Noah's Birth Story

Here is our birth story. Warning to readers: T. M. I.

I woke up at 4 am Wednesday January 14th, with moderate contractions. I used the bathroom and had bloody show so I was pretty sure this was it. I drank some cayenne pepper in warm water as I had been advised that would help prevent excessive bleeding. That was a HOT cup of water! I also got online to ask for prayer.
Then I went back to bed to try to get what rest I could. About 7 things were getting pretty uncomfortable. My husband was up & built a fire as the house was COLD & I moved out to the couch. The kids were up by then & we told them I was in labor. My 12 year old son reacted with a kind of awed disgust "You're in labor? EEEwwwww" My 9 yr old daughter was just beyond excited & wanted to discuss every detail. Unfortunatly, I was a little beyond casual conversation at this point. My 2 year old just wanted to sit in my lap. Ouch.

Time was a blur for me at this point so my timeline may be off some. About 8 we took all the blankets off the bed & set up the plastic sheet & put an older blanket back on. I labored on the bed for a while until I felt like I wanted to get in the tub. Contractions were really intense by now & I was having a hard time staying relaxed. I used the bathroom before getting into the tub & right as I sat down my water broke. It kind of popped & gushed & then I could feel the baby's head move down & seal it off.

I got in the tub & it felt so good. We didn't have a "birthing tub" but were just using the bathtub. My husband took off the shower doors so he could actually reach me. The water felt so good at this point. My contractions were coming hard & fast & the only thing getting me thru was prayer. Although at this point my prayers pretty much consisted of me just repeating "please Jesus" over & over & over.

It felt like I was in the tub for hours but in reality it was less than 2 hours. After maybe an hour I starting pushing little 'fake' pushes as the contractions peaked because they hurt so bad. Pushing was giving me some relief. But I hadn't had that uncontrollable "I have to push NOW" feeling that I had with my other babies so I was a little leery that maybe it wasn't time yet. After maybe 20 minutes of the 'fake' pushing I decided to try a "real" push. One huge push & the head was out. Two more & I felt his little body wriggle out & shoot across the tub.

My husband pulled him out & handed him to me. I was first to know he was a boy. He was pretty snuffly & bubbly so my husband spent a few minutes suctioning him & wiping him off. We kept him in the warm tub for a few minutes waiting for the cord to stop pulsing. He nursed a little bit until we were ready to cut the cord. Once he was 'free' my husband wrapped him up & took him to show the kids. After maybe 15 or 20 minutes I pushed out the placenta. I just squatted over a dish pan & it was really easy. My husband helped me get up & dressed & then we moved in to the bedroom & just got to enjoy being a family. It was so awesome to be at home, not to be poked & prodded & picked at. And it was so amazingly special that it was just me & my husband.

I want to give the disclaimer that we did not enter into this lightly. We tried & tried to find a midwife right up until last week. We read all we could & had our supplies ready. We also talked about what we both expected, what we would do "if", what the plan was if we needed help, we tried to be ready for anything. And we prayed. We prayed that we would do the Lord's will. We prayed for an uncomplicated delivery. We prayed for skill & discernment. We prayed for a healthy baby. We prayed a lot.

The labor was much harder than I expected. I really didn't think I would make it thru! I had read all these books & hundreds of birth stories & convinced myself that I would have an easy labor & breeze right thru--NOT! I was able to stay calm & really focused but it was not easy! I told my husband several times I couldn't do it! He just kept encouraging me & reminded me it would hurt at the hospital just as much as at home! The Lord blessed us with an uncomplicated delivery & a healthy baby & we are truly thankful.

From start to finish I had 7 hours of labor. Our Noah Jordan came into this world at 10:55am weighing 9lbs6oz & we are blessed.

Thank you all for the congratulations & kind comments!

Blessings.