Rowan's Birth Story......

My birthday was on Wednesday, May 18 and I woke up feeling horrible. I was hoping that maybe I would just go into labor that day, but it didn't happen. We had some friends and family over that evening and when everyone left I asked Josh to take my blood pressure because I had been feeling really weird. It was 150/100. I debated on whether to call my midwife, and then decided to wait and see what my blood pressure was in the morning after I rested all night. Well, it ended up being higher than the night before, so I called the clinic and they told me to come in at 1:30.

When I went in, my blood pressure had dropped a bit, but was still pretty high. They did a non-stress test and the midwife asked me if I felt like I should be induced. I wasn't sure what to do, because I was 37 1/2 weeks along and I was really just hoping to go into labor on my own. The midwife decided to send me to the hospital to be monitored. If my blood pressure stayed up they would induce me. If it went down they would send me home. It went down and they sent me home on strict bed rest. I was pretty disappointed with that.

Before going to sleep that night, I had Josh check my blood pressure again and it was back up to 150/100. We started talking about if I should go back to the hospital or not. Shortly after, I got up to go to the restroom, and my water broke! It wasn't obvious like it had been when I went into labor with Jaxon, and I questioned whether I had just lost bladder control. I called my midwife and she didn't think it had broken, but she wanted me to go to the hospital anyway since my blood pressure was so high.

Our friend, Chris, came over to stay with the kids and Josh and I headed to the hospital (assuming we would be sent home). The nurse checked to see if my water had actually broken, and it had! I was so excited. She told me that it had a tear and was leaking, but that part of it was still intact. I wasn't having any strong contractions, so she had the midwife come and break it the rest of the way to see if that would put me into labor. The midwife came, but told me it was already completely broken, so she was going to give me some more time to start labor.

An hour or so later, I still wasn't feeling any contractions so the nurse checked me and said she could still feel the water bag. Somehow, the midwife had missed it. The midwife came back around 3:30 am and was able to fully break my water. 5-10 minutes later the contractions came on very strong. I had planned to have this baby natural and Josh and I had been studying the Bradley Method. He came to be by my side and coach me through the pain. He did an awesome job. In the beginning I felt very confident in my ability to cope with the pain, but as I progressed it got much more difficult. My midwife and nurse both came in the room to give me more support. They pressed on my hips and told me I was doing great.

The contractions got stronger and closer together, and for the final half hour I thought I wasn't going to make it. The pain was so intense that I could hardly breathe and thought that I might pass out. My body was shaking uncontrollably and I started to throw-up. And just when I thought I might die from the pain, My midwife told me it was time to push. Hallelujah!!! Although the pushing was painful, it brought so much relief. I felt a surge of strength and euphoria. He came very quickly, and the midwife told me to slow down because his head was turned the wrong way. Two more pushes and my precious angel was here! It was so amazing to hold this precious little boy in my arms. The midwife laid him on my chest and the nurse checked him there. They did not take him away from me, until 10-15 minutes later so they could weigh him. After that they brought him right back. It was so different from my other birth experiences and I'm so glad I had decided to go with a midwife this time. Everything was perfect and just how I wanted it to be. I felt so close to Josh and my new little baby. The spirit was so strong and we just laid there with this precious new child and I thanked my Heavenly Father for this little miracle.