Norah's Birth Story

Sorry it's so long, but I like to ramble, lol.
All of my births have been special and perfect in their own right, but Norah's birth was definitely the birth that couldn't have gone any better. I was so amazed and humbled by God's mercy and faithfulness.

In preparation for this birth, Robb and I read a book called 'Christ Centered Childbirth'. Although we did not like the book as a whole, we felt there were very good points and ideas that we could put into use. So for Norah's birth we decided to completely focus on God during labor through prayer and worship music. The book also mentioned self control by saying only positive things during labor that would glorify God. Although I thought it would be almost impossible, I kept that in the back of my head.

When I went for my appointment with Debi on Monday at noon, she checked me and said I was a good 3 cm. and 80% effaced. Since my blood pressure had been borderline, we agreed on stripping my membranes, taking a dose of herbs, and seeing where that took me. Debi said 'if' that put me in a steady contraction pattern (6 or more contractions in an hour) and 'if' I wanted her to, she could come visit me and strip my membranes again. So with all this, I headed home and then back out to Baylee's school to pick her up. When I got back home again it was about 4 p.m. By then, I was getting very aggravated with anything and everything. Robb works on Monday nights with his mom helping her clean an office building, and after my short phone conversation with her, she called Robb and told him to just go home and be with me. There was nothing for dinner in the house, so I told him to stop by Bi-Lo on the way home and pick up something to make for dinner. By 4:30 I started timing my contractions just to see if they were regular, because up until that point I had been too busy to even notice anything but the fact that I was having one. I timed them for about 30 minutes and noticed that they were about 45 seconds in length and 3-6 minutes apart. They were not very intense, but they were steady, so I called Debi and informed her what was going on. She was in the middle of dinner, but she said she would head on down shortly.

Robb got home about 5:45 and started making dinner for all of us. While he is doing that, I am doing last minute cleaning because somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I was going to be having a baby very soon. My midwives, Debi and Michelle, arrived about 6:45 p.m. Michelle checked me and I was 4 cm, so she went ahead and stripped my membranes again. At this point I knew I was going to have a baby some time that night! Yay! Debi and Michelle left again (but didn't go far) and said they would be back about 8:30 or 9, but to call if I needed them before that. By then it was about 7:30, so Robb took the kids to his mothers house and then went back to the store for a few things so our fridge wouldn't be too bare when the baby came.

Since I had some quiet alone time, I decided to lay down and take some time praying to God for my birth. During my contractions I would pray for the contraction itself to be effective and for my pain tolerance to be high. In between contractions, I thanked God for Him bringing me this far in my pregnancy and his continued blessings through my labor. My contractions at this point still did not hurt, but were gaining in intensity.

By the time Robb returned from the store at 8:30 p.m., my contractions were picking up in intensity. My midwives arrived back shortly before 9 and my best friend Lori shortly after 9. I was starting to have to focus on the contractions more and more, so Robb mentioned my iPod and I gladly took it looking for something to shift my focus. I had my iPod filled with praise and worship music so I could re-set my thoughts on God after all the commotion of people coming in. For the next hour, Robb and I swayed and rocked, doing the labor dance all while singing to the Lord. At one point, while singing to Aaron Shust's "Give it all away", I really felt God's presence with me. The lyrics were just so prevalent to me in that moment and in my season of life; "All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before your feet. All of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to your design."

By 10 p.m. I was ready for a change, so I got into the shower. Robb brought iTunes into the bathroom where we continued to sing, worship, and pray. About 35 minutes later I was ready to get out of the shower and into the bed because the contractions were very intense. I was feeling pressure but not really pushy, so Debi checked me and informed me that I was a stretchy 8 cm. I labored through the next 4 contractions and with each one I felt more and more pushy and eventually I noticed it felt better to bear down a bit. Debi checked me again and I was 10 cm and ready to push, so Robb assumed his position to catch the baby. My water had still not broken, but after pushing through another 3-4 contractions, it finally broke and Ms. Norah came sliding on out, with the help of my pushing and Debi and Robb's guidance, of course. Norah was born at 10:56 pm with her hand up by her face, the first one of mine that had been born like that. She weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 21.5 inches long and was 12 days early. Norah was the biggest one out of the 4 and her labor was the shortest (less than 3 hours from the contractions picking up in intensity to delivery) and the one with the least amount of pain.

This labor and birth was another truly amazing experience and a great one to be my last. Our quiver is finally full and it's such an awesome feeling. God has blessed us with 4 healthy children, 1 hospital birth and 3 born at home, and I cannot wait to see what He has in store for our family.

Norah Lane - in the same position she came out :)