Jasper's Birth Story, Part One

Mr. Jasper is almost 5 months old now, almost sitting up and cutting his first tooth. Better late than never I guess! Here we go...

(Since it's so long, I've divided it up into two posts, and I've included lots of boring details, but it's mostly for me to remember anyway. :) )

This little guy's pregnancy was uneventful and boring (Thank you, Jesus!) but this being the third time around, I knew what to anticipate for labor and delivery so I felt pretty prepared for for his birth. With Reese I wanted to go all natural, but ended up having pitocin and an epidural. With Beckett, I was able to deliver naturally but my midwife broke my water when I was dialated to about 9 cm, about 1-2 hours before he was actually born. (Reese's was broken about 12 hours before birth and at 4 cm.) Since I knew that the contractions greatly increased in intensity once the bag was broken, I was curious to see what would happen if everything was just left alone. Also, with both kids I had my membranes stripped (when the doctor or midwife runs their finger around the cervix several times to get those labor horomones going - can help labor progress or get started.) And again, this time I wanted to see what my body would do if everything was just left alone. (Hint: This is called foreshadowing. :) )

Fast forward to the end of May. Jasper was due on May 30, but my other kids had gone past their due dates so I had anticipated a June baby. I had been feeling random contractions all week, but nothing consistant. On Tuesday, June 31, our day was normal but after supper I was having contractions every 12 minutes or so. They were pretty mild and the kids were a good distraction so I was doing okay. They kept coming and coming, getting a little stronger, and I thought, wow I might be having a baby tonight! But I told Wade not to make any phone calls yet. Lo and behold, just like last time, I went to bed and woke up with - nothing. No contractions. Not a thing. :( Annoyed, I thought well, I might as well get on with my day. Wednesdays are the day that we usually go to storytime at the library, so I planned on heading over there at 10:30.

Around 9:00, my mother-in-law, Mary, had randomly sent me a text saying she had the day off and wondering if she could come down and hang out. Besides storytime, I didn't have much on the agenda for the day, so I told her that would be just fine. Maybe my contractions would kick in again and she could watch the kids for a bit.

The contraction thing was still bugging me though. I wanted to know if last night's little tease had done anything! I'd heard that the third baby can come faster, and I didn't go to the doctor until I was dialated 9 cm with Beckett, so I was worried that I wouldn't have that much time when it did actually start to happen. I reeeeeeeaaaally didn't want to spend most of my labor at the hospital, so I was hesitant to even go near that place, but my midwife told me I could always come in to get checked and then go back home. So I called and got an appointment for 10:00. (Still no contractions, mind you.) I figured I'd find out how many centimeters I was dialated and quickly be out the door on my way to the library. So I packed up the kids, and off we went.

Can I just say here, that I love my midwives. I've got two - Kim and Anne. Kim has helped deliver all three of my kids. This was my first year with Anne, but she's the kind of person I would want to be friends with. That morning I saw Anne and she knew what I wanted and what I didn't want. I had explained how I'd had contractions, but they'd stopped. She checked me and informed me that I was dialated to a 5-6 cm. Not bad, but not overly exciting. Seeing that I was disappointed that the number wasn't higher she reluctantly offered to strip my membranes. I told her I didn't know, I really wanted to get this train a-movin', but I kind of wanted to try it without. I asked her what she thought. She told me if my body wasn't ready, it wouldn't respond to it, and only if I wanted, she could go around just once or twice, very softly. It was getting awkward since her hand was still up in there, so I just said, whatever- just do it.

I felt her go one time around and then she froze and said I think I just broke your water. WHAT?!?! I immediately regretted even coming in, because the two things I didn't want done, just happened. Anne felt so bad, and I reassured her it was fine. Not ideal, but everything was going to be fine. I was going to have a baby soon!!!! So I'm laying on the exam table, legs up, amniotic fluid everywhere on the floor as we game plan about what to do next. I wasn't even having contractions so I didn't want to go to the hospital, but I knew I would soon, so should I go home? I had known both sides and long labor at the hospital = uncomfortable and not good. While we were discussing, I remembered I had a 4 year old and 2 year old in that tiny room with us and they were getting antsy. The next thing I knew, Beckett was up off his chair and hopping around with his shirt off. We needed to get outta there fast. So she gave me her cell phone number and told me to call her in an hour to give her an update. I rolled up a towel between my legs and before I knew it, our trip to the library that morning was officially cancelled!

We made it back to the van where I quickly called Wade, who was at work, to tell him what was going on. We decided to meet back at our house, drop the kids off with Mary (who had miraculously just gotten into town, without a clue as to what was going on) and assess the situation. We got home around 11:30ish and I was hurtin'. I ate little McDonalds, and we were only home for about 15 minutes until we decided we'd better head back to the hospital!

(to be continued) ;)