My Birth Story with Philip Michael

Week 39 came and with it, a slew of regular contractions all day long, every day for a few days. My contractions would subside at night, but each day I thought would be the day we would go to the hospital. August 15^th was my official due date. August 11^th my cousin’s wife flew in from Germany to help watch my toddler so we could go to the hospital. The day she flew in I knew was the day we would head to the clinic. That morning I woke up with those regular contractions but they were stronger than the last few days and steadily getting closer together. I  was so excited! With the second pregnancy I was  thrilled to be able to have another “go” at birth, but with all the knowledge and wisdom I had gained through my first experience! I felt stronger and more in control. I was calm and confident. I rested as much as I could and took a bath. My cousin’s wife, Emily, got to my house by the afternoon and by 5pm I was ready to go to the. This was truly God’s timing because she was coming four days early to help get ready for baby and it turned out we were having baby within 24 hours of her plane landing! Whew!

Due to the nature of our crazy move to Italy and me flying over here 37 weeks pregnant, I did not have the opportunity to look into home births and birthings centers. I decided it was less of a headache to just give birth at the Military Clinic. I had only had one prenatal appointment before I went into labor so I did not even know the Doctors. But that was okay because this was my second and “I got this” was my mentality! 

I hugged my sweet, 19month old Samuel and said goodbye to him as Noah and I got into the car to go have this baby. We looked into the back seat at the infant car seat and were overcome with emotions that the next time we would get into the car (God willing) we would have a new baby riding back with us! My contractions were very painful and I had a lot of back labor (which I did not have with Samuel). We got to the clinic and they checked me, 5cm dilated.  One by one things started to not go according to my plan for this birth. I was very clear at my one ob appointment that because of my natural choices for birth I NEED freedom to move through my pain. They assured me that I would have that freedom. Wrong! It seemed like everything was a fight. The Tech would get mad at me for having to move and in doing so the monitors would slip. It was stressful. And I believe because of that stress the birth took way longer than it would have in my own enviroment. My contractions were steady but so much more painful than with Samuel. 

Just when I was feeling pretty sad about the way things were going the nurses changed shifts. In came the new nurse, an angel named Heather! She just seemed to know what I wanted and needed. She starts showing me options and helping me get into the positions that were the most comfortable for me. She was amazing. She pulled up this bar at the end of the bed which helped me so much just to have something to hold on to. I was so thankful, I got my confidence back. It was nice to have someone on my side! 

 

Through the whole labor my back hurt so much and my amazing husband pushed and pushed and pushed. For hours he applied conter pressure and was a rock of encouragement. I felt like I needed him so much and that we were doing this thing together. Through it all, it knit our hearts even closer. Words cannot describe just how amazing and supportive he was to me through this birth. <3

A little after 1am, time came to push and it was shorter than with Samuel’s birth (I pushed for an hour), this time it only took 30 minutes. But boy, was it more intense! 1:50am on August 12th, out came a blue Philip, they had to unwrap the cord from around his neck. They laid him on me and I got to kiss his sweet face then they moved him over to a table to make sure his breathing was okay. A few minutes later, I got him back and he was a normal color. He was just precious! And Huge! 8lbs and 21 inches long! He had some good fat on him already. And then everything in those last 8 hours dissapeared except for that beautifu baby snuggled on my chest. The Love that overtakes you in that moment…nothing can compare. I was so happy that I was able to make it through another birth unmedicated but this time around an epidural looked rather tempting. I was so thankful that I did not have any emergency situation after and that my placenta came out in a timely manner this time.

 

 Philip was just a happy and easy baby. I Thank the Lord every day for him. The moment when my two babies got to meet each other was just precious to me. Samuel adored Philip and was so gentle with him. My joy was just overwhelming! It is funny to me just how different Philip’s birth was than my perfect imagination, but it was still an amazing success! And I am thankful! 

"Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table." Psalm 128:3