Isaac Austin

I have been blessed by so much support and love from friends and family. It’s overwhelming to love the is pour out when a little one enters the world. So many have been asking about Isaac’s birth and being that we went as natural as possible, there was little time for updates during the process...so here goes:

We had a busy and eventful weekend. Friday night we went out to a comedy show and Saturday was filled with errands in the am and a wonderful Baby Shower for Baby Stutz. Sunday, I can’t remember what we did now, but know that around 3:45pm I lost my mucus plugs (feel free to stop reading now). Ok, so I wasn’t really sure that they were my mucus plugs and I’ll save you the details, but after doing a little internet research I decided MPs they were. Being that we had such a busy weekend, I decided then and there to take nap (hands down, best decision of the day), after I wrote out my list of things I NEEDED TO GET DONE this upcoming week. After my nap I went to Target to return a few things and then headed back home where I watched some tv and made myself a rice heating pad. Figured might as well, had all the sewing stuff out, why not make one and add it to my pile of things on the dresser. The things that were to be packed for the hospital bag. Around 10pm, I crawled into bed. At the point, I was having mild contractions, but didn’t think anything of it. They were about 10-12 minutes apart, just strong enough to keep me awake. Much to my surprise at 11:57pm, I felt a little pop and thought for sure I peed my pants.

I came out of the bathroom to tell Austin that my water had broken, to which I was laughing, call it nerves or shock, but laughing I was. Austin wasn’t convinced that it was my water, not until an hour or so later when water was still leaking out. (Are you sure you want to continue reading?).

We made the rounds of calls, family and the doula, as well as my midwife, to give them all an update of what was going on. Of course, NO ONE thought this nugget would arrive early, so only Rebecca answered her phone.

Back to bed we went. Austin got the stop watch, I informed him when the contraction was starting and when it ended. Each time he gave me an update; how long they lasted and how far apart they were. My contractions were anywhere between 2-7 minutes apart and getting stronger by the hour. Around 5am we got out of bed, called the Doula to come over and went back to work laboring.

It wasn’t until 9:30am that we decided it was time to go to the hospital. Looking back, I may have been able to stay home longer, but the thought of being in the car for the 20 minute with contractions every 2 minutes was a lot of me to process. When we arrived at the hospital and got all check in, they informed us that was 5-6 cent. dilated. What a feat I thought, we are half way there!

Into our room we went, and right into the shower. Warm water was my best friend! I could have spend the entire time laboring in the shower, but our Doula wanted us to move around, change positions and get the baby moving. About 2 1/2 hours later my Midwife arrived to check me, to my dismay she informed us that I was a 6. I wondered how I had done so much work and changed so little. But back to the laboring we went. Another 3 hours and I was starting to feel like I was going to give up. Determined to have gravity work with me I stood most of the time. Around 3pm (I only now know the the time and had NO knowledge of the 15 hours that had passed by now) I requested to be checked, letting the nurse know that if I was till at a 6 I wanted an epidural. She checked me and said, as unsure as anything I’ve ever heard, “you are a....6....7”. “I want an epidural” I said. Both the nurse and our Doula encouraged me to continue on the natural path, but it was Austin’s voice that rang true. He told me softly that it was ok to get an epidural, that I had done a great job and that there was nothing wrong with getting some medication.

I pushed on, at the encouragement of my nurse, who asked me to give her 30 minutes. 10 minutes into that 30 minutes I said, I’m done. The suggestion of Staydall (sp?) was offered in place of an epidural. It would be given to take the edge off, it would last 1 hour, I could have it again if I wanted it, and at any time I could get the epidural. My only concern with the epidural was this: I’d been in labor, active labor for 15 hours, my water has been broken that long, and I was concerned that the epidural would slow things down, and cause me to end up with a c-section. That was the LAST thing I wanted. So Staydall it was. It worked wonders. I could still feel the contractions, but felt like I could rest in between.

When the medication dose was done, the nurse checked me and informed everyone that it was time to push. Perfect I thought, we are almost done. Boy was I wrong. I pushed for 1 hour and 20 minutes before Isaac came into the world. During that time, my midwife and Doula kept informing me that he was coming, I was almost there. And once again, it was Austin’s voice of reason that offered me comfort. “Yes, you are doing an amazing job, and yes you are making progress, but he isn’t almost here”. I needed to hear that, needed a realistic length of time I would be pushing so that I could continue to push with all I had.

Austin helped guide Baby Isaac into this world at 5:51pm. It’s the one moment I wish I had the strength to open my eyes for, the one thing I wish I could go back and do over again, to see his face and he saw the face of his little boy. He placed him on my belly and we started our life together as a family of three.

I cannot express the emotions, exhaustion and pure joy I felt at the moment. I cannot begin to write (although I will try in another post) how amazing of a coach Austin was, never leaving my side, always encouraging me and helping me through each contraction. It was an amazing experience that brought us closer then I could have imagined. And now we start our life together....