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| sweet baby Caleb less than an hour old |
I am so grateful for my sweet little boy and especially to my Heavenly Father for knowing the desires of my heart and providing a way for me to be a mom and also bring this little boy into the world in the most healthy and natural way possible. I have been diligently preparing to have a natural childbirth without any drugs and minimal interventions. I have taken the Bradley courses for 12 weeks and been practicing exercises and relaxation techniques to prepare. This particular method also is big on involving the husband as the "labor coach".
I feel very strongly that it is best for the mom (for a quick recovery and also to release the natural hormones needed during labor to naturally aid in pain and to feel empowered and strong after the birthing experience) and for the baby (our bodies are made to aid the baby in his journey and produce contractions and hormones that help him to deal with the process and not become distressed which often happens when synthetic drugs and pain relievers are used, baby comes out more alert and ready to nurse as well when he is not under the influence of an epidural or other drugs that make him sleepy). I felt that once you start doing an intervention then it often leads to others and ultimately could lead to a C-section which would have been my least favorite scenerio.
The last week of pregnancy was a mentally and physically trying time but also a time of great joy. It started when I went to my routine prenatal appointment on Wednesday, May 9 and my blood pressure was high so my nurse/midwife sent me to the other Kaiser hospital to be monitored and also get bloodwork done to test for preclampsia. Everything was normal other than my bloodpressure and the baby was strong and healthy from what the testing showed. There was a nurse/midwife on call at the hospital and her recommendation was that I get induced that day with pitocin since I was fully effaced and already dilated 2 cm so I would respond well to the pitocin and she felt that to go home would just add risk to the situation, she scared me by saying that due to my high blood pressure I could have a seizure and possible have a stillborn baby as a result. I felt very conflicted about what to do and still felt strongly that I wanted to give this baby and my body a chance to birth naturally, my mother in law Renee was there and she was supportive in whatever I decided to do. I said a prayer and felt peace that I was okay to go home and not get induced that day. At first Daniel thought we should just move forward with the induction but after praying about it himself he felt okay about my desire to come home and wait for my body to go into labor. He gave me a blessing when I got home and in it said that I would have the birth I had wanted and that Caleb would come out and immediately recognize and respond to his parents. This was a blessing I kept foremost in my mind for the rest of the birth experience and it pulled me through the very painful parts of the actual labor without asking for and epidural or other pain drugs even when it felt that I could not go on in that kind of pain.
I was not going into labor and was scheduled for an induction for May 14 if my body did not do it naturally by then, I talked to my Bradley instructor and she suggested acupuncture to help induce labor and also walking. I had been walking my whole pregnancy until I was told to rest more due to high blood pressure at the very end. On May 11, I scheduled an acupuncture appointment in the morning and then by 5 pm was starting to have mild but regular contractions. I actually went on a portrait photo shoot at wind and sea with Dan and his mom who were shooting the Kent Family from AZ. I walked around the beach some during the shoot. My contractions stayed regular and then started to get gradually stronger. I tried to sleep through them but by 3 am they were close enough together and strong enough that Dan made the decision that it was time to go to the hospital. When I got there I was 3 cm dilated and still completely effaced, they said the baby was very low.
To make a long story short, I was in labor a total of 25 hours, at one point I was stalled at 6 cm and the nurse/midwife on duty said they needed to give me pitocin since I was not progressing, and I refused and instead put myself in the most painful labor positions to bring on stronger contractions. I was in active labor for 13 hours and managed the pain by using different positions, massage, focusing on breathing. listening to hypnobabies CD and other relaxing music, warm water in the shower and prayer. Dan was completely supportive and encouraging and did not let me give up on my plan to do this naturally even though at times I remember wondering if I could get though the pain, he encouraged me to take it one contraction at a time. The pushing stage lasted about 1.5 hours and I did not want an episiotomy and did end up tearing some. Caleb entered the world at 6:58 pm on Saturday May 12 and weighed 7 pounds 14 oz. They immediately put him on my chest and he lifted his head and upper body up and looked at Dan and I with his eyes wide open, strong boy!
He is such a good baby and is not very fussy, he does not cry much and seems very smart and aware of things that are going on around him. He especially loves his daddy's voice and loves when his daddy sings to him, he will just stare as his daddy does the "Caleb show". I could not be happier to have this little spirit in our family, it truly is the most joy I have felt and satisfaction in life to now have our son here.
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| Caleb was immediately soothed by his daddy's voice even when they gave him his vitamin e shot here |
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| Skin to skin time with Daddy, doing this often during the first couple weeks of life helps the baby in many ways and is comforting to them |
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| We took the Bradley natural childbirth classes and Dan was a great coach, he massaged mom's lower back during the contractions to help with the pain and boy oh boy did it help! He also encouraged Rozzy and even counted with her during the pushing stage on each push. |
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| This is during a contraction, I liked to sit on the birthing ball when I didn't have to be hooked up to the fetal heart rate monitor (which was 20 minutes out of each hour) and then would focus on my breathing during the contractions to relax and let my body do what it needed to do. |
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| Grandma Renee was a great support and help for a week before Caleb arrived and was also there through the whole labor and delivery, she took turns helping massage Rozzy during the contractions when Dan got tired. |
