Jill’s birth story:

Where do I even begin to describe the most life-changing day of our lives? Ben and I had an idea of how we wanted our ‘birth’ day to be.  Our plan was to labor at home with our doula, Bonnie, as long as possible.  We had the house all ready and stocked with things we would need to get us started; heating pad, Pilates ball, jell-o, vitamin water, lavender candles etc etc.  Well, that all flew out the window!  Here is how it all began.

The previous day I went to my prenatal yoga and then mom and I went to town where we got manicures and pedicures.  For some reason I was insistent on having nice nails while giving birth!  Mom liked the idea too and treated us to a wonderful spa session.  Ben and I had a date night planned so we took Tika for an hour long walk at sunset in the pineapple field.  Ben cooked a tasty dinner while I had a bubble bath.  After my bath I suddenly started to feel like I had the flu.  I started to have the chills and decided to lie on the sofa.  We watched a movie and went to bed.  I was worried because not only did I feel fluish but I had not felt the baby move in a few hours. Normally the baby was extremely active – especially after I ate dinner.  That night I was up just worrying and feeling yucky.  By morning we decided to go to the doctor just to make sure everything was ok.

Ben, mom and I drove to my doctors at about 11:00am.  My doctor was not there but another doctor was able to see me instead.  She instantly found the babies heart beat which beat a steady 130.  She tried to make it move by playing around with my tummy but got no response.  She then hooked me up to the fetal monitor and still got no baby movements.  The machine showed that I was having mild contractions.  The doctor asked if I noticed them – which I didn’t.  She then proceeded to check me and found me dilated to between 3 or 4 cm.  She decided to send me to the hospital to meet with my doctor who was on call that day.

Ben and I were bummed to have to go to the hospital because our plan was to labor at home.  At this point we figured we would see our Dr and then get the okay to go home. 

When we arrived at the hospital I was starting to feel more crampy but still no contractions.  We went up to the labor and delivery and they hooked me back up to the fetal monitor.  They asked Ben to go check us in.  He was hesitant to do this since this was not “The plan”.  We really did not want to spend hours and hours pacing the hospital hallways in labor!!! The nurses and doctor laughed at us and said “ummmm I don’t think you understand, this baby is not coming in 12 hours, its will be here VERY soon!!”.  With that they told us that I should probably have my water broken in order to speed things up and to make sure that the amniotic fluid was fine in order to ensure the safety of the baby.  We waited for our doula to arrive to see what she thought, and we all agreed it was the best thing to do.  Once they broke my water my contractions kicked in immediately and I dilated from 4 to 9.5 cm in 2 hours!!!!!  It was so fast and really painful but I was able to use the breathing techniques that I had learned in yoga class to help me cope.  Ben and I really wanted a natural birth so we were both grateful that we could work together and I could find ways to deal with the pain. My mom held one hand, Bonnie held my other, Ben put ice on my back and fore head and gave me Purple Gatorade every 3 minutes! Everyone cheered me on and talked me through each contraction. It was such a team effort!

About half an hour later the doctors told me I was ready to push. The pushing phase made me extremely grateful that I had stayed so fit for my pregnancy – talk about hard work!  I pushed for an hour and 45 minutes and then at 7:36, Levi entered the world and changed our lives forever.

All told, the day went like this:

10amFeeling flu-like

11amGo to doctor, no contractions, (3-4 cm)

12pmGo to hospital to see doctor, still no contractions (4cm)

12:45pmMild crampy contractions 2 minutes apart

1:30pmWater broken

1:45pmReal contractions begin, also at 2 minutes apart

4:00pmDoctor checks and 9.5 cm dialated

4:45pmStart to push

7:36pmLevi born

My labor lasted (at least that I could feel) for about 6 or 7 hours.  Not bad for a first baby!  Bonnie says that the next one will come in more like two hours of labor, so we should be close to the hospital.

Ben and I have never been so thankful for anything in our entire lives. There are really no words to describe how your new baby makes you feel.  Levi is truly a gift from God.  Just thinking about how much we love him makes us cry.  We just stare at him for hours and listen to his sweet little grunts and watch him check out his new world.