Baby #2 – My Birth Story

By Kate Horney

Today marks two weeks since Baby H #2 entered the world.  

To celebrate (and because so many of you have asked)…

I wanted to share his birth story with you.

The morning that Warren was born started as most Monday mornings start at our house….in the garage gym. I woke up for my usual 5am, had some coffee, and headed out for my BeyondFit Life workout before Jackson woke up. I had noticed some cramping and some contractions the day before, but didn’t think much of it.

Until I realized that my pants were wet. (Umm… yuck).

I have to be honest and tell you that my first thought was that I peed myself during my workout (yeah, it’s happened before), but aside from the wet shorts I felt great. Making the choice to stay active through my pregnancy was essential to enjoying both my pregnancy and the delivery of our sweet son.

Buuuut when you’re 9 months pregnant, wet shorts isn’t something to take lightly!

So after talking with Patrick we decided maybe it was best to get things checked. After the cramping and contractions the day before, we knew there was a chance my water could be leaking, so I went to my OBGYN for an amniotic fluid test. Sure enough, it came up positive within seconds.

Nope, I didn’t pee my pants during my workout…

MY WATER WAS LEAKING!

The doctor who checked me filled out a “hospital admittance” form and suggested that I take care of anything I needed to at home and make my way over to Labor & Delivery.

When my cervix was checked, I was only 3 cm dilated (no change from my previous check the week before) so I knew that I had some time…Jackson and I called Patrick, headed home, and started to pack and get things ready for the big event.

My goal with Warren, as with Jackson, was to have a natural labor & delivery so I wanted to limit my time at the hospital as much as possible. (The more time you labor at home, the less likely you are to be forced into an induction, epidural, etc), so we took our time.

We took Jackson out for his last “only kid” lunch, walked around the mall, and even stopped at the grocery to pick up some more diapers.

At this point, I was having contractions but was able to walk and breathe through all of them. Our goal was to stay at home until my midwife came on duty at 5pm that evening, so I took advantage of gravity and walked, squatted, and walked some more.

My water broke completely at 7:19 pm and with that GUSH came some seriously intense contractions.

No talking during those ones…but I did manage to use the birthing ball and to walk and do some squatting during labor, again to use gravity to our advantage. As much as I wanted to just lay down in bed and rest, I knew that keeping active and moving- working through each contraction as it came- was the best way to keep progressing.

Without an epidural or any wires or cords keeping me to the bed, I was able to move around freely during my labor and find positions that were most comfortable, rather than be confined to the bed-this really helped my labor! We had a wonderful nurse and doctor who supported our natural birth plan and respected my desire to deliver without C-section or any other interventions.

My contractions were HARD (anyone who has had a baby knows this is no understatement) and extremely close together.

But after just 2 hours of intense contractions, I was fully dilated and ready to push…and after just 6 minutes of pushing,

WE GOT TO MEET OUR SON!

At 9:36pm on September 8, 2014 we welcomed our 9 lb blessing, Warren James, into this world!

Staying active through pregnancy enabled me to enter labor with a strong core, pelvic floor, and lower body, which helped TREMENDOUSLY when it came to pushing. Because I didn’t have an epidural, I was able to feel each contraction, work with my body, and was able to concentrate on the best time and best way to push.

One cool thing about our delivery was that we were under no pressure to cut the cord (Cutting the cord too early denies babies an important supply of blood and can also reduce the amount of iron a newborn receives) so I got to hold sweet Warren James for some immediate skin to skin, and when we were ready, Patrick was able to cut the cord.

Warren was healthy and alert, with his eyes wide open and looking all around the second he was born. I was blessed to be able to breastfeed him within the first few minutes of his birth, and while I know I’m biased, I have to say he may be one of the cutest little boys on the planet.

There were days in pregnancy when I didn’t feel like getting off the couch, but staying active and eating right while pregnant was worth it.

I truly believe it made my labor and delivery much easier and it has played a tremendous role in my post-natal recovery.

I needed a few stitches after delivering, but even as that heals, I’ve been able to keep moving. Just a couples hours after Warren was born, I was able to walk from Labor & Delivery to my room in Postpartum Recovery.

Now that we’re home, I have the energy (minus some seriously sleepless nights) and stamina to do what needs to be done in order to take care of our new little boy while still chasing around a crazy toddler. (That’s right – two babies in two years!) We are enjoying all of these precious moments as a family and are praising the Lord for his kindness in giving us another wonderful son.

Without making the choice to stay active during my pregnancy, I sincerely believe my birth story would be entirely different. I could not have asked for a more enjoyable pregnancy or a more wonderful labor and delivery experience and I am grateful.

It’s not me – just a testament to how AWESOMELY our bodies were designed!