Birth Story: Uriah – Almost As Good As It Gets

Welcome back to my last birth story! If you missed either of the previous two, follow these links to get to them -> Judah’s Birth Story & Isaiah’s Birth Story.

And… Another Baby

Like I said in my last post, Dean and I knew we wanted to have more than two children, and we wanted our kiddos to be close together, so we followed the same time frame we did between Judah and Isaiah for our third baby. When Isaiah was a year old (February 2010)… we started trying to get pregnant again. By March, I was pregnant, and we were so thrilled!

Boy or Girl… What Will It Be?

Since this was our third baby, and we’d already had two boys… honestly… I was hoping for a girl. But, God chose to bless us with another boy, and I can honestly say I can’t imagine what my life would be missing if this sweet little guy weren’t in it.

I am a mama of boys. I’m the queen of my castle! Is life easier raising boys only? Maybe. I’ve heard about moody, hormonal teenage girls! Oy! I was one at one point! LOL! I know God knows what He’s doing, and I trust him. He knows what we need when we need it, and I know there’s a reason that Dean and I are parents to boys at this point in our lives instead of girls. I am happy. I am satisfied.

Since this was our third baby, I wanted to tell everyone the sex in a special way. Something that would make it a bit of a surprise. So I decided to bake cupcakes (Yes, the unhealthy kind. Cake is sort of my weakness!) and color some pink and some blue. Everyone we were surprising would get a cupcake and then be able to see what the gender of the baby was when they unwrapped it.

Everyone was very surprised and happy for us when they saw that blue cupcake underneath the wrapper!

A Name

Just like with Judah and Isaiah, we wanted to go with an Old Testament, Hebrew name with a strong meaning. I’d been in love with the name Noah for the longest time, but it wasn’t as uncommon as they other two boys names… and Dean wasn’t a big fan of it. He really liked the name Uriah. Unfortunately I wasn’t a big fan of that one, but thankfully, over time it grew on me.

I like the story of Uriah in the Bible. He was Bathsheba’s husband (yeah, the chic King David saw taking a bath on the rooftop and slept with… that one), and he was a faithful man. He was a leader in King David’s army, and when his men came into town, he chose to stay with his men instead of go home to be with his wife. He was dedicated to them and to his cause.

So with that, we decided that Uriah would be his name. Uriah James (after one of Dean’s brothers). Uriah means “God is my Light” and “Excellent Virtue”.

Homebirth or Hospital

Since Isaiah was such an easy birth and because I did it naturally with him, I really wanted to do a homebirth with Uriah. Why not? I love the idea of homebirths. I fully support them. I have a great midwife that’s very experienced in them. I have a great OB team that is (for the most part) supportive of my natural birthing decisions. I’m in great health and not at risk for anything. So why not have a homebirth this time around?

Well, there were two main reasons we chose not to. The biggest being money and the second being a new purpose.

First off, having a baby at home is expensive… at least here in the area where I live. Now don’t get me wrong… I’m not dogging how much midwives charge. They do a lot of work, and it’s a business. They have to make money just like everyone else. But, it’s costly, and the fact of the matter was… we were (and still are) living off of one income. We were about to have three children. We were trying to save money to buy our own home. Sure we had the money in the bank, but the choice was about whether it was a smart decision to spend it this way.

For some of you, you’d say, “Absolutely. Hands down. Without question,” but this is where my second reason came into play. A new purpose.

Absolutely I’d rather have a homebirth, but it’s kinda cool for me to be able to bring natural birthing into a hospital atmosphere and expose the doctors and staff to what it’s like and how it can be done… especially since I’ve had two previous, mostly normal, non-eventful births that have gone well. For the most part, people do not choose to go to the hospital to birth babies totally naturally. They go there to get medication or because they’re afraid of birth itself and want to be in a “safer” environment. I find it great that I can show hospital staff that birth isn’t scary or even so much of a big deal. That I can remind them of the fact that a woman’s body is with the ability to birth life into this world and that it knows how to get that whole process done on its own without much help from outside sources.

So, between money and having good experiences with hospital births, we decided to go with the hospital again. And just like last time, my midwife and doula, Angie, would be with me the whole way!

Pregnancy This Time Around

Pregnancy this time around was pretty much the same as the two times before it except this time I had a business (I’d been working online for about a year at this point) that was keeping me busy, and I was chasing two toddlers this time.

Long story short… time passed quickly, but I was TIRED!

Other than that, there were no problems and things were going along just like they should be!

