Happy Birthday James!

I know some of you enjoy a good birth story and I this second time around was such a different experience than my first that I would like to remember it and have it written down.

The weeks leading up to James's birth, I was dreading going into labor. Absolutely dreading. I wanted to skip over the whole labor and delivery thing and just hold my baby in my hands. With Zach, I was so impatient for him to come out that I was upset every night when he didn't come. With James, I was completely ok with the fact that he hadn't arrived yet. The first time around is better in that you have no idea what is going to hit you, and the second time around, you know exactly what you are getting into, and I was not fully prepared for that yet.

I was really hoping for a January baby. I wanted him to have a different birth month from Christmas and have a little separation from all the craziness that is in December. I had my 38 week appointment on Christmas Eve. At that exam, I found out that I was already dilated 3 cm and 80% effaced. My midwife told me that I was very 'ripe' and that I could really deliver any day and that she did not think I would make it to my next appointment. Hmmmm... sounds familiar to my first time around. We were planning on driving up to Asheville, NC that day to celebrate Christmas with my family. I went home and talked it over with Justin and we decided to risk it and drive 3 hours. We had the infant car seat and hospital bags packed just in case anything happened. If all else failed, we would just have another Asheville baby ;) We made it through Christmas, thankfully, and after that I felt much more ready for the baby to come.

My next appointment was on New Year's Eve. I was still dilated the same amount and my midwife told me that it was mainly just mentally now, when I was ready to have this baby. Although I agree with that a little, it was also in the Lord's hands of when our little guy was going to come. Justin thought it would be cool to have a NYE baby, but I was still hoping for January.

On Friday, January 2nd, I was awoken at 3:00am by a crying toddler. Zach has been waking up in the middle of the night for the past week or so (growth spurt, maybe?) When I was awake I noticed that I was having some light pains and contractions. I started timing them and keeping track. They were about 8-10 minutes apart, but not very strong at all. I woke Justin up at 5:00 to give him a heads up. I also texted my sister (babysitter for firstborn) to give her a heads up as well. Justin got me a bowl of cereal and what do you know, my contractions stopped! I went back to sleep, disappointed that I wasn't actually in labor. I had reached a point where I wanted out little boy to be born because my sisters were down south from college and they were set to go back up north on Tuesday, along with my parents. I wanted them to meet the baby and for them all to come to the hospital.

On Saturday, January 3rd (my due date!), Justin encouraged me to have a fun girly day with my sisters since my little sister, Stephanie was leaving that day. Stephanie came into town for a few days to stay with us and help out with Zach. She was a huge help, playing with our little guy and giving me some rest. I went out to lunch with Jen and Steph, we got a pedicure, went to Babies R Us and shoe shopping. After lunch I started feeling a lot of pressure and my stomach kept getting very hard. No pain, just lots of pressure. It wasn't until we were at the shoe store that I started feeling uncomfortable. We drove home and met my parents who were there to pick up Steph. We were all inside just talking and hanging out. At one point I was playing with Zach at his train table and I got a pain and couldn't stand up. Cue the start of labor. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and I got another pain. Hello- contractions had started at 4:45/5:00ish. The contractions were painful and strong from the beginning. They were the intensity of when I called the doctor when I was in labor with Zach. I felt so unprepared mentally. I kept thinking, "My goodness. If they are this strong right now, I don't know how I'm going to make it through this." I lied down on the bed, not telling anyone what was going on, and started breathing through contractions and timing. Justin came up to check on me, and I told him that I was having painful contractions and they were already 4 minutes apart. We both started getting ready for the hospital, him running all over the house and me packing up the remainder of my bag in between contractions. I went downstairs, gave my little boy a big hug and cried because I knew that pretty soon our lives were going to completely change again. We left for the hospital at 5:45, with my contractions being 3-4 minutes apart already.

Once we were at the hospital, my midwife came and checked me. I was 7 cm with my bag of waters still in tact. She told Justin he better move the car now because things would start moving quickly. I was set up on the monitor at 6:30, the time I arrived in the labor and delivery room. The next hour and a half was spent having contractions that were 2 minutes apart. I really didn't think that I had the mental and physical capacity to deliver another baby naturally without any drugs. But, when I heard 7cm and knew that was transition and the hardest part, I put up the fight. I worked hard to use my relaxation techniques and had my awesome husband there to encourage me the whole way. Some thoughts that went through my mind during contractions: Focus on this contraction, take them one at a time, if my mom did this 9 times I can do it again, I had my first baby naturally I can do it again, and why did I pray to go into labor today?!?  I had really bad back pain with each contraction, which is something I didn't have during my first delivery. Justin's main job was to rub my back almost the entire time.

At about 7:45 my midwife came in and said I was now 9 cm. She asked me if I wanted my water broken and that doing that would intensify and speed things up. I said yes. She broke my water and asked me if I had any urges to push. I told her no and how I was afraid for the pushing part because I thought I did it so bad during my first labor. She told me not to worry about it and that when the time came I would know and she would help me through it. Not even a minute or so after I told her I didn't know how to push, I had a big desire to push. It all happened so quickly. His head was right there and was already making its way out. The midwife quickly called for nurses to come into the room. It was literally like 3 extremely painful pushes with some screaming involved and asking Jesus for help and our little man was out!

James Michael Powlison was born at 7:59 pm.

They brought James up to me right away. The midwife handed Justin scissors for the cutting of the umbilical cord. Justin and already made the decision that he was not going to cut it, after his first experience, but he went ahead and did it again! James wasn't crying as much as they were wanting him to, so they took him to see if they could make him cry some more. They said that since he was born so quickly, he was probably still in shock. After they determined that he was good and making enough noise and breathing well, they started to examine him. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of him getting weighed for the first time because Justin was on the verge of passing out himself. After cutting the umbilical cord, Justin got really light headed and had to sit down and have the nurses bring him juice ;)

I am so thankful to the Lord for answering so many prayers regarding this delivery. I prayed that Justin would be home and he was. Thankfully he was and that I had family in the house with me, because if we had to wait for someone to come over and watch Zach, we might not have made it to the hospital. I prayed that there would be no traffic driving to the hospital. Atlanta traffic is terrible and I did not want to be stuck in the car any longer than I had to be. Since James was born on a Saturday, there was no traffic. I prayed that I would get a midwife that I liked and knew. I got the midwife I just had my last appointment. (Side note: we are pretty sure it is the same midwife who delivered my two nieces!) I prayed for a drug-free delivery and I was able to do it all naturally. I prayed that it would be a fast labor. I would call 3 hours total pretty fast! And I prayed that the baby and myself would be healthy and we both were.

Thank you Lord for our sweet little boy.