Katie's Birth Story - Part 2

Approaching The Time:

As we reached the portion of pregnancy when prenatal visits happen every two weeks, we found that Baby just couldn't settle down. One week, head down. Next visit, vertex (sideways). Next visit, head down. 36 week visit... I think the head is here... maybe here? Well, there's time. Baby will settle into a head down position soon.

Three days before the 37 week mark, we enjoyed a leisurely Saturday morning before heading out to Washington, Missouri for a session in a personal growth program with some friends/mentors. The older four children played at another friend's house. Shortly after five in the evening, I realized that the reason I just couldn't get comfortable was that I was having regular contractions! We decided to get on home so that I could lay down, so we picked up the other Blessings and headed home. While we sat at our friends house waiting for the children to get ready to go, I was having to breath and focus to get through contractions.

The stated plan was that we were going home to get things slowed down and hopefully stopped. As I breathed my way home (about a 45 minute drive), I was aware of two things that I was unwilling to even think consciously, much less speak out loud. One was that this was serious labor, and our chances of stopping it were slim to none. The second was that our baby was not head down.

Our time at home that evening is a bit of a blur to me. I remember lying on our bed, making phone calls and trying to not be too picky as I gave Jonathan last minute directions about what to pack. By this point, whether by spoken or unspoken communication, we both knew we were not just going up to the hospital “just in case.” The hospital where our midwife had privileges was about an hour from our home, so we (rather, Jonathan) packed as if we were headed there to have a baby. Then we hit the road again and dropped the oldest four off at Uncle Doug and Aunt Joyce's place on our way to the hospital.

The drive to the hospital was pretty intense. I don't believe that labor was intended to be dealt with while one is buckled in (or strapped down) and unable to move. I think I was mostly quiet on the way... praying and focusing on working with my body.

Katie's Birth Story -
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, The Power of a Picture