Aurora James Hess

I woke up at 3:30am with cramps and back pain.  After walking around for awhile and not being able to make the pain go away, I woke Ryun and he helped me time my contractions.  The pain was constant whether or not the contractions were occurring.  The contractions were irregular, some were 5 minutes apart and some were 12 minutes.  Ryun massaged my back and I heated my hot pack and fell back to sleep about 4:30am.  I slept well until 8:30am when I woke up and ate breakfast.  Then I went back to bed until 10:30am when the cramping and back pain returned.  I called Maureen (midwife) and she recommended that I get to the chiropractor.  So I called a lady in Minneapolis who uses the Webster Technique to help turn babies in pregnancy (Aurora was head down but face up), and scheduled an appointment for 1pm.  I was having contractions between 5 and 8 minutes apart so Ryun drove me over.  On our way home, we had Taco Johns for lunch (I told Ryun we should have something nutritious in case I was really in labor…), then returned to the house.  Now, my contractions hovered between 4 – 7 minutes apart, they still weren’t completely regular, and some were strong and some were more mild.  I stayed busy around the house and took Katie out for a very quick potty break before Maureen showed up to check on me at 5:30pm.  Katie’s walk would have been longer but I had a contraction in the park and doubled over…Ryun made me come back in.  Maureen wanted to check on me and said she would probably leave and come back later…well, after checking me, she decided to stay instead.  My contractions were becoming closer and stronger now.  At 6pm, I was 5cm dilated and 95% effaced.  This is when it sunk in to me that I was in labor.  :)

Ryun and Maureen went to work immediately upstairs, getting the supplies ready for birth.  Ryun set up the tub and began filling, he laid down plastic on the floor, he helped Maureen carry in her supplies and helped her set up her stuff.  They probably did a 100 other things that I didn’t know about because I was downstairs distracting myself.  I decided that I needed to clean out the fridge (still had Christmas leftovers in there), so that I could then take out the garbage.  Once I finished that project I made up a protein shake and ate some snacks.  I made a couple phone calls and updated my FB to let everyone know that the baby was on her way.  Kate (studying under Maureen to be a midwife) showed up and stayed in the kitchen with me and helped me through my contractions.  It seemed a little comical to me, that I was busy in the kitchen one moment, on the floor in pain the next, and then up and about carrying on with my projects after a minute of being on the floor.  I spent almost every contraction on my hands and knees – I found it the most comfortable. 

Michele came over and distracted me for a few minutes with stories about her day.  She wasn’t sure why I wanted to know how her day was when I was clearly about to give birth.  I told her she better have good stories from her day or make something up, because I needed new things to think about.  She did good.  :)  Then she took Katie back to her place for the night.  Katie was pretty concerned about me all day and she would sit with me when I had my contractions.  Katie wore herself out playing with Willa that night and I’m sure they terrorized Michele’s house before crashing out for the night.  It was so nice to not have to worry about Katie – knowing she was in good hands was a comfort.

It was about 7pm now and the contractions were strong and painful.  Ryun was still busy getting the tub full, but would come and comfort me during most of my contractions.  They ended up having to boil water for the tub since our hot water heater couldn’t keep up with fill the gigantic tub.  I was finally able to get in the tub at 8:30pm.  I was 7 cm dilated.  I remember sighing as I got into the tub – the warm water felt so good!!

Ryun stayed by my side throughout the rest of my labor.  I draped my arms over the edge of the tub and labored on my knees through almost every contraction (as seen in a picture below).  I gave birth in this position also.  Ryun knelt by me outside of the tub and held my hand.  He talked me through every contraction.  I guess I was in “laborland” because his voice was pretty much all I could hear.  Everything else in the room seemed fuzzy.  The harder I fought the pain during my contractions, the worse it hurt.  If I could relax my whole body during the contractions, they were so much more bearable, and I’m guessing I made faster progress during the times I relaxed.

I remember losing all control during one of my contractions.  I felt like a monster coming out of water, flailing my arms, my eyes wide open (but not really seeing anything).  I needed to leave…leave the water, leave the “situation”, runaway from the job at hand.  During that contraction I was inconsolable and unable to hear any comforting words.  This contraction seemed to last FOREVER (even though it couldn’t have been longer than about 2 minutes).  I wondered if I had enough energy to jump out of the water and run away…I wondered how hard it would be to fight off Maureen, Kate, and Ryun.  I was tired.  I wanted to be done in the worst way. 

When the contraction passed I felt almost defeated because I knew I couldn’t leave.  I knew that I had to go through the rest of this labor and that it would end with me pushing out this baby.  It was a real moment of realization, that this was it, I needed to get a hold of myself and deal, because I was going to give birth, it was going to hurt, and I was going to get through it (a mantra from our Birth From Within class). 

I was going to meet my baby soon.  We were about to witness a miracle for God.

I knew from reading, that a lot of women hit a wall just like mine during the transition phase of labor – they feel that they just can’t go on anymore.  I was definitely feeling this way, but didn’t want to tell anyone since I thought there was no way I could already be there.  Little did I know, I was there.  Maureen checked me around this time (I believe I was 9.5cm dilated) and found that I had an anterior lip.  She had me labor through 4 more contractions – each time having me be in a different position.  Changing positions allows the pressure of the baby to push in different places on the cervix and can take care of an anterior lip.  After my fourth contraction, they checked, and I was complete.  I had to ask a couple times to be sure they really meant I could start pushing when I was ready.  I was like, “are you sure I can push??  I can push now?…are you sure?”.  I couldn’t believe it was time to push.  I was sure I was misunderstanding them. 

