So, I got Emory's birth story typed up. Sorry its so long. I didn't want to do a bunch of different versions of it, so I just tried to include all the details I'd want to remember down the road. Pictures to follow.
Emory Jane’s Birth Story
On Wednesday the 20th (of May) I woke up at 3:00am and had to pee. When I got back in bed I had some decently strong contractions that were about 50 seconds long and coming about 3 minutes apart. Because this had also happened a week prior, I didn’t want to get excited until they stuck around for at least an hour.
About 45 minutes into that, I woke up Aaron and told him I thought we might be having our baby today and that he should go put the boxes in the kitchen away so we would be ready to fill the tub when it was time. So, he got up and our 3 year old daughter rolled over to me and snuggled up and put her arm around my neck. From then on my contractions got farther and farther apart and by about 4:20am I wasn’t having any.
I was totally bummed. So, we went back to sleep and when it was time to get up, proceeded with our day. I thought it could still be my birthing day, so I went on a nice long walk. I decided to have my mom take Zoe for the day and potentially the night so I could have a little space to do what my body needed. I had lunch with a friend and went to get some herbal tinctures at Super Supplements because I had been having this strange and alarming pain in my back where my kidneys are. It had started the night before and then I had a second “attack” while on my walk which made me almost throw up. I started to worry that I had an infection in my kidneys because I hadn’t been able to urinate completely with baby’s head so low. Aaron called to check on me and expressed his worry about the mystery pain so I figured I had better at least talk to my midwife about it.
She said that, while it could be something like a muscle or nerve, the location also sounded like kidney and if that was indeed the case, I should get it checked out right away. So, Aaron came home early from work and we went to see one of the other midwives whose office is just a few minutes from my house (my midwife lives over an hour away). My urine was normal with no signs of infection, which was great to hear! But, it turned out that the pain I had been having was a muscle spasm in my back that was radiating around into my abdomen.
I made an appointment with my chiropractor for later in the afternoon. On the way there, I started to have some decently strong wavess in the car. I got an adjustment and found out that my sacrum was all out-of-whack which is what was causing the spasm. Once I got adjusted, the pain went away completely. Thank goodness!
On the way home from the chiropractor’s office, my waves picked up in intensity and started coming between 3-5 minutes apart. We stopped and picked up some take-out and then came home. I was still feeling pretty upbeat and was managing them really well.
About an hour after we got home, the intensity had picked up enough that I needed to sit down in the glider rocker in our living room and put in my headphones, so I began listening to my Hypnobabies “Easy First Stage” script. I felt like I was able to stay very relaxed, but I was not able to turn my lightswitch to “off” because I needed to be moving through my waves.
At around 9pm, which seemed like only 20 minutes after I had sat down in the rocker, Aaron called the midwife and told her to come, and then called my doula. I had moved to the birthing ball during that time, but by 10 I was ready to get into the tub. I remember saying to Aaron in a mocking voice, “do you think she’ll come before or after midnight?” and he said “probably after” and I thought in my mind “oh, she’ll totally be here before.”
The warm water of the tub felt amazing! But, after being in the tub for a little while, my waves started to space out while still increasing in intensity. The time between 10 and 2 passed like a dream, only longer. I remember looking at the clock a few times and saying things like “Its 11:30 already?” After I had said that, at 1-something, my midwife covered the clock so I could stop worrying about how much time had passed. I was getting really defeated by then because I had believed that this birth was going to be “quick and easy” and it was turning out to be neither.
I believe it was around 2am that my midwife said “I can check you if you want” so I thought that might be a good idea. I was at an 8, which was a relief to hear, but I had a lip of cervix that wasn’t stretching. My midwife suggested I get out of the tub, which I DID NOT want to do, and sit either on the toilet or on the ball. I knew the toilet would be too intense for me, so I sat on the ball and buried my face in Aaron’s belly. I don’t know how many regular waves came before transition hit, but when they were coming on top of each other without a break I knew I was getting close. My midwife suggested I go to the bathroom since I hadn’t gone in a while. Once I sat down on the toilet, I involuntarily started bearing down and she and my doula both came rushing in asking if I was pushing. When I said I was, they helped me back into the tub. But, after checking me again, I still had that lip of cervix that wasn’t moving. So they asked the impossible of me… that I not push with the waves. I had to get out of the tub and back to the toilet again trying the whole time not to push with my body’s bearing-down sensations. I still don’t have a way to verbalize how intense, p@!^ful, and scary it was. I went back to the toiler where my midwife felt again and said that I shouldn’t push while she reached in to see if she could move the last part of cervix out of the way. But, I still couldn’t stop my body from bearing down. Nonetheless, she had moved the last piece of cervix out of the way so I went back to the tub with a green light to go with my body.
After I got into the tub, I felt Emory’s gigantic head move down and it felt like a bowling ball was moving through me. I remember saying “Oh God, do I HAVE TO do this?!” I was completely terrified.
