At 4 A.M. Wednesday the 7th of January 2015, I totally thought I peed myself. I woke up to a tiny burst of liquid. In fact, I turned to Andrew and said, “Oh my gosh, babe, I totally just peed myself!” I got up and as I started to walk to the bathroom, the liquid continued to gush out a little at a time. I finally made it to the toilet, but on my way back to the bed I continued to gush liquid. That is when I said, “Andrew, I think my water broke.” I waited to make sure that I wasn’t just “being pregnant” and peeing myself. Surely enough it just kept coming. Only thing was, the liquid was not clear. It was yellow/brown which really threw me off. But I knew it was my water.
Andrew had already been awake for a while reading the Bible. Only a couple minutes after he came back to bed did my water break! I called my parents, and my dad answered the phone. He had been up reading the Bible as well and praying! He had just started praying that I would go into labor soon the day before my water broke. We all wanted Faith to come at a time that would not require a c-section. God answered all of our prayers for sure.
After talking to my dad, my mom was on her way to my house. When she arrived we were all scrambling! At 4:30 A.M. I started having mild cramps. They then turned to stronger contractions. Around 5:30 A.M. they got even more intense. That was when we finally left. Andrew and I grabbed some food to go at Carls Jr., and I ate my half of a BBQ chicken sandwich on the way to the extraction point!
We finally arrived at the hospital and were admitted at 5:50 A.M. Contractions were coming fast and strong. I was already 4 cm dilated. (I had been 2 cm dilated at my previous check up). It turned out that my water was brown because baby faith pooped! But they said it was okay as long as she doesn’t inhale any of it.
Terri, my Doula, met us there right away and helped Andrew set up a soothing birth environment (Lavender fragrance, worship instrumental music, and dimmed lighting). Suddenly it dawned on me… This was really happening!
Terri and Andrew were by my side the whole time. They would both lightly rub me and help me through the pain of each contraction. When it got really tough Andrew would remind me to worship Jesus, and that He was right there with me. He reminded me that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. When things started to get even more intense, Terri grabbed both my hand and Andrew’s hand and said “okay, c’mon guys lets pray.” It was a beautiful prayer, and I felt the effects of it immediately! Later we all sang a worship song together, just praising His name (Blessed be the name of the Lord).
Around 4 hours in, the nurse, Stacy, checked my progress. I was now 6 to 7 cm. How exciting! But the contractions were beginning to really “own” me, as my husband would say. I continued to listen to Terri as she helped me with my breathing. She was there for every one! Andrew continued to hold my hand and rub my arm. At the time I was sitting up with my feet dropped down on the hospital bed. More time went by, and I begged the nurse to check how I was progressing, because I was sure that Faith was about to pop out of me! She checked… 7 cm. ARE YOU SERIOUS??? THAT’S ALL???
At this time I looked at Andrew and Terri and said, “You guys, I don’t think I can do this.” Terri responded, “You ARE doing it!” But I was still very unsure of everything. Can I really make it to the end? How much pain can my body possibly take? 3 contractions later, according to my husband I asked in the sweetest way possible, “So, why can’t I get the epidural?” Stacy the nurse then said that it was a little too late for that, and it would most likely slow things down a lot. Well forget that! I do not want this going any slower!
Only a few minutes later a song came on… “How Great is Our God.” I broke down in tears. I couldn’t help it. I explained to Terri and our nurse that that was the same song we sang at my sister’s burial. Everyone at the burial stood up and worshiped Jesus together even though our hearts were in such heart wrenching pain. While I was singing to Jesus that day, I had a vision of my sister next to me, singing with me before Jesus on His throne! It was REAL. It reminded me of His grace, mercy and love. He really WAS there with me. More than that, He was bearing the pain with me, and He was going to calm this storm for me.
