The Birth Story

I am slowly forgetting the day(s) of my labor and birth so I figured I would write it all down. Just a warning - It is a pretty long story :)

Friday: On Friday around noon I started getting contractions. They were coming every 10-15 minutes so I didn't think much about it. Colton and I went to bed around ten but I couldn't sleep because everything was starting to hurt more. We slept about two hours until I couldn't handle laying down anymore. We went into Harpers nursery and I rocked in her glider trying to relax during contractions. They were now 4 1/2 minutes apart but only lasting about 45 seconds.

Saturday: We called our midwife at five that morning to let her know what had been going on. She said when the contractions were 4 minutes apart, lasting about a minute, then to call her and she would head over. I decided to get into the tub and try to get the warm water to relax my body. It helped a little but everything was still pretty painful. This is when I thought I felt my water break. I called my doula and she said she would be right over. I then called my midwife and she said she would come over around twelve because it sounded like things were starting!

Rachel, our doula came around 10:30. At this point my contractions had slowed to about 7 minutes apart. They were starting to last about a minute though. So I felt happy with my progression. Our midwife Heather came over at one and we then realized that Harper was posterior. Her head wasn't rotating the right way, that's why I was having so much pressure in my back. I then decided to have her check me. I was only a 3! I had been in labor for over 20 hours and I was nowhere near where I was hoping to be. On top of that, my water hadn't broken like we thought. At that moment I mentally broke down a little bit.

We decided that it was time to try and turn Harper so I got in the PolarBear position. (Hands and knees. Head down with butt in the air) While my midwife was pushing on my stomach trying to get the baby to turn, my water broke. That was exciting! I went to the bathroom to clean up and this is when things got intense, FAST! My contractions started coming every 2/3 minutes lasting a minute. We decided to try the tub again. I had another two contractions just trying to climb the stairs to our upstairs bathroom. At first the tub felt amazing. Hot water on my back felt so good, but just as I was starting to relax I got a contraction so strong that I started to scream. After about ten minutes of these I looked at Colton and said "Coltie I am serious. I cannot do this anymore and I want to go to the hospital NOW!"

Colton said okay and went to go pack the hospital bag. (It was hilarious later to see what he had actually packed for me.. His sweats and tiny underwear.. haha!) While he was packing I asked the midwife assistant Janell how long it would actually take me to get the epidural. After considering I still had to get dressed, drive to the hospital, check in, and get hooked up to everything before the anesthesiologist would get a chance to help me - We figured it would be at least two hours. And contractions in the car sounded awful. Somehow Rachel convinced me that if I could relax in bed I might be able to take a little nap. (What was I thinking??)

This first contraction in bed had me panicking again because the pain was so intense. My contractions were 80 seconds long and were only a minute and a half apart, if that. So the pain was constantly on top of itself.

Meanwhile - Colton was downstairs and had a thought to call his Aunt Debbie who lives in Arizona. She has had two home births and was so supportive of us and our decision. He brought the phone upstairs and put it on speaker phone, where she stayed for the next 6 1/2 hours. To be honest - It is all a blur from here.

I don't remember much after that. I do remember going in and out of pain. I kept my eyes closed the whole time. At around 8PM I got checked again and was a six. It was still so disappointing because I couldn't believe it was taking so long. Harper had turned though which was an incredible blessing. Three hours later after much convincing I decided to let her check me again. But only because I had hit a point where pushing was the only thing that helped me feel a little better.

At this point I was a 9 1/2! Heather said there was a little cervix left so during my next contraction she slipped it over Harpers head. I remember these words vividly, "Jordyn it's 11:30. You are either going to have a Cinco De Mayo baby or a Seis De Mayo." It was time to push and she was so close! Pushing was the easiest part. I remember at one point Colton saying, "Oh it's getting big. Oh! Even bigger.. OH MY GOSH IT'S SO BIG!" Haha.

Harper Sloane Lindsay was born at 12:39AM. After an hour of pushing. Her first cry was when she still had her hips/bum/legs inside of me. With one final push, I got to pull her up to my chest and just hold her. There she stayed until I showered an hour and a half later.

Labor and Birth was a total of about 36 hours. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done. It was also amazing, rewarding, and incredibly spiritual. I am still on a self high. I am proud of myself. Proud of Colton for being so loving and supporting through it all. And so proud of my daughter who stuck it out with me.