Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Harrison Beau a birth story 
I have been contemplating...if and how i wanted to tell the birth story of my son. because it is so special so sacred i write it to them in the words of a mother speaking to her child. i will tell it to you now in an edited blog sort of way.
sunday september 19 2010 was a sunny day.we went to church and i spent most of the three hour block rocking in the mothers room. i made a special dinner for beau, arden, and i...goblets filled with cranberry juce and all (an emily fave) i rested and we stayed up late watching office reruns(our new thing)around 11pm i started having very strong rushes. all night they came steady and strong. i walked my little house, swaped beds... and even tried the couch for a bit.
4am
im timing them...i write in my journal...THIS IS IT I AM IN LABOR
and tell beau "honey your not going to work tomorow"then i call my mother so she can drive from idaho.i listen to my Hypnobabies and i rock on my birthing ball. but moastly, i held arden. the last day with just me and my baby girl. it brings tears to my eyes as i write this...
beau makes bacon and toast. i guzzle cranberry juice. we get our last minute things together.
bag for me: my little red suitcase filled with swim suit, candles, striped night gown, sox, red robe, brush,hypnobabies bag and cds, and my godsend: the rice bag that i sewed backwards last christmas and never gave as a gift.

10 am my parents arrive, i decide to take a bath a mermaid bath with arden. i do her hair, i do my hair. i pace the halls and call my midwife. i am desperate to be checked...to know if i am dialated to anything! soon after we hit the road. my parents behind us, arden in her seat, and me in the clouds...on a hypnobabies high. i remember staring to the east at the mountains and not feeling a thing, hence the hypnobabies.

Around 12 noon we arrive at the birth center. we check in and the midwifes check me. im dialated to a proud three! i feel good, and i need food asap. we leave and i decide i need salad bar like  a normal person needs air...lucky for me sizzler is down the street. arden betty ordered a steak...that was the only funny thing about lunch that day.GOING INTO TRANSITION IN A SIZZLER IS NOT FUNNY, IT WAS HELL. i got my salad, with a million peas on top. and for some reason...i knew to eat my desert first...and i did. then, i walked around the sizzler with a rice bag (almost out of warmpth ps) on my lower back. i walked out the emergency exit, and paced around the building. people stared, a fat strange woman bragged at how "quickly HER babies came right out" -thanks lady :) finally i asked for a go box and stuffed an apple and an avacado in it, and we left in a hurrrrrrry! did i mention i said the eff word in sizzler?? yeah.
 we get back to the birth center...and im in full on labor pain. i lie on the bed and beau lies behind me. hypnobabies plays all around and beau actually fell asleep-thats what he did in hypnobabies class so i wasnt shocked at all.
soon after i decided it was time to switch things up...i walk, i pace, i ask them to check me. im at a five,and that means i can get into the birthing tub. so...i put on the blue suit and get in the warm water of that blessid tub. by this time, the rushes were comming on stronger then ever, and i needed a "hypnobreak"-beau put on the Newamsterdams, and i cried a little when the song Full Thunder moon came on. the lyrics have always made me think of a mother and her child the part when they sing "your mothers blood"almost made me lose it (find this song and listen to itits beautiful) i was so emotional and a little bit afraid. people were comming in and out. my best friend anna, my mom, and beau. they held my hand and they talked me through the pain. a while later the midwifes took my temperature, and checked the babies heartrate, and they said i needed to get out of the tub...switch things up because he was up and down.
thats when the hardest part of the day set in. the sun is going down, and beau is begging me to eat and drink. i remember eating a small bite of an apple, and having him offer me the sliced up avicado. i was in the zone and reluctant to touch food. i got on my hands and knees and rocked on the birthing ball. my rice bag was glued to my back. whenever it got semi cold, i'd threw it to anyone in reach and begged them "only 40 seconds" because a minute seemed way to long to go without it.
later on: i have no idea of the time, its dark out. my dad is worried. everyone is pacing the floor. beau offers me a sugar babie, and i bit his hand....sereously i did!my mom holds my hand and i have a pool of sweat all around me, and tears running down my cheeks. when is this going to be over? i have hit "the wall" as they say.  i felt like a prisoner in my own small body. i remember saying outloud that i wanted to just run down the street screaming in the darkness. images of me alone in an alley way actually comforted me. i wanted to be alone. like an animal would.it is stil so amazing to me how primal and animal like i became. holding composure was not something i could have done.

