Shiloh's Birth Story

You can find original post with pictures here.

My fourth little baby’s due date was March 24, 2014. I had been measuring on the smaller side throughout most of the pregnancy but around week 28 of pregnancy, my midwife was keeping a special eye on baby’s and my growth. It came to the point that I was measuring behind by 7 weeks. I was pretty confident on my due date (as I have been keeping a journal of all things pregnancy related.) From week 38, 39, and 40, I measured at 33 weeks and hadn’t grown in 3 weeks. My midwife was quite concerned and wanted to get me in for a diagnostic ultrasound the next day to make sure everything was okay with baby. I gave all worry, doubt, and fear to God and confidently went into the ultrasound with peace, knowing that baby was just fine. And…. baby was perfect. Growth, placenta, chord, heart chambers, amniotic fluid… everything… perfect. Thank you, Jesus! Even at 41.5 weeks pregnant, the highest I measured was 34 weeks during this pregnancy. And all my dates were exactly right too. We did, however, find out a special little surprise during this appointment.

When I was 21 weeks along we had an ultrasound (specifically to just determine the gender) and our tech told us we were having a boy. We took and posted announcement photos, had his name picked out after his grandpa, painted his name on the nursery wall, washed, folded, and put away all our baby boy clothes. Not to  mention, the boy baby book I had already gotten halfway into AND the journal I had been writing in to my son for  20 weeks. Well…. we found out, at 40.3 weeks pregnant that we were actually due with a GIRL! What a shock of a lifetime! We, of course, were still overjoyed but that is quite the mindset to reset in such a short time.

Let’s just say, the weekend was filled with putting away boy clothes, washing, folding, and putting away girl clothes, coming up with a whole new name, fixing my journal, putting glitter and sequences all over my blue baby boy book to make it look more girly, and the list goes on… it was quite the adventure!

We finally had settled on a name that we all loved (and got special help from the grandmas on deciding it- whom she is also named after!) It took us a few days, but we were ready for her arrival and felt confident we had switched everything around in time. Now… just to wait.

At my 41 week midwife appointment, on March 31, I was measuring at 34 weeks and my midwife was happy with that growth again. She still was thinking I could go another week or two until I delivered, however. Fine by me… God’s perfect timing is always the best!

We were thinking that baby could be born on Bubu’s (grandpa’s) birthday, April 1, but that day came and went. As did the 2nd of April, as did the 3rd. But everything was just fine- I was comfortable, enjoying each and every day of this pregnancy- blessed to be able to carry this precious baby in my womb. During the night on Thursday the 3rd, I awoke to some contractions during the night. In the morning, they had stopped for a while but then picked back up around 11am on that Friday the 4th. I had contractions all day. Nothing severe, but just went about my day in between contractions, coming every 10 minutes or so.

I was anticipating a longer labor and so when my husband got home from a half-day of work on Friday, I suggested some tactics to maybe move things along in case this was “the real deal”. Without giving too many details, our 3 kids were playing nice in the living room, so we jetted upstairs to our bedroom quick and then I took a nice long hot bath! Immediately when I got out from the bath, my mucus plug/bloody show came. Exciting! Contractions stayed constant throughout the rest of the evening. Although, I told myself that we probably would still have a long while to go.

It was my husbands birthday the next day (the 5th of April), and although I thought it would be a few more days before I had the baby, I suggested we do some birthday celebrations that night, just in case baby girl was born on daddy’s birthday. So, one day early, we sang to daddy, made homemade pineapple upside down cake, had taco night, opened lots of gifts, took pictures, and enjoyed celebrating daddy’s life!

All through the night on Friday, I had contractions, some more intense than others. I tried very hard to get rest, but it was difficult not only because of the contractions, but because of the excitement and nerves I was feeling that this was actually happening. I didn’t fall asleep until after midnight but I got a decent nights sleep.

In the morning, we got up around 7am and I felt a little groggy but was ready to start the day, my hubby’s 29th birthday. (In case you don’t know me well, I LOVE celebrating birthdays and life- it’s a big deal to me). I was kind of struggling with the idea that I may be in labor on his birthday instead of celebrating him, but he kept calming those nerves for me.  My husband had signed up for a 2 mile run in Coon Rapids/Andover area that morning that we were all going to go to. My husband wasn’t going to go since I was contracting throughout the night but I said, let me take a bath and get up and see how I feel and then decide by 8 if you should go. After my bath, nothing felt too severe or progressive so I encouraged him to still go and we would just wait at home for him.

I had called my mom that morning and let her know what was going on. She was originally going to watch our kids for a few house that day so that Seborn and I could go on a birthday date for a few hours. Well, plans had changed. She prayed with me over the phone for the labor and birth, for baby and me and for strength and courage. I told her I would keep her posted on changes or if we would still bring the kids over later.

