Last we left off we were still waiting for the little guy. He had received a good report from the doctor and was in position for the big arrival. Uncle Mike, Aunt Molly and cousin Riley came in for a visit on Sunday hoping Jack would make his big debut before Mike left for his training. Unfortunately, Jack was in no hurry and decided to stay and cook a bit more.
We chose to do the "Bradley Method" for our birth. This is a husband coached birth and no medical interventions. Jon didn't get to just sit on the couch and say "good job honey" :) He had to work for Jack too!
We ended up getting acupuncture on Monday because our doctor would only give us a week before medically inducing labor (which we didn't want). They say to give the acupuncture about a week in case you need multiple treatments. I did my treatment at 11:30 Monday afternoon and then Jon and I went home and rested the rest of the afternoon. I was already feeling a bit under the weather that morning and figured sleep would be the best thing for both of us in case the acupuncture really worked. We went for our normal workout that evening and I woke up at 2AM with contractions. I had been having contractions for about 3-4 days, but they would only occur at night and taper off in the day, so I wasn't sure if this was going to do the same. I started timing them after about 30 min and woke Jon up about 3AM to let him know it's probably go time :)
We continued to time the contractions and then called Amy, our doula about 5AM. She arrived at 6 with breakfast tacos. By then, food was about the last thing on my mind haha, but Jon dove in. We labored in the tub, on the birthing ball, and in bed until about 11:30 and then decided it was time to head to the hospital. Contractions were lasting over a min and coming about every 2-3 min. To me, it felt like they were lasting 5 min and coming every 30 seconds! I was ready to get the hospital just so we could get the drive over with. I was dreading that drive the most. 10-15 min in a car with these contractions seemed like pure hell...and it was.
When we got to the hospital I had dilated 6cm. We thought we should be at about 8, but come to find out, Jack was facing sunny side up and had his head turned to the side. This little wiggle worm just couldn't stay in the correct position! This way he was facing was causing massive back labor and slowing things down. I can't say enough good things about our doula Amy. Amy and Jon must have done about 1 million hip squeezes each throughout the day. That was the only thing that would provide me relief during each contraction. They both said they were sore the next day...or 2. We labored mostly in the shower (Jon was in there with his swimsuit too haha), but also on the ball and in the bed. Amy and Jon were both great at making sure I switched positions to help things progress.
When we reached 8cm, my bag of waters still hadn't broken. My doctor suggested that I let her break it (YIKES!) Wanting to keep everything natural without any medical intervention, we weren't sure what to do. Speeding things up sounded great to me, but we wanted to stick to our plan. Amy spoke up and suggested we get back in the shower and labor for 30 more min; so we did. Once in the shower, I had a contraction instantly and my bag of waters broke...on Jon :) Now it was time to PUSH!
My brother was supposed to fly out of Dallas that day, but switched his flight to leave from Austin so he could see Jack. Once the pushing began, I kept looking at the clock, counting down how much time I had to get this little guy out so he can meet his uncle before he left. Unfortunately, I was about 20 min to slow. Jack arrived at 5:23 PM weighing in at 7.1 lbs and 20.5 inches long.
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| Jack sporting his terrible towel. He looks so blonde here. |
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| Hands in his mouth...this hasn't stopped. He hates the swaddle because he can't get to his hands. |
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| Amy (our doula) and Jack |
Jon got to cut the cord and they placed Jack on my chest immediately. Within seconds, Jack was already nursing. I don't know how babies know what to do, but it's absolutely incredible. It felt completely natural and I was instantly over the moon for this little guy. We soaked up a little more skin to skin time and Daddy did too before letting in the whole family. It was definitely a day that neither Jon or I will ever forget.
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