Just as an aside… with my first daughter’s birth, I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of relief when my body started pushing. It actually felt good, not because it wasn’t intense or even painful, but because I was able to do something finally. This time, I could feel how big my baby was and I honestly doubted I was going to be able to get her out without ripping my body apart. I felt totally panicked.
Luckily, the bearing-down sensations were so strong, there was nothing I could do but go along with them and assist my body in what it needed to do. I could almost not recognize the sounds I was making as they escaped from me. It was truly primal. I remember thinking to myself, “Well, I just have to go for it, and I know it’ll be over soon.” I remember reaching in to feel where her head was and I could feel her bag of waters cushioning her head about half a finger’s length up. Then a moment later, I felt it pop. The next contraction I felt her hairy head come down to crowning. My midwife reminded me that babies often move up and down a few times before staying at crowning, but Emory didn’t, her head just stayed where it was. The next contraction I felt her head moving out and had a moment where I did feel burning and thought I was ripping on the upper end. I used my fingers to “rim” around my vagina as her head came through and was relieved to feel it slide all the way out. But, her shoulders didn’t come with it. I was on hands and knees, so the midwife had me lift one leg and put my foot flat on the bottom of the pool so she could help the shoulders move out. The next contraction was even more intense and I began screaming, “Oh God, get her out! Get her out!” and that’s just what she did, she helped her shoulders out and then I felt the rest of her chubby little body slide out too.
I turned over and Dana handed her to me and I pulled her up to my chest and then looked up and with eyes the size of half-dollars said, “Holy Shit!” and everyone got a good laugh out of that. Emory took a minute or so to cry out, but once she did she pinked-up right away. I birthed the placenta just a few minutes later and Zoe helped me cut the cord. Emory latched on right after that and has almost not stopped nursing since!
We joked about how big she was… much bigger than we all expected. But when we weighed and measured her (about an hour after her birth) we were all surprised to hear that she was 9lbs 10oz and 22 inches long with a 14 inch head. Bigger still than any of us thought. I was so relieved to have her out! And still stunned to have a baby on my belly instead of in my belly!
Big sister Zoe is totally obsessed with her. She wants to hold her constantly and help in any way she can. And we’re all smitten. Emory nurses like a champ! So, just a day and a half later, my milk is in and big sister is also pretty excited about that! We’re recovering well and happy to have our baby Emory Jane in our arms!
Just out
First kiss from big sister
Our first tandem nurse with both girls
Big sis, a little emotional-2hrs after birth
One day old
Sadie
Emory Jane’s Birth Story
On Wednesday the 20th (of May) I woke up at 3:00am and had to pee. When I got back in bed I had some decently strong contractions that were about 50 seconds long and coming about 3 minutes apart. Because this had also happened a week prior, I didn’t want to get excited until they stuck around for at least an hour.
About 45 minutes into that, I woke up Aaron and told him I thought we might be having our baby today and that he should go put the boxes in the kitchen away so we would be ready to fill the tub when it was time. So, he got up and our 3 year old daughter rolled over to me and snuggled up and put her arm around my neck. From then on my contractions got farther and farther apart and by about 4:20am I wasn’t having any.
I was totally bummed. So, we went back to sleep and when it was time to get up, proceeded with our day. I thought it could still be my birthing day, so I went on a nice long walk. I decided to have my mom take Zoe for the day and potentially the night so I could have a little space to do what my body needed. I had lunch with a friend and went to get some herbal tinctures at Super Supplements because I had been having this strange and alarming pain in my back where my kidneys are. It had started the night before and then I had a second “attack” while on my walk which made me almost throw up. I started to worry that I had an infection in my kidneys because I hadn’t been able to urinate completely with baby’s head so low. Aaron called to check on me and expressed his worry about the mystery pain so I figured I had better at least talk to my midwife about it.
She said that, while it could be something like a muscle or nerve, the location also sounded like kidney and if that was indeed the case, I should get it checked out right away. So, Aaron came home early from work and we went to see one of the other midwives whose office is just a few minutes from my house (my midwife lives over an hour away). My urine was normal with no signs of infection, which was great to hear! But, it turned out that the pain I had been having was a muscle spasm in my back that was radiating around into my abdomen.
I made an appointment with my chiropractor for later in the afternoon. On the way there, I started to have some decently strong wavess in the car. I got an adjustment and found out that my sacrum was all out-of-whack which is what was causing the spasm. Once I got adjusted, the pain went away completely. Thank goodness!
On the way home from the chiropractor’s office, my waves picked up in intensity and started coming between 3-5 minutes apart. We stopped and picked up some take-out and then came home. I was still feeling pretty upbeat and was managing them really well.
About an hour after we got home, the intensity had picked up enough that I needed to sit down in the glider rocker in our living room and put in my headphones, so I began listening to my Hypnobabies “Easy First Stage” script. I felt like I was able to stay very relaxed, but I was not able to turn my lightswitch to “off” because I needed to be moving through my waves.
