Judah's Birth
-by Erica Johns, on the day after her baby
was born.
Judah at 8 months old
I had irregular contractions all through the
night/early morning of July 20. I had been having
a similar thing happen over a week before for
just about a whole week, so I was not at all sure
that this was finally "it." This time
was a lot more uncomfortable because the baby
was so extremely low that I could barely sit,
and there was intense pressure on my bladder.
ugh!
By morning Dave went on to work since it did
not seem that things were really happening, yet
I was pretty miserable. And once I got up and
started walking through the house, things got
more miserable. At the breakfast table I had a
contraction that just about made me cry (not at
all common for me) and I wondered if that might
be a good sign.
After a few minutes of not having much success
dealing with the breakfast needs and all of the
children's antics, I decided that even though
I was not having regular contractions that there
was no way I could go through the day without
Dave. I called him at work and asked him to come
home. He was on his way.
Karlie took over with the kids and I went into
my room. (Karlie is my 15 year old cousin who
lives with us. We refer to her as our honorary
daughter.) After some more contractions that were
intense but still not regular, I decided to go
ahead and call Maryann just so she would know
that maybe we were getting somewhere. She was
excited for me and understanding that things were
not yet well established so it might still be
awhile.
I am not a person who enjoys having people around
when I'm in labor. I just want Dave. I really
did not want to make Maryann come out right away
(and it was her birthday!) if I wasn't sure that
I was indeed in real labor and progressing.
When Dave got home he got the birth pool filled
up for me and I got right in. I had decided that
even if I wasn't in real labor, I deserved to
be comfortable! The tub felt great, but I only
had one or two little contractions that were not
even 10 or 15 minutes apart. So, after enjoying
the water for awhile, I challenged myself to get
out and walk for awhile until I got some sort
of regular contractions going.
So, that's what I did. Once I was upright and
walking a bit in the house it did not take long
before I was having regular contractions every
10 minutes. I took a little bit of a nap for about
an hour, with the contractions still coming. After
that I decided to get into the pool. That was
at about noon.
My contractions went from 10, to 7, to 5 minutes
apart pretty quickly once I was in the water.
I found a great position in the tub and had my
turbo spa shooting right at my lower back, so
that helped a lot during the contractions. As
Dave and I chatted while I was in the tub we discussed
when to call Maryann. Since the contractions hadn't
even been at 5 minutes apart for an hour, and
the fact that they seemed pretty manageable, we
decided to give it another hour at 5 minutes apart,
or to call her if things went to a consistent
3 minutes apart. (That's what we had for Jacob
for the last couple of hours before he was born,
so it seemed like a reasonable guideline to us.)
As the hour went by we were checking over the
birth supplies and Dave was unable to find the
camera. I had thought it was in the "birth
box" with everything else, but he didn't
see it. I ended up sending him to the store for
a disposable camera. I told him he better get
going since the contractions might start picking
up in awhile and then I wouldn't want him to leave.
So, off he went for the camera.
Somewhere during all of the looking for the camera,
my contractions kind of fizzled out a bit. I was
still having some, but most seemed more mild than
what I had been having, and they were going back
to being irregular. So, while he was gone to the
store I got out of the tub again to walk and go
to the bathroom. I checked my email and phone
messages, leaving messages for people saying that
I was pretty sure that we were going *somewhere*
but not sure how long it might take since things
were still not consistently regular. That was
at approx. 2pm.
Dave got home a few minutes later and by then
I had been having several contractions, all of
which were feeling harder to deal with (they always
are when I'm out of the water). I jumped back
in the pool just as another contractions was hitting.
After that I had another contraction in 5 minutes,
and then one or two that were 3 minutes apart,
and they were HURTING! I had pain shooting down
the inside of my thighs, which I really hate!
Somewhere in here I asked Dave if he would get
me some ice cream. I was really hungry but just
wanted something cold and slippery to eat. The
yogurt was all gone and ice cream was the only
other thing I could think of that sounded good.
So, he went and got that and I was trying to eat
it when I had another contraction. I set down
the bowl to deal with the contraction, and that
contraction did not let go of me. Right about
when I thought it was going to end, my body started
pushing out the baby! WOA! It really took me by
surprise both that it was happening and with the
intensity that my body was expelling this little
person! I started kind of yelling/screaming and
looked into Dave's eyes. I don't think we said
anything to each other, but we both knew what
was being said. It was kind of funny to be pushing
so hard and be looking at Dave and watching as
his eyes got bigger, and bigger, and bigger with
the realization that we were definitely having
the baby NOW! :) It was also funny that one of
my first thoughts was "Pushing? What if I'm
not full dilated?" And then a second later
the other side of my brain answering back, "TRUST
ME! You ARE!"
