It's been too long since I have added anything to this space! Since my last post, we have added a sweet new member to our family. We found out in February that we were expecting our third child in October, and in June found out that it was in fact another little boy. :) I'm very solidly a boy mom now, haha!
We were so blessed to have a third labor and delivery in the comfort of our home, and I am truly grateful for that opportunity and experience. I don't take for granted that many are not able to do this for one reason or another. I also know how quickly the details of the birth story tend to fade from memory, so I wrote down all I could remember just a few days postpartum this time. Here is the story of how baby Callen came into the world...hope you enjoy!
Callen's Birth Story
What a strange, long drawn out birth story our little Callen Uriah ended up having! I'm honestly not even sure exactly where to start telling, because there were so many false starts and unexpected twists and turns to it.
My pregnancy with Callen was just truly a dream compared to both of the other boys, but especially compared to Nate's pregnancy. I had almost no complications or issues whatsoever, and the time seemed to fly by all the way up until 35 weeks when baby dropped quite a bit and I started having prodromal labor. Every evening for several hours, I would have stronger contractions that would come and go at fairly regular intervals, sometimes even 10 minutes apart. Week after week went by with no change, except that my feet swelled to such proportions that for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy, I could wear no shoes but flip-flops (and even those were getting too tight at the end! ;P) Still, I felt like I was pretty prepared mentally for the “contractions-forever-and-ever-amen”, since it happened with both of my other pregnancies as well, and things looked totally normal with me and baby, so I wasn't handling it too badly.
My technical due date was October 28th, but I had actually gotten the 20th from a couple different sites, and there was never a point in the entire pregnancy that I was NOT measuring 2-3 weeks ahead, so I was honestly very much expecting that I would have baby sometime around the middle of October. My midwife, Sabrina, was leaving town for a while on October 16th, so I scheduled an appointment on the 11th (37w, 5d) with Dr. Melissa, our chiropractor/acupuncurist in St. Louis who I saw right before going into labor with Nathaniel. I was really hoping that an adjustment and acupuncture from her would kickstart things, and I'd be able to deliver with Sabrina since she was my midwife for both the other boys. The adjustment went well, and baby dropped even lower, so I went home and did the Miles Circuit, walked a bit, and prayed that things would get going over the weekend.
Well, that night I got up to use the bathroom, and distinctly felt some leakage, along with a smell that I thought I remembered from previous pregnancies of amniotic fluid. I laid back down to rest until morning, not really getting any more sleep, haha! That day was our 6th anniversary, and I was happily resigned to having an anniversary baby, since it meant I'd be done being pregnant! ;D However, after getting up and going about the morning, getting everything ready for the birth, I'd only had a few strong contractions, and nothing really more intense than I'd already been having. We sent the boys to Luke's parents' house after their naps, and things still didn't pick up. All day. Finally around 7 pm, Sabrina came and did a swab, which showed up negative for amniotic fluid. Our best guess was that I had a small leak up high in the amniotic sac, that sealed itself back over throughout the day. I was SO sad and disappointed, and making the mental switch from “Today is baby day for sure!” to “Going to church tomorrow like all other Sundays” was incredibly difficult. From that day, time seemed to grind to a screeching halt, and drag slower than I have ever experienced before. Every night I went to bed disappointed that labor hadn't started during the day, and every morning I woke up disappointed that labor hadn't started in the night. I tried SO hard to keep a good attitude throughout all of it, but I definitely had many moments of struggle as day after day went by and I continued to get bigger and bigger!
6 days passed. On October 18, I had an appointment with Chelsea, my backup midwife. (She is so sweet and I truly loved having her! I just had hoped for Sabrina since she'd delivered the other two. :) Chelsea was checking on baby's position, and had her hand JUST above my pubic bone—as low on my belly as it was possible to get without hitting the actual bone. She said, “Ok, so what I'm feeling here is his SHOULDERS.” No wonder I felt like I had a bowling ball falling out of me 24/7...I practically did!! I found out at this appointment that Sabrina would only be back in town for 2 days before leaving again for several weeks, so I kind of gave up hoping for her to attend me, since it didn't seem like things were going anywhere fast.