At around 9pm, which seemed like only 20 minutes after I had sat down in the rocker, Aaron called the midwife and told her to come, and then called my doula. I had moved to the birthing ball during that time, but by 10 I was ready to get into the tub. I remember saying to Aaron in a mocking voice, “do you think she’ll come before or after midnight?” and he said “probably after” and I thought in my mind “oh, she’ll totally be here before.”
The warm water of the tub felt amazing! But, after being in the tub for a little while, my waves started to space out while still increasing in intensity. The time between 10 and 2 passed like a dream, only longer. I remember looking at the clock a few times and saying things like “Its 11:30 already?” After I had said that, at 1-something, my midwife covered the clock so I could stop worrying about how much time had passed. I was getting really defeated by then because I had believed that this birth was going to be “quick and easy” and it was turning out to be neither.
I believe it was around 2am that my midwife said “I can check you if you want” so I thought that might be a good idea. I was at an 8, which was a relief to hear, but I had a lip of cervix that wasn’t stretching. My midwife suggested I get out of the tub, which I DID NOT want to do, and sit either on the toilet or on the ball. I knew the toilet would be too intense for me, so I sat on the ball and buried my face in Aaron’s belly. I don’t know how many regular waves came before transition hit, but when they were coming on top of each other without a break I knew I was getting close. My midwife suggested I go to the bathroom since I hadn’t gone in a while. Once I sat down on the toilet, I involuntarily started bearing down and she and my doula both came rushing in asking if I was pushing. When I said I was, they helped me back into the tub. But, after checking me again, I still had that lip of cervix that wasn’t moving. So they asked the impossible of me… that I not push with the waves. I had to get out of the tub and back to the toilet again trying the whole time not to push with my body’s bearing-down sensations. I still don’t have a way to verbalize how intense, p@!^ful, and scary it was. I went back to the toiler where my midwife felt again and said that I shouldn’t push while she reached in to see if she could move the last part of cervix out of the way. But, I still couldn’t stop my body from bearing down. Nonetheless, she had moved the last piece of cervix out of the way so I went back to the tub with a green light to go with my body.
After I got into the tub, I felt Emory’s gigantic head move down and it felt like a bowling ball was moving through me. I remember saying “Oh God, do I HAVE TO do this?!” I was completely terrified.
Just as an aside… with my first daughter’s birth, I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of relief when my body started pushing. It actually felt good, not because it wasn’t intense or even painful, but because I was able to do something finally. This time, I could feel how big my baby was and I honestly doubted I was going to be able to get her out without ripping my body apart. I felt totally panicked.
Luckily, the bearing-down sensations were so strong, there was nothing I could do but go along with them and assist my body in what it needed to do. I could almost not recognize the sounds I was making as they escaped from me. It was truly primal. I remember thinking to myself, “Well, I just have to go for it, and I know it’ll be over soon.” I remember reaching in to feel where her head was and I could feel her bag of waters cushioning her head about half a finger’s length up. Then a moment later, I felt it pop. The next contraction I felt her hairy head come down to crowning. My midwife reminded me that babies often move up and down a few times before staying at crowning, but Emory didn’t, her head just stayed where it was. The next contraction I felt her head moving out and had a moment where I did feel burning and thought I was ripping on the upper end. I used my fingers to “rim” around my vagina as her head came through and was relieved to feel it slide all the way out. But, her shoulders didn’t come with it. I was on hands and knees, so the midwife had me lift one leg and put my foot flat on the bottom of the pool so she could help the shoulders move out. The next contraction was even more intense and I began screaming, “Oh God, get her out! Get her out!” and that’s just what she did, she helped her shoulders out and then I felt the rest of her chubby little body slide out too.
I turned over and Dana handed her to me and I pulled her up to my chest and then looked up and with eyes the size of half-dollars said, “Holy Shit!” and everyone got a good laugh out of that. Emory took a minute or so to cry out, but once she did she pinked-up right away. I birthed the placenta just a few minutes later and Zoe helped me cut the cord. Emory latched on right after that and has almost not stopped nursing since!
We joked about how big she was… much bigger than we all expected. But when we weighed and measured her (about an hour after her birth) we were all surprised to hear that she was 9lbs 10oz and 22 inches long with a 14 inch head. Bigger still than any of us thought. I was so relieved to have her out! And still stunned to have a baby on my belly instead of in my belly!
Big sister Zoe is totally obsessed with her. She wants to hold her constantly and help in any way she can. And we’re all smitten. Emory nurses like a champ! So, just a day and a half later, my milk is in and big sister is also pretty excited about that! We’re recovering well and happy to have our baby Emory Jane in our arms!
Just out
First kiss from big sister
Our first tandem nurse with both girls
Big sis, a little emotional-2hrs after birth
One day old
Sadie
So glad you had a great birth experience. 