The nurse had me lay down on my side to help flip the baby into the right position since she was on her side. Terri brought a special ball to put between my legs to help keep my hips open. Contractions sped up drastically. They were shorter, but no less intense. When I could not take it any longer they encouraged me to stand up. So I stood up with everyone’s help and just held on to Andrew, my arms wrapped around his neck and leaning all of my weight back while swaying my hips. Thank You Jesus for giving me a strong man! Only a little while later I felt Faith THERE. I begged the nurse to check me, but she said “let’s give it 15 more minutes.” Wow… 15 minutes isn’t just 15 minutes, It’s at LEAST 5 more contractions until I know I am even close to the finish line! 15 minutes later, (still hanging off of Andrew) and I am now 9cm, and baby Faith is in place! I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I think Faith could too if you know what i mean! Only a few contractions later and Stacy the nurse said I was ready to push! I am STILL hanging on to Andrew by the way. She tells me I can start pushing right there… Alright lady, it’s GO TIME!
That is where the real fun began! I pushed as hard as I could maybe one or two times per contraction Then I noticed something, I turned to the nurse and said, “I can feel her going back in after I push!” She then said that that was totally normal, to keep pushing. I pushed alright… I pushed like there was no tomorrow. I was not about to let Faith play whack-a–mole. I tried my best to get as many pushes in as possible with each contraction. I was not going to become one of those “I pushed for 4 hours” horror stories I have heard over and over again during my pregnancy. I have to laugh looking back though. When I started pushing I did say, “OW! It hurts!” Well no duh Sherlock, you are pushing an 8 lb baby out of your woohoo!!
The nurse saw how hard I was pushing after our exchange of words, and you could tell she was a tad bit anxious. She paged the doctor a second time to hurry up and get there. When the doctor arrived he was barking directions at everyone in the room to get a move on because this baby was not waiting any longer to make her debut! I pushed with ALL of my might. Andrew held my hand while Terri instructed me on how to breathe and how to push. Andrew later told me that I was gripping his hand so tight that it felt like a strong man was gripping his hand and squeezing it as hard as possible.
I was yelling so loud as I released each push. I did not care if I sounded like a Spartan raging as he runs onto the battlefield, I wanted this baby out of me! So I pushed as hard as I could, and got around 3 long strong pushes in with every contraction. Then I heard it, “There is the head, now lets get these shoulders out!” a couple more battle cries and my little darlin’ was laying on my chest… 10:46 A.M. was her official arrival time. I pushed that kiddo out in 19 minutes!!! Only thing was, she only let out a little tiny cry and then stopped… she was extremely blue. They took her to the table and Andrew followed as Terri remained by my side speaking words of comfort and praise. I asked the doctor and nurses if she was okay, but no one would answer me. I asked again… still no answer. After asking a third time, I got the hint… They did not know. Faith was not responding, but the nurses continued to work on stimulating her. Then… finally I heard it… a nice big cry! What a relief! Praise Jesus!
I was so shaky when they finally brought her to me, I was not sure if it was a great idea for me to hold her. But I did fine, though I was still in lala land, completely zoned out from the effort of labor. I was able to breast feed her right then and there. She latched on so quickly! Her blood sugar started off really low, but because she did so well eating, it shot right back up. She continued to eat as the doc stitched me up. Yes, I did tear, but nothing unbearable.
About 20 minutes later I was finally starting to wake up from my mental coma. I was able to really enjoy my baby girl. What a precious gift. This little angel was/is nothing short of perfect. She weighed 7 lbs and 13 oz and was 19 inches long! And she had quite the head of hair! I am so proud of this precious baby, and I felt so blessed to have had such a beautiful birth. I prayed my whole pregnancy that I would have a birth that glorifies God’s name. Boy did He deliver! No pun intended. =)
Big sister Eden giving baby Faith smooches. Mia is holding her new granddaughter.
For anyone who is looking for a great supportive doula, Terri was amazing! I have said this many times since our baby Faith made her arrival that if Terri was not there, I probably would have caved a lot earlier and gotten the epidural! Because of her supportive words, prayers and relaxation techniques I was able to make it through. If you want to get a hold of her, shoot her an email at Terri.doula4u@gmail.com. Thanks for reading!! =D
