Our New Family
Right when Juliette was born, My husband about to cut the cord and the midwife helping him.
cutting the cord! still in the birthing tub, we let the cord pulse for over 60 seconds before we cut it so Juliette could get all the blood and oxygen still pulsing from the placenta.
Juliette being held skin-to-skin with her daddy while the midwife took care of me.
Me getting acquianted skin-to-skin and establishing breastfeeding for the very first time. My beautiful brand new daughter
Miss Juliette Rose Koenig on her Birthday! 7 lbs 9 Ounces born at 7:02 A.M. on May 2nd, 2013
My birth story is one that I feel is very empowering and I am still in unbelief that it is mine to share with the world. Birth is such a beautiful God given gift that I think it’s silly to view it as something we can control or take complete charge of. Every birth story is equally unique because it is the beginning of a new life, and that in itself makes birth marvelous whether c-section or not, whether at home or in the hospital, birth is breath-taking.
My story starts at 5 A.M. on May 1st when I woke up with my husband to make him breakfast before he headed off to work. I was having some small cramps and my husband told me I had to time them because earlier in the week I had had my membrane sweeped, I’d been taking black & blue cohosh and I’d already lost my mucous plug. I was really unsure if they were contractions or not and I didn’t want to get myself all excited just incase it was false labor, but I timed them anyways. The small pre-labor contractions were consistently 7-10 minutes apart that entire day. The way I would describe these contractions was familiar, like period cramps I’ve had ever since I started having my period as a little girl. The only difference was that they weren’t in the small of my back like period cramps, they were beneath my belly button and literally inside my belly. My day was normal, These contractions didn’t take my breath away or make me incapable of talking. My mom came over to visit on this day and brought my little brother and they never even noticed I was having contractions because I could hide it pretty well. I also went on a walk with a good friend and had dinner like normal. I knew I was heading towards real labor because my doula suggested that I take a hot shower and drink a glass of wine with dinner to see if the contractions subsided, and they didn’t. They stayed consistently 7-10 minutes apart.
Night time came and we decided to go to bed around 1030 ish in case my husband had to go to work the next day because we had no idea when labor would hit. I didn’t really go to sleep, I lay there timing contractions because I was just too excited hoping that I would soon see my sweet baby and wondering what labor would really entail. I didn’t sleep one bit.
1:30 A.M. I felt a gush of fluid and jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, in shock and disbelief I just stood there for a minute looking at the fluid gushing down my legs, amazed that this could really be happening. All through my pregnancy I’d heard that most women don’t have their water break and that chances are very slim, it really only happens in movies. Yet there I stood, water was definitely broken! Here’s the good part, I yelled for my husband then waited for him to jump or run over to me in the bathroom, really just for any response. I look in the bedroom and say it again, “Micah my WATER BROKE!!”. His response, “That’s nice, I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything, you should just come back to bed it’s too soon to worry about that.” HA! what a cute husband. After yelling at him to get the heck out of bed, we called our doula and she headed over. At this point my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and getting much more painful. I remember getting on my hands and knees on the couch and feeling stuck, my body was taking over and all I could do was let the contractions happen. The moments in between contractions were very clear, and I could talk then, but during the contractions I needed a hand to hold, and my husbands shoulder to lean on. With each contraction I had to search for an inner strength, something inside me that reminded me that I could do this. I remember thinking about my bradley class often and the things I had learned. I would tell myself to make deep and low sounds because that pushes baby downward while high and loud sounds would keep her up.
Before my doula got there I had decided I needed to go to the hospital and that it was time to leave. MIcah was very reassuring and encouraged me that we could wait until our doula made it here and even though I really wanted to leave right that second, I was able to put my trust into micah and wait. When our doula (Pita) got there we instantly left. I remember thinking before pita arrived how I needed to seem strong, but when she got there it was such a relief to have someone who knew so much about birth that with my first contraction I just fell onto her. literally. She helped me down the stairs, all three flights mind you, and into the car. Ugh the car! One of the worst parts, So uncomfortable! I reclined back and laid on my side, but it still felt like the longest car ride ever even though it was barely ten minutes!
We arrived at the hospital at 3 A.M. and went into our birthing room immediately, I was admitted and was already 4cm dilated. I had to be hooked up to the NST so they could monitor the baby for 20 minutes as a routine procedure, only my baby felt the need to move away from the monitor so that it would take longer. The nurse had me laying on my back on the table which was awful!! My contractions were every minute and a half because of it! So painful, and at the same time there was a nurse/phlebotomist lady trying to put in my I.V. and I had to focus on keeping my arm still during contractions! I swear it felt like it took her a half-hour to get the I.V. in, and she missed my vein the first try! That was frustrating. When the NST monitors weren’t working Pita had me get on my hands and knees on the table and she pushed the monitor closer to my belly and finally we got a good reading so I could be unhooked.
