I am proud to annouce that Miss Ruthie Eileen Roberts joined us on February 16th, after a beautiful, quick labor and birth. She was born into water, with a lilac candle burning, and with her grammy and daddy there to welcome her with me. She is lovely and perfect, and my biggest baby yet.
Here are the details of her birth if anyone is interested. It might be too much information for some (seriously don't read it if you are not into birth stuff), but I wanted to write it out when it was fresh in my mind.
Yesterday I arrived at the birth center at 11 am for my regular weekly appointment. When my midwife, Kathleen, checked me, I was 4 cm and 50% effaced, which was encouraging to her. She felt if I worked at it, I could definitely get labor going. So she swept my membranes, and sent me on a regiment of pumping and walking to get things moving. My mom and Hayden joined me, and we walked the pretty paths through Texas Women's University, on a beautiful warm afternoon. While it was super fun to spend some time outside with my big boy, I wasn't feeling very encouraged about labor. Contractions were coming, but they were irregular and not very strong. So I was pretty surprised when Kathleen checked me again at 2:30 pm, and found me to be 5-6 cm, and 80% effaced. I still was feeling very little pain, and was not at ALL convinced that I was in labor. She was, however, pretty firm that I go get my things and my husband, and come back to have a baby. As I left the clinic, I was debating whether I would even go back (I really wanted to NOT go this time until I was sure I was in active labor), but on the drive home I had a series of much stronger contractions, close together, and I decided that I wanted to meet her, and I might as well commit to this whole experience and make it happen. I was trusting my midwife that my body was ready, and with that in mind, I called Nate to meet me with our things, and we went to have a baby.
It was bittersweet to leave Hayden and Pierce at that point, and know that when I came home, they would have a sister, and life would be utterly different forever. I felt myself getting very emotional about bringing this baby into the world, and I was also feeling my anxiety level rise at committing myself to the birth itself. As is typical for me, I was questioning my decision to go to the birth center, and denying myself any potential pain relief, and I was just starting to get nervous and fearful in general. I knew that these powerful negative emotions had hampered by birth with Pierce, and I had a good talk with Nate on the way to the birth center about how I was really going to focus on keeping my anxiety level low at the birth, and we discussed how he was going to help me. That conversation I think was key to having a successful birth experience, and I'm grateful to have a husband who really listens to me and supports me.
We arrived at the birth center around 5 pm, and just set to walking on the TWU campus again, and when she checked me at 6 pm, I was nearly fully effaced and 5-6 cm, but still experiencing very little pain. My mom had planned to come up to join us after giving the boys dinner, but I called her and told her not to rush, since things were moving so slowly. In fact, I debated throwing in the towel and just heading home for a bit. Oddly, after that, immediately things got much stronger! We walked through dusk to evening outside, and I found myself having to shut my eyes and concentrate through each contraction, and I would put them at about a 6 out of 10 in terms of pain. I was still completely handling the pain, but it was obvious now that the labor had some momentum. My mom joined us at 7 pm, and we put the Counting Crows on the CD player and just bounced on my birth ball and quietly talked. At 7:30 my midwife and I made the decision together to go ahead and break my waters. She felt that it would really speed things along, and I totally agreed. With both of my previous labors, I had had my water broken at 6-7 cm, and had a baby within 3-4 hours. I also knew that committing to having my water broken would mean a much more painful and intense labor. I had thought about this dilemma many times leading up to labor, and had debated the whole quick/intense vs slow/gradual labor. I am an impatient person, and wanted to meet her, and with my midwife backing the decision, we went ahead and broke them!
Here are the details of her birth if anyone is interested. It might be too much information for some (seriously don't read it if you are not into birth stuff), but I wanted to write it out when it was fresh in my mind.
Yesterday I arrived at the birth center at 11 am for my regular weekly appointment. When my midwife, Kathleen, checked me, I was 4 cm and 50% effaced, which was encouraging to her. She felt if I worked at it, I could definitely get labor going. So she swept my membranes, and sent me on a regiment of pumping and walking to get things moving. My mom and Hayden joined me, and we walked the pretty paths through Texas Women's University, on a beautiful warm afternoon. While it was super fun to spend some time outside with my big boy, I wasn't feeling very encouraged about labor. Contractions were coming, but they were irregular and not very strong. So I was pretty surprised when Kathleen checked me again at 2:30 pm, and found me to be 5-6 cm, and 80% effaced. I still was feeling very little pain, and was not at ALL convinced that I was in labor. She was, however, pretty firm that I go get my things and my husband, and come back to have a baby. As I left the clinic, I was debating whether I would even go back (I really wanted to NOT go this time until I was sure I was in active labor), but on the drive home I had a series of much stronger contractions, close together, and I decided that I wanted to meet her, and I might as well commit to this whole experience and make it happen. I was trusting my midwife that my body was ready, and with that in mind, I called Nate to meet me with our things, and we went to have a baby.
