Silas Joel's Birth Story

On Thursday, the 24th, I had my weekly midwife appointment. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. Cheryl said everything looked good for the induction, BUT the hospital was full. She wasn't sure if I would be able to get in. Starting to get a little cold feet I said, "That's ok...I'll wait until Monday."

After my appointment Cheryl made a call to the hospital and they said they could fit me in the next day. All set for an induction! I was to call the hospital between 8 and 9am to see what time I should head up.

The next morning Eric had to work a little, so I woke up and called around 8:30am. They said they were full, so to call back at noon. The boys woke up, we ate breakfast, and got all of the last minute things ready to go. Eric got home around 10 and helped. At 11:50 (I was trying to call right at 12, but Eric wanted me to hurry up and call) they said they were still full, so I should call back at 3. We had a housecleaner coming at 1:30 (the best thing EVER for a new mom!), so we decided to go ahead and drop off the kids at my inlaws. Eric and I went out to lunch at my favorite restaurant (Sierra Nevada Brewery, where I ordered a bbq chicken sandwich with their delicious fries), then we ran some errands and got mochas (decaf for me). At 3 I called again and they said to call back in an hour. We decided to go for a walk, because I knew once I got up there they'd have me walking anyway. In the middle of the walk I got a call on my cell from an unknown number. I usually don't answer them, but I'm glad this time I did. It was the hospital telling me I could come up there. They confirmed that I wanted a waterbirth and said that they'd get the room ready for me. (There is only one room at this hospital that is equipped for waterbirths.)

We got to the hospital at about 4pm. When we got there they hooked me up to a monitor to make sure everything looked good with baby's heart rate. Eric read a book and, although, I had mine I was too excited to concentrate. Instead, I listened to the people next to me watch Judge Judy and talk. It was, also, neat to see his heart rate change when he moved. It was anywhere from 129-the 160s. Just goes to show that the old wives tale that boys have high heart rates and girls have low doesn't mean anything. It totally depends on whether baby is moving or sleeping.

At around 5pm she put the cytotec in. It is a little pill, inserted right near your uterus, that is supposed to soften the cervix and start contractions. I had already been having contractions and, even after a few hours, nothing had changed. I felt them, and they were doing something, but they were never hard or uncomfortable.

At 8pm Cheryl decided to break my water. Right before she did she said, "Are you ready?" and I just said, "Are you?" and laughed. But, my legs were shaking...I was a little nervous. Right away my contractions started getting stronger, but still not painful. She had us walk around outside.

Eric called his parents and told them we would probably have our baby soon. By this time I needed to stop and breathe through contractions. I was praying in tongues in my head. After only 10 minutes of walking I could feel the baby really low and knew that we should go inside.

I went up to the nurses' station and told our nurse, Courtney, (who I know...it was so nice having her as our nurse!) that the contractions were strong and the baby was low. She asked if I wanted her to get Cheryl and I said yes. Cheryl didn't get much of a break! Right away Courtney and Cheryl started getting the birthing tub ready and I got right in.

Cheryl checked me at 8:30 and I was 5cm dilated. After I got in the tub I just laid sideways and held onto the side silently. The whole room was silent during my labor. Cheryl sat in one of the chairs, Eric was near the side offering me drinks of water, and Courtney was getting things ready for the baby. Every time a contraction would come I would pray in my head or say to myself, "Jesus defeated all pain on the cross" or "contractions don't have to hurt. I can work with them" or, I'd think of my baby, "I wonder what color hair he'll have. Will it be dark or light? How much do I think he'll weight?" I didn't plan this out or read it in a book, it just came naturally for me. It's funny now to think about.

I guess it must have been about 40 minutes later that I knew I had to push. My body was starting to push a few contractions earlier, but I wanted to make sure this was it. I called Cheryl over and they got me into position. On my 2nd push his head was out and on the 3rd his body. It all went by so quickly!

Judah's labor and delivery was really similar, but for some reason with him I felt kind of out of it. Even though I didn't have any pain medication I still felt maybe in shock? This time I didn't feel like that at all. I just felt so happy to finally be holding my baby. He started crying right away and we all laughed because his little cry sounded like, "Ma! Ma!" Eric cut the cord, which was special, too!

We had been praying for a quick, easy, painfree, supernatural delivery since I found out I was pregnant and God definitely answered our prayers. Silas is such a blessing to our family and is our precious baby boy!