Supernatural Childbirth

We've been home for 48 hours now and everyone is doing great. I wanted to make sure to record the awesome story of my labor and delivery so that I don't ever forget it. It was truly supernatural. God was in it every moment and I give Him all the credit and thanks.

I had been having pretty regular contractions (every 6-30 minutes) since Sunday night (Kate was born on Wednesday morning), but they were not getting stronger or closer together. Around 3:00am on Wednesday I finally noticed a shift in their intensity. Around 3:30am I called the Alternative Birth Center, where I had planned on giving birth. (The birth center provides a place to labor and give birth that has the comforts of home. The rooms have queen sized beds, large hot tubs, rockers, kitchenettes etc. There is no medical equipment hanging around and no epidurals are offered. However, it is attached to Providence Hospital, so if anything were to "go wrong" then we would be only a stone's throw away.) I was very excited to give birth here because I thought it would provide a relaxed atmosphere and allow for a more peaceful birth.

However, when we called the birth center on Wednesday morning they told us they were full and we'd have to head over to regular labor and delivery at the hospital. I didn't even think this was a possibility, so Jim helped me talk through it and we prayed that God's perfect will would be done and that He'd help us adjust to whatever that may be. Within minutes my midwife called me back and told me a room had just opened up. We finished packing our bags, called Grandma Koss to come over and headed out the door.

When we arrived at the hospital I was only dilated to 3. This was actually a good thing (even though I felt kind of discouraged by the slow progress) because I needed to get an antibiotic at least 4 hours before the baby arrived. (I tested positive for GBS. Not a big deal, but an antibiotic was necessary to prevent the baby from getting an infection passed on from me at birth.)

I finished getting the antibiotic around 5:45 am and Jim and I decided to walk the halls. My contractions were about 7 minutes apart. After about an hour of walking I was pretty tired, so we headed back to the room so I could practice the relaxation techniques I learned in my hypnobirthing class. For the next hour or so I sat on the birthing ball while Jim and my doula rubbed my back and prayed for me. At this point my contractions were about 5 minutes apart. They were painful, but not terrible. I felt calm and peaceful. Anytime I started to feel fear the contractions would get more painful, but as Jim prayed and I relaxed they would subside considerably.

The intensity of the contractions picked up at around 9:00am, so I decided to get in the hot tub. The hot tub totally relaxed my body and the pain subsided again. While I was in the tub I went through transition and it was truly not that bad! After being in the tub for 35 minutes I felt like it was time to push. I don't think that the nurse or midwife believed it was really time because I looked so calm and felt so peaceful.

By the time I got out of the tub and made my way to the bed I knew it was time. Two pushes and she was out! This was 4 hours and 5 minutes after the antibiotic was given. Perfect timing. At our request the nurse took her down to the nursery to have her oxygen level checked etc. Within 15 minutes she was returned to us and pronounced healthy. I never thought I'd be able to say it, but this childbirth was an amazing experience!