Growing A Big Belly!

October, November, and December came and went, and Uriah got bigger and bigger and bigger. With my other two boys, I had carried further back and so I never got that really BIG pregnant mama belly, but with Uriah, I did! I was concerned he was going to be a beast.

With the other boys, I didn’t get any stretch marks, but with Uriah, I got 1. Seriously… 1. I thought that was kinda weird, but it was in this one spot that itched like crazy… all. the. time! It was probably where his cushy baby bum was pressing out! I credit my lack of stretch marks in all my pregnancies to constantly slathering myself with homemade natural salves and oils everyday. Thankfully now, you can’t even see the one Uriah left on me!

Self-Doubt Sets In

As time grew closer for Uriah to be born, I started remembering Isaiah’s birth more clearly. It’s strange how you forget the details as time goes on, but it’s equally strange how little things cause you to remember them so clearly. I started remembering the pain… remembering the agonizing car ride… remembering all of it, and seriously questioning whether I wanted to go through that again.

I’d already met my goal of going through natural childbirth, and I kept asking myself if I really wanted to do it again? Why not get an epidural and go through it pain-free? But then, I came to my senses. Why on earth after going through natural childbirth and realizing how much better it was for both baby and myself… why would I not do that again. Sure, it was gonna hurt, but I knew what to expect. I knew how to deal with the contractions. I knew how to let my body work. I did it before, and I could do it again.

Right On Time

I was due on December 20th, and if you’ve read my previous two birth stories, you know I have a knack for hanging on to my babies! I was 2 weeks late with the first one and 1 week late with the second. I did NOT want to be late with this one, but as usual, right around my due date, there were no signs of labor happening anytime soon.

The only thing I noticed with this pregnancy that I didn’t notice with the other two was that I had A LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions. A LOT!

The reason I didn’t want to be late this time was because I just knew I’d go into labor at Christmas, and I did not want to be in the hospital over Christmas. Not only would I miss family get-togethers, but I remember my mom’s stories of having me on Christmas Eve.

Yes, my birthday is the 24th, and my mom was stuck in a lonely hospital room with a crying baby, postpartum hormones raging, in the middle of a blizzard. Let’s just say it wasn’t her fondest memory of our time together, and I certainly didn’t want to repeat that.

So what did I do?

Well, forget natural this and that. I was going to do my best to take matters into my own hands… semi-naturally of course.

I’d been having tons of Braxton-Hicks contractions this time around, I’d been taking my Gentle Birth to prepare my body for labor, and on December 19th I actually had some uncomfortable contractions I could feel in my back for a few hours that had gone away so I knew time was close and he was ready. I had a doctor’s appointment on the 20th… my 40 week appointment and my due date… and I requested Dr. Carrillo again. Can anyone guess what my plan was?

Oh yes!!! I was requesting that she stretch my membranes because I knew that if I’d already been having contractions that this was just the thing I needed to get labor going without being too invasive or un-natural.

So she did. She made me swear I wouldn’t tell Dr. Hinton that she did it because he was the doctor on call that night, and he’d get her for  “helpin’ a mama out” on his on-call night! LOL! So of course I promised I wouldn’t tell him! Oh, and yes, it was just as painful as the time before… but you know what?

IT WORKED!

It’s Time

After my doctor’s appointment, my husband and I went to a Thai restaurant and I ordered the hottest sauce they had on the menu. I was bound and determined to do what I needed to in order to get a move on this labor.

When we finished eating, we headed home, and I was already feeling that uncomfortable feeling in my back. Back labor. I wasn’t going to get my hopes up though. I’d go home and wait to see if they kept up.

The plan was to labor at home until I was for sure I was definitely in labor, then drive back down to where the hospital was at, rent a hotel room at the hotel across from the hospital, labor there, and then go to the hospital when it was almost time. Just like I did with Isaiah except I’d be skipping the horrible car ride during transition. Instead of a 45 minute car ride, it would be 5 minutes, and I’d spare my wonderful mother all my irritation of her driving too slow!

By 11 PM, I knew I was definitely in labor, and we needed to get going. My contractions were picking up and getting stronger, and I was determined to spare myself an uncomfortable, long car ride. My sister-in-law came over to spend the night while the two boys slept upstairs, and Dean and I were off.

By 12 AM we were in our hotel room, and I was resting on my wonderful exercise ball doing my Bradley Method relaxation techniques that work so well for me. This didn’t last too long. Uriah was in the correct position, anterior, but as usual I was having the same horrid back labor that I always have so I decided to get in the bath.