It was bittersweet to leave Hayden and Pierce at that point, and know that when I came home, they would have a sister, and life would be utterly different forever. I felt myself getting very emotional about bringing this baby into the world, and I was also feeling my anxiety level rise at committing myself to the birth itself. As is typical for me, I was questioning my decision to go to the birth center, and denying myself any potential pain relief, and I was just starting to get nervous and fearful in general. I knew that these powerful negative emotions had hampered by birth with Pierce, and I had a good talk with Nate on the way to the birth center about how I was really going to focus on keeping my anxiety level low at the birth, and we discussed how he was going to help me. That conversation I think was key to having a successful birth experience, and I'm grateful to have a husband who really listens to me and supports me.
We arrived at the birth center around 5 pm, and just set to walking on the TWU campus again, and when she checked me at 6 pm, I was nearly fully effaced and 5-6 cm, but still experiencing very little pain. My mom had planned to come up to join us after giving the boys dinner, but I called her and told her not to rush, since things were moving so slowly. In fact, I debated throwing in the towel and just heading home for a bit. Oddly, after that, immediately things got much stronger! We walked through dusk to evening outside, and I found myself having to shut my eyes and concentrate through each contraction, and I would put them at about a 6 out of 10 in terms of pain. I was still completely handling the pain, but it was obvious now that the labor had some momentum. My mom joined us at 7 pm, and we put the Counting Crows on the CD player and just bounced on my birth ball and quietly talked. At 7:30 my midwife and I made the decision together to go ahead and break my waters. She felt that it would really speed things along, and I totally agreed. With both of my previous labors, I had had my water broken at 6-7 cm, and had a baby within 3-4 hours. I also knew that committing to having my water broken would mean a much more painful and intense labor. I had thought about this dilemma many times leading up to labor, and had debated the whole quick/intense vs slow/gradual labor. I am an impatient person, and wanted to meet her, and with my midwife backing the decision, we went ahead and broke them!
Like both previous labors, WOW, things took on a whole different character IMMEDIATELY. The first contraction after my waters were broken was long, strong, and extremely painful. At this point I had to start using some of my coping skills. I found myself chanting and humming the sound "OM" with each contraction, while I leaned over the bed and Nate and Kathleen put counter-pressure on my lower back and pubic bone, and quietly encouraged me. I was having the bath-tub filled at this time, and just kept telling myself that soon I would be in the water, and it would make things feel better. The chanting and humming also gave my brain something else to concentrate on, and helped keep me focused. The contractions were just one right on top of the other, and so painful and strong. But I reminded myself that it was GOOD, and meant things were progressing and I would meet my baby soon. I tried not to fight it and tense up.
I got in the tub at about 8 pm and immediately felt some relief. My midwife had me lay on back and I really just relaxed my body through each contraction, and chanted, and felt happy to be in the hot water. By this point we had turned Enya on the CD player, everyone was just quiet, the room was dimly lit, and there were lots of candles burning, including my very favorite lilac candle that I had brought from home. Compared to my other births, it was just such a calm environment. My midwife must have known I was close based on my vocalizations and the timing of the contractions, because she told me to start gently pushing if I felt like it, and to just listen to my body, and in the meantime, she was moving around the room preparing things. I felt like that was a good sign, and that perhaps I was getting close, even though such a short time had passed from her breaking my waters.
Finally I felt a strong desire to push, and she asked if she could check me, and sure enough I was 9 3/4 inches dilated. On my next contraction she had me push, and the lip went away, and she just calmly told me that the baby was right there and as soon as I was ready I could give it all my power and I would have a baby. This was at about 8:45. It had happened so quickly once she broke my water! While I felt relief at how quickly I had dilated, I was also nervous about pushing. I hadn't pictured myself giving birth in the water, but there was NO WAY at that point that I was getting out. The contractions were immediately on top of each other and I felt immobilized with the pain, and didn't want to disrupt my focus. So water birth it was!
I started pushing, and without an epidural, I could feel everything as she moved down. I felt her crowning very clearly, and just told myself that I had to get through it and I pushed with all my might. Her head came out and my midwife had me pause because she had the cord wrapped around her neck. Finally I was able to push again and her shoulders came out and she was on my chest - in only 3 pushes total! It was so amazingly and blessedly quick. She didn't cry right away, but was obviously very pink and healthy (except for her head, which was very purple and swollen and bruised from the quick trip out). Nathan was able to cut the cord, and she then she cried a very healthy cry!
It was just such a different kind of birth experience, and I am so thankful for how easy and quickly it all happened, and for how healthy our little girl is. We didn't weigh or measure her for awhile, but when we did, we found out she was 8 lbs 14 oz, and 21 1/2 inches long. This is almost exactly what Hayden was - just 2 oz heavier. My midwife checked her all out and proclaimed her 100% perfect and healthy. What an amazing blessing.
We were able to head home immediately, and she was able to meet her big brothers the following morning. Hayden was over the moon with excitement about her, and immediately asked to hold her, which he did with great pride. He kept kissing her and was just the perfect big brother. Pierce wasn't quite as thrilled, but he did want to check out all her "silly" body parts, like toes and ears. It was fun to see them all together, and to be a complete family for the first time.
Our little girl is a great nurser, and is quite hungry! She's adorable and plump and perfect!
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