October 21 came around, and my body started to clean out...I spent a lot of time in the bathroom that day. This was encouraging to me, as the same thing had happened right before I went into labor with Nate, but I was having a hard time having hope over anything labor related at this point. The next morning, contractions settled into a pattern of every 10 minutes. Not increasing intensity, but just like clockwork, EVERY 10 minutes. All. Day. Long. I took an Epsom Salt bath at 8:30 pm, and frequency increased to 5-7 minutes apart. Went to bed and slept fairly well throughout the night. Got up the next morning to contractions 10 minutes apart again, nonstop. I felt like I was going a little bit crazy, honestly. I couldn't believe that they could just continue for 2 straight days that often, and not turn into the real thing!! I was now at 39 weeks, 1 day. At my appointment in the afternoon, I had Chelsea check me, and I was 50% effaced, 3cm dilated. Measuring at 43 weeks, and feeling every inch of it. ;P By the end of that day, they were gone, and the next day I was back to my typical amount of prodromal labor—a couple dozen contractions throughout the day.
Two more days passed. Late evening on October 26, they picked back up again, and I had no emotion about it except extreme depression, because literally hundreds of contractions had done practically zip, and I was not convinced that my body ever would go into actual labor on its own! However, I woke in the night to a very strong one, and couldn't go back to sleep because they were around 4-5 minutes apart and quite intense. Had some bloody show at this point, which was the first sign at all that I'd had of actual cervical dilation. Around 7 am, Dad came and took the boys, and they went to church. By 9 am, my contractions were gone. Just nothing happening. Watched church services, took an Epsom Salt bath hoping to start them up again, but no go. Labor was gone. I had a huge emotional struggle at this point...I could NOT believe that this was happening again! I cried until I couldn't cry anymore, but finally had to pull it together, since the only thing happening now was a headache. ;) My sweet husband was such a dear support to me, and took me out on a beautiful walk in the autumn woods, then to a Mexican restaurant afterwards. Mom and Dad graciously kept the boys, in hopes that having them stay away would help me not to stall again.
Contractions picked up again around 6:00, and became quite intense by 11:00, but did not settle into a good pattern. There were still longer breaks in between. It was a hard decision to go to bed, as these were the strongest contractions I'd had yet, and I was afraid I would once again stall out, but I knew I couldn't just run myself into the ground either. Went to bed, and was awakened by strong contractions all throughout the night 1-2 times per hour. I once again stalled out in the morning, and had nothing happen all day Monday, the 28th, my due date. Chelsea came in the afternoon, and did a membrane sweep. I was dilated solidly to 4cm, lost my mucus plug, and baby was between -1 and -2 station. It was such a hard mental game at this point, because I knew that if contractions could just start and NOT GO AWAY, I would be having the baby probably pretty quickly! But I just could NOT seem to get to that point for anything! For Pete's sake, I'd been dilated between 3 and 4 for over a week now?! I was getting so exhausted from two nights of pretty hard labor, and the mental/emotional toll it was taking to be so close, yet seemingly so very far away.
That evening around 5:30, when contractions once again picked up to hard, painful proportions, I was just angry at them, honestly. I decided that I didn't want to think about anything anymore, and started making pretzel croissants, lol! I wanted to bake something complicated and time consuming, to keep me from paying any attention to “labor”. All throughout the baking process, they continued so strong, even getting to the point that I started vocalizing a bit through them. They were somewhere around 6 minutes apart at this point. My labor was SO touchy. We finally came to realize that even when Luke (as in, my husband, the one I love and trust most in this world, and definitely wanted him with me?!) was in the room with me, my contractions would space back out further again!! So after I baked my croissants, (which turned out delicious, by the way ;P) I went into the bedroom, and began settling into a pattern by myself.
