Zoe's Birth Story

We had our baby and it's a girl! Zoe James was born on Saturday, May 21 at 7:40am and what a crazy day it was! 

It was a few months ago at one of our midwife appointments that my midwife asked me, “So, when is this baby coming?” I said “May 21^st!” It was the next week I was driving and saw a billboard that said the rapture was happening on May 21^st! Jon and I both liked the idea that our baby would be born on the day of the rapture! I thought it would be a week late from out May 15th due date and I like the 21st for many other reasons too. It seemed with each passing day after our due date that it would be possible for the baby to come on the 21st.

On Friday May 20th, we went to Costco to walk the baby out and get some groceries we would need for the next few weeks.  We came home and I repacked the bags for the birth to make sure we had everything we needed. I also cleaned the house a little. We ate dinner and then went to Jack Block Park to walk the baby out some more. It was a perfect night in Seattle, warm and clear. We walked around the park, up and down stairs and took time to enjoy the amazing view of Seattle and each other. Jon made me do a few jumping jacks, which made us both laugh a lot! We left the park and went to get a movie and some ice cream. We decided to go to an estate sale the next day in the morning to get a early start on the day. After the movie around midnight, I told Jon we had to get to bed early. I said “We have a big day tomorrow, we have the estate every sale to go to and we are having the baby!” So, off to bed we went!

At 2am I woke up to pee and went back to bed. Then at 4am I woke up again, but this time with contractions. I started timing them and they were coming about every three to four minutes and lasting about one minute. I timed them for about a half an hour and then woke up Jon. I told him he should call the midwives and let them know our labor had started. I went to the bathroom and was having contractions on the toilet. I had been able to breathe through the contraction and manage them. Jon brought me the phone and it was Tina our midwife. She listened to me having a contraction and timed it. She told me that it was a little shorter than a minute and it sounded like I handled it well. She told us to call her back after they progress some more. I went to lie back down on the bed and had a contraction that I couldn’t manage as well. No position was comfortable. I had to move around from lying down to on all fours and then the next came and it was harder than the last. I moved to kneeling on the floor next to the bed and resting my arms and head on the bed, which didn’t help either. The contractions were getting stronger and I couldn't get comfortable, I just kept moving around to try to get in a comfortable position. I had to scream and yell to cope with them. They hurt badly and i couldn't catch by breathe between them.

Meanwhile, I had written a list of last minute things we needed to collect and pack before going. Jon was running around checking things off of the list. He also called Megan his sister who was going to be our doula at the birth. She got ready and headed down to help us at home with the contractions and then come with us to the birth center.  Jon would come in and ask how I was doing, but mostly rushed around the house and started packing things into the car. He called Tina again and she heard me yelling in the back ground and told us to come in. About that time Megan showed up and she came into the bedroom to help me with the contractions. My hips and back were killing me, so she pushed on my hips and told me to yell lower in a deep moan. I tried doing that, it felt foreign and weird, but I noticed it did help a little. Jon came into the room and said we were all ready to go. Megan said we should wait until the next contraction is over and that I might have another contraction on the way to the car. I did as we got to the car door. I braced myself with the door and the roof of the car. I screamed more.  

I was not happy about having to get into the car, I knew that the car ride was going to be rough. I was having contractions every few minutes. It felt like a freight train was loose and coming at me. It was nothing like what I had read in the birthing books. I had heard contractions could feel like a wave in the ocean coming in and breaking and retreating. I had pictured being able to breathe through the wave calmly quietly. I had told Jon I am not a screamer and will probably be calm and quiet and he didn’t have to worry! He and I had watched a DVD of three births at a birth center and one lady screamed the whole time, which scared both of us. I thought I wouldn’t be like that at all, but I had no that it would be that intense and hurt that much.

We headed to the birth center. Luckily it was Saturday morning and there was no traffic. I was having a hard time with the contractions, I couldn’t get comfortable and my back felt like it was breaking. I was scared and tired; I wasn’t sure how much more I could take of this. If it was going to be hours longer I thought I would probably not be able to handle it. The next contraction hit me hard while we were on the West Seattle bridge and I told them, “I can’t do this anymore! “ Little did I know that I was going to through transition at this point, which is the hardest part of labor.  I had about four more contractions before we got to the birth center. I couldn’t have been more relieved when we finally got there.