He could see that my perineum was bulging, so
he knew this was really it. Then my water broke
and we could tell that it was clear. I just kept
pushing and it was so great to be in the pool
and in a position where I myself could feel the
head and apply pressure to prevent tearing, and
just to be so in control and aware of all that
was happening. The pressure was very intense as
the baby's head crowned, and I instinctively breathed
and panted a bit before his head finally came
out to just below his little nose.
After that I had a break. Just me and Dave and
our little baby who was both in and out of me.
What a relief it was to not have that big head
putting so much pressure on me! I felt so much
better!
Dave was feeling kind of apprehensive about it
being okay to be underwater with the baby's head
out for this long. I reminded him that the baby
has been underwater for his whole life so far.
Later Dave said that he knew it was okay for the
baby but it made him feel as if *he* could not
breathe.
After a minute or two I decided that having the
body inside was too much pressure too. :) I gave
a little effort to push without a contraction
but that was fruitless. I waited a few seconds
and then just called out to God, asking for another
contraction so that I could get the baby out.
Immediately I had another contraction and I pushed
and pushed. I was not going to let this contraction
get past me without having my baby to hold!
It was so neat to be able to feel the baby rotate
and move out of me. I looked down and saw our
baby bobbing up to the surface of the water. I
held him right away and when I looked down at
him I immdiately noticed that we had another son!
A BOY?! What a surprise! We had all been sure
it was a girl! Wow! Little Judah had arrived!
(FINALLY!!!!!!) 2:20pm.
He coughed and then breathed and cried right
away. He did not need a bit of suctioning. His
breathing was extremely clear right from the start.
Dave and I looked at each other with big grins
on our faces. We had done it! We had our baby
all by ourselves! It was GREAT!
Dave went to call the kids to come upstairs to
meet their new brother. They were so excited!
Even Haley, who had wanted a sister so badly,
said that she was so happy she felt like she would
cry. :)
After just a few minutes of crying Judah calmed
right down and was so very peaceful. He did not
open his eyes hardly a bit (and still hasn't,
not yet 24 hours later). After a few minutes he
started trying to suck on his fist, so I gave
him a better alternative and he started to nurse
like he was a pro.
Somewhere in the few minutes after the birth
Dave did call Maryann to tell her that we were
already holding our baby. She could not believe
it! She was on her way.
In the past my placentas have usually come out
within 5 minutes of the birth, but this time the
cord was still pulsing for about an hour and a
half, so we just left it as it was so that Judah
could get all that was his from it.
We just relaxed in the tub for an hour or more,
then decided to move to the bathtub (clean, warmer
water). After that the cord had stopped pulsing
and it was getting difficult to maneuver with
Judah still attached to me, so we cut the cord.
When I got out I was able to push out the placenta,
and it took more effort than it has for me in
the past. It felt very big to me, and later Maryann
said that it was larger than average.
Later on in the day when Maryann arrived we got
to check out the placenta and the kids got a nice
lesson about that. It was a very healthy placenta
and showed no signs of getting old or failing
at all.
We discovered that Judah weighed 9lb.11oz. and
was 22 inches long! (our longest baby so far,
and just 1oz. smaller than our biggest) Everything
about him was just great, as we could already
tell. :) I was also doing well, with all of my
various parts doing what they are supposed to
do. I only had one small 1st degree tear, which
is a thrill for me! This is the least damage to
my bottom that I have ever had after a birth.
I feel great!
Judah has been nursing almost non-stop since
he was born. He knows where the best seat in the
house is!
We haven't seen much of his eyes yet, but he
sure is cute! Even little Isaac (1) seems very
excited about the baby. Jacob(3) likes him a lot
too, but has been kind of weepy for some reason.
Once again, I am so happy that I was not dealing
with a health care provider who wanted to induce
labor. If Judah had been born 5 weeks ago when
we thought he was due, he would have been premature.
He was obviously not ready to be born until he
was. And once things were ready to unfold, they
sure did in a hurry! I never dreamed that I'd
be blessed with such a fast labor.
Dave and I got the birth of our dreams! It was
so great to bring our new son into the world so
simply, normally, and intimately. Just like he
was created. It makes sense. A full circle.
Judah Matthias Johns.
His name means Praised Gift from God. He sure
is!
Read Judah's little brother Aidan's birth
story here.
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