Throughout the transition phase it was all I could do not to push with my contractions.  It was an involuntary reflex and it made me so frustrated because I knew pushing before I was complete could cause swelling and extra hardship.  Ryun helped me to blow my air out and focus on breathing through these contractions, but it was still a really awful time.  It hurt so much to push, yet it was hard to control my body and not push.  I didn’t expect my body to push when I didn’t want it to.  It was so frustrating and painful.

Around the time I became complete (10cm), Ryun got up to stretch and I realized his legs were hurting from being in the same position throughout my labor.  I told him he should go and get himself a pillow to kneel on.  He tried to tell me he was okay and then I demanded that he go get one “RIGHT NOW!”.  He did :)  I don’t know if it helped him much at that point, but I felt better.  :)  hehe. 

Once I started pushing I was relieved to know it wasn’t the same kind of pain as I was feeling during labor.  Don’t get me wrong, pushing the baby’s head out made me feel like I was going to rip in half, but the pain was different, and even though it was still really painful, it was like I had more energy from the change in the way the pain felt.

I pushed slowly to allow my body to stretch as the baby came down.  I pushed through the first half of each contraction and blew out for the rest.  I don’t know how I knew to do this, I just listened to my body and did what I thought was best.  Crowning was the most painful, and I held the baby in this position for about 3-4 contractions for my body to adjust.  I really feel that this was important to do and allowed me not to tear.  Finally, I pushed her head out.  At this point, I’m pretty sure I tried to close my legs and Maureen had to physically push my knees back apart…again, this was involuntary, it was as if my body was saying, “NO THANKS – THAT’S ENOUGH PAIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!”. 

After a couple more pushes, and she was out.  Aurora was born face up and in her amniotic sack (my water never broke), so Maureen had to break the sack once she was born.  Ryun caught Aurora, I rolled over onto my back, and he laid her on my chest.  I giggled uncontrollably with joy.  It was the most amazing feeling in the world.  Aurora was born at 9:50pm after an hour of pushing.

I was so tired, it was all I could do to keep Aurora and myself from sinking and drowning.  Ryun helped me lift her up and make sure she was a girl.  What a relief, Dr. Hartung was correct!  We had a beautiful baby girl.  Now I could relax and cut the tags off all those cute PINK clothes!

Not long after giving birth, Maureen had me get out of the tub so she could better monitor my blood loss.  I crawled in bed with my baby and Maureen coached me in pushing my placenta out.  As I laid on my back trying to push out the placenta I was shocked to find it so much more difficult to push as I laid on my back, versus the hands and knees position I was in during labor and delivery.  I was so thankful to be home and not in a hospital setting. 

Ryun went downstairs and got me yogurt and cottage cheese to eat.  At 10:15pm Kate helped me start breastfeeding Aurora.  While she ate, Ryun spoon fed me the food he had brought up.  I was starving!  :)

After feeding Aurora, I went and took a shower.  Ryun was able to spend a little time alone with her for the first time.  It was a ton of work to shower – I was exhausted – but it felt good.  Once I was back in bed, Ryun heated up the taco hotdish I had made earlier that day and brought us both two big servings.  We ate while Maureen and Kate did the newborn checkup on Aurora.  They weighed her, measured her, counted the fingers and toes, etc, etc  :)  It was a big checklist and I was in a daze.  Aurora was given a very healthy clean bill of health.  She weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20” long.

Maureen and Kate did a bit of cleanup and headed out about midnight.  I remember being very concerned (during my pregnancy) about being left alone for the night after the birth – but I could have cared less when it actually happened.  Ryun helped them leave and came to bed.  I was thinking to myself how perfect the timing of it all was.  We were going to be able to go to bed now and it was only 1am!  I had a baby and wouldn’t even have to stay up all night in labor.  Well, so much for that thought.  We were so excited we pretty much just laid there and talked all night.  Aurora slept on my chest and was up at 4am for some breakfast! :)  Haha – first-time parent, stupid thought #1.

Aurora: named after Sleeping Beauty
James: named after the book of the bible

She is our perfect gift from God.

A few videos:
Footprints for Birth Certificate
First Bath – Tea Bath
Music Toy
Hair Dryer

Pictures:
About 6pm – Maureen monitoring a contraction 
On the floor, Maureen still listening to Rory’s heartbeat. 
   
Laboring in the office – on the phone with Mom – I was probably telling her I was just fine and not to worry!   :D

Ryun comforting me through a contraction in the living room
Ryun reaching to get me some ice to eat
Finally laboring in the birthing tub 
First time breast feeding and Ryun spoon-feeding me :)
 
The next morning
Daddy talking to his little girl
This is how we spent our first two weeks together

Soothing tea bath for mommy and baby

Kate doing Aurora’s footprint the next evening when they came back to check on us

Maureen helping Kate with the footprints
Admiring good work :)
A couple days old…
Lacy, AJ, Katie – 3 days old

Taking a snooze on Mom

Getting weighed

Ready to go out to lunch – 2.5 weeks old
Big Foot (Aurora, Mommy apologizes for this photo in advance) :)

2.5 weeks old
 
3 weeks old – helping Daddy program