the birth story – part I

I really love reading birth stories.

There’s just something about a mama sharing that truly special day.  A day filled with anxiety, pain, love, thrills and new HOPE.  I think pregnancy and birth are such commonplace occurrences that we sometimes gloss over just how AMAZING it is to bring new life in.  After two losses, I think I’ve got a better grasp on the concept that LIFE, and the “bringing in of life”, is precious.  Sacred.  A true blessing from the Lord.

Every birth story is different too.  Like a soap opera of sorts.  Highs and lows.  Expectations and realities.  I now hold three completely different birth stories…and shouldn’t it be that way as all of my children are three completely different entities.  I just love the narrative.  And I’m writing it down so I can remember and so my children may know how wonderful that day was.

A Birth Story – Porter Killian

Porter Killian Wright was born on Monday, April 14th (yes – 4/14/14..a wonderful palindrome, isn’t it?!) at 1:17 in the morning.  But let’s go back a full 24 hours to when it all began.

Around 1:20am on Sunday, April 13th, I had a dream that I was having a contraction.  These dreams had happened for WEEKS prior – nothing new.  Except that this particular dream was accompanied with my water breaking.  In our bed.  That we’ll now need to replace.

They say that you won’t miss it when your water breaks.

They are right.

It felt like a needle puncturing a balloon.  It was almost as if I could audibly hear a “POP!!”  So the contraction dream was a true contraction…the first of many to come.

I immediately jump out of bed and wake up Travis.  It takes several minutes for me to wrap my brain around what is happening (and what is going to start happening).  I panic and run to the bathroom, leaking fluid as I go.  Travis jumps into action and calls the hospital, tells them what has happened.  They tell us to come in.  (With Clara, after my water broke, I had her three hours later so I was excited (and nervous) to see how quickly Porter would arrive.)

We both take showers (because you never know when your next one might come), call Travis’ dad to come over and sleep on our couch and then make the trek over to Harris Hospital (a 30 minute drive).   I call Katy on the way and she answers the phone with a, “NO FAIR,” as she was 3 days overdue.

2:45am:  When we arrive at the hospital, the nurse checks us in and takes my vitals.  Contractions are around 5 minutes apart at this point and totally manageable.  Cervix is checked – I’m at a 4.  The nurse and I joke that with this being my third child, I’ll have the baby before her shift ends at 7am.  I can look back now and chuckle.

5:30am:  My parents arrive.  Equipped with about 15 trashy magazines, my mama stays quiet in the corner (good job, mama) and daddy walks up and down the halls, gets breakfast for everyone (except me – food was the LAST thing on my mind all day) and takes cat naps in the waiting room.

8:00am:  Katy texts me and says she’s having regular contractions but they aren’t painful yet.

9:00am:  Katy texts again and says she’ll come over around 11 and will bring her hospital bag…just in case. 10:00am:  My contractions are getting painful…2-3 minutes apart.  Still manageable using the techniques I’ve studied (relax your jaw, stay loosey goosey, go to your happy place).  I listen to the Jesus Culture Pandora channel – wonderful help during the pain!

11:00am:  Katy and Adam arrive – her contractions are still 4-5 minutes apart.  The nurse offers to check her – she declines – unsure as to whether or not this is true labor.

12:00pm:  Cafeteria lunch is brought.  Someone eats it.

1:00pm:  You’ll have to come back for Part II of the story.  We’ve still got 12 hours to go! 

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splendid…lindsay