Our Birth Story

Our Birth Story
Cannon Knox Thompson
December 27, 2012
1:17 pm 7lbs 5 ounces and 20 inches long
God answers prayer. I've heard people say this a trillion times. And I know that it is true...but I had never personally experienced this undeniable truth on such an intimate level until the birth of our third son.
This is our story of the natural hospital birth of Cannon Knox Thompson.
I prayed for the ability to carry a full term baby. Check! My 38-week appointment was on December 26th. I had been in prodromal labor for at least one week. I was tired. We were tired...all the nights of contractions that were as close as 3-4 minutes apart, lasting for up to one hour. And then they would stop. We did this over and over....and I had myself convinced that I would never have true labor! I'd be pregnant for the rest of my life! Not to mention, my previous births were at 35 and 36 weeks! We were so blessed to still be pregnant and to carry a "term" baby! I had been 2cm and 50% effaced for over one month, and this appointment wasn't much different. I was closer to 3cm and slightly more effaced. I feared not getting to the hospital in time because our most recent labor was 3 hrs. Start. To. Finish!
Dr. M offered to perform a membrane sweep. My exhaustion from all the nights of prodromal labor was obvious and despite being such an advocate for natural birth, I was not at all opposed to a membrane sweep if that would put an end to prodromal and begin REAL labor! I had always heard that a sweep was painful...False. My doctor believed that I was in early labor. I was contracting in her office. She promised the sweep would only start labor if my body was ready and if it wasn't, nothing would happen. I hated to intervene with the sweep but it was way better than my arch nemesis...pitocin! I left her office feeling no differently and with no more contractions than I considered my normal amount. I shopped with my mother-in-law, hubby, and Knox’s big brothers, Sam and Chap then returned home...feeling like the sweep didn't work and assuming the baby and I weren't really ready.
I prayed for my labor to begin naturally. Check! I woke up at midnight with mild contractions that began in my back and migrated towards the front. I had passed my remaining mucus plug with a small amount of blood. I went back to bed and was up again at 2. Then 4. By 4:30ish the surges were WAY more powerful and about 5 minutes apart lasting 40-60 seconds each. I stayed up and recorded them in my contraction app on my handy dandy iPhone until 5:15. I woke up my husband Chivas, and we laid in bed until 6ish...too excited to fall back to sleep. We got up, showered, and finished packing our bags and birth things. We made sure the camera battery was charged and double-checked our lists to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything. I called the number on the hot pink "labor" sheet given to me at my last appointment. The nurse called back to tell us Dr. M wanted us to come to the hospital! Eeeeekkk is this even real?!?! We were very excited and a little nervous.
I prayed for my doctor to be available to help us deliver our baby...CHECK!
We took our sweet, precious time to get there. Contractions were strengthening but I never felt like I was pressed for time. We even dropped by Wal-Mart in Flowood to get another birth ball...mine had been destroyed by our boys Sam and Chap. Big surprise, I know! We were admitted and met our Labor & Delivery nurse, Shelley.
I prayed for a nurse that would respect my birth plan and be supportive. Double-freaking CHECK! When I say that Shelley was perfect, I mean like Divine-Intervention-perfect! Like, all the stars aligned and God plucked her from the droves of L&D nurses and placed her in OUR life. She knew our wishes and our plan before she laid her sweet, empathetic eyes on me and my big baby bump. Thanks to Dr. M, who spoke with Shelley before we arrived, our room was prepared for our birth, and we never had to explain our wishes. She knew. After explaining to us that she was putting me in the driver's seat, and we
would do what I wanted to do WHEN I wanted to do it, we started the process!
I changed into a gown, and we chatted while Shelley put in my saline lock. I did not have IV fluids which allowed me to labor around the room and pretty much wherever I wished without dragging an IV pole around. The saline lock was for emergency access only. One of my birth plan wishes granted:-)
Surges were continuing to strengthen in intensity and duration. I asked to have my cervix checked. I was at 4cm. Another birth plan wish...only to have my cervix checked when I asked for it. Shelley was finishing my admissions paper work and suddenly my water broke! I was so shocked! I had NEVER had a spontaneous membrane rupture during my 2 prior labors! I knew that labor would really jump start after this but honestly, at this point, I was comfy. Hardly any pain. Surges were like menstrual cramps. No. Big. Deal! I could do this...with a smile on my face! Or so I thought...
I prayed that I would tolerate labor confidently and remember my breathing and visualization techniques...CHECK! Thank you, God.
I am adamant about this labor belief: up to 4 cm, a mother can speak through her contractions. From 5-7, she can speak between her contractions. From 8-10 she doesn't want to speak at all...her mind and body must be concentrated on working with each surge. TRUTH! I stayed on my birth ball throughout my entire labor. I would walk to the bathroom to pee and get right back on that lovely ball! Chivas lowered the bed as low as it would go, and I labored beside it, my arms and chest resting on a pillow on the bed. It was the one and only position that I felt I could survive in!
I prayed that Chivas would use the information on birth that I taught him to help me through surges and remain my source of strength and security. CHECK!