I would sit on the ball and sway while listening to music (I listened to all of Dan Forrest's new composition, “Creation” while laboring in the bedroom). When it had been 4 to 5 minutes, I would stand up and rock back and forth, which would trigger a contraction. If it was an especially hard one, Luke would come in and do some hip pressure, but otherwise he stayed out in the dining room so I could just keep things going. He felt terrible about this, but I kept reassuring him that this was apparently just what my body needed to do this time, and as much as both of us might dislike it, at least they seemed to be getting stronger! It was so frustrating not knowing if purposely causing myself all these incredibly painful contractions was actually DOING anything, or if it was going to once again be completely futile.
I kept this pattern going until 10 pm, at which point I had several that were so hard and long that I told Luke, “I feel like this is close to transition, but I don't even want to think that, because I'm still afraid I'll stall out. My point of reference feels like it's just gone. But this is so hard.” Luke started filling the tub, but even that was worrying me, because I wasn't sure I was in real labor. Looking back, it's kind of funny to me, because I was within 3 hours of baby's arrival. But hope deferred had messed me up, lol!
I just wanted a little break at this point, so I got into the shower. I did not in fact get a break from that. ;P They picked up incredibly fast while I showered, coming every two minutes like clockwork. For reference, I have never had contractions two minutes apart, in either of my other labors. Even when I was 10cm dilated and pushing with the other boys, contractions never got closer together than 4-5 minutes, so this was new territory for me. When I got out of the shower, I asked Luke to call Chelsea to come. I had been determined not to call her to come until I was sure I was in transition, and I was so afraid that I still wasn't anywhere close, but things were just SO intense, I felt like I needed to go ahead and do it. I was still thinking that Chelsea would probably show up, and I would stall just from her being there. Thank The Lord, this wasn't the case...it was finally, FINALLY go time for real!!!
I would sit on the ball and sway while listening to music (I listened to all of Dan Forrest's new composition, “Creation” while laboring in the bedroom). When it had been 4 to 5 minutes, I would stand up and rock back and forth, which would trigger a contraction. If it was an especially hard one, Luke would come in and do some hip pressure, but otherwise he stayed out in the dining room so I could just keep things going. He felt terrible about this, but I kept reassuring him that this was apparently just what my body needed to do this time, and as much as both of us might dislike it, at least they seemed to be getting stronger! It was so frustrating not knowing if purposely causing myself all these incredibly painful contractions was actually DOING anything, or if it was going to once again be completely futile.
I kept this pattern going until 10 pm, at which point I had several that were so hard and long that I told Luke, “I feel like this is close to transition, but I don't even want to think that, because I'm still afraid I'll stall out. My point of reference feels like it's just gone. But this is so hard.” Luke started filling the tub, but even that was worrying me, because I wasn't sure I was in real labor. Looking back, it's kind of funny to me, because I was within 3 hours of baby's arrival. But hope deferred had messed me up, lol!
I just wanted a little break at this point, so I got into the shower. I did not in fact get a break from that. ;P They picked up incredibly fast while I showered, coming every two minutes like clockwork. For reference, I have never had contractions two minutes apart, in either of my other labors. Even when I was 10cm dilated and pushing with the other boys, contractions never got closer together than 4-5 minutes, so this was new territory for me. When I got out of the shower, I asked Luke to call Chelsea to come. I had been determined not to call her to come until I was sure I was in transition, and I was so afraid that I still wasn't anywhere close, but things were just SO intense, I felt like I needed to go ahead and do it. I was still thinking that Chelsea would probably show up, and I would stall just from her being there. Thank The Lord, this wasn't the case...it was finally, FINALLY go time for real!!!