8:00PM they put me on a fetal monitor, babies heartrate is all over the place. my rushes are strong and still im at....four minutes apart. i have to stay still...for almost an hour...and it was torture! i just needed to hold tight to my husband and sway in his arms.
9:00PM 22 hours into labor. i have had no drugs and i feel like ive come undone. when the midwifes check me and tell me im at a seven, i feel a small sense of hope...that maby he will be here soon and that the pain will end. thats when they tell me "the news" i have been at a seven for two hours and if im not at at least an eight by ten pm, i have to transfer to a hospital because i am not progressing. (something i didnt know about before hand) so, i am terrified. i get into the tempid tub and my father, my husband,and my father inlaw give me a blessing. i feel the spirit in the room so strongly, and i know what is going to happen.
10:00PM i am still at a seven. my hopes are fading fast, but i am ready to leave. it has been 23 ours of drug free labor and i am ready to see my son.
The sad part was gathering my things. i walked and rushed in the parking lot. arden was asleep. i stood on all fours in the frontseat of the car and i cried.
we checked into a nearby IHC and a kind nurse lead me back to a room. i was sad to put on a hospital gown. a few minutes later a short,dark curly haired doctor came in and i begged him "please dont cut me, please give me a chance"through tears. i looked thatman straight in the eye and pleaded my case like a man begging for his life. it was sad.
they put an iv and a fetal monitor on me, and i watched that machine and "contracted" from ten thirty till six in the morning. my nurse was sweet. she had hopes for me, she cared. my family and my best friend stayed till 4:30 am, i had to beg them to go home and rest.beau slept, and i watched and watched. finally, six thirty and im dialated to a ten!-amazing, unbeleveable! so they "let me" push...little did they know, i was pushing hours ago at an eight. i push, i push, i stick my chin in my chest and i breathe...and push more. a cute girl called emily holds my leg, beau holds the other.(all i can think of is i used to be a cute girl called emily) my hair is wet, its wavy,and i look like something out of the jungle. i even pooped a little beau tells me later..
the doctor, this nice strange, kind, and hopefull man..soon tells me "your pelvic bones never moved, you are this much apart" and he holds his fingers in a peace sign. "your baby is not going to come out"-im crying for the 100 time and im still pushing...im still full of fight. the last thing i said was "ok wait, how long is recovery after a section...i dont even remember anymore" beau has that on tape, and its a little sad.
before i know it im being rushed down a hallway, peoples eyes are on me, i imagine what i look like to them. they pull me into a brightly lit room, and people are rushing everywhere. i am not numb, and i feel the need to remind them of this constantly. it seems like hours, nothing is set up and my entire body is shaking. beau kisses my forehead. i feel like im on an episode of E.R. or something.i remember looking up into the bright lights and thinking i would rather be anyone else in this room then me. i dont remember much after that. the doctor asked me if i feel anything and i say no. i dont feel the tug all the way i remembered it with arden.i am in a state of shock and my body is giving up. its a tuesday morning and all this began sunday night. and then i see HIS FACE, his beautiful face and a small cry as they hold him over the blue screen.  he is perfect and...yes my son is beautiful.doctor said something to the effect of 'you would have never gotten him out, hes a big boy" 6:59 am Tuesday morning and 32 hours later. 
a small time passes by, and they bring him to me. Harrison Angel...that is what i call him. he never cries. his eyes are dark and mysterious and he looks like his daddy. our stay in the hosoital is suprisingly blessid. i slept, i ate good food, and i rested.
it has almost been two weeks today that i gave birth to my little son, and i feel so blessed. i feel healed.
THIS BIRTH TRULY WAS MY HEALING BIRTH. it didnt go as "planned" but it came as god would have it. i went through hell and i would do it ten more times for my son. i feel over my hate and anger about hospitals. its like god knew my little body couldnt do what it needed to do, and so he blessed me with an angel child. he is amazing, and truly a gift. god was with me the entire time, and i never lost faith, i knew whatever happened was in his hands. i know my heavenly father sent harison to me for a reason. he is my sweet little son and i love him so.  


12 comments:

Lena said...

I love you girl!! You truly made me cry.But I'm so happy it's all over right now,and you can enjoy your little son and every second that you spend with him!!

Marley Family said...

Ok Amazing! You are one tuff Mama! I could never do what you did. Your so awesome!!! I look up to you so much! You are hardcore! I'm so glad you have your sweet little man. You are so blessed!!!! Thank you for sharing something so personnal. Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah said...

love this. thank you for sharing. can't say much else, just that i'm happy for you.

Unknown said...

That last paragraph is so sweet. Hopefully you wrote that exact thing to your son so one day he can read his birth story. You are amazing for lasting 32 hours. Thats SO long. Man, you're strong!

Katie Terry said...

Thanks for sharing! I'm sorry it didn't go as planned. I cried reading this just knowing how much pain you were in. I'm so glad your beautiful boy is here and he is safe and healthy. I'm especially glad my WONDERFUL friend Emily is safe and happy too! Congrats on your new addition. I can't wait to meet him. Let me know when you are ready for visitors.

The Momma said...

ok,I'm crying right now. You are amazing and I'm so happy that even though things didn't go as planned, you had an experiance that you'll cherish forever! I'm so proud of you! I love you guys!

Anna said...

so proud of my lil emily. you rocked sister. so impressed.
glad it all worked out and I am SO estatic that you have that sweet boy. he is an angel

Jessica Potter said...

Thank you for this post. It has me crying and I do love that little boy so much. He is an angel.

courtney and andrew said...

Thank you for sharing that! I cried, I felt your pain, anxiety but I have to say my second c was amazing. So much better then the first! I so glad your little guy is here and what an angel he is! Congrats!

Kit said...

Wow. Thank you for sharing this...Can't stop crying. Beautifully written. I love birth stories....and this one might be one of the best. I can so see it all and feel that pain. I am in awe that you went through that for 32 hours. Seriously....You must have had God with you, because I truly don't think I would have made it. I love your faith....I know that it didn't go as "planned" but it seems like birth rarely does. It just goes perfectly for each individual and teaches you in away nothing else can. You are amazing. And I am so glad Harrison is a little angel baby. Love you.

Dana said...

Ummm, beatiful. I also am a lover of the birth story and I just want to hug you. You are such a trooper, seriously amazing. Congrats on your beautiful baby and thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

What an amazing story! I am so glad I got the chance to read it today! I am so glad you had a better experience this time with the hospital! I know that when you had Arden, your experience was not pleasant. Heavenly Father blessed you this time and I know that it started with the blessing your received. That is so awesome that Harrison is such a good baby!

I felt for you when reading about your final moments alone with Arden as your only child! I feel the same way about Ayla. I so want another child but I feel a sadness because my attention will be divided from her.