Selah's Birth Story

Well, I know I said that this would be the condensed version of my birth story with Selah. But if you know me or have been following my blog for very long at all, you would know that I don't know how to tell a "short" story. :) I write how I talk, and I talk in detail. So, here it is....my birth story in all its glory. Enjoy!

The Name:

Selah (pronounced SAY-luh) is found in the Bible, mostly in Psalms. It means to "stop and listen" or "pause and reflect." It was J's idea for a name, and it quickly grew on me throughout this pregnancy. I love it because God wants us to be still and listen to Him. We cannot hear His voice unless we get quiet and stop and just listen. With all that has been going on in our lives, He has constantly reminded us of this, and we thought it was perfect for this baby's name!

Selah's middle name, Grace, was one that I had liked before she was born. We had a few others that we had been mulling over as well. We finally decided that we would decide for sure when she was born and let it go. Well, when all was said and done, my sweet friend and chiropractor said that God's grace was all over this labor story. And we decided that Grace had to be part of her name!

The Story:

I started having contractions on Friday morning(april 2) around 6am. My sister came that morning and took Rebekah to Casa Manana to see Cinderella as a birthday present. We met her for lunch to take Bekah back from her and by that time contractions were still coming, just not consistently.

However, my sis offered to take both Rebekah and Noah from us so that we could run errands and so that I wouldn't have to worry about anything while I was feeling uncomfortable. So after lunch we went to my scheduled prenatal appt. Both my midwifes agreed I could be this way for days.

They never checked my progress, but we did the litmus test to make sure my water hadn't broken (I was feeling some leakage with every contraction..sorry if tmi! ha!). It hadn't, and they said that third babies are always unpredictable, so we went on about our day expecting for this to probably be awhile.

We ate an early dinner with my parents, ran by Target (there was a robe I really wanted to buy for after the birth!) and went to pick up the kids around 7:30pm. By this point contractions were stronger but not longer or closer together...just still very unpredictable.

{This was at my sister's house Fri night - in between contractions..haha!}

Still, my sister offered to keep the kids overnight. I was relieved that she offered. I was emotionally worn out because I didn't know what to expect. The contractions would change when I stood up, walked, or changed positions in any way, and I know that this happens in early labor, but I didn't know how to plan. I thought it would be a long couple of days if we let the kids stay and then this wasn't the real thing (they don't sleep well anywhere but home), but I knew the break would be good.

We finally agreed to let her keep the kids. We went home for Jason to shower and get a few things, picked up something to eat, and then decided to stay the night at my parents' house. This is where we planned to have the baby anyway (if you are wondering it's because we live in an apartment and because everyone willing to watch the kids lives close to my parents...we are at least a 30 min drive out), so we decided we didn't want to have to drive over there in the middle of the night if at all possible. I spoke to my midwife, Cindy, once we got home and I was waiting on Jason. She urged me to rest and spoke words of encouragement over me as I confessed I was frustrated and needed reassurance of when I was supposed to call her and Donnellyn (my other midwife).

We made it to my parents' house about 12am. We got settled and I know from experience that hot showers/baths will either slow down or speed up labor depending on if it's "real" labor or not. So I ate, got in the bath for a long time and they slowed down quite a bit. I then rinsed off in the shower, drank some red wine (per midwife's recommendation :) and tried to sleep. This was around 2:30am. Jason was up late on the computer because he thought I'd have had the baby by then. But he finally came to bed around 3:30am. The whole time I was in bed I would wake for contractions then fall back asleep. When J came to bed, he helped me through a few of them and supported me....and then fell asleep. :)

Around 4am I felt wet. Now, since I had been feeling leakage since the day before, this wasn't new and I didn't know/think it could be my water. So the wetness didn't alarm me, but I figured I should go to the bathroom and change my pants at least. I had about 3 strong contractions by the time I got from our room to the toilet. (I had tried to wake J up, muttering that I wished he would be awake, but wasn't successful and gave up pretty quickly because I thought he needed to rest if it wasn't time) .

I heard my mom waking up around 4:30am and called for her and she didn't come. Finally, I saw her walk past the bathroom door. Still on the toilet (by the way, this is a great place to labor that I learned about with my second child), I called to her to help me. She let me lean on her for support during a few contractions and urged me to call Cindy again. So I talked to Cindy for a few minutes and she timed the contractions while I was on the phone with her. All I had told her is that I needed her to talk me through it and help me figure it out. I was really calm and I even talked through one of the contractions. So she urged me to get in the bath again and told me a few positions to try. She said that they might get stronger when I changed positions but to time them and call her after 20 minutes of being in the bath.

