Henry's birth

I've noticed that the story of Henry's birth takes me a long time to tell, so I thought I'd write it down here and those who care can read it, and those who don't can be spared all of the miniscule details. I think it takes me a long time to tell because everything was such a blur that day and retelling it helps me remember some of the details.

* * *

I delivered Henry without any pain medication. It feels so surreal to write that! I was always undecided about getting an epidural, but Drew and I were pretty convinced that I would end up with one, considering what a wimp I am when it comes to pain. But with the incredible help from Drew and Lindsey the awesome labor doula (and my mom in early labor), I was able to push through the pain and deliver Henry naturally.

* * *

On Thursday morning (10/13) I woke up with what I thought were more Braxton Hicks, but these seemed to be a little extra painful. But I'd had a false alarm two days before, so I didn't get too excited because I'd been wrong on Tuesday. However, the contractions seemed to keep going and so I called my mom over to time them while I tried to go back to sleep. They were erratic, but certainly not going anywhere. The pups were right with me in bed as the contractions started to increase in intensity and I started having to do deep breathing through them. I noticed that the pain seemed to be more in my back that in my stomach (which is called back labor and it's awful!), so I jumped in the tub to try and ease the pain a little . My mom was advised to push on my tailbone really hard when the contraction started to help ease the pressure a little bit, but it was about this point that we decided to get the car packed up with the hospital bags and get checked out in triage (Drew was still at work). I ended up having to wait in the waiting room for probably 45 minutes before even being put in a gown- so I was bent over in the corner with my mom pushing as hard as she could on my tailbone... all in front of strangers. I did not like that one bit. Once I was finally checked in triage, I was about 4 cm dilated and was admitted. Drew and Lindsey arrived and took over for my mom and we were moved to the labor and delivery ward.

* * *

The next six or so hours are kind of a blur. My pain was far too intense to be able to talk through, so every time I'd feel a contraction start- I'd say "push" and either Drew or Lindsey (bless their hearts and their sore, aching hands) would push on my tailbone and my hips to try and help me get through the contraction, and I wouldn't be able to say anything else. I'd just breathe deeply and do my best to find ways to mentally cope with the pain. I went back and forth from doing this in the tub to a standing position, leaning over an exercise ball. It was at some point, deep into the fifth or sixth hour that I had two nasty bouts of doubt. I remember starting to cry between two contractions, telling Drew and Lindsey that I just couldn't go any further. Lindsey, in her sweet, encouraging way, and Drew in his firm, direct way, both wouldn't let me give up. They told me I was doing it and that I would just take it one contraction at a time. Not long after this point, the midwife told me she would check me and would break my water to get things moving along. I was 8 cm and entering transition.

* * *

Then comes the really intense part- the breaking of the waters kicked things into high gear in terms of both intensity and pain. Rather than breathe deeply through this part, I was (in my mind) screaming my head off, but Drew describes the noise as a low, gutteral "animal" noise. An incredibly unpleasant part of transition was that with each contraction, my whole body would dry heave about four times from the pressure. I'm not sure exactly when transition ends and the "pushing" phase begins, but before long, the incredible pain and pressure I felt down there was actually bringing Henry along and I started to feel encouraged as the midwife started setting up her delivery equipment. As the true pushing started, Drew started to become so animated and excited (he'd had a couple of trying moments of exhuastion in the process, as well). He was telling me how great I was doing and that our baby was coming. Drew and the midwife said they saw the top of his head- specifically that he had lots of dark hair (whose baby is in there?! I wondered) and it took probably 15 minutes to push the head out. With the final push of the head, the whole body followed at once and Henry Lawrence Mitchell made his arrival at 12:49 am on 10/14. I think that means I had about 7 hours of early labor, 9-10 hours of active labor, and only about 1 hour of transition and pushing. Drew cut the cord and I held my sweet boy for the first time! Ultimately, all of the pain and struggle brought Henry to us and I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment for making it all the way through. I'm certain I couldn't have done it without Drew and Lindsey and I can't ignore how much they did for me physically, pushing on me with every contraction. Would I do it again without medicine? Ask me again when the memory of the pain has faded a little bit.

* * *

So, there it is. I told you it was long, and thanks for letting me share. It's good for me to recount the events of that night because it will forever be one of the most important days in my life. Thanks be to God for giving us strength in trials.