Labor started on December 12 around midnight. My sister Krista had put in a special request that the baby be born on her birthday the 13th, so I was excited that they could share when I got out of bed and looked at the clock. I walked around the dining room table and started counting/timing contractions, they weren't bad at all and not that close together.
Soon things started kicking in a bit more and I went to wake up my Mom around 2. My Mom was sooo excited and told me that her and my Dad had prayed before she came out of bed. I like that :) So I just kept walking around the dining room and would let Mom know when each contraction came and went. We called my midwife, Brande, around 3:30-4:00 I think because I was 5-7 minutes apart. Yay! So exciting! She told us to see how things went for around an hour to make sure it was real labor, and my Mom and I sat in the kitchen and chatted, drinking tea.
Casey got up for work around 5:00, I hadn't told him I was in labor yet, he was SO excited! He started walking around all antsy, tapping his legs, and decided he wanted to watch hard rock music videos right next to me to calm himself down. haha! Which he had to turn off VERY quickly after that. I think he just walked around antsy for awhile again, and decided to watch tv in the other room.
Brande came to the house soon after. Around 7 or 8 I think. (I stopped looking at the clock after Casey got up, because I didn't want to expect to much, or feel rushed) Labor really kicked in within the next few hours to where I wasn't walking or talking to much at all during a contraction. I had started to get back labor as well. Brande's helper/nurse came within a few hours after that, Malory, she was also a doula, and knew exactly where to put counter-pressure on my back to relieve some of the pain. LAAA! I loved that. So most contractions after that, I would ask for someone to press on my back. The day went on for a bit and I felt like we were making good headway, but by the afternoon one time when they checked me Josey had turned to the side, and I had gone backwards in labor. From a 7 back to 5 I think.
After that I pretty much lost sense of time... so there's not much detail in the story here. So the rest of the day was spent rocking back and forth on my hands and knees, walking stairs, and on the labor ball to try to turn her. I would make progress and then go back, then make progress and go back again. Josey was moving her head all over sideways, straight, sunnyside-up ...everything. That was that evening into early the next morning. I could see everyone start to get a bit concerned, and then really excited each time we went back and forth in labor. I was just concentrating, and really focused on each contraction. Praying... :) I knew I was close, so I didn't get upset or desperate. Josey's heartbeat was really consistent and there were no signs of distress at all.
Early Tuesday morning I was checked, had retracted again, and Josey's eye was open looking out. She had moved herself to coming face first! After that Brande called the OB that she works with, and we made preparations to go to the hospital. The fact the I had gone back in labor again, Josey's position, and how long it was taking were why we went. I had told everyone that I was DONE as well. I wasn't sad about not having the baby at home. Something we decided very soon after we found out we were pregnant... and something I have always wanted. Everyone was rushing around to leave, grabbing everything and packing the cars up. Then I got in the car (BLEH)... and the car wouldn't start! So we started packing everything into Malory's car, and realized she had a flat tire! Casey and Dad raced up to the farm filled the tire, and brought it back so I could get in (BLEH again, just imagine doing that in hard labor folks) The hospital was 40 minutes away and by the time I put my seatbelt on (BLEH) we couldn't get there soon enough! I was in the front seat and it was snowy/icy out. One side note during our drive there I made sure to remember the car was a Pontiac Vibe so that I would never ride in one again.
Once we got to the hospital Casey's family was there. I remember being wheeled in, was happy to see them, but told everyone that I wasn't going to talk :) Went through the check-in stuff which felt like forever. They asked if I wanted an epidural and I said "This totally goes against my grain, but YEEES!!" Then we were off to the delivery room. I was supposed to be in there for just a little bit while they were getting a C-Section prepared. I had to wait for the epidural because there were 2 ladies we had to wait for. During that time they gave me medicine through the IV to hold me over. After a little bit the nurse looked at me and said "HEY! Was that pushing?? You can't push yet!" I didn't really know that I was pushing, but breathed through the next few. The nurse had to leave for a few minutes and told Casey and my Mom if I pushed to call her. She was gone for just a bit and Casey had to call her back in! I was checked again and Josey's head was straight and everything was ready to go! After that the crew was rushed in so we could have the baby! After that I HAD the baby... no extra explanation needed. Just a few comments I remember... one of the nurses had said "Ooooh your doing so good! That epidural feels good huh?" I never got one... Josey came before the medicine man :) . I remember my Mom one time saying "OOOH TARA!" because Josey was almost here, shortly after that Casey said "Is it supposed to look like that?" kinda quiet next to me. haha!
When Josey was born and they laid her on me announcing "IT'S A GIRL!!!" That was the best thing! I loved waiting for that moment! She was so calm and just looked at me kinda quiet like "Hi!" We were sooo happy! The relief that it was over! OOOH SO HAPPY!!! I didn't care about what it took to get her here, and still don't. If every labor for every child was 38 hours, with 26 hours of hard labor, I would do that, and more for each of my children!
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| What a blessing! What an answer to prayer! |
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| First Family Picture |
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