Also, I still have this heart wrenching sympathy for those who have lost babies or are dealing with infertility. If this is you, can I please encourage you not to read this post? I have questioned even posting this thinking about you reading the story about a healthy delivery. So I'm asking you to not read this and please know that I continue to pray for you. I really, really do.
Here's his story...
With Emmeline I didn't have a single contraction until 3 days before her birth. But when they started they didn't stop until she was born. With Elias, I had time-able bouts of Braxton Hicks contractions starting at 24 weeks. This obviously made me really nervous to be having contractions so early. Sometimes the bouts would last for a day or two and be 5 minutes apart and then go away. At 36 weeks I had two days of Braxton Hicks contractions 5 minutes apart that were simply exhausting. Not painful. They just knocked your breath away and made me very tired. Then...
Christmas Eve we ended up in labor and delivery (36 weeks pregnant) to make sure the baby was okay. It was scary but we got over to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas and I suddenly started bleeding quite a bit. We were so thankful when we got to labor and delivery and heard his sweet, strong heartbeat. They said that a contraction could have popped a blood vessel or something like that and it was no big deal. I left the hospital exhausted and ready for him to either make his appearance or for the contractions to stop.
Christmas Eve we ended up in labor and delivery (36 weeks pregnant) to make sure the baby was okay. It was scary but we got over to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas and I suddenly started bleeding quite a bit. We were so thankful when we got to labor and delivery and heard his sweet, strong heartbeat. They said that a contraction could have popped a blood vessel or something like that and it was no big deal. I left the hospital exhausted and ready for him to either make his appearance or for the contractions to stop.
It was
definitely a difficult couple of weeks leading up to his arrival. I had
more aches and pains than I did with my pregnancy with Emmeline. I was also
carrying around a 28 lb toddler the whole time I was pregnant this time, which
made it more difficult. She wanted to be held all the time and she was also going through a tantrum phase while I was pregnant as well, which was very difficult on me physically. I also had contractions that
would start at night and stop between 1 and 3 am on multiple occasions, but especially in those last 2-3 weeks. These were even pretty intense, painful bouts of contractions towards the end. I always woke up in the morning so discouraged that they didn't turn into anything as I had mentally prepared myself again for labor and I had also gone another night without getting much sleep. We were
so anxious to meet him and the false labor just made us that much more anxious
to see his face! While I hated the nights of contractions at the time, it ended up being the biggest blessing as I believe they made actual labor much easier!
I called my mom crying at 39 weeks pregnant. She was in Florida and wasn't due to come back until 2 days before my due date. I was not feeling well and just wanted her to be there, thinking he might be coming early (although I had thought that for the past 3 weeks because of all the contractions). I offered to pay for a plane ticket for her to come back early and told her I hadn't straight up asked her to come home early until then because I would feel guilty if he came late and she had missed some of her trip. She got on a flight the next day and came home. :) I've never been so glad to see her face! I also teared up at both my 38 and 39 week OB apt when she asked how I was doing. I was very hormonal and also discouraged and tired from all the night time contractions.
Elias' due date came and went. I actually went two nights without any contractions and was simply thankful for the sleep, hoping it would mean I would be rested for actual labor. We felt more content about when he might come and attempted to just be patient. The day after my due date I
went and got a prenatal massage. It was to celebrate making it past his due date, for some physical relief, and also in hopes that it might spur labor on. After the massage, I picked Emmeline up at my grandmother’s
and we went on a walk to the park. As soon as I got back from the walk I started to feel super crampy and like he might be close to making his arrival. But I had felt like
this before over the past several weeks so I tried to not get my hopes up. I
got Emmeline home and to bed. Peyton worked late and got home and we
watched the movie Rain Man on Netflix. We both tried to not look
into the way I was feeling that night. I had told him several days before that I was starting to feel like a watched pot so he was very cautious about insinuating labor in any way or asking about it. We went to bed around 11 that night. I actually slept for 4 1/2 hours, which was a pretty long stretch compared to what I had been getting the past 4 weeks.
