jason started a job in northern va one month before E was due. i absolute loved my midwives in richmond and our sweet doula, so i didn't want to try to find someone up here that i barely knew when i was already so comfortable with the people we had decided would deliver and be a part of our support team for the birth. so the day before eli's due date, jason drove me down to richmond to stay with my parents, as i had an appointment on his due date. he drove back home and the plan was for me to call him when i went into labor.
my mom took me to the appointment the next day (wednesday) and i was 3cm dilated and fully effaced. my midwife told me that my body was ready, it was just a matter of when E was ready to be born. so off me and my mom went to have a "pampering" day to keep my mind off of how much i wanted the E out of me and also because my birthday was in a few days, so we "celebrated" early. we got pedicures, had chipotle, and went thrifting. shortly after we left the midwife, i started having contractions. they weren't anything super painful, but i would have to pause in the store as i was walking to focus on it. we got home and started to time them, and they were all over the place with no rhythm to them at all. by the next day, i was still having them and starting to feel more uncomfortable and hadn't slept well either. jason ended up coming down, because i was so scared and wanted him there with me.
the abnormal contractions continued into the weekend, when our doula came over to my parents and tried to work with me. nothing seemed to help and i was so tired. i ended up deciding to go into the hospital on sunday because it had been four days of contractions with seemingly no progression. when we got to the hospital i had gone down to 2cm dilated (probably because i was so stressed). i was completely discouraged and they ended up giving me morphine so that i could fall asleep and get some rest. i was sent home that evening.
we talked with Em, our doula about options. she recommended the chiropractor and i had also heard of castor oil inducing labor. she encouraged us to not time the contractions, so that i wouldn't be so up in my head about it all. so the next day (monday), we went to the chiropractor after buying a bottle of castor oil at the drug store. Em encouraged us to wait 24 hour after the chiro to take the castor oil if i decided i wanted to do that. the next day about 20 hours after my adjustment, i told jason that i just wasn't sure if i was comfortable taking the oil. i knew it wouldn't hurt me or E, but i just had this unsettling feeling like i wasn't supposed to for some reason. he told me to think and pray on it while he went to go get me lunch.
while he was gone, i was laying in bed watching netflix and almost instantaneously my contractions COMPLETELY changed. they went from early labor type contractions, to full-on intense labor contractions. i would pause the show i was watching, get on the ground on all-fours to work through the contraction, then get back on the bed to watch the show. because i kept pausing it, i saw they kept being five minutes apart. jason got back and brought me food, and i told him i was having real contractions, and he should go rest and eat because it may be a long night. not long after i called him back upstairs because they were getting more intense. we called Em, and she met us at my parents house, and then we immediately went to the hospital because i could tell this was completely different and they were getting closer together.
we got to the hospital about 4pm and i was 7cm dilated. i literally screamed praise the lord! (y'all, almost a full-week of early labor SUCKS!) we had decided early on that i wanted a natural and low-intervention birth. i labored for a few hours and my water broke in the shower. (PS: the movies lie… your water doesn't always break before labor starts, i was probably about 8cm when mine broke!) the shower and water pressure was the only thing that really helped ease the pressure for me. i had requested a room with a tub, but both that had it were taken (praying to jesus for that for the next baby and i highly recommend it if you can!)
maybe an hour after my water broke, i felt the urge to start pushing. my midwife told me i was only 9cm, but that i should listen to my body and she would help me. in the first 30 min of pushing, she said i had made HUGE progress and that i was close. after an hour or so more of pushing i started getting really weak. i was drinking water and gatorade, but i think the whole week and all the lack of sleep and nutrition was catching up to me and i started shaking in between contractions/pushing. they ended up putting in an IV and giving me oxygen because i was so exhausted. i started saying that i can't do it, i need something, and that i couldn't push anymore. but i remember in that moment, my midwife, doula, nurse, and jason all encouraging me, telling me how far i had come and that i was capable and i was going to have this baby. i remember hearing the worship music between each contraction, reminded of how God had knit this little boy together in my womb and knew him by name before he was even a thought in Jason or I's mind. i was reminded of how Jesus walks with me, that he gives me strength, and that my bodies was designed to do this. and i kept going.
i pushed for another 30-45 min and our sweet baby boy was born. healthy and perfect and BIG! we immediately got skin-to-skin and he proceeded to poop on me four times in the first 30 min (#reallife). but all that didn't compare to the love and adoration we felt when we saw that sweet face for the first time. after a bit of snuggling he latched on fairly well and breastfed for the first time. he got to cuddle with daddy too and after bonding with us, he was weighed and measured. he was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 22 inches long.
we were SO thankful for the birth experience that we had. aside from the week leading up to it, our time in the hospital delivering our baby was perfect. Le-ann was my favorite of the three midwives i saw, and she was the one that delivered our baby. Emily, our doula was the biggest support and encourager for Jason and i throughout the pregnancy and labor. Jason won husband and dad of the year with how gentle and patient and loving he was. i seriously could not have done it without my amazing birth team.
elijah porter was a little stubborn upon his entrance into the world, but so worth the wait. we are so incredibly blessed and thankful for our little ray of sunshine!
