Eli's Birth Story

I have been so excited to share Eli’s birth story. I was so encouraged as a first time mom to hear some wonderful birth stories. I also want to say that this is “OUR STORY, “everyone has theirs and Praise God for that! I am proud to share our story and thankful for all of you who fully supported my decisions.

“When God wants us to wait, it always serves a purpose. Waiting creates an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving, a realization that things could be different. Waiting creates perseverance. Waiting generates compassion. Wait without grumbling, but expectantly knowing that what you have is worth the wait.” (My Pregnancy Devotional)

Waiting takes on a whole new meaning when your baby is eight days overdue and the doctor is telling you that any longer and the mortality rate increase at birth. How do you feel when your prayer for nine months has been that your baby goes till its due date and your water breaks as indication for your labor, and it hasn’t happened… I will have to say I grew largely in those eight days that the previous nine months had nothing on. 

As Eli’s due date passed we were a little disappointed, but as the week went on it felt like he was never coming. It is actually hard to express how we were feeling. Apart from our feelings I wanted to have an all-natural birth, with no epidural, no induction and no pain medicine. It was just something I felt in my heart I wanted to do and experience. And as time went on that week, an induction seemed more and more likely. I kept my prayers up though. I used that week to have dates with Mark every night and really spend my whole day with God.  One of our prayers for nine months was that we were really prepared for our son and that extra week, looking back, was a massive blessing. All of our prayers were answered, especially this one….

It was Tuesday; I was officially one week over due. I had my doctor’s appointment the day before and he was telling me about the concerns of waiting another week. My cervix hadn’t changed in three weeks, but he did say that it was soft and that was better than being dilated! The doctor said when your cervix is soft it is like a ball of dough you can push your fist through... My whole pregnancy had been wonderful! I had been completely average and boring to my doctors. I always felt well and even being overdue I was still very comfortable. I hadn’t been discouraged in my pregnancy until that appointment.  

During the day on Tuesday I spent the whole day in prayer. I also prayed a very specific prayer. That prayer was, “Please Lord, have him come tonight! In your name!” Mark and I went to bed that night and prayed that prayer again. Within falling asleep for 20 minutes I had the sensation of my water breaking! It was a good thing that under me was a shower curtain, a towel and two layers of sheets. Mark got me a towel and all we could both do was smile at each other and laugh! It was really happening; our son was on his way. I sat on the toilet, noticed the liquid was clear (which is a good thing, because another fear with overdue babies is that they can get stressed and have a bowel movement in utero and then they can potentially aspirate that during birth) and took a shower. 

After my shower, Mark had the sheets already in the washer and told me to call my doctor. I called her and it was about 11pm. She told me to take my time, but come in right away so they could monitor the baby. The past week I had been having strong but irregular Braxton hick contractions. As soon as my water broke they changed into constant contractions, about every 3 to 5 minutes. We spent the next hour taking our time getting ready, remaking the bed and straightening up. Mark quickly paid a few bills and I gave our baby one last belly message. Within two hours of my water breaking we were at the hospital. 

Mark is ready!

When we got to the hospital I asked for the room with the labor tub. During our tour of the hospital they mentioned it and said it hardly gets used. The nurse said that they use the room mostly as storage since 96% of people in their ward get epidurals. You can only labor in the tub if you are planning to have a natural labor, you can’t even have an IV. Also, the tub is for laboring only; I couldn’t give birth in it.  By the time they prepared the room, put in my hemp-lock (in case of an IV) and monitored the baby a little it was 3am. I was still feeling the contractions, but they were tolerable. When they checked me I was at 3cm.  After they checked me the nurse had the jet tub all ready for me to get in.

I was able to stay in the tub for a half an hour at a time and then they put me back in bed to monitor the baby’s heart rate and my contractions. When I was in the tub, the sensations of contraction became stronger. I sat squatting in the tub with my chin resting on the side, with the jets on my back. I knew this position was better for gravity then sitting on my butt. I wanted to keep my labor active not relax myself. Mark was great the whole time; rubbing my back, encouraging me and kissing my forehead. It was definitely soothing being in the tub, but breathing was an important factor getting through each contraction. I would describe each contraction as this deep achy sensation in my hips. I wouldn’t describe it as a pain though, because pain involves some sort of problem that needs healing; what I was feeling had a great purpose and it wasn’t painful. Plus, each contraction was an opportunity for me to pray and thank God for what was happening.

I labored in the tub twice. After I got out of the tub the second time, laboring in bed was extremely uncomfortable. It was so uncomfortable that it caused me to throw-up twice. The nurse then had to administer an IV to keep my fluids up. She also had asked me if I wanted anything for pain, I said no. Then she asked if I wanted anything for the nausea, and I agreed to that. I knew I couldn’t get through it feeling extreme nausea the whole time! Prior to this they also told me that the baby’s heart rate was getting a little low and they may have had to put an IV in anyways. It was a bummer to not labor in the tub any more, but I spent the next 5 hours laboring standing up against Mark. Five hours seems like a lot but it went super fast!

This is a very sleepy Alex!

Mark and I didn’t keep track of time, but it was around sunrise when the nurse checked my cervix at 5 centimeters. At this point the sensation in my hips was growing stronger and I was having longer stints of them closer apart at times. With each sensation I faced Mark with my arms wrapped around his shoulders and my knees squatted a little. I then swayed my hips and focused on that calming movement with slow deep breaths, in through my nose and out my mouth. The nurse then told me the doctor would be in soon, and it was about 7:30 am. She checked me again and said I was a good 5 centimeters still, which is half way to the full 10 centimeters. 