I continued to have contractions while Seborn was gone at the race. I played as much as I could with our 3 kids (ages 5, 3, and 1) in between contractions. We decided to make sugar cookie dough to make cut-out cookies later with and to prepare a pan of tator tot hotdish for daddy’s birthday dinner that night. I had to focus on my contractions when they came but was able to function normally in between them. Something that I had never experienced before. In previous labors, I struggled to function, stay awake, and push on between contractions; I would be weak and tired. Not this time, which led me to believe we were very far out from actually delivering. I prepared myself for a long road ahead.

Around 9:45 am, Seborn called and said he was on his way home and his race went great! I told him he could take his time and wait for the results and whatnot but he said he was going to head home (about 20 minutes away.) At about 10, I had had 3 contractions that all of a sudden escalated in intensity and I became nauseous. Yet another thing I have never experienced in labor- nausea. I called Seborn and asked if he was close to being home because I was feeling strange all of a sudden and had some quite painful contractions. Thankfully he was.

When he got home we decided it might be a good idea to drop our kids off at my parents house for a few hours so we could labor for a bit. We facetimed my mom asked her if that worked out and she suggested (after seeing how nauseous I was and hearing me work through a contraction) that it’d be best if her and my sister just came to pick up the kids for a bit.

They got to our house by about noon to get the kids. They were just going to stay in the area in case things were to progress quickly. They gave me hugs and my sister, Keturah,  was able to help me through 2 contractions while they were there. I could hear my mom and sister praying over me as I contracted. They headed out and we said we would update them on things. In my mind, I still thought I had an entire night ahead of labor and maybe even into the next day.

I basically just hung out with Seborn for the next few hours. We talked in between contractions. Rested. Set things out for when guests would arrive after baby was born. Cleaned a little . Prepared our bed for labor. Each time a contraction would come, I would go lean against a wall and moan as I focused on my body doing what it needed to do. Then when it was done, we would talk again and get back to our day. Contractions were ranging between 6-9 minutes apart lasting about 35-60 seconds in variation. We kept my midwife, Jeanne informed of any changes. She said to let her know once they were 5 minutes apart for about 30 minutes and lasting at least 1 minute in length and then she would start heading to our house.

Around 1:45pm, we decided to go rest up in bed and watch a show together. Seborn texted our family and midwives and notified them that contractions were 7-9 minutes apart and getting more intense and longer in length and that we would keep them updated. We laid down and during that 50 minute stretch of time, I had maybe 3-4 contractions on our bed. It hurt more when I was laying down so I was eager to get up from the bed and work through contractions. Around 2:30 I was up and walking around again and the contractions started coming a bit more constant after that. They were getting more intense but I STILL thought I had a ways to go.

It was very important for me to have my mom and sisters present during the labor and birth. I didn’t want them to have to be there with me laboring for hours and hours on end, but they are definitely a source of great strength for me to lean on during my intense labors. I still thought I had hours left before we would deliver so we hadn’t notified them to come over yet. From about 2pm and on, we kept asking each other if we should have our midwife and family come over yet. I would ask him how he felt my pain management was as to how much longer we had left and he would say, “I don’t know. How are you feeling? Do you feel towards the end?” The labor was hurting… bad. But I remember labor hurting bad for a very long time in my previous labors so I assumed I had much longer to go. Two other strange factors I was dealing with was the constant nausea and also feeling fine in between the contractions and actually being able to function. I did not want to eat because of the nausea but forced myself to snack on yogurt and granola bars throughout the labor.

Since 11 am that morning, I basically would just yell out, “BABE!” from wherever I was in the house and Seborn would write the time down of when the contraction started and then time how long it lasted. We had a good system. I just listened to my body as I worked through contractions and tried to distract myself in between them. It was amazing how alert and normal I felt in between contractions. It was so great to have my husband by my side all day. He was so calm and collected. He is my rock. In previous labors, I relied on him heavily but the flow of this labor was different. He was always near me, but I labored much of it alone. Closing my eyes, rocking back and forth, and softly moaning. He would softly remind me to relax my body and focus on what my body needed to do. We were a great team!

By about 3pm though, I had a couple super intense contractions all of a sudden where I felt a sense of extreme pressure. I didn’t have an urge to push, but I felt like that urge was going to come soon. I put on my worship music labor mix and went up to my room to labor a bit. I all of sudden became emotional. I told Seborn I needed him now. I needed to hold on to him during contractions. I had one particularly tough contraction in the bathroom and looked up at him after and asked if it would be over soon. We went into our bedroom and I had another very painful contraction and held on to him tight through it. After, I asked him to read my Bible verses to me that I had put up. I cried as he read them to me.

John 16:21 says “A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” (NKJV)

Colossians 1:11-12 says, “We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul- not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.” (The Message)

Such a refresher for me- a reminder- another source of strength. Hearing my husband encourage me with Scripture helped me enter into the next phase of this process with a bit more courage than I had before.

After the quick escalation of timing, intensity, and length of a few contractions, I felt the time was getting near. I told Seborn to tell everyone to come over right away. At 3:10pm, he called my mom and sister, Keturah (who had all our kids) and told them to get here quick because I felt pressure to push. They had a 30 minute drive ahead of them plus packing the kids in the car. He called our midwife and told her it was time to come right away. She said our other midwife was in Andover and would be there soon. He texted my sister, Keena at 3:15pm and said to get over right away.

