I'm holding my miracle

[bostonsmama]

I can't believe it--my little girl is nestled in my arms instead of my womb. This miracle has been such a long time coming, and it gets sweeter every day. I am so humbled by this gift from God--that He'd give me such a perfect answer to prayer.

We got our natural birth, another answer to prayer, and my uterus is safely in-tact (after some small concerns early in the pg it would rupture due to scar tissue in my myometrial wall). Our doula was AMAZING! I don't know if I could have done it without her. Emmaleigh was born on Thursday morning at 4am weighing 6lbs 11oz, measuring 19.75 inches long. We're all home and doing well--milk came in and she's nusring like a pro!

Our birth story:

At 38wks I was already 3-4cm dilated, 75% effaced, but still -3 station, so my doula approved getting my membranes stripped at my next appt so long as she descended to at least -1 (which she did). Immediately after the appt I started getting contractions 5min apart lasting 1 minute for an hour, so I got in the tub to soak to see if it was the real thing. Unfortunately, they slacked to every 5-35min...very irregular and not the worst in the world. My doula said b/c our DD was LOP (posterior), that it could mean a very long early labor (hours to days), so I'd better get onto all 4s and PRAY she turn. My doula said once she turned, she'd come quickly b/c my cervix was already a full 4. I must have gone between the ball and all 4s over my couch for 18 hours. I had a feeling that even though I didn't think her birth was that imminent, I'd better get some last minute things done, so I went shopping and got my hair cut. That night, I'd been in bed trying to relax when DH came in, showered after a long day fixing last minute things around the house, and got into bed. Not one minute later I cried out in pain, "Owwww." He started talking about timing and I just darted him this look of panic. We called our doula and immediately went to the hospital. I threw up at check-in, and the contraction pattern was regular and beautiful, but I was only 5cm. I got on all 4s in the bed, and my doula helped me breathe through ctx until we got a room where I could get on the ball and into the shower. I pretty much labored in the shower until near-exhaustion, then got into bed on my side, then went over the ball ALL of transition. It was INTENSE! When the anesthesiologist came in asking me to sign consent and discuss the risks of C-section and epidural anesthesia, I wanted to kill him! He kept breaking my focus/concentration...and he was utterly useless b/c I had no intention of getting one. Well, my doula finally let them check me again and I was 9.5cm with just a membrane and sac left. After two pushes on my side, my water spontaneously burst all over my doula! By now, DD had turned anterior (we prayed so hard).

I wasn't pushing well on my side, so I got up on the squat bar (awesome!) until the end. Towards the end my doula and doctors were arguing about whether our baby was in distress or not. My doula said she had her hand on my baby's head the entire time and could feel her pulse...that the monitor was picking up MY heart rate, erroneously telling me things were looking scary. Either way, my doula asked me to dig deep and get our girl out. I pushed like crazy (God, it was exhausting!), and after 25 minutes total of pushing, our little girl came out without a single tear! My doula was AWESOME!!! She had me do micro grunty pushes for the shoulders...she even gave the doctor a flashlight to look INSIDE me when we were done b/c he couldn't believe I didn't tear given the precipitous birth. So, less than 4 hours after my first "oh, God" contraction, our daughter entered the world. I felt like I had run a marathon (in a good way)...it was this most beautiful feeling of accomplishment. She was a little blue on my chest, so they had to wisk her to the warmer after they let her cord pulse out. 5min later my placenta came out and I shocked the entire room of doctors and nurses by hopping off the delivery table and going over to the warmer with our daughter (stark naked). She reached up and grabbed my hair and pulled me down towards her where I smothered her with kisses. It was bliss! She fed like a champ 15 min later. We skipped the eye ointment completely and didn't have to bathe her until day 2. Everything went according to our birth plan. I actually had to ask the doctor his name as he was leaving b/c I don't even remember meeting him. My doula had him holding hot compresses on me while she poured mineral oil over our baby as she crowned, so we feel really blessed that he was humble enough to know that her 40 years of experience would help me have the birth I needed.

Ahhh...I'm just in love...sleep deprivation and all. I think I've gotten 8 hours total over the past 4 days (including naps).

[elektra]

Congratulations on everything.

[Smillow]

Your daughter is so beautiful & congratulations - what a great birth story - you !

[KrisM]

Congratulations! I'm glad it went well for you.

[elephantmeg]

OMG I have chills reading this. Congratulations to you all, wishing you all the best in this new adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is beautiful!

[lkarp]

What a beautiful birth story and baby! Congratulations!

[jgenie]

Congratulations!!!

[Kitten007]

Congrats on your little miracle! Congrats on the birth you wanted!

[happymom]

Wow! What an amazing story and what a gorgeous baby. Enjoy your precious miracle!

[goldenpig]

Congrats on your little miracle, after all that you went through before. I'm glad everything went well. She is adorable! Enjoy your precious baby.