Ordinary Miracle

The story of Micah's birth.

I woke up Wednesday morning and knew that I was in labor. I was having contractions all day but they were irregular and I tried to stay busy doing normal things as a distraction. I went to bed that night but got out of bed at 3:00 AM and started timing my own contractions. At that point I was timing them 5 min apart. I had asked Phil earlier in the week if he would paint my toenails kind of joking but I really wanted them painted for the delivery. Why? I don't know! I just needed it done so I painted them at 3:30 AM in labor in all of my 38 weeks of pregnant belly self! Then I got in the shower because I knew this was it and I wanted to look nice for all of the pictures. When I got out of the shower I woke Phil up to let him know what was going on. I dried my hair and got dressed. I called Barbara (my doula) to let her know what was going on. She told me to take a bath and if things slowed down I should go back to bed. HA! I knew this was it but I did what she said and called her back. Now my contractions were 3 min apart. (When I called Barbara at 3:30 a.m. I said "This is great!")

We called our friends Scott and Sophie to let them know that we were going to be leaving for the hospital soon. They got out of bed to come over to stay with Luke. Then we called my Aunt Lisa in Indy to see if she could come down too because our local friends would have to get to work in the morning and called my parents and they were heading this way. Lastly I called my Dr. and she said to go ahead and come in to the hospital.

When we walked into the my delivery room at the hospital the nurse showed me a hospital gown and told me to put it on. I asked politely "do I really have to put the gown on?" She said "well, I guess not!" I knew that was a good sign. I kept my own clothes on and my doula got there about then. She got busy getting a birth ball around and plenty of drinks and washcloths. The nurse checked me and I was already 4-5 cm.

Shortly after checking in.

I labored on the ball for awhile and Barbara rubbed my back. I was able to manage each contraction as it came. I felt great! I also requested to have J.J Heller's song "Your Hands" playing on repeat. We probably heard that song a hundred times that day! I love the words in that song and I knew in the weeks leading up to labor that I wanted it playing.

"I have unanswered prayers
I have troubles I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That You would take my pain away..."

After a while of ball laboring I switched over to the jacuzzi tub. It felt great but it really slowed things down. I was relaxed and took a small snooze sitting in the tub.

Then I got out and got checked by my Dr. 5-6 cm. He said that he had to go do a c-section and when he got back he wanted to break my water. I didn't want to get my water broken yet I knew things would speed up and I felt under control. I didn't want to get to a point where I was going to lose control. I started walking the halls and squatting during a contraction.

I love this photo of Phil and I. He was a strength to me during labor.

He (and Emily the doula assistant) kept me hydrated with water and grape juice with Emergen C

I was starting to feel tired. I got back on the ball until the nurse wanted to put a monitor on for 10 min. The Dr came back in and checked me at 7 cm and he broke my water. I did not want to get my water broken but I felt a peace through it. Afterwards I stopped having contractions for a moment and I just felt peaceful and relaxed.

The nurse took the monitor off and I started laboring leaning over the bed. My feet were on the floor and my arms on the bed. Barbara massaged my back while Phil read me scripture cards that I had prepared ahead of time and prayers that I had written out. He was affirming things according to God's purpose. We switched the cd over to the Bethel College Chapel Band. I wanted to hear "Worth It All" on repeat. "It's gonna be worth it all, Oh I believe it" became my mantra. I just kept singing it over and over out loud and in my head. I started to feel like pushing so my nurse checked me and I was only 8-9cm. It got really tough after that.

Transition was upon me!

I could not get into a comfortable position. I tried being on my hands and knees but that made me want to push! I went to the potty and labored there for a while and I started burping so Barbara said it was probably time to push. I got back on the bed and I was still only 9 1/2 cm with a little cervix still there. My nurse was great and said that she would pull back the cervix while I pushed and it worked! (BTW since then we have learned that our dog trainers wife was our nurse that day! What a small world and they go to our church too)


My Dr showed up and after a few pushes Micah was here! I pushed kind of diagonal on the bed and on my side. Barbara asked him if that was okay and he said "I guess." He had not done a delivery like that before! Everything about this delivery was different and new for us all. I am so thankful for how everything went. I did end up with a 3rd degree tear which was not good. It tore some of my muscle. Oh well!

I love love LOVE this photo of Phil. I will treasure it always. Do you see how tight I was squeezing his hand? All he was physically doing was holding my hand but he stepped away for a moment and I about lost it! He was my rock. Talk about falling in love with your husband all over again. Sheesh! I am crazy about him especially when I look at this.

I also love how my expression changes so much in these two photos. This is what labor is all about. A HUGE rush of adrenaline and joy! Unlike any other natural high!

The nurse showing me my baby all wrapped up.

Mommy holding Micah for the first time.

It was actually a wonderful experience. Barbara was great and so was Phil. I didn't know if I could do it all natural (no drugs for pain and no pitocin) but it was not bad at all. I had been preparing for this moment for 9 months! The hardest part was the 2 hours of transition. I kept saying to myself "anything can be endured if it is temporary" Luckily transition is TEMPORARY! The crazy thing is that hours later I thought "I could do this again!" We will have to see about that one...I don't think my dad could handle it! He gets so stressed when I am in labor.

Daddy holding Micah for the first time.

All mom's love hearing that first scream!

First time nursing.

Barbara and Micah

My dream team!