The Birth Story of Opal Rayne

My due date which was April 8th came and went. I knew all along that I was going to go late. When my midwife first told me my due date I felt like there was no way I was going that early. I guesstimated the middle to end of April. That being said once that day came I would have been perfectly fine with being wrong. I know due dates are just an estimated time frame but I felt like from that point and beyond that our baby should be here by now. Some days I was totally at peace and able to trust in Gods PERFECT TIMING! Other days were not so good. There were definitaley some tears. I am so thankful for my husband who is so chill about everything and able to bring me back to that place of peace. Also for my midwife who always makes me feel better after talking to her.

So I went on with life as usual doing things I knew I wasn't going to be able to do with a newborn. My in laws came a week after my due date hoping to see the new baby. We had a nice visit and we were beginning to think they were going to leave and not be able to meet the baby. It was day 12. Saturday April 20th @ 4a.m. I started to get up to go to the bathroom and realized my water had broke. It was not a gush but a trickle that must have been going on for a while because all around me was wet. BUT there were no contractions. I called my midwife and she said to go back to sleep if I could and to call her when I woke up. So I did; I was able to go back to sleep and slept fine. I did not have any contractions at that point. I called my midwife around 8a.m. and she said that I could either do some homeopathy or castor oil to try and get things going or just wait and see if contractions start throughout the day. Since I really didn't want to do the castor oil if I didn't have to I decided to wait and see what happens. I had some contractions off and on but nothing that I thought was worth timing. I took a walk in the morning with the girls, Peter was working on the new garage. I swept the house and cleaned up since we were having the Wright gang over before my in laws left for TN. I did try and lay down and rest and felt 4 or 5 contractions within 1 hour. Then our guests arrived and I tried to sit and rest as much as possible and visit and I did not feel many contractions. (I wonder if we wouldn't have had people over if labor would have progressed sooner, who knows) So we had a nice visit with everyone, we celebrated my brother-in-laws birthday. After dinner I was ready for everyone to leave so I could focus on my contractions. Peter and I decided that we were going to do castor oil since I didn't feel like contractions were doing much of anything. Everyone left at 7p.m and I called my midwife to let her know what we decided. She said that she recommends doing the castor oil in morning so that you have a good nights sleep and are well rested, instead of at the end of the day when you are tired. I cried. I totally understood what she was saying but I was just so ready to get this baby out and was bummed that yet again I had to wait. So Peter and I took the girls for a walk down the road. I came back and laid on the couch and then they just started coming. I timed them for about an hour and they were 5-10 minutes apart and lasting 30-60 seconds. So I called my midwife to let her know and she decided to come. I labored in bed for a while and Peter put the girls to bed then started setting up/filling the aqua doula. Although some of the contractions were quite strong I wasn't sure how far I was or how quick things were going to go. At around 10:30p.m I felt sort of pushy, I guess and my midwife asked if I wanted to get in the aqua doula. I wasn't sure. (which is weird b/c with my other births I couldn't wait to get in the tub) I decided to get in and the water was really cool. It didn't feel good at all. Thankfully they were boiling water to put in and that really helped. I couldn't get comfortable, I didn't know which way to sit. I moved around alot from sitting with my back against the side, to on my knees, to squatting and leaning forward, I just could not get in a spot that felt right.

Peter kept giving me Gatorade to drink which tasted so yummy. He turned on some music on Pandora on his phone which was nice. We were all (my midwife, her assistant, a friend taking pictures, me and Peter) sitting in the den waiting for this baby to come. In between contractions I would sometimes talk, which was different than my other births. I was in my own little bubble for my other births. After a little while I started really feeling like I wanted to push but couldn't. I was trying to get into different positions to see if that would help, but when a contraction would come I couldn't get my body to push. Peter went and got NOnah at about 11p.m. she was so cute and offered me a banana. (when I was preparing her for the birth that's what she said she was going to do, get my snacks.) At one point my midwife checked me to make sure there was no cervix in the way and there wasn't. Yay. I tried to stand up and repostition but again couldn't get my body to push. She suggested I get out of the water and try the birth stool and I was fine with that, that was at 12:20a.m. Then she did something with her fingers during a contraction which helped move the babies head. I felt such a difference after that. I was able to start pushing. She was crowning for a good 10 min or so, I remember everyone saying they see it, the babies right there. Noni was watching right by daddys side the whole time. She got a little nervous at one point when I screamed but she was ok. Pushing was hard on the birth stool but better than in the tub. Then after crowning for what felt like forever with one big push, head and body all at the same time, my baby came out into daddys hands.I felt sooo releived, so proud, and so exhausted. I didn't even take the baby immediately because I just needed a minute to re-coop and breathe. Peter said "Its a Girl" and no one said anything so he thought maybe he was wrong. :) I took her in my arms then and just sat in amazement. Another girl! Noni told everyone the name, Opal Rayne!

I latched her on pretty much right away and she was nursing so well and gulping that everyone in the room could here her. I think at this point Peter went and got Evey up to meet her and as soon as he walked in the room she started crying and laid on his shoulder so he put her back to bed and she met her in the morning. We cleaned up and took some family pictures in the bed (minus Evey) and did her apgar test. She weighed 9lbs 1oz. and 19 inches long. She is amazing and beautiful and perfectly healthy! It is just such a blissful feeling being able to meet your baby for the first time! I am so thankful for my little gem!!