With my worship music playing, we worked through each oncoming contraction. I wanted to be standing as I had them. I went to the bathroom and stood up and had a huge contraction that I needed to let out a slight push at the end. I groaned loud and looked down and wiped and there was blood. I told Seborn to call Jeanne and tell her. He did and I told him to ask her if it that meant it was almost time. She was rushing to get to us on time but no one was here yet. She said I was in transition from 8-10 cm. I told him to ask her if I felt like pushing again, if I should. She said I could, if I want to have the baby before she gets there (haha). I wanted everyone to be here before I pushed this little girl out. I also really wanted to be done with labor.

I paced in our bedroom and tried laying down to see what position I would want to push in- I did a contraction laying down- nope, did not like it. I needed to stand. I paced back and forth into the nursery looking out the window to see if anyone was here yet. My song came on: “Waiting here for you.” I told Seborn to call mom and see where she was. It was 3:35 pm. They were right down the back road- should be here any minute. I told Seborn, “Tell her what song is playing! Waiting here for you!” (Ha!) Seborn told mom that we might have to deliver this baby by ourselves. I found out later that mom and Keturah were ready to get Jeanne on speakerphone to walk us all through delivering our baby girl. Now that would have been crazy!

Our other midwife, JoAnna had arrived and started setting up (around 3:37pm). I asked her what would be the best position to push in. She said whatever I want. I tried another contraction laying down. My mom and Keturah rushed in at 3:39pm and my mom ran over to me on the bed and hugged me. Keturah got right to work slathering the perfect essential oils all over me. Clary Sage on my inner ankles and tummy. She had me inhale Jasmine and put it on the bottom of my feet. She got the diffuser going, and kept getting the oils on me throughout the rest of my labor. Keturah and mom prayed over me, soothed me, helped get our kids situated and helped prepare to get this baby born! We prepped for the last part of the battle. The time had come. The oils Keturah put on were perfect, soothing, peaceful, and helped me with the transition part of labor so much!

I was relieved that my mom and Keturah were here. Still waiting for Jeanne and my other sister, Keena. I was ready to get into pushing position. I asked Seborn to sit on the edge of the bed so I could lean on him. Another contraction. I moaned. Groaned. Pushed. I watched the blood drip to the pad below my feet. No baby yet.

Jeanne arrived at 3:41pm and ran upstairs to get all her equipment ready. She came to my feet to help me through contractions and pushing. I heard my dad get here with our oldest daughter (they had to stop and get a treat at the store, ha!) and my other sister Keena arrived and ran upstairs to our room. It was 3:45pm.  Keena came and held my hand at Seborn’s side. Dad went downstairs and watched the 3 kids. Mom was in ready position. Keturah had got the camera ready to capture it all. JoAnna was sitting at my feet waiting for each next push.

Another contraction. Another push. I realized that if I wanted to have this baby, I had to push harder and stronger.

Another contraction. Another push. This time I bear down and used all my strength. I moaned, I screamed, I yelled, I groaned. I squatted down to the ground. I held as tight as I could to Seborn and Keena for leverage, almost pulling them to the ground with me. I pushed with everything I had. Keturah captured every moment taking pictures, while still making sure I was oiled up. And mom crouched to the ground trying to watch her granddaughter enter the world. (I think she may have got the best view, ha!).

I heard someone say her head is out, so I took a deep breath and gave one last push as hard as I could. She is out. I fell back in my sister Keena’s arms and she held me as I literally WEPT. I wept because it was done. Then I looked down at the beautiful baby girl in my arms. I was in awe. I wept some more. The ugly kind of weeping. Like I didn’t care who was watching- I needed to let this unbelievable feeling free and release everything. I thanked Jesus. I looked around at everyone and felt intense love. I cradled this baby in my arms and soaked her in through my own skin. I rested in the comfort of my sister’s arms and relaxed and released it all.

My water hadn’t broken until the second right before I pushed her out. There was a tiny amount of fluid in the amniotic sac and it was stained yellow from meconium. Which tells us that she was really ready to come- she didn’t have much food left in there. She could have even lost a little weight towards the end of the pregnancy because there was so little fluid left. It was quite a “dry” birth.

My husband came and switched places with my sister and held me and his new daughter in his loving arms. We gazed at our new daughter together. The miracle in our arms. Wow, God. We were amazed by what You have done. By your goodness and guidance. Thank you, Jesus for this overwhelming experience that left us with the most incredible reward imaginable. And God gave it to us on Seborn’s birthday! How cool!

We wanted to keep the chord connected until I birthed the placenta because there was a picture I wanted to take. So for about 30 minutes, I rested in my husbands arms, embracing my new baby girl and reveling in her newness. I looked around the room and was just overcome by the love and was SO GLAD that everyone was there in the that room with me at this time. It came time to birth the placenta and Seborn wanted to see it. Oh, the things that change from having your first child to your fourth child. We then took our pictures and I was able to go take a shower and get cleaned up and just enjoy the rest of our day.