As the morning went on a different doctor came in and asked if some students could come and observe my labor. I declined but agreed they could observe through any of the post-partum stuff with the baby. That doctor said, “I heard you were doing this all natural and doing a really good job!”  Mark looked at me after she left and said, “See honey isn’t that encouraging, I’m sure you are the talk of the nurses’ station!” At this point I was at times having contractions back to back and they were a lot stronger. The baby’s heart rate was good and went up at little with my heart rate on the contractions (that is what you want to happen).  Through all this I had only slept 20 minutes the night before, so between each contraction I was literally falling asleep but still in a state of awareness. Mark was holding me through each sensation and also keeping me from falling over from sleeping too! 

I didn’t realize the shock your body is really going through in labor; I was having the weirdest things happen between contractions. After one contraction I would get the chills, like violently shaking chills. Then the next one my body would feel like its overheating. It was a good thing the anti-nausea medication was kicking in for those hot flashes! It was now fully light outside and my doctor came in and checked me again, she was nice enough to check me in between contraction.  Before the nurse was taking her time and made it so I was having contraction in bed with no way to relax when she checked me. When the doctor checked me this time I was 8 centimeters!  I was still standing with each sensation, but my breathing changed from deep breathing to a deep breath with short little breaths. Mark breathed them with me. Also, to keep our room peaceful we only used the sound of our baby’s heartbeat. I also, put some peace and calming essential oil behind my ears and on my temples. These little things helped a lot. I felt bad for Mark because he was literally holding my limp body with each contraction. But soon they brought in the baby warmer and some things to prepare for labor. Mark looked at me again, “and said look honey isn’t that exciting, we are almost there!”

It was like 9:30 or so in the morning and I was trying to pay attention to the feeling of, “the need to push.” The pressure was increasing and I called the nurse in to check me. I was feeling pretty exhausted at this point, I was trying to have my contractions sitting on the very edge of the bed to give Mark a break; plus I was still sleeping in-between each sensation so it was a good place to rest. I was still very calm through the labor, but around this time I do remember whining once in a contraction and realized how unproductive that was!!!! When the nurse and doctor came in and checked me they said there was still a little cervix around his head.  The nurse lowered the bed into birthing position. The bottom of the bed lowered for the nurse and doctor to sit on. And the middle of the bed supported my bottom and the top of the bed was angled enough for me to be upright but comfortable. 

The nurse had me start pushing to get the cervix around the baby’s head.  I pushed several times, through several sets of sensations. I held my inner thighs and with each contraction I pushed three times. Sometimes I pushed four times. The doctor came in at this point and they were preparing the room a little more.  I was still pushing with each contraction, some with the nurse and doctor down there and some just on my own. I was pushing then consistently for about a half an hour. The doctor told me for first time mom’s it takes about an hour! I was feeling really discouraged and shocked! But Mark was great and kept saying, “You can do it honey!” He was also good at reading if I had another push in me.

Pushing felt good! It gave me a lot of relief to the contraction sensations and it also was bringing me closer to my son. The nurse put a wash cloth on my forehead and I was given an oxygen mask to help with the baby and keep my energy up! After pushing for a little over an hour the doctor put her gear on and said, “Wow this baby has a lot of hair!” I was feeling more determined!  The baby was lower and the pushes literally felt like I was going #2! I know some women have the fear of pooping during labor, but if I did poop, I didn’t care. I was really starting to feel the baby and I was grabbing my feet now and Mark and the nurse supported my thighs. You lose all shyness when you are having a baby! There were many nurses in the room at this point and I remembered thinking, “if there was going to be this many people looking at my yoyo I might as well of had those students watch!” 

The doctor asked the nurse to prepare a vacuum, which is a little suction cup they put on the baby’s head and when you push the doctor pulls. My baby ended up being bigger than we thought and needed more room. The nurse also asked me if I ever broke my tailbone.  I do have a little form of scoliosis, so that made it a little tighter for the baby at my tailbone. The doctor also numbed me up a little for an episiotomy (a cut!), again because the space was a little tight. I didn’t mind any of these interventions; I just wanted him out safe. Now was the time for THE PUSHES! I gave one large push and the baby’s head was a third of the way out. I felt no pain in the labor up until this point! It felt like 10 minutes till the next contraction, Mark said it was only 1 minute. I gave one last push after an hour and a half and he was out! What a feeling!

"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace." (Galatians 1:15)

I felt relieved, peaceful and blissful! My son was now in my arms! Right away he looked at me with one eye open trying to focus hard on me. That moment was too special to do anything but just gaze back at him. I held him for several minutes while the umbilical cord stopped pulsing and Mark cut. It was 11:18 am, I had been in labor for technically 13 hours.  The next moments weren’t quit as beautiful, as they cleaned up, sewed up and washed up. During this time Mark held the baby’s hand as they checked and cleaned him. Mark then came over to me and said, “Do you want to know his name?” Mark named him Eli, which means “My God.”  Mark then held Eli for the first time as they finished caring for me. I looked over and saw so much joy on Mark’s face. The whole experience was amazing and I would do it all the same way again! And Mark’s presence, support and love is what every laboring woman deserves. My recovering has been fantastic and we were able to go home the next day!

Waiting for Eli was hard, but what we waited for was perfect and worth it. I did it all natural and every prayer I prayed was answered! God’s timing is perfect, babies are defiantly miracles and women are tougher then you think!

Bringing home baby!