Chelsea packed her things and came within half an hour, and when she arrived I was still in full on crazy contractions every two minutes. She observed 2 or 3 of them, and after one, I said, “Oh my goodness, all I want is to get in the tub!” I had been determined not to do so until I was ready to push, but the thought of lying down to get my dilation checked at this point was almost unthinkable to me. Chelsea said, “Mykaela, I truly think it's TIME for you to get in the tub! These are really, really, intense...I don't think labor is going anywhere this time!” I wasn't fully convinced, but opted to go ahead and get in. The water felt SO good! I had 3, maybe 4 contractions in the tub, (still having to “force” them to come by getting on hands and knees), and my body started to push during one. I was sooo excited by this, because I knew that feeling!! I really was IN LABOR! :D (So hilarious that I didn't believe it until I was literally pushing. ;)
One other funny thing that happened right at this time was that I looked up at the clock, and noticed that it was exactly midnight. I said, “Welp, sorry, Mama!” The 28th was my mom's birthday, and she'd been really hoping I would have baby on that day. ;) Literally seconds after I said that was the contraction that I started to bear down.
After that, things are a blur in my head...when I started to push, I got almost no breaks until he was born 40 minutes later. Contractions were between 45 seconds and a minute apart, and even in between contractions, Cal was moving down very noticeably, so it was INSANELY intense even when I wasn't actively pushing. The midwife assistant, Marlene, showed up at about 12:20, and was only there for about 20 minutes before baby was born. Shortly after she arrived, I was in the thick of a hard contraction, and said, “I just want someone else to do this part for me!” Chelsea, Marlene and Luke all laughed, and I think Marlene said something like, “I wish we could all take a turn for you!” I reached down at one point and felt the top of his head just inside, and that was very encouraging, but also terrifying, because I knew the ring of fire was imminent. That is definitely the part I dread the most about labor!! It started to burn so bad, and at one point I thought for sure his head had surely been born. I desperately asked if that was so, and Chelsea said no, but he was close. I reached down, and realized he hadn't even fully crowned yet. I said, “Oh man...I thought he was so much farther than that!!” I had to fight the urge to just “give up” at that point, (irrational as that thought was...obviously there was no going back! ;P) But I thought to myself, “The only way out is through.” Then I pushed with everything I had, and his head was finally born! That was such a moment of triumph, because I knew the very hardest part was over, and he was so close. Just a few seconds later, he made his rotation and came out fully, being caught by his Daddy.
After that, things are a blur in my head...when I started to push, I got almost no breaks until he was born 40 minutes later. Contractions were between 45 seconds and a minute apart, and even in between contractions, Cal was moving down very noticeably, so it was INSANELY intense even when I wasn't actively pushing. The midwife assistant, Marlene, showed up at about 12:20, and was only there for about 20 minutes before baby was born. Shortly after she arrived, I was in the thick of a hard contraction, and said, “I just want someone else to do this part for me!” Chelsea, Marlene and Luke all laughed, and I think Marlene said something like, “I wish we could all take a turn for you!” I reached down at one point and felt the top of his head just inside, and that was very encouraging, but also terrifying, because I knew the ring of fire was imminent. That is definitely the part I dread the most about labor!! It started to burn so bad, and at one point I thought for sure his head had surely been born. I desperately asked if that was so, and Chelsea said no, but he was close. I reached down, and realized he hadn't even fully crowned yet. I said, “Oh man...I thought he was so much farther than that!!” I had to fight the urge to just “give up” at that point, (irrational as that thought was...obviously there was no going back! ;P) But I thought to myself, “The only way out is through.” Then I pushed with everything I had, and his head was finally born! That was such a moment of triumph, because I knew the very hardest part was over, and he was so close. Just a few seconds later, he made his rotation and came out fully, being caught by his Daddy.
As they brought him up, the cord was tugging and hurting, and I gasped that it must be short, but quickly realized it wasn't actually a short cord, it was wrapped around him in a way I'd never seen before. It was around his neck once, and then wrapped under and around one shoulder/armpit like a backpack. Luke and Chelsea did some gymnastics with him, twisting him around to get it untangled.