Again, I know she was thinking they'd either slow down and I could sleep, or they'd speed up and become more consistent and things would get moving so I was willing to do whatever she said. :)

So, into the bath I went. Mom thought it was crazy that no one was on their way yet. I hadn't asked them to come though because we thought this was early labor still and I didn't want them to be waiting around on me when they could be resting.

I was in the bath for about 10 minutes when things picked up rather quickly. This is where things get a little fuzzy as far as order of events. But, I might have had 3 contractions that were super strong during that 10 minutes. I knew something was changing. I called Donnellyn to let her in on what was going on and then asked for Mom to get J because I started to feel like I couldn't do it. She said to him, "Denise needs you to wake up, it's time". I panicked, "No, it's not time - don't scare him! I just need him to be my support!" ha!

He came in, talked to me for a minute and tried convincing me that he needed to air up the birth pool we were supposed to use. I immediately shot that idea down - I needed him by my side! And then this loud, uncontrollable, groan came out from me. The kind I'm familiar with, but wasn't ready to be feeling yet. The kind that indicates that your body is taking over...that pushing was soon to come. And it scared both of us.

I knew that Donnellyn was on her way from our previous phone conversation but was still probably 15 minutes away. J had called both midwives again because I was panicked. They both told me NOT to push bc I said I was feeling like I needed to. They didn't want me pushing before it was time or before they could get there. They didn't know I was already complete....and neither did I really. I did everything I could to NOT push.

Another groan came out from me and this time J was still on the phone with Donnellyn. Again, the word was "Don't push!" I think we all knew by this point...and I must have looked really dumb trying to cross my legs and get through those last contractions.

I was definitely feeling the baby's head and finally gave Jason this look and yelled, "I can't help it!" and rolled from my side over on my back (still in the bath tub) and all at once, pushed the baby out as Jason guided her out. To which Jason yelled "the baby's here!" ha! Poor guy was in shock and amazement as he watched what was happening!

My body had literally took over and pushed her out on its own. And she came out super fast. She was born at 5:23am. 7lbs, 3oz and 21 in. (This was a pound heavier than what Bekah was, and 5 oz bigger than Noah.)

{Jason got to weigh Selah}

I sat up and held her in the water to keep her warm. We were both just so shocked. I didn't cry or really say much at all. I just kept thinking - "She's here!" and "It's over!" Jason was still on the phone with Donnellyn and she told us what to look for and to make sure the baby was breathing. Since the water was warm and the cord was still attached it was better to stay in the water then to try and move before they got there. Both midwives and my birth photographer got there about 10 minutes after Selah was born.

{In the herbal bath afterwards}

{Cindy, left and Donnellyn, right}

{So much for the birth pool!}

A few sidenotes:
*I remember while on the phone with Donnellyn, J kept saying, "yes, the baby is breathing. yes, it looks good. He seems to be fine." So I'm holding the baby and it occurs to me - what is the sex?! ha! we were so stunned by her birth that we didn't even think to check and see what it was! So I announce it's a girl and that was that. :)

*We had decided on a name for a girl but not a boy. We really thought it was a girl so we were just hoping that we wouldn't need to come up with a boy's name at the last minute. Glad we knew!

*It was awesome to compare because Rebekah's labor was long and drawn out, at the hospital, drugs, etc. Noah's was natural but still drawn out because of his position being wrong for a while. I pushed for an hour and a half with Bekah, and 20 mins with Noah. Compare those to Selah's birth, and I am SO relieved we decided to do this at my parents house and that we had agreed to have my sister watch the kids that night. Could you imagine us getting in the car to go to the hospital that night by the time I knew this might be it? I would have never guessed it would go this fast! I'm so glad we didn't have the baby in the car or anywhere else! We were shocked and it was really scary at one point, but we feel so blessed that it went the way it did!

The Lord never stopped being in control and this was such a bonding experience for Jason and I to go through it together. J is so proud for having "caught" Selah and we are both loving how God has already given us a great story to tell about His faithfulness and grace and of us working together to bring our sweet baby into the world.

So thanks for sticking around to read our story! We are so blessed to have Selah here!