Baby L.J.'s Birth Story Part I

I am sure you heard by now that baby Graham was born on Monday.  Here is his long birth story-Part I of II.

Saturday, Jan. 19, 2012
I decided to take Tootsie for a walk, so we walked 3 miles over to my parents' house.  My Mom and I went shopping and out to lunch while Matthew and his friend Jon drove up to South Dakota to look at a truck for sale.  That night we went to dinner with friends Steph, Kevin, Kara, Nick, Michelle and Christian at Red Robin.  I felt/saw absolutely no signs of labor and enjoyed a night with friends. Even Michelle's husband said I did not look 9-months pregnant yet.  Little did I know by the next morning I'd start getting signs that Baby Graham was coming.


Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013

I was up multiple times thoughout the night to go to the bathroom then around 2 a.m. I woke up to the sound of Tootsie throwing up on our bed.  (Icky!) Luckily I grabbed her in time to make it to the kitchen before she got super sick.  Of course, Matthew managed to snore all through this, so I got the carpet, comforter and quilt cleaned up along with the dog and went back to bed.  (Our doula Kathy had said that lots of animals give off signs that labor is coming, so perhaps Tootsie was giving me a sign...or she could not digest the treat my brother David gave her that had doggie toothpaste in the middle.)

Then I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and I felt a huge gushing feeling.  I yelled "Oh shit!" and ran to the bathroom.  Sure enough, my water had broken!   Matthew jumped out of bed super quick....I think I scared him by yelling. I quickly jumped into the shower to wash my hair and get cleaned up.  After, all I figured we'd be heading to the hospital shortly.

After speaking to our Doula Kathy, who happened to be in Des Moines visiting her children, I decided to do some laundry, we gave Tootsie a bath  then I took a 3-hour nap (but I had to wake up each hour to go to the bathroom).  I continued to have lots of leaking throughout the day, but no contractions. After my nap I got up, ate lunch (oatmeal with blueberries and peanut butter), watched some of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and then we went for about a one-mile walk up some hills.

Still no contractions, so I helped Matthew shovel our sidewalk and our neighbor Helen's sidewalk then came inside to consult with Kathy again.  She told me to walk up and down the basement steps so I did this for quite a bit while Tootsie followed me up and down with a confused look on her face.  After that got a bit cold, I improvised with stepping up and down on a little chair from the nursery while Matthew and Tootsie vegged out on the couch.



Around 6:30 p.m. (12+ hours after my water broke) we headed to Mercy.  Our Doula Kathy met us up there and I got hooked up to the monitors.  The baby's heartbeat was great and I was having contractions, but not feeling any yet.  So we started walking up and down steps and all over the hospital.  The nice part was being there on a Sunday so it was quiet and peaceful. 



Finally around 10-11 p.m. my contractions really kicked in.  I chose to go to Mercy, because I wanted a natural childbirth and did not want to be confined to a bed.  So, I sat on a peanut shaped birth ball while Matthew rubbed my back between contractions.

Stay tuned to more of Baby L.J.'s birth story....