3 weeks ago and 1 day...Danielle's birth day

Danielle- 4 days old



Well it has been 3 weeks since this blessed event that changed our lives forever occured in the MacPherson home. For those of you who have asked or are just interested in labor stories, here it is...

Thursday, Feb. 15...you would remember it as my 'track star' post...also the day before her birth. I was determined to get the baby out of me. I'd had it with being pregnant. It had been a wonderful experience for me; I'd loved the beauty and splendor of pregnancy. However, enough was enough...and I'd had my fill. So that day I went a'walkin. Not just for a little walk, but A'WALKIN! I walked for a combination of several hours that day. When I became a little sore in my lower abdomen, I kept walking. When I was tired, I sat down for a minute, and then kept walking. I just kept thinking about 'moving that baby down'!
So then Thursday night, Morgan and I watched a movie. I remember having to get up to use the bathroom every 10 minutes and we were laughing about it. It wasn't unusual for me to have to pause a movie a couple times for my bathroom reverie, but this was literally every 10 minutes. Something about it felt different. Since I'd been experience 'early labor' over the previous several weeks, I'd gotten used to feeling things I hadn't felt before, so never thought much of it.
That night, I hit a wall, and literally went crazy...ask Morgan! I could NOT handle being pregnant any more,a nd I can't describe the miserable feeling I had. I resented everyone and everything, including the baby. I slapped myself in the face and it made me feel better. Yah- psycho! Morgan didn't know what to do for me.
I know the Holy Spirit led him though, because he prayed a very Spirit led prayer over me and the baby and asked the Lord to bring the baby soon. It was very comforting. He then set up a candlelit bath to help calm me. (By this time, it was about 3 am). I was having contractions at this point, but nothing different than I'd been feeling for 3 weeks. After the bath, I went to sleep, but continued to have painful contractions through the night. At first, I was able to sleep through them, then in between them, until finally around 8 am, I woke Morgan as I couldn't get through them without his help any more.
I thought this might be it, so I thought we should get moving along just in case. I ate breakfast, checked my email (replied to a teen's important email), emailed my Mom in her classroom to let her know it was time, called my Dad to let him know to head to the birthing center, and called the midwife around 9:45. By then, we'd been timing my contractions for an hour and they were 5-6 minutes apart. I had lost the rest of my mucous plug early in the morning too. Barb (the midwife) said to call back when they got to be 4 minutes apart, and confirmed that this time (finally!) it sounded like the real thing! Well, as soon as I got off the phoen with her, they became 4 minutes apart. I then showered very quickly, as I was determined to be clean for labor (little did I know how futile this was....). I had to shower in between the contractions as by now they were very painful and strong, and were 2-3 minutes apart. Barb had said that when I showered, they'd become closer together but then might go back to how they were once I finished showering. She was right, and when I got out they resumed to be 3-4 minutes apart.
Morgan was so incredible! Running around like crazy in between helping me thorugh the contractions and gettin geverything ready to go, plus showering himself.

Around 10:30 am, I said, "Call Barb! I HAVE To get in there NOW!"(knowing I had a 1/2 hour car ride and the pain was getting worse and worse...plus there was a snow storm!)
We left by 10:45 and it was a snowy, blizzardy day. Traffic was painfully slow (literally!) Morgan was going crazy trying to get me there and I was at times panicking from the pain. Finally, we arrived.

Barb immediately checked me and said I was 8 CM dialated!!! We were So excited and I was SO relieved! I'd set myself up to find I'd only be like 5 cm, so 8 cm was a HUGE relief! Since I was nearing transition and the contractions were so bad, she got the tub ready for me. Barb was such an awesome midwife. She seemed to know all the perfect tings to suggest for me to try. The tub helped my contractions emmensely, and I was even smiling and talking in between them (at 8-9 cm!) They got stronger and stronger and my water never broke. She had me moan, which helped me breathe. My mom and Morgan stayed with me through the whole thing. My dad waited outside the door in the private sitting area.

AFter being in the tub about an hour, Barb asked me if I wanted her to break my water. I said yes, so we went in the bedroom and she broke it around noon. My belly immediately shrunk to half the size! WE still had no idea Danielle would be so big. The contractions after that were almost unbearable. I squeezed Morgan's arm so tight I broke his skin (sorry!). Danielle was in a position as such that I could not push yet. It was miserably painful! Barb had me turn in certain ways to help her rotate. Finally, during one contraction, I felt her turn inside of me, then they said I could push. However, I was scared to push, and didn't know how. Barb helped me figure out how to relax, so I could push. Then I was able to; it HURT! Pushing was not the immediate relief people had said it would be. It was the hardest part for me. I held on to an instrument that I pulledon to help me push; it was slow going, so I then rotated to my hands and knees. I could feel her head, but she was descending so slowly! With each push, her head would lower a bit more, then go back up.
I remember finally reaching an extreme point of determination to make it my last push and I pushed 6 times in a row on one contraction! I was SO exhausted, but continued to give it my everything...her head finally came. THen I had to push 3 more times to get her shoulders out. As she sat with her head out, she let out a little cry. :-) When she all came out, Morgan picked her up and handed her to me. She was beautiful and blue! ;)I sat back with my precious baby in my arms, she turned pink, then Daddy cut her cord after it stopped pulsating. When I held her for the first time, she was already sucking her thumb and had a little freckle under her eye.
I did it au-naturale and am so proud of me and my girl! I couldn't have done it without Morgan by my side either; he was so amazing. The Lord was my strength.
She was born at 2:34 pm, after 6 1/2 hours of labor, almost 2 hours of pushing, on Friday Feb. 16th.

I look at her and am constantly amazed by this precious gift the Lord has entrusted me with. She's sweet in so many ways. Already, she has the sweetest disposition, she smells sweet, she looks sweet, she's my sweetie.
There are days when I am blue. But even on those days, when Ive reached my wits end of exhaustion and frustration, I look at her and she takes my breath away. When I wake up at night to hearing her whines and cries, I drag myself to her bed, and when I look at her, my fatigue diminishes in light of my love for the little creature staring at me with helpless, beautiful, dependent eyes.

So I'm doing good. It's hard. I'm no superwoman and mothering is HARD! But I'm overall happy and getting through day by day. I have my moments of tears and muscle aches...crazy emotions and feelings of inadequacy. The Lord is my keeper and my strength. He is my helper and has already helped and provided for us in so many ways since Danielle's birth. She is finally gaining weight and getting on a eating schedule, and my milk is increasing, praise the Lord. We look forward to what's ahead, and watching our little one grow.

2 1/2 weeks