In Bloom Doula Services

The last few weeks of my second pregnancy were a rough ride. I had relatively easy pregnancy, but once I hit around 34 weeks, I so was ready for it to end. I had gotten so big, so getting around became difficult. My stomach had stretched past its breaking point causing painful stretching. To top it off, I was approaching the end of the school year as well as summer temperatures, so I decided to take my maternity leave a week earlier than planned. I feared that I would have another 8 days late baby and that I would be missing more work than I could afford to miss, but it ended up being the best decision I could have made for us.

I got to spend the three days in between taking my leave and the birth hanging out with my first born, Holden, taking care of things at home, and relaxing on the couch. It was all much needed and well deserved after a stressful semester of work, a rough third trimester, a job search, and just the daily stressors of life. On the morning of Waylon’s birth I lost my mucus plug, but was unsure if it was the real deal. I’d been having contractions all week, but they would fade away, and never amounted to anything. I spent Waylon’s birthday with a friend and her sons at a playdate with a brief bible study. Before I left we prayed for a smooth labor and delivery, and a healthy baby. On my way home (around 3pm) I started having the familiar feeling of periodic cramps, but just like my labor with Holden, brushed them off as needing to use the restroom. Labor did cross my mind, but I figured if they were contractions they would fade away like they had been doing all week long. They didn’t.

My sister-in-law came over to hang out and I told her I had been having cramps. At that point I still din’t think it was labor, but they gradually got closer together, so I knew they were contractions. I just couldn’t believe that I would deliver on my due date and figured they would fade away like they had done earlier in the week. Instead, around 5:30 I decided it really was labor. I called my doula, Kathleen, and told her my contractions were about 15 minutes apart and 30 seconds long, but soon after hanging the phone up they became very intense, very quickly. Kathleen had told me to rest, so I got in the bath tub. I went from relaxing between contractions and watching John Mayer’s new video; laughing and retweeting it to having to get out of the tub because sitting hurt too badly. In a matter of minutes contractions were 4 minutes apart and over 90 seconds long. Within an hour I called her back and said I needed her now.

Nathan had gone to play softball because I was assuming that my contractions would fade away. I thought my labor would progress over the span of hours, but only about 40 minutes later I had to call Nathan to come home because labor had suddenly picked up the pace and things were progressing faster than expected. From about 3pm to 4:30pm I had very sporadic contractions, but around 5pm I knew I was in labor, and by 6pm labor was in full swing. I called my birth team (my midwife, my doula, my birth photographer, my sister-in-law to film, my parents) and told them it was actually the real deal and they needed to head my way. I was afraid to tell people it was labor if contractions would stop, but thankfully it was the day I would meet my son.

Once Kathleen got to my house I was deep into contractions. Hunched over at the foot of the bed, sweating and rocking through “waves”. Only about 15 minuets later I needed to push Waylon into position, which was a sign I was getting closer to transition, so we decided to head to the hospital. We loaded the car, and made the drive. I had envisioned this moment for months. I’d imagined the sadness I would feel as I said goodbye to Holden, but in the moment I just wasn’t in that head space. I kissed him as he slept on the couch, knowing the next time I’d see him our lives would be so different. This made me all the more thankful that I had taken Monday through Wednesday off to be with Holden and have some special “just us” time.

The drive to the hospital was only about 10 minuets long. I held on tightly to the handle hanging from the roof of the car, with my eyes closed, breathing and moaning through the pain. We arrived at 7:50, and I got checked in right away because my midwife, Karen had called ahead. She left a charity dinner in a town almost an hour away to attend my birth. Her husband was having surgery the next day, so she would be unavailable for the next few days. I joked with her that I discussed this with the baby because I didn’t want to deal with another midwife or doctor I didn’t know.

