although Linnea had been born at nearly 42 weeks gestation as well she had been “just right” and not old at all. Isaiah’s skin was definitely burned from the fluid, but he is healthy and strong!

In spite of losing so much blood and having a 2^nd degree tear, I feel so much better than I did last time!  My mind is clear, and even with the weakness from blood loss and soreness from labor and delivery, I can’t believe the difference already between my recovery last time and this time. I’m so grateful to God for providing strength, amazing midwives, and my wonderful husband and mom. This birth was possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had!

Texts I held on to during labor:

• Phillippians 4:6, 8, 13
• Hebrews 13:5
• Proverbs 19:23
• Isaiah 49:15, 16
• Isaiah 41: 10, 13, 14
• Psalm 53:6
• Joshua 1:9