Since it's my blog and I'm allowed to write about whatever I want, I wanted to write down his birth story. His journey here was quite interesting to say the least! I had been getting adjusted very regularly by my chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy. He had been head down for several weeks and engaged, ready to go. Then I went to my midwife appt at 40 weeks, 3 days, where she discovered that he (ps unknown to us that he was a he!) had flipped himself into a transverse (sideways) position. This late in the pregnancy it was much more of a concern that he wouldn't be able to flip back in time, so we were sent to the hospital to have the doctor turn him. All I can say is OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH! That is probably the most painful thing I have ever had done. Fortunately it was mostly a success, although we couldn't get his head to engage any more and the doctor recommended we induce so he wouldn't flip himself back again. I cried and cried and cried because I had been working so hard to not have to induce, and all of the things I had learned about natural childbirth and the effects of drugs like pitocin I had to pretty much throw out the window. We decided that induction was the best route though, and it would be the least likely way I would have a c-section so we went ahead. This time around I used the midwife clinic instead of the regular OBGYN doctors, so my midwife assured me they would use the smallest amount of pitocin possible and we made my induction slow and steady. What surprised me was how fast my labor progressed, and after 3 hours I was already dialated to a 6. I asked for an epidural then, surprisingly the labor hadn't been too awful yet (even with inducing, which really surprised me!) but the place on my belly where the doctor had pushed to move the baby HURT SO BAD it made me cry out every single time I had a contraction and I needed help. My epidural came and it slowed down my labor quite a bit, but my midwife was so good to me and didn't turn up the pitocin, she just let me labor at my own pace. It took a few more hours and they kept asking me if I felt the need to push. Finally I did and I let my nurse know, and slowly but surely the midwife and the staff came. It's funny, when I was ready to push with my other kids it became a mad rush with nurses and doctors and stirrups and everything happened so fast. This time I could literally feel my body pushing him out on its own without any help from me and everyone just stood there and waited in the dark, so quiet and patient. I asked the midwife if she wanted me to push and she said not yet, to just let my body do the work and he would come soon enough. Instead of my normal 2 contractions at a 10, I had about 10 contractions and then they finally let me push. He came out in no time, and we were so excited to have a baby boy! He was 8 lbs. 4 oz, 21 1/4 inches long, and was born at 7:03 am. I was so incredibly grateful for the midwives and nurses, they worked really hard to make sure my labor and delivery was as close as possible to what I had originally wanted, and I was able to still avoid a c-section. I really think it went as well as it possibly could have. My kids stayed with my parents and my sister while we were in the hospital, and I felt so good we decided to go home a day early. Now we are all home together again, and it's a bit chaotic and nerve wracking after the quiet hospital experience, but I know we are going to figure this out. I'm definitely praying for a smooth transition from being pregnant to having a baby. Be on the lookout, lots more baby photoshoots to come!
