Our Story

I'm finally posting our birth story! Sorry it took so long. It was more difficult to describe my feelings about it than I thought it would be but here it is and it's super long so consider yourself warned:

I woke up to fairly intense contractions at 2am Tuesday morning (July 14th) I got up and walked around a little then tried to go back to sleep. I put on a Hypnobabies track on my iPod and started practicing my relaxation. I could relax quite well through the contractions but I couldn't go back to sleep. I thought about getting up and timing them on contratctionmaster.com but the thought of getting out of bed and sitting in a chair didn't appeal to me at all. So I continued laying in bed relaxing and breathing through each contraction. I could tell they were getting more intense and that we would definitely be having a baby that day.

I stayed in bed until 4am when Rob rolled over and asked me how I was doing and I said, "I think we may need to go to the hospital." I think that shocked him a little because every night for the last month he would roll over and ask how I was feeling and my answer was always, "Fine." I decided to get out of bed and eat something before we went because I knew I would need my strength and I also knew the hospital had a ridiculous rule about not eating or drinking during labor (don't get me started on why I think it's insane that hospitals starve women when they need nourishment the most) So I ate a bowl of cereal as the contractions kept coming harder and faster. Rob took a quick shower and got the car packed and ready to go. Rob got Elliett out of bed for a quick second so we could hug her and tell her we loved her before we left. Thankfully since we're staying with Rob's parents we were able to just leave Ellie to sleep in her own bed.

We left for the hospital and we figured we could drive quickly because this was the only time in our lives we could actually speed and have a valid excuse :) I listened to Hypnobabies the whole way there and I was able to talk to Rob and joke around with him between contractions. During contractions I would just relax and breathe. Having intense contractions in the car made me realize how unreasonably bumpy the roads are between our house and the hospital. Not exactly the most comfortable car ride I've ever had.

We got to the hospital at around 5:15am and got settled in our room. The nurse checked me and I was at a 9! I was so excited because I knew I was almost ready to push. The contractions were getting much more intense and although I had prepared for months for an unmedicated childbirth I decided to opt for an epidural for the pushing stage. By the time the anesthesiologist came and did the epidural I was at a 10 and ready to push. I am grateful for the relief I felt for a few minutes before I started pushing. Part of me feels like I failed by getting an epidural but part of me feels so proud of myself because I labored all on my own without medication until it was time to push. I was still able to feel a lot while I pushed which was amazing. After pushing for 3 contractions our baby girl was born at 6:50 am! Just an hour and a half after arriving at the hospital. She was 7 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long with tons of red hair. She had swallowed some fluid on the way out so after they put her on my tummy for a minute, the nurse took her to the warming bed across the room to suction her more. Rob went with her while the doctor tended to me. It was so hard to be away from her already. I felt so overwhelmed, so relieved, so scared to be a mommy of two, and so in love that I just cried and cried. Rob went back and forth between the baby and I keeping watch over both of us. We still hadn't decided on a name for her - we had a list of about 15 names we kind of liked but nothing that we just loved. Rob looked at her and smiled and said that she looked like a Piper Kate. It totally fit her. She was perfect in every way.

To this day I am amazed by the power of my body. I wish I could describe what it was like to feel my body doing exactly what it was made to do. This birth was so different from Ellie's. I loved having Ellie in my arms but I felt like more of a bystander during my labor with her because I went immediately to the hospital when my contractions got stronger, got to the hospital when I was at about a 5, got hooked up to the monitors, got an epidural, slept off and on for 7 hours, pushed for an hour and she was born. It was wonderful to hold her but I felt like a total train wreck afterwards and I was miserable for two weeks after.

With Piper it was completely different and I attribute it to two things: I had an idea of what it was going to be like and I had studied HypnoBabies since March. I LOVE HypnoBabies. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone who is pregnant whether they want a natural child birth or a fully medicated one. It helped me enjoy my pregnancy so much more, I felt so relaxed and at peace with everything and I felt much more in control. When labor began, I was able to relax through each contraction as it came which really helped conserve my energy for the pushing stage. One of my proudest moments in the delivery room was when both my OB and the anesthesiologist were in the room before I got the epidural and I was laying on my side, listening to HypnoBabies on my iPod in one ear and breathing slowly through a contraction the anesthesiologist turned to my OB and said, "She certainly doesn't look like someone who is at a 9." And my OB said, "No kidding!" When the contraction was over I asked what they meant by that and my OB said, "Well, most women who are at a 9 or a 10 without an epidural are screaming or moaning or crying and you are as calm as can be." After another contraction my OB said, "I want to know what you're listening to on your iPod." So I told him and he said, "Well it must be working!" It was a huge step for him because he (and nearly every one else I told) thought I was crazy for even trying HypnoBabies. After Piper was born (and I stopped crying) I felt awesome. I was a little tired and sore but I felt fantastic compared to when I had Ellie. I was up and walking and in the shower within a few hours. My recovery this time was way better. Rob took such amazing care of me. I am so blessed to have such a caring and compassionate husband. And he is head over heels in love with his new little girl. I firmly believe that every daddy needs a daughter. It is so amazing to witness the bond that forms between the two of them. It happened with Elliett and it happened again with Piper and it made me fall so much more deeply in love with Rob. :)

So even though I had the goal of not having an epidural, I really feel like this was the birth I was supposed to have. I love that I was able to experience my entire labor and I also love that I was able to somewhat enjoy the pushing stage. I really think I could have done it completely unmedicated if my OB had been more supportive of natural childbirth, if my nurse hadn't been such a nazi (I really wanted to scream at her while I was pushing and even Rob was getting annoyed with her because she kept yelling at me like a football coach to push) and if Rob had had more time to study HypnoBabies with me so he could help me relax more deeply. That sounds like I'm trying to blame everyone else but that's not what I mean to do, it's just that when you're giving birth, it's not just you. You have a team of people helping you through it and to have the birth experience you're hoping for, those people need to understand and believe in the same things you do about childbirth. I kind of felt like it was me and Rob vs. the OB and the nurse as far as natural childbirth goes. But I am eternally grateful to them because they were able to help our baby girl arrive safely and they took wonderful care of us.

I am really happy the way everything worked out for us and I am especially happy to have Piper Kate here with us finally. She is such a happy baby and we are all totally in love with her!

Here are a few pictures from that day:

Listening to HypboBabies at 9cm


After Piper's first bath


One proud daddy


One proud mommy


First meeting