I ran a big tub of warm water and relaxed through contraction after contraction. I talked to my mom on the phone to update her on what was going on. Dean was able to relax and watch some tv in the hotel room while labor slowly progressed. It was nice… for a while. Then things changed. It was strange. Suddenly the contractions were coming one on top of another. I didn’t know how far along I was, but I knew I needed to get out of the tub. So I got dressed, and came out to sit on the birthing ball again, but I could not get comfortable. The contractions wouldn’t let up, and I couldn’t relax so I decided to go ahead and go on to the hospital.

Dean called my mom and Angie to get them headed to the hospital and we went on.

When I got there at 1:15 AM. I ended up having to wait in the waiting room for at least 45 minutes before I ever saw someone… and I was pre-registered!!! The hospital had this new way of admitting labor and delivery patients to get them in quicker, but something didn’t work with it. It was not quick.

This was the most difficult part for me. I was definitely in transition at this point, and I did NOT want to be in the waiting room. Thankfully it was empty so I could get down in the floor on my hands and knees while Dean pressed on my lower back to help with the back labor, but come on! Finally Angie got there after we’d been there about 30 minutes and got the ball rolling. The nurses apologized profusely and said that my pre-admission paperwork had disappeared or something. Whatever! I didn’t care at that point! Just get me to my room people! I need somewhere to rest!

Unfortunately, as it is in hospitals, rest wasn’t an option. I don’t know how they expect a women to do the work of having a baby while they’re all up in her business asking a thousand different questions, but that’s how it went. I was 8 cm… definitely in transition… stuck in this bed trying to breathe and relax through contractions while they’re asking me every admission question in the book! CRAZY! One minute I was ignoring the nurse trying to breathe and focus, the next minute I was giving her a snappy answer like, “Yes, we have a bathroom in our house! Why does that matter,” and then finally apologizing profusely between contractions for being grumpy.

Soon enough though, the questions were over. It was around 2:30 AM. My mom was there. Dr. Hinton came in to see how I was doing, to let me know he made it this time, and to break my water so we could get on with having this baby. Finally, everyone left and I could do what I needed to do. I relaxed. It’s tough, but thankfully Angie was there to talk me through the contractions and I could sit up and do what I needed to do to get comfortable.

Finally around 3 AM I was fully dilated and ready to push. Everyone came in, and I was very calm and determined to finish what I’d been working so hard to do. We were all in good spirits because we knew we’d have a new baby boy to hold very soon. Once everything was set up, I pushed for 20-30 minutes and Uriah James finally was here to meet us all at 3:26 AM weighting 8 pounds 6 ounces!

I must say that with each of my births (except Isaiah because he came so fast) I’ve been so impressed with my doctors and their willingness to not get in a rush during delivery and the pushing phase. Both Dr. Pickler and Dr. Hinton are very… what’s the word… patient during that time, trying to do what’s best for mom. Enough said!

Uriah is here, and everyone is so excited to meet him! Uriah was the last grandchild that Dean’s grandfather lived to see. There will be 3 more boys joining our family this fall (including a set of twins!).

He was a cubby little thing, but oh so sweet! We fell in love with him instantly!

The brothers were so excited to meet him!

As usual, we had lot’s of family around to celebrate Uriah’s birth! We’re a baby loving family if you couldn’t tell that already!

Three bros… hangin’ out!

I’m so grateful for Angie and her presence at all of my births. How different I think things would be if she hadn’t inspired and encouraged me in natural birthing. 

Our Christmas present. All wrapped up and ready to go!

Looking Back

Looking back… I’m glad I came down and stayed in a hotel room to labor on my own before going to the hospital. Not only did I save myself an unbearable car ride, but I saved myself a lot of “hospital interruptions”.

Looking back… although I felt like I had a good reason to want to hurry labor up, I don’t think it’s best to cause the body to go into labor just because you’re done being pregnant. I feel like the body knows best, and when it’s time, it’s time. It will do what it was made to do on its own. Now if there’s a reason labor needs to be sped up, I think natural, labor stimulating interventions far exceed medical interventions… for sure!

Looking back… I’m so glad we chose the name Uriah because he truly is a light in our lives!

Thank you so much for taking the time to relive this journey with me. Motherhood isn’t something I’d give up or change for the world. I’m honored to be the mother of 3 fine young boys, and I feel blessed that I could share my birth stories with you. I hope it will bring some sort of encouragement to you.

xo xo, Meagan