Dey and Dee's Updates

The Story

Well, for those of you who are curious...here is Esther's birth story as I remember it...

On my way home from church on Saturday night (where I happened to do a little bit of dancing - more on that later), I noticed I was having contractions. They weren't really strong, but were regular. I was hoping it meant something, but as you've heard, I was feeling pretty discouraged by then that this baby didn't want to come too soon, so I didn't get very excited. We came home and I nursed Simeon, hoping that would help things along! Dey and I sat down to watch a movie. Throughout the entire movie I had contractions every 4 minutes that lasted at least 60 seconds. They felt like a lot of pressure, but I was able to cope really well without too much effort. I had an incling that this might be it, but was afraid to say so. After the movie finished, we decided to set up our birth pool, just in case. By the time all that was done it was almost 2am so we went to bed.

My contractions continued all night and I dozed off a couple of times, but didn't really get any sleep. Deyan got a couple of hours though. Simeon woke up unexpectedly at 4:15am to say that he had pooped! This was very unusual. Deyan was changing him in the bathroom and I stood outside the door because I needed to pee! I noticed a bit of fluid leaking and wondered if maybe my water was breaking. But like all things with this labour/pregnancy, nothing was very obvious. The leaking stopped and I waited for a few stronger contractions before deciding to call my midwife. She said she would come over. Simeon went right back to sleep. I still was wondering if this was "it" or not, so I didn't call my doulas right away. But after a few more contractions, I though, what the heck. So I called Ang and Tara first and told both of them they didn't need to rush or anything. Then I asked Tara to call Sonia and Julia. Yes, I had a great support team! I also called my mom to let her know and get her and my Saint John friends and family praying.

Cara (my midwife) arrived at 5:15am. I think by then I was pretty sure it was labour. Within a few minutes my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and I definitely needed to breathe through them! I also called Yvonne, Joyska and Violet to get some Winnipeg prayer support! :) Ang arrived and her and Deyan took turns putting pressure on my back/hips during contractions. Dey was also filling the pool at this time and I was anxious to get in! It was finally ready by ~ 6:15am and it felt wonderful! Tara and Julia arrived at some point and everyone found things to do. After an hour in the pool, I decided to get up to the bathroom. The contractions were very strong by now and I was needing to vocalize through each one. I had 3 really tough ones in the bathroom and was beginning to wonder if I would be able to get out of there! I was feeling lots of pressure so I asked Cara to check my progress. I was nervous and told her not to tell me if I would be discouraged! She said I was doing great, 6cm, 100% and that the cervix was nice very soft and strechy. I was okay with this, but was also remembering Simeon's labour when things took a really long time after 6cm! I really hoped things would be different this time because these contractions were getting very unbearable! I stayed on my bed for a bit longer, barely holding on. I felt hot and nauseous and in hindsight would have to say that was transition. I had Julia massaging my feet, Ang putting pressure on my back and a cool cloth on my head, Tara bringing me water to drink, and Deyan holding my hand! Could I ask for better support, eh? We feel so blessed! I'm not sure how anyone can do it on their own!
I decided to get back in the pool to see if things would feel better. I had one contraction on the way and felt alot of pressure! Then I had another one just as I got into the pool, but before I could get down into the water. Again, the pressure was really strong and I said so. I was finally able to kneel down into the water and the next contraction I felt my body pushing. I felt some burning at first and wondered if maybe it was too soon so I held back a bit. But the next contraction came and my body did the pushing. I said, "the baby's coming" as I felt her head move down right away! By the way, this was at about 7:55am. Simeon had just woken up (a miracle in itself that he had slept through all the commotion to that point!) and Dey was in the bedroom with him getting him dressed. He brought him out and sat in a chair in the living room. I heard him tell Sim that mommy was having a baby. I felt so peaceful, knowing he was with Dey and he sounded so calm and relaxed. I continued vocalizing as I felt this baby's head come out, turn, each shoulder release, and then her body emerge into the water at 8:04am! I stood up and turned around so I could take her and sit back down with her. Deyan brought Simeon right over to meet her and he was very excited! Actually, he may have been more excited about seeing a pool in our living room, but oh well! He started telling the baby about his favorite Veggie Tales. So cute. I looked down to confirm what he knew already, that we had a little girl baby! Poor Sonia missed the birth, but she arrived a few minutes later and was really helpful when I was having all the afterpains!

Anyways, there is much more to tell, but all I'll say for now is how grateful we are to God. We feel that everything was perfect and we couldn't have asked for better timing. And we are so thankful for all the support we have, both at the birth and from our community here in Winnipeg. Not having family close can be tough, but we feel so loved and cared for!

Well, Esther just woke up so I should go. I will tell more about the story behind the story when I get a chance...which may not be for awhile yet! :)

posted by Deanna Momtchilov @ 9:49 AM