Once I got in my room the nurse set me up to be monitored for thirty minutes. It is grueling for me to sit through contractions. My labors felt very similar in that aspect. Contractions began the same way, felt the same, and progressed the same way. I came into the hospital at 6cm, fully effaced and at a -1 station. I got my blood drawn, signed consent forms, and ended up not even getting the hep lock put in. After the 30 minuets of monitoring was up, I got on my knees, kneeling on the bed and labored there for the reminder of my labor, which only ended up being about 40 more minuets. Kathleen did hip compressions through my contractions, Nathan gave me water, and it was a very peaceful and relaxed experience.

Painful, absolutely, but I knew it was ending soon. I knew I could do it. I think knowing that I had done it before gave me the confidence that I could do it, but knowing how quickly things were moving along reassured me that I would do it. At the beginning of the labor I kept thinking to myself, “I don’t want to do this.” But I became so focused on getting through the contractions that thoughts like that didn’t even enter my mind once I was at the hospital. I continued to moan through the pain as I began to feel the urge to bear down and push. Karen was in the parking lot and headed up, so we began discussing if I wanted my water broken. Shortly after Karen got in the room I decided I did want to have my water broken, so we could get labor to speed up. I had to lay on my back for that, so I turned around, but the pain in my back was unreal when I was laying down, so I got out of the bed quickly to finish the contraction. I hung onto Kathleen to ride it out, and with a quick push, my water broke on its own all over Kathleen and the floor. It literally felt like a water balloon popping.

Instantly, I felt so much pressure. I held onto the bed, pushing, and trying to figure out how I was going to get back on the bed and not deliver this baby standing up. I got back into the kneeling position that felt good to me, and began to push. The pain was so much more intense than I remembered with Holden. Once I got on my back to have my water broken with Holden, pushing was a relief. With this birth, I felt the notorious “ring of fire” and had to push, but it wasn’t a relief. I described it to everyone in the room as a pool ball, just the hardest pressure that I had no way to get away from. I did three big pushes and he was out. It took nine minuets. I got his head out, and Karen said to push out the rest of his body, but I was waiting for another contraction. Thankfully it did not take long because his chord was wrapped around his neck. My midwife delivered him onto the bed under me and I grabbed him to pull him up and rest him on the bed.

I felt relief. Love. So much love, and excitement. Finally, I am meeting the little person who has been in my belly for 9 months. Can study his face and see who he is. My first thoughts were “Oh my God, he’s huge!” He felt just like Holden, with the water logged, purpley skin. But, he was also so different. Lots of dark hair, and bright blue eyes. We started skin to skin, tried breastfeeding, and did his measurements.

This birth was literally night and day from Holden’s birth. Both wonderful, but Waylon’s was so much more easy going. Holden was born on a Sunday morning, and Waylon was born on a Thursday night, so I had no visitors other than my mom arriving, and Holden being brought to the hospital to meet his little brother. That made everything feel much more intimate and peaceful. It was so emotional and special to see Holden, who instantly looked so big and grown, come into the room and see his little brother. I don’t think he quite understood what was going on, or who he was meeting, but it was such a sweet moment for me. The two babies I created together; such an amazing feeling.

My dad brought me Whatabuger; the last thing I ate before I had Holden, which Kathleen will never let me live down. It was the only thing close and open at midnight. I couldn’t eat it all though because my adrenaline was running so high, and I had such bad shakes. My entire body was trembling. It took a few hours to be released to my postpartum room, so once we got there it was almost 1am. I couldn’t believe the whirlwind that was this birth. I went from thinking it would be a normal day, to second guessing if the cramps I was having were contractions, to thinking I need to go to the hospital now to have a baby. And just like that our family of three became a family of four, and life will never be the same.

We named our second son Waylon James. My husband, Nathan, chose his first name, since I chose Holden’s. James after my grandpa and brother- James is a family name. Finally, after two full days in the hospital we were released on Saturday evening. It felt so good to be headed home to be all together. I never would have imagined that I would be the mom to two little boys; only 18 months apart. I knew this marked the beginning of the next chapter of my life, full of chaos and sleepless nights, but also so much love that I can hardly stand it. I feel like my heart could explode into pieces when I look at my boys.

Photography by Stephanie Shirley Photography