Its been four months since I gave birth to our little Judah James. A little late for a post, but at least he gets a post, third child problems! This pregnancy was the hardest for me. I had horrible morning sickness that lasted about 16 weeks and I was so uncomfortable by the last month I could barely sleep. That never happened with the girls, so by the time I was about 38 weeks I was just done. The joke was on my when my body decided to go to almost 42 weeks!
About 9 days past my due date, around 8 pm I went into false labor. I was having contractions abut 30 minutes apart for a few hours and I was getting really excited that the time was FINALLY arriving to get this child out of me. That lasted for about 3 hours and then my contractions just stopped. The interesting part is that my body did the same exact thing with Mercy. All I can say is when your baby is 9 pounds and your body plays that kind of trick on you 9 days past, its slightly devastating. I think I ate my weight in chocolate the next morning. :)
Sunday evening (the night I went into labor) I told Tim I was having contractions again that were staying consistent. It was 7 pm and I honestly didn't give it a second thought because of what had happened a few days prior. I also had been having contractions for a solid month so it seemed to appear as just another day. It wasn't until I started spotting that I knew this time may be different. I called the on call doctor (who happened to be my actual OB doctor) and she said to come in if I want.
I was still in denial slightly so I decided to go to shower and go to bed incase this was the real deal. Side note: I went into labor with Mercy at 7pm at night as well. I was able to sleep (lightly) until about 1:30 am when I woke Tim up telling him my contractions had been 15 minutes apart for about 3 hours. I told him I still was not sure if I was in labor and thought the contractions would stop. He laughed at me and rolled his eyes and said, "At what point will you believe you are in labor?" Brianna, your going to have this baby today!". I started getting ready to head to the hospital around 3:30 am. All I remember of that early morning was going from the bed hunched over to the floor on all fours.
My contractions started to pick up and get stronger and by about 4 am we started to headed to the hospital. I felt like the women you see in movies who labor in the car feeling every bump. Just get me out!
When we arrived to the hospital, the PA was shocked to check me and see I was already 6 cm. She acted really surprised and I could tell from the way she treated us when we first arrived she didn't think I was very dilated. Not my first rodeo, baby #3 was ready and so was I!
They put me in my delivery room and my contractions were strong and hard. More intense than the girls, but he was also a bigger baby. My hubby and doula were in the room assisting me and by 7am I felt the urge to push. Since I did not have an epidural I was free to move around and push as I like. So I pushed, and pushed and pushed. One hour later and still no baby.
So I kept pushing, and pushing and pushing changing up my position to allow baby to drop. Hour 2 and still no baby.
So I kept pushing and pushing and pushing and pushing. Hour 3 and still no baby. The doctors kept telling me I was the most quiet women they had every heard in labor. The nurses said that if they didn't look at me they would never have known I was in labor. But I felt EVERY second of it. The pain was so unbearable and I remember I kept praying to God to allow me to pass out because then I knew they would just take the baby out of me. However my vitals were great and so were baby's and my birth plan advised no c section unless medically necessary. Hindsight I was so happy for placing that in my birth plan, because in the moment knocking me out sounded amazing. But that was just the pain talking.
At about 3 and a half hours of pushing I looked to Tim and said, "this is insane, I can't do this much longer". My contractions were at their peak, along with me pushing with all my might and at hour 4 my Judah James came out.
The BEST feeling I may have ever felt in my life (his body leaving mine-sounds crazy to hear) and just like that the pain stopped. I don't know how that happens but once baby is out all pain ceases. Judah had a hard time coming down from my bones and was continually getting stuck. However with the amount of pushing and my position constantly changing it allowed for my pelvic bones to open up and for him to drop down. My doula told me that if I had taken an epidural I would have most likely received a c section. When on an epidural you have to lay in one position and without me moving the baby would have never dropped down. The horrible pain I went through in the end allowed my body to do what it was created to do without intervention. I had an amazing doctor who respected my wishes and allowed me to labor the way I wanted to since myself and baby were safe.
The women's body is amazing. Just amazing.
We are 4 months in and loving every second with our Judah man. He loves people and is growing at a rapid pace. He looks and acts like a 6 month old and cut his first two bottom the other day. I just keep thanking God for our little man. He knows the desires of our heart, and my heart so badly wanted a boy. Well let me tell you, I got all boy! That little man is sooo attached to me and still does not take a bottle. I know it is only for a season though and soon enough he will probably be taller than me and wanting to take some girl on a date. Poor girl. I stole his heart first and its going to take a lot to let go. ;)
I hope you enjoyed a little sneak into our lives that special day.
Daddys face when he saw Judah for the first time!
First Look!
Face timeing my sister so she could see Judah
One of my favorite shots out of all of them- my father in law meeting his grandson