Isaac's Birth Story: Part 1

This is the first of two posts on Isaac's birth story. These posts are a retelling of the labor and delivery process, in all the detail that we would like to remember. I hope you enjoy reading about this wonderful experience. Be aware that, while it is not graphic, it does include details of the birthing process. Please feel free to comment, and to share the story with others if you find it encouraging. We are so grateful that Isaac arrived safely and without incident, and give glory to God alone for the events that you will read about below!

******************

I was awakened at 4:33 in the morning by the first contraction. While it was more intense than the hundreds of Braxton-Hicks I had been experiencing over the past week or so, I wasn’t completely convinced that it was the real thing. I breathed and relaxed and refrained from getting too excited. One contraction does not a labor make, particularly when the due date is still two weeks away. At 4:43, another contraction rushed over my body – still not sharp or painful enough to be truly persuasive, but certainly enough to make me take notice. I continued to relax and make myself as comfortable as possible in bed, and decided it wasn’t worth waking Joel just yet.

The next hour and a half consisted of contractions every 10-15 minutes, perhaps skipping one here and there, alternating with me telling myself, “Nah, probably not labor…if I have one more contraction, THEN I’ll wake Joel up.” They became closer together and more regular as the time progressed, so that they were really every ten minutes toward the end of that time. While I was intently focused on evaluating what was going on with my body, it was a very peaceful time of experiencing and relaxing through contractions, resting as much as possible in the quiet as the sun began to peek through the windows.

Joel’s alarm was set to go off at 6:00 a.m. At 5:45, I told myself that if I had one more contraction, then I was going to wake him up, no seriously this time because it just might be labor. So I relaxed through a contraction and slipped my hand into his, squeezing it gently. He squeezed back, and I softly told him that I had been having contractions for about an hour and a half. He didn’t exactly bolt out of bed, but to his credit, he did at least wake up and converse with me. (It helped that it was pretty much his normal wake-up time at that point.) I told him that we should probably think about whether he ought to go in to work on time, late, or at all, and whether we should start to rally the troops (midwife, Mikayla’s on-call babysitter, etc.).  Consensus was that he would hop in the shower so he’d be ready for whatever contingency.  I also encouraged Joel to potty immediately if he needed to, before my next contraction hit.

At this point, things I did differently, having learned from the first time around with Mikayla: 1) Wake Joel up when odds are best that it will work, rather than at 1 a.m. when he will likely struggle to comprehend what is going on. Baby helped tremendously by initiating labor early in the morning. 2) Ask Joel if he needs to use the bathroom BETWEEN contractions rather than competing for the toilet in the midst of a very painful moment.

Things Joel did differently, having learned from the first time around: 1) Respond appropriately and supportively to wife’s statement that she may be in labor. 2) Potty quickly and allow wife to resume post laboring on toilet.

Joel hopped in the shower at 6:00 a.m. By 6:10 when he was hopping out, there was no doubt that I was in serious labor. Contractions were becoming deeper and more painful, with less than ten minutes between. We texted our on-call babysitters around 6:30, “Stand by, this might be it!” and called the midwife. We agreed to meet at the birth center at 7:45, to give our babysitters time to arrive. Then, our poor babysitters let us know that they needed to jump-start their car, and that one of them had jury duty (from which he was subsequently released, thankfully!). But they were going to be en route ASAP! We called our back-up babysitter who agreed to come right away so that we could get on the road.

All this was still more ideal than making arrangements at 3:00 a.m. to drive on unplowed roads through a blizzard to the birth center, a la Mikayla’s birth story, but still.

Joel gathered miscellaneous last-minute items for the birth bag, brought some clothes for me, and helped me get my socks on (for some reason this is a job that sticks out in my memory from our first labor too – him putting my socks on my feet between contractions). Things were getting intense for me as I remained on the toilet, but overall it was still a pretty peaceful labor with successful relaxation through each rush. I knew Joel was taking care of details, and my confidence in him allowed me to focus on what I was doing without becoming tense or stressed.

Both our babysitter and back-up babysitter arrived at the same time, so our back-up turned around and went back home (thanks for trying!). I will never forget the sight of Rachel rushing in the back door as I stood in the mudroom having contractions over a chair. She had one daughter under each arm, and as Joel and I began to tell her where the instruction sheet was, etc., she said, “Just go! I’ll figure everything out!” What a friend. Thank you! My mind was at ease as Joel helped me to the car.

Next: Part 2