Samuel's Birth Story

Baby Samuel Behn joined us over the weekend on April 16^th! He is just too precious and I am loving having a baby again. And so, here is Samuel’s birth story, while it’s fresh in my mind.

The stats:

14 hours of “labor”

90 minutes of active labor and actual pain

Birth weight: 7 lbs, 14 oz

Samuel’s birth was somewhat different than the other boys’, although in the end the fast pace of it did seem very similar. From early in the pregnancy, my wonderful midwife and I had discussed an induction at 39 weeks because of my very fast labors. Behn and I were a bit traumatized during Patrick’s 45 minute labor and wanted to make sure this baby was born in the hospital, not during a scary moment on the side of the road or at home. My midwife agreed and that was the birth plan. The induction was set for April 16 (39 weeks) and we were going to try and go a natural route of induction by stripping membranes or breaking my water to get things moving.

The night before the induction (Friday), I woke up to cramps at midnight. Although of course I woke up a lot to use the bathroom, this felt different. Still, it was confusing. Was it nerves? Something I ate? Real contractions? You’d think I would have been able to tell, but I was nervous and unsure. I woke up Behn. We talked about it and decided to call my Mom and let her know we might be going in. My midwife agreed- she had said if there was anything going on, come in. Besides, I was supposed to be there in the morning anyway. My mom drove up and dropped my brother Stephen off to stay with the boys. We left around 1:30 and got to the hospital at 2 a.m.

It felt weird to be driving there calmly, in the middle of the night. I didn’t feel any contractions and started to feel dumb for waking everyone up for this. We went up to L&D and got admitted. My midwives met me and checked me. I was disappointed to be only 1 cm, 60%, about the same as I’d been a few days ago. However, on the monitors I was indeed contracting every 4-5 minutes but I couldn’t even feel them. We decided to all go to sleep and meet at 7 a.m. My mom went to the visitor’s room and Behn slept on the couch in my room.

Around 7:15, my midwives came back in and we talked. They checked me- I was 2-3 cm now- and they stripped my membranes. I was ready to get things going! I spent the next couple hours showering and walking and walking and walking. But aside from an occasional contraction that I could feel, everything was pretty normal. I was eating and talking and watching tv a little bit. It was too easy, and I knew it. At 10 a.m., they checked me again and I was still 3. They offered to break my water, but I chickened out. I knew that once they did that, I would feel actual pain and I just wasn’t ready. We agreed to reassess at noon.

I spent the next 2 hours walking more, doing squats and lounges- anything to bring baby down. However, this was the psychological turning point for me. I was getting bored, honestly. We were here to have a baby and I was tired from missing most of last night’s sleep. I was ready to DO this. I told my nurse I’d like to get a bag of fluid in my iv, which I needed in case I wanted an epidural. I knew it would take a while to drip in. And I asked her to tell my midwife that I would be ready for my water to be broken at noon.

The midwives came back around 12:30 and checked me- I was maybe 4 cm- and they broke my water. I’ve never had this done and it was a little weird but not too painful. But right away, I knew. The next few contractions were real. And they kept up. They had me off the monitors so I could walk and asked me to time them but I couldn’t keep track. I also couldn’t walk anymore. The contractions were getting too intense. I sat up for a while, and eventually laid down. I think the midwives checked me around 1:00 and I was 6 cm. My mom sat calmly in the background, Behn was next to me. He offered to read a Psalm but I wanted silence for the most part. I laid there and focused on “opening.” That was the word I told myself over and over- not to tense up, but to “open.” The pain was bad enough that I definitely asked about that epidural- my midwife said I could request one but she really thought I would be done soon and so I did not pursue it. Both midwives sat calmly and encouraged me, “you can do this, you’re doing great.” I held Behn’s hand and continued focusing on opening up.

When I began to groan through the contractions, I knew I was in transition. I could literally feel Samuel’s head moving down. I heard the midwife say she was going to check me between contractions but I knew it was time to push. They took a quick peek and saw his head and called for the nurses. Everyone rushed in and on the next push, he was out at 2:03 p.m. It was so intense and I was so grateful it was over. I got to hold him and Behn even got to cut the cord (a first for him). A few minutes later, I delivered the placenta. Samuel had a complete knot in his cord; I’m so glad that didn’t interfere with his heart rate or blood flow. Poor little guy did have a bruised face from descending so quickly but he was overall healthy.  I feel lucky to not have needed stitches. Overall, the birth was just so smooth, if not hard at the end.

It was special having my mom there, too. I'm so glad she could witness the birth of one of her grandkids and support me while sharing some of her labor stories. She took a lot of pictures and my family was such a help with Graham and Patrick.

And so, we are home and blessed with these 3 boys. Graham and Patrick are bananas for him. It’s crazy how much they love their little brother. Baby Samuel is nursing well, and I know the next weeks will be an adjustment. I just feel so in love with him and grateful for a great pregnancy, delivery, and precious baby. God was with us- He always is- and He will be with us as we move forward as a family of 5.