This is the birth story of me birthing my beautiful daughter. I love hearing other births stories, especially now that I am a doula, so I decided to share mine. They are so unique and different. I wish that I had a doula with each of my births now that I know what a difference it can make. I am pretty lucky though. This was my longest labor, but only 6 hours. As a birth photographer, I love capturing the story. Looking back I wish I had a photo story of her birth. I had no pictures from this birth at all. She was so tiny but chunked up with my good mother's milk. I love this photo of her when she was still super chunky. She really does have the energy and sweetness of an angel, just as she looks here.
A funny story….when I was pregnant with Savanna I was nervous that I would not have a ride to the hospital because we had one vehicle to share between Jay and I. He worked construction at the time where most of the day he was no where near a phone. I made him carry a pager so I could reach him on the job which turned out not to be necessary. One day I was working in the garden and felt a little twinge of pain inside so I decided to lay down and take a nap. I woke up and there was a little water in the bed. I simply thought I could not hold my bladder anymore from so much pressure. It was the weekend and Jay was home. I told him that I would just run myself to Davis Hospital up the street to get checked. I told Jay not to worry that I would be back soon (I still can't believe I left him home...I guess we didn't need the pager lol). In my mind there was no way for me to have the baby that early. My in-laws were going camping and my mother-in-law said don't have the baby while we are gone and I assured her not to worry. I still had 5 weeks to go before my due date and did not want to get overly excited so at that point I had not even packed a bag for the hospital stay. When I got there they told me that my water had broke and that I was staying at the hospital and having the baby. So I called Jay and asked him to find a ride which turned out to be a challenge since his first ride broke down in the driveway. I was planning to have a natural birth and when Jay got there my dad and my friend Marissa where already there. I told them that I was there and they just showed up. They never asked and Jay and I never talked about it beforehand. I wished that we had. I could tell Jay was not sure what to do and I did not either. I knew I wanted him close to me though. He felt uncomfortable around the others there so he stayed across the room and I started to cry. A nurse thought I was in pain and she offered me a narcotic drug to take off the edge. I told her I didn’t care at that point. I just needed her to come out soon. I was just so afraid that she was not going to be ok since she was so early and I had a brother that died because he came too early. He was the baby born just after me. I had some trauma and fear to work through. They gave me the drugs and I hated it. I was so tired and wished someone could just wake me up when it was over. It was a strange feeling to feel the pain but just not care about feeling it. Savanna was born shortly after that, about a half an hour. My friend Marissa was coaching me a little telling me to direct all of my energy down to push the baby out. I only had to push a few times and she was out. It was amazing. Marissa cut the cord since Jay did not want. Savanna was born on April 11, 1998 at 10:42pm weighing 5lb 9oz on a full moon. She was so tiny but completely healthy and I was so happy. That night I could not sleep because I could not stop looking at her. Her beauty shined so bright. She would have been my easiest natural unmedicated birth since she was so early and so small but I forgave myself for that. I had a hard time nursing her for the first day but later I realized that she was a bit drugged up herself and was sotired. The nurse was so rude when I asked for help with breastfeeding. She asked "did you even take a breastfeeding class?" I responded "Yes, I took two". She was no help to me. I wish someone would have told me that the drugs could effect her, especially if she was born quickly after me receiving them. I judged myself harshly in beginning and that was not necessary. She was great at nursing after that. I was so amazed that my body could do that, just open up and let a baby out. She has eased me into motherhood in so many ways. I love being Savanna’s mother. She teaches me so much!
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