Side Note: I desired to have a natural child birth for a lot of personal reasons. I knew that if labor was anything like Emmeline's it would be extremely difficult. We knew we wanted to labor at home as long as we could this time. I was too quick to rush to the hospital last time and I knew I would be much more comfortable at home and we do live only 1 mile from the hospital, which was reassuring (and extremely necessary with the birth we ended up having). There are so many factors that play into labor. I feel so fortunate that my labor went the way it did. If it hadn't, I very well may have ended up with an epidural. Fortunately, he was positioned perfectly and labor was very quick and transition lasted only a couple of minutes. My water stayed in tact until a few minutes before he arrived (which does make a HUGE difference in labor). Basically, anyone desiring a natural labor could have very easily done it with this one. And there are many other labors where I couldn't have done it. So there's no pride at all. Just grateful that things went as smoothly as they did and that I got to experience this, which I had truly desired.
At 3:30 in the morning I woke up feeling super crampy. I
went to the bathroom and had 'show' and figured he would probably be here in the next
48 hours. I went back to lay in bed and Peyton asked me what was going on. Usually he didn't wake up at all during my night time contraction escapades. ;) I
told him we would probably have a baby in the next 48 hours or so. Little did we
know that we would have Elias in our arms in less than 4 very short hours!
I laid in bed from 3:30-4:30 with contractions. I had learned through labor with Emmeline to rest (even if unable to sleep) AS LONG as possible. The contractions started
as soon as I had gotten back in bed. They were about 6 minutes apart. Note that some of my other nights of contractions were 4 minutes apart. At 4:30 am we texted our Doula to let her know what was going on and that we would probably be having a baby that day or night. We still didn’t expect him to be here until about 5:00 pm or so. Labor with Emmeline was pretty
long, so we tried to be mentally prepared for something similar time-wise. At
4:30 in the morning I couldn’t lay in bed any longer. I told Peyton to go
pack our hospital bag just so it would be ready to go before things got crazy and I took a hot shower. A hot shower always seemed to
make me feel better during pregnancy. I was very aware that contractions had gotten MUCH closer together and MUCH more intense while I was in the shower. I got out and
Peyton came down to find me on all 4’s in the basement coping with a contraction. This seemed to
work well for them (child’s pose). He knelt down and started timing
them and helping me through them in our dimly lit basement. It was such a
comfortable atmosphere (much more comfortable than a hospital room). Contractions were between 2 and 2 ½ minutes apart (many times with a smaller one in between as well) and each one was
getting more and more intense. Please do understand that my contractions during labor with Emmeline were this close together and even more intense and I was only 3 cms dilated. So in our minds, we didn't see me being that far along. And I was able to cope well and relax in the comfort of our basement, which I really believe helped things progress much faster.
My main concern about being home is that I was having trouble distinguishing Elias' movement. In between contractions I would lay on my left side and try to get him to move where I could definitely feel it. I was trying not to be paranoid but this was what had my attention in between contractions.
My main concern about being home is that I was having trouble distinguishing Elias' movement. In between contractions I would lay on my left side and try to get him to move where I could definitely feel it. I was trying not to be paranoid but this was what had my attention in between contractions.
At 6 am Peyton called the Doula and asked her to come and also
called my Mom (planning to be at the birth) and Grandmother (coming to stay with Emmeline) and had them come on over as well. Thank goodness he
called them when he did!!! They all arrived around 6:30 am. (Note that Elias was born at 7:18 am). The Doula (Tina)
watched me during a few contractions to figure out how far along she thought I
was. My Mom helped pack the rest of the hospital stuff and I remember her helping me through a couple of contractions as well while Peyton had to grab a couple of last minute things for the hospital. Peyton helped me
through contractions by pushing my hips together while I laid in Child’s Pose. While contractions had gotten super painful, I was able to cope with
them in Child’s Pose and I was still conversing fine between contractions so I didn’t think I was that far along in labor.
I got up to go to the restroom and things never slowed down from there. I cried real tears during the next two contractions, came back out of the bathroom and felt like I was going to throw up. I wanted to go to the hospital immediately as everything had changed and I suddenly felt completely out of control even in between contractions. I thought that getting back in child's pose would make things bearable again but it didn't. My body felt so out of control. Peyton had run upstairs to get me a bucket to throw up in. He originally gave me the bucket we put dirty cloth diapers in and that smelled awful and REALLY made me want to throw up. But while he was upstairs I started walking towards the basement stairs with Tina because I was 100% past ready to go to the hospital. Everything had changed in 2 minutes.
