My personal list of photo to-dos is incredibly long! I have to get this up before it gets any later (5 months is already pushing it).
We had just moved to a new house in a new town when I was eight months pregnant. The weekend after we moved I traveled 10 hours to Utah for my brother's wedding. Strange things happened that weekend; cramping, swelling (which I hadn't previously had), and generally feeling a little unusual. I didn't think much of it, after all I was eight months pregnant- a ticking time bomb- but I knew I needed to see my midwife at my next apt. Tim went to Laramie to finish some things on his thesis for school and I traveled back to the new house.
I saw my midwife on Friday, she wasn't going to check me, but decided it
might be a good idea since Tim was 6 hours away, I was about 50% and
maybe 1cm. Following my apt. I headed to the grocery store! I love the
grocery store, especially ones with excellent produce. I stocked up! I
spent the next day (Saturday) cutting up my fruit and trying to arrange
furniture and other stuff in our new place- it was a mess! Impossible to
"nest" in my situation. At that point I still needed to pack a hospital
bag, get diapers and wipes, set up a cradle, and generally have my house in a livable state. Sunday was stake conference, I traveled 45 minutes to attend the meeting
and had a picnic with some friends (I wouldn't have called them friends
at that point since I'd only met them once previous, but now I'm not
sure I would survive here without them). I went home and continued arranging furniture (I know- not the smartest thing to do, but it HAD to get done!) It was about 9:30 pm and I was bent over with a measuring tape trying to determine the best place for the couch when my water broke, I wasn't 100% sure that's what it was a the time but I knew I wasn't peeing my pants and if it wasn't my water I had bigger issues.
I called my midwife and she thought it was definitely my water and that I should probably call Tim so he could be on his way. My mom was in Washington State at the time for work. I've never felt more alone in my life than I did in that moment! I was at least 6 hours from any family and my house was a wreck, I didn't have a hospital bag, or diapers, the car seat was still in it's box- I wasn't ready! I thought I still had two weeks to prepare!!!
The only person I could think to call was Andrea, she was about an hour away in another town. We met at UW and were quick friends! She came over and stayed with my until Tim arrived. She was an angel that night! Contractions began about an hour after my water broke, they were subtle and not painful. I was in a panic trying to get a bag ready and my herbal concoctions made (I will post more on this later), but I knew I needed to try and sleep. I got a little bit of sleep, my contractions were getting progressively stronger. When Tim finally got home I slept for a couple hours until I couldn't sleep through the contractions any more and got up and took a shower, did my hair, etc. while Tim installed the car seat. We left for the hospital which is about an hour drive around 9:30am. Once we got to Powell I was starving and really wanted a breakfast sandwich from McDonalds. I'm so embarrassed to admit it but those sausage, egg and cheese biscuits are pretty dang good! We went through the drive through and at this point my contractions were pretty painful and I really wanted to get to the hospital. I downed my breakfast sandwich in record time and we got checked in at the hospital.
The nurse checked me (which was so much more painful than anything else) and I was about 90% and 6-7cm. Little man was coming whether I was ready or not.
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| Grandma Jo |
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It's difficult to remember all the details after 5 months but I remember walking around, until it got too painful. Then my midwife had the head of the bed elevated and I knelt over the back. During a contraction she had Tim put counter pressure on my hips by pressing inward on the top of my hip bones, it helped tremendously! I tried the yoga ball, didn't like it (I thought I would). I got in the shower for a while, I liked it ok for minute. When It finally came time to push my midwife had me sit on the toilet, which I thought was terribly unsanitary but whatever, it helped... It helped me to push more effectively. Just before the baby was visible I moved to the bed and stood over a bar (I don't know the official term for it) it was great- well, as great as having a baby can be. I was becoming exhausted (no thanks to the breakfast sandwich...) and I remember telling my midwife how tired I was but when she held a mirror and I saw a head full of hair I was determined. I prayed hard for that hair and I wanted to see what this little guy looked like! It was the hardest, most exhausting yet most rewarding thing I've ever done.
At 3:23pm he was placed on my chest. I wasn't expecting him to be so purpley and gooey, but his cry was so precious! He was 7lbs 15oz, 20.5" I couldn't believe it for being nearly two weeks early!
I remember how floppy and squishy he was, how soft his skin was, his hair, his tiny fingers and itsy bitsy toes.
I had small tear through just the skin and recovered pretty quickly. I'm finally down to my pre-pregnancy weight but still feel differently than I did before all this, and who knows if that will ever change.
If you're in the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming and would like information on my midwife and hospital I'm happy to share! I would travel a long way to have my babies here!