He didn't have one bit of vernix on him, confirming that he was definitely at least full term, but likely even a bit over. His cry, when it came, was crazy high-pitched, he sounded like a baby eagle. ;) I couldn't believe how tiny he felt and looked!! I had been expecting a very big baby, at least 9 pounds. As we waited for the placenta to come, I said, “That was so fast! I mean it took weeks but it was so fast!” Ha. It truly had felt incredibly fast compared to my two previous labors, especially the whirlwind pushing stage...both other boys I'd pushed for 2 ½ hours.
After the placenta came, (man, I really hate that part!) we cut his cord and handed him off to his daddy while I took a wonderful hot shower. After that, I got into bed to rest, nurse, and enjoy the fruit of all the long, LONG labors!! Chelsea and Marlene cleaned everything up, started a load of laundry, and made me a plate of scrambled eggs. I always say that the meals you eat in the first week after giving birth are some of the best meals ever to exist. ;) Those scrambled eggs that my husband fed to me at 3 am, with my new baby in my arms, were the most gourmet eggs in the world. ;)
Chelsea did Callen's newborn exam, and everything looked perfect. He weighed 8lbs, 6oz... 2oz less than Nathaniel did when he was born, despite Callen being born 2 weeks later. He was 20 inches long, which I think was why he looked so tiny, he was fairly “tall” for his weight.
I was checked for tearing, and only had very minimal damage, similar to what I had with Nathan. I didn't even end up using the peri bottle more than 3 or 4 times, I healed so quickly and had so little pain/burning. As expected and dreaded, the afterbirth cramps were more intense than ever before, and were absolutely horrible for the first 3 or 4 days. I was very glad when I was able to make it past that hurdle and spend time resting and enjoying baby without so much pain!
After the placenta came, (man, I really hate that part!) we cut his cord and handed him off to his daddy while I took a wonderful hot shower. After that, I got into bed to rest, nurse, and enjoy the fruit of all the long, LONG labors!! Chelsea and Marlene cleaned everything up, started a load of laundry, and made me a plate of scrambled eggs. I always say that the meals you eat in the first week after giving birth are some of the best meals ever to exist. ;) Those scrambled eggs that my husband fed to me at 3 am, with my new baby in my arms, were the most gourmet eggs in the world. ;)
Chelsea did Callen's newborn exam, and everything looked perfect. He weighed 8lbs, 6oz... 2oz less than Nathaniel did when he was born, despite Callen being born 2 weeks later. He was 20 inches long, which I think was why he looked so tiny, he was fairly “tall” for his weight.
I was checked for tearing, and only had very minimal damage, similar to what I had with Nathan. I didn't even end up using the peri bottle more than 3 or 4 times, I healed so quickly and had so little pain/burning. As expected and dreaded, the afterbirth cramps were more intense than ever before, and were absolutely horrible for the first 3 or 4 days. I was very glad when I was able to make it past that hurdle and spend time resting and enjoying baby without so much pain!
The boys have so enjoyed their new brother, and watching Luke become a daddy again has made me fall in love with him all the more. :) I am so, so glad to have this sweet baby on the outside after such a long wait, and to be NOT PREGNANT!! ;P My feet almost immediately went down to their normal size after he was born, and having non-blimpy feet is the best thing ever after 6 weeks of severe swelling. ;)
Out of curiosity, I asked Sabrina about Callen's strange nuchal cord. I'm hoping to get my doula certification someday, Lord willing, and thus have done literally hundreds of hours of research and study on all things labor/birth/postpartum...I've never once seen a cord wrapped in quite that way before! Sabrina said that it is indeed quite rare, she's not seen it often at all. The last client of hers that had a baby with that type of nuchal cord ended up having a hospital transfer and cesarean, because the cord was too short to allow for the baby to descend. I was so grateful that Callen's was long enough and I was able to have him at home! God is so good!
I think that's about the whole of it...If you've made it through this very long story, thank you for reading! :)
God bless,
Mykaela
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