A dream come true!

Spencer Ray
Born 2/27/10 (sharing a birthday with my late mother in law, Valarie) at 11:11am
8 lbs. 3 oz. 
20 inches long

Here is the short version of his birth story.  I know it's still long, but trust me, there are lots of details missing!


Last night I started having regular contractions about 7 minutes apart before bed. I knew they could just as likely fade to nothing, but Brandon and I got a few things ready anyway. Though I was able to sleep for a few hours, the contractions continued. I woke up at 1:30am and knew they were getting stronger and closer, but stayed in bed until 2:30am. At that point, I timed some contractions and saw that they were 2-3 minutes apart! I started to panic, since we live about 45 minutes from the hospital, so we quickly got things loaded up, dropped our son off with friends, and got on the road.

We arrived at the hospital around 4:15-4:30am. When they checked me (sidebar:  one of my nurses was someone who went to KCU with me!  Small world!), I was dilated to 7! I was surprised and so relieved - the entire time, I was worried that they would tell me I wasn't in labor and it was just gas! He was still at a -3 station, so lots of "moving down" work to do!

After some monitoring, I was able to get off the monitors, change into more comfortable attire - a nursing bra and sarong and walk around the room. I tried sitting on the birthing ball, but it didn't feel right. I mostly just walked around the room until a wave hit and I would grab onto something sturdy, close my eyes and lower my head, and Brandon would put counter-pressure on my lower back - worked wonders! I couldn't believe how quickly I was able to "come back" after a wave was over.

My parents arrived around 9:30am and things were starting to pick up, so I asked to be checked again. At this point, Mom didn't know I was planning to do this without any meds.  I was still 7-8cm, but -1. After this, I tried getting on my knees on the bed, with the head of the bed raised, leaning against it. It was in this position that my water soon broke.

I cannot believe how quickly things happened after that. It was immediately after my water broke that my contractions got so intense - one after another, hardly letting up. I was doubled over at the edge of the bed with a trash can beside me. I don't think it was 20 minutes later that as my nurse left, she said "Call me as soon as you feel the urge to push - I mean it, as soon as you feel it!"

About 5 minutes later, I felt it. Strong.

I remember saying "I don't know if that's what it is, I just know it's different!" I think they could tell I was indeed ready. Very quickly, the room started the Delivery Transformation - lots of people, lots of stuff being moved around. My midwife came in (so glad she was on call this weekend!) and got us started in the pushing phase. No stirrups, but I was on my back. I tried it on my side but was so uncomfortable.

I don't know how long the preliminary pushing took before he was crowning. My mom said from start to finish, the pushing was 30 minutes. I swear it was 3 hours! It's amazing how different they are - epidural pushing and natural pushing! It seemed to take forever, but it felt so good to push. My mom (who had never been in a delivery with anyone before and had a C-section herself) was to my left, crying quietly - she couldn't handle seeing me in pain. Brandon was on my right, getting his hand nearly squashed by my grip. He was amazing though.  Totally in tune with me, especially at the end.

Eventually he was crowning, and very quickly he was out!! The team was great - put him right on my chest and let him stay there for a long time! They suggested letting the cord finish pulsing, and Brandon did cut the cord, something he hadn't wanted to do. We tried nursing right away, but Spencer wasn't taking the bait (and is still struggling to get the hang of things). As soon as the placenta came out (odd feeling!) they weighed him and did a little "fixin' up". My midwife discovered that I had torn, a simple (barely 2nd degree) perineum tear. So she prepared to do stitches with Lidocaine. She had me hold the baby again to distract me while she did that - it worked like magic.

Anyway, here we are, 12 hours later! He's snoozing in his little bassinet next to me and Mom is sleeping in a chair in the room (Brandon went home to be with his dad, brother, my dad, and Miles). I've been surprised by how many people had already heard about our natural HypnoBabies delivery - apparently we've been the talk of the hospital! It's been fun to answer everyone's questions. 


I feel so blessed to have two beautiful little boys, and two very different birth experiences.  I can't wait to get him home and start our new life!


I've already been asked if I would do it naturally again and the answer is YES!  Just not next week :-)