Cora's Home Birth Story

Cora Sunshine Jones- first morning on the outside

I'm nearly six weeks out and am finally ready to revisit Cora's birth story.

The whole labor preparation began around six months in my pregnancy with a lot of preterm labor issues. In February, I was 70% effaced and therefore put on bed rest for six weeks until I was 37 weeks along. At 38 weeks, my contractions escalated to a daily occurrence, so it's difficult to say exactly when my labor began.  However, at my 39 week appointment, my midwife Alli thought the birth would be sometime that week, which prompted my friend of life, Gina (who is conveniently a midwife as well), to fly out from Texas to be there with me as the labor approached.

40 Week Appointment

On Friday, April 26, I had my 40 week appointment. My due date was April 28th, and I was really hoping to have my baby girl soon! I had no idea that I would go into active labor that day! I had been pretty active that week with some hikes and swimming. That day, Gina and I practiced some accupressure points to start labor. Who knows if it helped, but by that evening, I was definitely going into labor. I had been feeling crampy all day, but that was pretty typical throughout my pregnancy. My husband Jake got home from work at 10:15pm and by 11:00pm I had close, timeable contractions. I had my show around 11:15pm and decided it was time to alert my mom and dad, who had a 2 hour drive to make.

Early Morning Contractions

Somehow I managed a smile during this awkward little photo. :)

I decided to take a shower and brush my teeth in hopes to relax and get some sleep before everything picked up, but that was a fleeting hope. My contractions were strong from the start and were about two minutes apart from midnight on. Jake was taking notes religiously (presh) throughout the night. He called Alli around 2:00am and kept her updated as I progressed. At 3:00am my parents arrived and I remember thinking I didn't want them to disturb my peaceful atmosphere. I had Gina greet them and ease them into the environment I was trying to keep.

Jake's Precious Notes

Future Grandparents! I love how excited my mom is and how tired my dad is.

I was definitely in my groove and time was going by quickly. Alli arrived at 5am and moved me down to the birth pool that we had set up in the kitchen. The sun was starting to rise, my contractions were starting to peak and it was looking like my baby girl was going to be born within a few hours! I remember writhing around in the pool and clinging to Jake's neck (what a guy to be in the pool with me!) as the whispers of my helpers were suggesting I was in transition. I could hardly believe that I was already so close to the end, since transition was the stage right before pushing. I didn't want to get distracted with timing or unmet hopes, so I tried to not get too caught up in the excitement that I might be done soon. I went back into focus mode and kept my momentum from contraction to contraction. My mom was asking me if I felt "pushy", but I didn't. I guess that's not the best news.

Birth Pool- Not a bad view of the mountains!

Birth pool support. Best husband ever!

At 9:00am, I still was not feeling any urge to push, but my contractions were monstrous. Alli decided I should get out of the tub and go back to my bed to try a few different positions to see if that would help things move along more. I also began pushing at this point. The contractions kept coming like an earthquake in intervals. 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm... the hours kept passing and the baby was not making any progress into the birth canal. At this point, my helpers were whispering among themselves, which was making me anxious. Didn't they say I was in transition? Why wasn't I progressing? My baby's heartbeat was strong and steady and wasn't showing any signs of trauma, but it was starting to get concerned that she wasn't descending. We decided to have Alli break my water to see if that would help things out. When the water broke, there was a slight discoloration due to some meconium that was released. When I saw that, it was difficult for me to not be concerned. In all the research I had done for labor, the presence of meconium is a sign of a distressed baby. However, none of my help seems to have a concern because the meconium was so light. So I trusted them and tried to focus through the contractions with a renewed hope that the ruptured membranes would stimulate some movement for my baby.

Around 2:00pm, I remember thinking "I just can't do this anymore". I was scared for the baby and myself and I was exhausted. I began weighing the idea of a 30 minute car ride to the hospital, but that sounded almost worse than staying at home weathering the contractions. I told Gina "I hate home birth". I also proclaimed "This is the worst day of my life". Both of those proclamations are funny now, but at the time I was so serious! I was starting to mentally drain. It had been 15 hours by this point of heavy contractions and I was so tired. I had been pushing for 5 hours and my baby's heartbeat was still in the same spot, her head still at a -2 station. The only reassurance I had was that her heartbeat was steady.

Somewhere in this time frame, my mom (a former labor and delivery nurse) gave me instructions on how to capitalize on my contractions and how to push into them instead of tense up during them. Although I had learned this prior to the birth, hearing it during the birth really helped and got me focused. She also sent out a text to a group of believers to pray for us. We were all a little concerned and something needed to change or else we would be rushing to the hospital. Within 20 minutes after that text was send out, my baby began descending. That is not a coincidence!

The only evidence of my labor noises. I love this picture! 

I had an anterior cervical lip (aka the cervix was not fully dialated), so Alli was pulling it back so the baby's head could descend over the lip. At some point, I had a catheter put in to see if a full bladder that would not empty was possibly holding up the progress. I also was put on oxygen to try to give me some extra energy. At 8,000 feet, I think that some extra oxygen is helpful! It was all a blur for the next to hours of pushing, making some pretty intense noises, and waiting to hear any sign of downward movement. Different positions, Jake with me the whole time, doing everything I could possibly to get her out.

Around 3:45pm, Alli told me with firmness "Ally, you need to get her out." I guess my baby's heart rate started showing signs of distress. Although I didn't know about the heart rate, those words along gave me the extra urgency I needed to muster up strength from who-knows-where and get her out. Thankfully, I didn't see Alli prepare the resuscitation gear. Alli later answered my question of what she was thinking about during that stage with "Resuscitation". I didn't realize how close we were to a lot of scary outcomes. I can't even go there mentally. All I choose to do is be thankful for a positive outcome.

When the head started crowning, I saw tears of relief in Jake's eyes. I saw the little head and it was full of dark hair! It was also so tiny looking. The head looked like the size of a tennis ball. Little did I know, that was just the tip of an extreme cone head. The whole birth was recorded, although I don't plan on watching it... ever. Although I didn't see it, everyone present reports that when she came out, she was on her stomach and pushed herself up with her arms and made direct eye contact with Gina. Gina was totally caught off guard! What newborn does that?!?

I heard her little cry and before I knew it, her slimy, vernix-covered body was placed on my chest. I got a shot of Petocin immediately after she was out to prevent hemorrhaging due to the long labor I had and thankfully, I had no issues with that! The first thing I though was how she looked like my aunt. I was in awe. I truly didn't believe that the labor would ever end. Toward the end of the afternoon, I was imagining all the worst-case scenarios, so to have her out and healthy was just a dream. Jake was right beside me and my little family was safe, healthy and perfect! Jake had tears that I didn't find until a few days later when I processed everything.

Cora Sunshine Jones was born at 4:45pm on April 27, 2013. She was 8lbs 1oz and was 20 inches long. She is the light of my life and has brought so much joy and love to my heart. I am so blessed!

So much emotion in this picture!

One of Cora's first friends- Auntie Geen

First morning. Already sticking her tongue out. :)

Proud Dad!

This grandma is crazy about Cora!