Tina and Cindy a midwife student intern met us at the door of the birth center and we went down stairs into the birthing room. I had wanted to labor in the tub, I saw it was filled and all I wanted to do was get in it. Tina told me to go bathroom and pee again before she checked me. While I was sitting there Tina tried taking my blood pressure and Cindy tried listening to the baby’s heartbeat. I had another contraction, so they waited until it was over. They wanted to move me to. the bed, so I stood up and had another really strong contraction I felt the need to push. I braces myself on a table close by, Megan pushed on my hips. When that contraction was over I had another one right after that. During this time Jon was unloading the car and was finally done as I got on the bed for them to check me. Tina took her time and was trying to figure out if I was fully dilated or fully closed. She could hardly believe how fast this was happening. Finally she said "okay you are fully dilated and can begin pushing!" This was about 7:15am. She had me get on all fours on the bed. Jon put on Pandora. Mumford and Sons came on. The song was Awake My Soul played which was perfect for that moment. It helped relax me and help me pace myself. Jon was by my head comforting, supporting, and encouraging me. The hard contractions stopped and came further apart as the baby dropped further. They checked the babies heartbeat and they told me the position wasn’t good for the baby and they had me move over to the birthing stool. Jon sat behind me on the bed supporting me. The stool wasn’t comfortable, it was making my back hurt, but I didn’t move because they told me they could see the baby’s head. I pushed again and they asked if I wanted to touch the head. I said, “No?” I couldn’t believe that we were already at this point. Where was the hours of labor? Why did I pack snacks and food for Jon for the hour we would be there? Why did I make a huge play list on my ipod? Why wasn’t I in the tub relaxing? Where was the wave like contractions?
All of these thoughts ran through my head, until Tina said “Okay, next time you push it will be out!” I didn’t really believe her, but I thought “okay, if it makes all of this stop then I will try!”The next time I felt the need to push I push hard with everything I had in me. The baby flew out and surprised everyone! It was 7:40am. I thought she fell on the ground, but Jon assured me that Cindy caught her! They handed me our baby and a blanket and I held it in my arms amazed. We waited until the cord stopped pulsating before cutting it.  It was a couple of minutes before I asked Jon to look and see what sex the baby was. He looked and told us that it was a girl! We were so excited! 

They moved us back to the bed and I held our little girl and started nursing her. I started shaking and got covered with a blanket. They let me nurse for awhile. Jon got on the phone and started calling people.  Then he came  back over and they asked us if we had a name for her. We checked with each other and agreed that we had a name and I told everyone, “her name is Zoe James!” Zoe is a name we both love and it means abundant life. James is after Jon’s Grandpa who passed away this year. At his funeral we talked about using his name for our baby’s middle name, Jon asked me, what if it's a girl? II started saying James with first names we liked. I said "Zoe James?" And we both liked it. It felt right and from then on I thought we would have our Zoe James even though we didn’t know the sex of the baby.

Tina and Cindy took Zoe to weigh her and check her out. She was 7 pounds 11 oz. and 21 inches long. Later she was measured again was 19 ¾ inches long. They also checked me out. It ended up that I tore and they were worried about the amount of tearing. They couldn’t tell for sure and had Heather another one of our midwives come and give a second option. She agreed that it looked deep and that we should probably go to the hospital to get it looked at. I was worried about this, but they assured me that it would not be complicated and they wouldn’t have to touch Zoe. So, we got Zoe dressed and in her car seat and Jon repacked the car. I got cleaned up and dressed and we all loaded up into the cars and headed to the hospital.

We got to the hospital and I peed, which meant I didn’t need and catheter. They used local anesthetic and stitched me up. We were out of the hospital by 12pm and on our way home, but first we stopped by Jimmy John’s for a sandwich. Don’t worry Megan ran in and we ate them on the way home in the car not at the restaurant! It was a crazy morning. I couldn’t believe how fast Zoe’s delivery went. It still amazes me today.  It felt great, except for some pain from the stitches. I was energized and felt really good. Not too long after we got home my parents made it to our house and got to see their new Granddaughter. They didn’t get to be at the birth, but in the end that didn’t seem to matter. Everyone was just enjoying Zoe! What a crazy day it was!