Tina was with me and Peyton came back down the stairs as I was having another contraction. I was stuck in my tracks with this contraction and screamed out about how much pressure I felt all of a sudden. Suddenly my water broke and Elias immediately slid all the way down and started crowning! I still don’t understand how everything happened so fast! He must have been in the perfect position. I panicked and told them I was ready to push as I was standing in our basement trying to make my way to the steps. Tina yelled for Peyton to get the car NOW. Peyton yelled for my Mom to call the dr and tell them we were on our way and that we had a crowning baby. Tina told me we needed to get up the steps and to the car. I told her I couldn't get up the steps. She asked if I was having a contraction and I told her no. She replied, "then we're going up the steps". Somehow she got me up them. I still don't know how. She said that if we had lived further from the hospital she would have laid me down to deliver him herself and called 9-1-1 while she was doing it. Obviously she didn't tell me this then. She remained calm to me, but apparently looked at my mom with a look that said, "this has gotten CrAzY!" I was screaming the whole way up the steps and also saying “God help me! God help me!”. Going up the basement steps was the hardest part of the whole labor. I felt like some sort of animal with the sounds that were coming out of my mouth. I don't know how Emmeline didn't wake up. Tina got me into the front seat of the car and Peyton jumped in the front seat and asked if they should buckle me up. Tina quickly told him to just go. The whole way there I was saying out loud over and over again, “God, no contractions please! God, no contractions please!” and then also screaming “BUMP! Bump BUMP!!!” whenever we went over the slightest bump. I knew if I had a contraction, there was no stopping a car birth from happening. Apparently Peyton started praying out loud for us on the ride there as well.
It’s hard to explain but after my water broke, I don’t remember pain. It was just the craziest sensation I’ve ever felt. I know women have described part of labor being an “out of body experience” but that’s exactly what it felt like from that point on. Just overwhelming and out of control. Not exactly painful. The craziest part was that I didn’t have a single contraction after my water broke. Not on the walk to the car, during the car ride, or on the walk to the hospital room. God's hand was all over the entire experience. It is so crazy to see the way He helped orchestrate everything.
I got up to go to the restroom and things never slowed down from there. I cried real tears during the next two contractions, came back out of the bathroom and felt like I was going to throw up. I wanted to go to the hospital immediately as everything had changed and I suddenly felt completely out of control even in between contractions. I thought that getting back in child's pose would make things bearable again but it didn't. My body felt so out of control. Peyton had run upstairs to get me a bucket to throw up in. He originally gave me the bucket we put dirty cloth diapers in and that smelled awful and REALLY made me want to throw up. But while he was upstairs I started walking towards the basement stairs with Tina because I was 100% past ready to go to the hospital. Everything had changed in 2 minutes.
Tina was with me and Peyton came back down the stairs as I was having another contraction. I was stuck in my tracks with this contraction and screamed out about how much pressure I felt all of a sudden. Suddenly my water broke and Elias immediately slid all the way down and started crowning! I still don’t understand how everything happened so fast! He must have been in the perfect position. I panicked and told them I was ready to push as I was standing in our basement trying to make my way to the steps. Tina yelled for Peyton to get the car NOW. Peyton yelled for my Mom to call the dr and tell them we were on our way and that we had a crowning baby. Tina told me we needed to get up the steps and to the car. I told her I couldn't get up the steps. She asked if I was having a contraction and I told her no. She replied, "then we're going up the steps". Somehow she got me up them. I still don't know how. She said that if we had lived further from the hospital she would have laid me down to deliver him herself and called 9-1-1 while she was doing it. Obviously she didn't tell me this then. She remained calm to me, but apparently looked at my mom with a look that said, "this has gotten CrAzY!" I was screaming the whole way up the steps and also saying “God help me! God help me!”. Going up the basement steps was the hardest part of the whole labor. I felt like some sort of animal with the sounds that were coming out of my mouth. I don't know how Emmeline didn't wake up. Tina got me into the front seat of the car and Peyton jumped in the front seat and asked if they should buckle me up. Tina quickly told him to just go. The whole way there I was saying out loud over and over again, “God, no contractions please! God, no contractions please!” and then also screaming “BUMP! Bump BUMP!!!” whenever we went over the slightest bump. I knew if I had a contraction, there was no stopping a car birth from happening. Apparently Peyton started praying out loud for us on the ride there as well.