At this point I just wanted in the dang water. But the nurses had me go to the bathroom first while they prepared the tub, we had a brand new room with a jacuzzi type built in tub instead of a blow up birthing tub. MIcah stayed with me in the bathroom, I remember snapping at micah a few times, not because he did anything wrong, but mostly because it was really hard to communicate what I needed during contractions. I kept making him go out and check if the tub was ready and he was probably driving the nurses nuts, but he was a great husband and I know I couldn’t have done it without him. The timing was perfect and my antibiotics were done when the tub was all ready for me. I had to be on antibiotics which took 20 minutes every 4 hours I was in labor due to being Group B Strep positive. It’s nothing serious but the hospital has to be cautious and likes you to have atleast 2 doses of antibiotics while in labor just to be safe so you don’t pass it on to your baby, I only had one dose, and because of that we had to stay 48 hours instead of just 24.
Now the tub was ready, and it was time to really get things moving. At this point I had no sense of time or how long/ not long things were taking. The tub was miraculous, I was on my knees with hands over the edge holding onto micah nearly the entire time, while Pita poured warm water down my back. Occasionally micah would give me some ice chips or cold water, and we had some relaxing worship music playing.
The room was calm and quiet for most of the labor, besides the occasional nurse needing to check the baby’s heart beat with the doppler. The contractions came and went, and in between I could still talk, I remember asking pita lots of questions and even smiling and laughing occasionally in the in-between.
I felt strong. Brave and beautiful, and completely amazed by how God had designed me. There’s a point in labor called transition where some women give up and ask for pain meds, or when they really get angry/nasty and just can’t handle it anymore, that’s the point right before pushing. MIcah didn’t realize when I went through transition, I never once changed my attitude or wanted to give up, I believed in my body every moment of the way. My transition as pita said was a point where I was uncontrollably shaking, and I thought it was because I was freezing. I kept asking for more hot water and I remember shaking a lot. I think this is when my legs went numb and I had to lay back in the tub to regain circulation. I was probably sitting on my knees for a couple of hours at that point. I laid back and my midwife, Donna, came in and I asked her if she would check how far along I was. I was 9cm with a small lip! She said I could start pushing! I was amazed and couldn’t believe it. Pita had me get back up on my hands and knees knowing that as soon as I did I would fully dilate. I remember trying to push but not really knowing how, and during one contraction I could hear Donna’s voice saying, “Hold your breath, don’t make any noise, and push down.” The other most memorable thing during my earlier contractions was hearing my doula (mind you my eyes were closed typically during contractions) say, ” Don’t fight your body, let it go, relax and trust your body.” The smallest words of encouragement honestly made a world of difference.
So pushing. It was incredible. The most memorable experience of my life, more so than being on the eiffel tower, or traveling to Haiti, or even Disneyland. Being a part of the beginning of life was so beautiful and incredible. I felt every time she moved down. I could feel her inside me moving downwards. In between pushes sometimes I would just sit there and say, “wow” over and over because it was all so breath-taking. Pushing was hard work, and I almost got really discouraged. I kept checking to see if I could feel her head, and I couldn’t yet and each time I got a little more discouraged, but at the same time it just made me want to push harder and more effective. I remember being exhausted, and there was no talking in between pushes, I kept my eyes closed and would rest my head on the side of the tub. I don’t know what was going on around me, I remember I could see the sun coming up through the curtains, and that was a butt load of nurses in the room, micah told me later that it was shift change, but I was inside myself.
Pushing was carnal. It was the closest to animal instincts that I could have possibly every felt. Once my midwife told me how to push, I was lost inside myself feeling every moment. I can remember every centimeter, every feeling. When I first felt her head, I was so excited! I remember yelling out that I could feel her! It was such a rush that I pushed as best as I could at this point, once the soft part of her head was out, then it became a bit difficult and definitely the most painful part. I don’t know that I would really call it the ring of fire, it didn’t feel like that for me. I would say it felt like every inch of her face was scraping inside me, I could feel the eyebrow bones, the nose, chin etc. and that hurt! but it was incredible, I could feel my daughters face, it was all so real and so raw. once her head was out, the rest came out in one more easy push! MY DAUGHTER WAS ALIVE AND BORN!
7:02 A.M. and my daughter was in my arms! My husband was tearing up at this point, and I was just ecstatic! I kept saying, “my baby! my baby!! oh my gosh my baby is here!” and holding her on my stomach, it was amazing, she was so beautiful, her cord could only reach to my stomach, but that was ok! That’s when I became a mother. I did it. No pain meds, in the water, at the hospital. I did it.
I’ll cherish this moment in my heart forever, it was so incredible. I hope more people can experience birth this way. A lot of people doubted my ability to do things natural, especially at the hospital, but I never once doubted myself. I spent alot of time preparing for a natural birth, praying and becoming more educated about birth. I would love one day to become an advocate of some sort of natural birth, a doula or midwife.
littlekoenig 