Oh my goodness, I love him. Knox's birth was truly an outcome of marital teamwork. We made Knox together; we birthed Knox together. I give Chivas just as much credit as I give myself for laboring and delivering naturally. His input in our birth story is this:1) His life was completely changed and it was the most gratifying, soul touching experience of his life. 2) Daddy's should either wear knee pads or bring one of those gardening knee cushions to the birth! He spent A LOT of time on his knees behind me, rubbing my back, applying counter pressure to my hips and snuggling/nuzzling in general. His. Knees. Hurt. I'm really enjoying the fact that he now thinks I am "amazing" and "super woman"!
I prayed for a calm, dimly lit, mother directed delivery. CHECK!
Surges were barreling towards me...one on top of the next. Y'all it was INTENSE. At this point I was a good 7cm...closer to 8. I don't recall the time, only that the transition period lasted 30 or 40 minutes. Thank God for that! I breathed...more like huffed. I rotated my hips on the birth ball and could feel my baby moving down through my body, through my bones. I was in the zone. I heard nothing Chivas or Shelley said. I kept my eyes closed and pooled every ounce of concentration into making it through each surge. One by one by one by one...I was doing it. It sucked. There are truly no words to describe that 8-10 transition period. It's primal. It's raw. It's the most alive I have ever felt in my entire life. I knew my body was in control. It knew exactly what to do. My job was to let it work. To let each surge push my baby down, putting pressure on my cervix to make it just 2 more cm. I moaned lowly and it felt so good...I always said I wouldn't be noisy but it helped so much.
This was the time when I let the intensity of the surges BREAK ME DOWN! I had to pee...I had to get to the bathroom. I let my concentration break and after peeing I laid on the bed, completely consumed by the power of the surges. It was my "I can't do this anymore" moment. I remember Shelley saying "Lauren, you are going to get up! The baby's head is pressing down SO HARD on your cervix and if you get up, the little bit that's left will dissolve away and you'll be finished!" Hmmm...I'll be finished?!? That sounded so good! I remember reading this out of one of my birth books "When you feel like you can't go any further, you're almost there"! So tempted by being finished, I got my miserable ass back on that ball! Mere minutes later, Chivas touched his mouth to my ear and said "Honey, you are grunting"...Oh my goodness I WAS! I knew I needed to have my cervix checked...my body was grunting and bearing down during each surge. I remember thinking that this was what I've read about, it's what I've watched on a million videos. I was ready to birth my baby!
Somehow, I mustered up the energy to move my body onto the bed. I was exhausted...and I couldn't believe it was almost over. I got back onto the bed and sure enough, I was 10cm! I had a tiny lip left of cervix, and Dr. M allowed my next 2 contractions to move it aside. The surgical tech came in and set up, and the baby's nurse watched quietly in the corner. They all knew I wanted it quiet. And they were all indeed quiet...I barely noticed them. They placed a towel under my bottom, and Dr. M threw on a gown and gloves. The lights were low...just as I had wished. No one pulled out the horrible stirrups, no one raised their voice to count to ten.
None of that BS. I positioned myself on my left side...it was comfortable. My left leg was on the bed, barely bent. My right leg was bent and pulled up close to me. I wrapped my hands around the left side bed rail and I gently grunted, pushing my baby down through my body. No one in the room spoke, other than the low-toned instructions passed between doctor, nurse and tech to prep for delivery. They all patiently waited for me to decide it was time to give a good push. I was surprised at how gentle the urge to push was. I wasn't sure what Chivas was doing but I could feel his hands on my leg. I appreciated that gentle reassurance. Dr. M sat her petite self on the foot of my bed, ready to assist me. I loved how relaxed everything was. I had a good, strong surge and gave it my all. He crowned.
I prayed for a healthy, black-headed baby boy. CHECK!
I pushed a couple more times, only when I was ready. Dr. M kindly asked me to push a little more gently, to avoid a tear. The biggest surprise about natural birth was the fact that pushing is not at all painful! Dare I say, it even felt good! Pushing=relief! Knox's head was out, and I was ready to hold my baby! So I pushed HARD! Against my doctor's suggestion...being hard-headed won me a small periurethral laceration. I felt my skin tear but it was not painful at all. That last push birthed my sweet baby! I did it! I did it!
Oh that sweet face, that freshly born smell, the look on my husband's face...it was heaven as far as I'm concerned. Our black-headed baby boy was perfect. He was immediately laid on my tummy, crying that sweet, new cry. We stared at him and wiped his face. We gawked at how much he looked like his black-headed Daddy. My placenta was delivered and Dr. M debated on whether or not my tear could use a stitch. She quickly stitched while my adrenaline was still coursing through my body. And no, I didn't feel it when she stitched. No pain. At. All. A mother's body knows what to do...my brain sent out its army of natural painkillers as I enjoyed my brand-spankin' new son. I nursed him while his placenta continued to pulse all those nice stem cells and highly-oxygenated blood into his sweet body. We delayed cord clamping until his cord finished pulsing and turned white with emptiness. Another birth plan wish, done!
I prayed for this birth to go as planned and for a healthy, safe result. CHECK!
Yes, God does indeed answer prayer.