It’s hard to explain but after my water broke, I don’t remember pain. It was just the craziest sensation I’ve ever felt. I know women have described part of labor being an “out of body experience” but that’s exactly what it felt like from that point on. Just overwhelming and out of control. Not exactly painful. The craziest part was that I didn’t have a single contraction after my water broke. Not on the walk to the car, during the car ride, or on the walk to the hospital room. God's hand was all over the entire experience. It is so crazy to see the way He helped orchestrate everything.
We pulled up to the hospital (luckily less than a mile away)
and I told Peyton to leave the car. But I guess a cop car was behind him so
he let us out and went to park the car. Tina helped me upstairs. I was in
pajama pants (that my water had broken in), a t-shirt and socks (no shoes) and she was holding a towel
between my legs in case the baby happened to slip out. Never in my wildest dreams
would I have pictured a labor like this. We got up to labor and delivery and
the lady asked me if I knew my SSN. I immediately said “NO!”, making it clear that I was not in a state to answer any questions and Tina said,
“there’s a head”. They took me
right back. A nurse led me to the nearest room. She was trying to walk way too fast. I remember uttering the words, "too fast. too fast. too fast" over and over again. She got me onto a gurney and
then to a bed. Someone ripped my pants off. Suddenly there were 10 people in
the room. I looked up and saw my dr in front of me and saw Peyton run into
the room behind her and felt the biggest sense of relief to be in a hospital bed with my
dr and Peyton there! I really have no idea who else was in the room. I know I relaxed and asked for some water to drink because I was so thirsty all of a sudden and a warm rag. Everyone looked at me like I was
crazy because his head was right there and they said, “all you have to do is
push. His heart rate is dropping. Are you having a contraction?” I wasn’t
having a contraction but when I heard his heart rate was dropping I pushed
anyways. I pushed twice and he came out and they immediately put him on my
chest. I was so confused as to how he had gotten here so quickly and how we
almost had him in our basement. It was the craziest blur of an experience to me and I couldn't help but continue taking deep breaths trying to wrap my mind around the past 3 1/2 hours as he lay there on my chest. My mom had also run into the
room right as he was entering the world, so she made it to the birth as well (barely).
The cord was wrapped around his neck, which is why his heart rate was dropping, but the dr
just slid it right off and his Apgar scores were good. When they put him on my chest I cried out, "he's blue!", but apparently he was just fine.
Our dr only made it to the delivery because she
had just arrived to the hospital for a scheduled c-section. The on-call dr had informed
her (after my mom had called) that she had a patient coming in that needed to be checked before the c-section.
She came into my room and started to ask if any of the nurses had checked me but stopped
mid-sentence and said, “oh…a head”. She was amazing. I don’t remember but apparently
it was chaos and there were a bunch of nurses in the room and they were trying
to frantically get an iv in me, etc. Our dr was so great and brought the greatest sense of calmness
to the room in the short time she was there. She stopped the iv from happening, explaining that we didn’t need one. She took charge in a calming way and somehow remembered all our wishes for the birth when we were in too much of a fog to stand up for them.
It was one of the most surreal moments of my life and I’ll
never forget it! Elias is such a blessing to our family and we are absolutely crazy about him! Even Emmeline accepted him as part of our family immediately. It was crazy to see the way she seemed to instantly know he was here to stay. <3. Having a toddler and a baby has been the hardest experience of my life and maybe I'll have a chance to write about the realities of that soon. It's. Been. HARD. For now, I'll just leave you with a picture of the sweetest boy in the world. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter boy:
William Elias Rulketter
8 lbs 2 oz
Born 1/22/15 @ 7:18 am (thankfully not born at 7:10 am)
William Elias Rulketter
8 lbs 2 oz
Born 1/22/15 @ 7:18 am (thankfully not born at 7:10 am)
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