Pearl's Birth Story
This beautiful birth story is written by Pearl's mother, Kelsey.
"Pearl Lee Mae Courtney was born December 14, 2015 at 8:32pm weighing 7 lbs 10 oz and measuring 20 inches long.
From the moment I found out I was pregnant I developed an obsession with reading birth stories. I loved that each one was so different from the next. I can't believe that I'm sitting here, holding my sleepy three week old baby girl on my lap and writing my own story.
From the beginning of my pregnancy I knew I wanted to explore natural childbirth. I know I have a high pain tolerance and I wanted to challenge myself to see if I was capable of having a drug free labor. It was also very important to me to be able to move around during my labor rather than being stuck in a bed for hours. I knew that having a natural childbirth called for a little more preparation. My good friend Liz, who was our birth photographer, referred her sister, Meghan, who is a doula. Meghan and I immediately clicked. I knew she would be perfect to coach me through labor and help me reach my goal of a natural birthing experience. Meghan and I met up several times throughout my third trimester. She gave me books to read and helped me write my birth plan. Thanks to Meghan I felt so mentally and physically prepared to rock this labor thing!
On Sunday December 13th at 3am I woke up because I felt a sudden gush! I thought I peed myself! I was peeing constantly - occasionally I would do so when I sneezed or coughed - but to just pee in bed... that was a whole new level! It occurred to me that maybe my water broke. After getting changed I waited for contractions to start. Nothing happened so I didn't wake Taylor and went back to bed.
The next morning I had a leaking sensation and just felt different. So we called the hospital and they told us to come in to see if my water broke! We were so excited, this was it! It was time to meet our baby girl! We grabbed our hospital bags and hurried to the car. Meghan told me to stop and get something to eat on the way in because they wouldn't let me eat during labor. We stopped at a cafe around the block and I got a bagel and smoothie. Once we got to triage they took us back, hooked me up to a monitor and did a test to see if my water had broken. After waiting for what seemed like the longest twenty minutes of my life, they said that the test was inclusive. They did a second test and it to came back with a negative result. They decided to send us home and told us to come back once my contractions were more consistent or if I felt another "gushing" sensation. I was so bummed. I knew getting sent home was a possibility but I truly thought that this was the real deal.
Taylor and I decided to shop at Target to get our minds off of waiting; plus we still needed to buy each other stocking stuffers. On the way to Target I started to feel some pretty strong cramping in my stomach. The cramps were coming so far apart that I didn't bother timing them. Once we got to Target, we went our separate ways to pick out stocking stuffers for each other. I took a cart with me so I could hold onto it whenever another contraction came on. At this point in the afternoon I was starving after eating very little. We decided to get Chinese take out for lunch. ( I was also hoping some spicy Chinese food would kickstart my labor!) We took our lunch back to our apartment and started binge watching The Office. Now that we were home my contractions were coming on stronger and were a bit more consistent. We began timing them with the contraction counter on one of my pregnancy apps. Taylor would pause The Office and hold my hand as I would go through a contraction. (It was really hard to focus on breathing through contractions with Michael Scott in the background.)
As the day continued my contractions grew more intense but still lacked consistency. I decided to lay down in bed and rest for a bit. Every single contraction woke me up. I would grab Taylor's hand and he would help me breath through them. This went on ALL night long. Around 3am we called the hospital as we were becoming desperate.
The midwife gave me two options. 1. Begin walking around to actively stimulate labor or 2. Take Benadryl and try to get some sleep for the upcoming labor. I was so exhausted so I took the Benadryl and slept for about two hours. By the morning my contractions were coming at about 3 minutes apart. Walking or talking through contractions was nearly impossible and with one final call to the hospital, they gave us the okay to come in.
The receptionist working in triage was the same woman who checked me in the day before. I realized I was wearing the same sweatpants and sweatshirt from the previous day. They took us back to triage and monitored my contractions. At this point I was 3 centimeters dilated and a nurse took us back to our labor and delivery room. Meghan met us in the room and as soon as she walked in a feeling of relief came over me. She hooked up her sound machine that played ocean sounds and a diffuser to make the room smell of lavender. Even though my contractions were getting stronger, I felt confident and ready to labor.
We decided to get things moving by walking the hallways. With every contraction I would stop walking and hold on the side railing on the wall. After a short walk, it was back to our room and into the shower. The staff and Meghan encouraged nipple stimulation via the shower head to strengthen contractions... Let me tell you, it works. Meghan and Taylor took turns helping me in the shower. Now I was starting to experience back labor so we kept the warm water against my back and it gave amazing relief. Shortly after the shower our midwife came back and checked my dilation once again. I was now at 5 centimeters! Meghan kept reassuring me that I was half way there! I was doing my best to stay positive but I couldn't believe I was ONLY half way through this thing.
Now it was time for the much anticipated jacuzzi. I had been looking forward to this and I was told that the best time to use it was during transition. Meghan added a few drops of lavender oil in the water. Staying relaxed became more difficult as time between contractions was now around thirty seconds. During my time in the tub, stuff was getting real. Meghan and Taylor knelt beside me and held my hands through every contraction. Meghan began quoting scripture and praying with me. She kept quoting Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I kept repeating this in my head as another contraction would come. After about an hour in the tub, I started to get too hot. We decided to move to the birthing ball with Taylor sitting in front while Meghan sat behind me pushing on my back to counteract the contractions. She told me to focus on her touch rather than the pain and that really helped me. With every contraction I would lean into Taylor and squeeze him so hard I was afraid of hurting him.
The midwife checked in and I decided I wanted her to break my water the rest of the way. I was now at 8 centimeters and SO ready to have this baby. After breaking my water, she told me to lay on my side in the bed to get things moving along faster. She wasn't kidding! Shortly after laying on my side I had this overwhelming urge to push. Originally, I didn't want to push on my back. I planned to be on all fours or use a labor bar but my legs were so tired and shaky I couldn't even think of moving into a different position. As soon as I began pushing, the midwife left. I knew this meant I still had a while to push. I tried not to get too discouraged but at this point I had actually forgot what it felt like to not be in pain. Everyone kept telling me that I was so close to holding Pearl in my arms but deep down I didn't believe them! It seemed like there was no end in sight! After an hour of pushing they told me they could see the head! Well that's all I needed to hear. I was so determined to get her out! A surge of adrenalin kicked in and I was ready to get this baby out! The current midwife's shift ended at 7pm and I was so happy when my favorite midwife walked in the door just in time to deliver our baby. She coached me for a couple of minutes on how to push effectively. Then all of a sudden I felt an intense burning sensation, "the ring of fire." I now understand the meaning of that name. This was by far the most painful thing I had ever experienced! Finally, everyone around me started saying she's almost out, she's almost out! I reached down and and felt her head. Then I heard it, the best sound ever. My baby was crying! They instantly put her on my chest for skin to skin and I was in total shock. I couldn't believe I was holding my baby girl. After Taylor cut the umbilical cord, they put her back on my chest and I nursed her for an hour. That is a moment I will never forget. I had such an overwhelming feeling of love for her and Taylor. With Pearl in my arms, our little family felt complete.
God has given us such an amazing gift. And now that she is here I can't imagine our lives without our little Pearl."
To read the original post by Kelsey herself, head over to her awesome blog, http://www.stylebyrae.com/.
