London Iris

So it looks like I haven't blogged in nearly 2 years 😁. So instead of catch up, I'll just start again from where we are in life. 

The newest Edenfield baby is here! Her name is London Iris, born August 2, 2014 at 1:01am. 8 pounds 4 ounces 20 and 3/4 inches long. She made her grand entrance into the world through water birth. So this post will be the story of her birth (pictures included)!

{August 1}

So around 3am on Friday morning I woke up with a strange feeling, walked to the bathroom like most pregnant women do every single 15 minutes, and then I realized that my water had broke. It wasn't a huge gush like you see in movies, it was slow (lasted 24 hours to be exact)! So I went back to bed, woke again around 5am and called the midwives. They told me to time the contractions and then to come in after they were 4-5 minutes apart. They got really close and strong so around 7am we decided to shower, pack, get ready, then head to the hospital. 

With this birth I decided to use a midwife and do a water birth and  the closest place was in Atlanta. So I called my sister and my mom and they both headed toward Atlanta too. By the time we got to Douglasville, from Carrollton, my contractions had stopped. 

Totally stopped. 

(insert tears and confusion)

So I called again and told the midwife that everything had stopped and she said that I would need to come in to make sure that it was my water that had broke. We still had Lyla with us and we decided to take her with us since we weren't totally sure as to what was going to happen. (In the middle of this, poor Kyle, I think I went through every emotion possible, and he just took it like a champ. Understanding, loving, and compassionate husband who wasn't about to complain because I was about to push this baby out naturally! Ha!)

We went to Intown Midwifery around 3pm and I had a check up. 

They confirmed that my water had broken and that sometimes with pregnancy this type of water breaking situation happens, not often, but it does happen. Usually when water breaks it results in full on labor, then a baby, wahoo! But in my case they would let me go 24-48 hours before they would have to try to induce (cringe at that word). When they said that tears began to roll and my midwife was just awesome. She knew about my first birth experience with Lyla, being induced with pitocin and having her naturally on my back (cringe again). So she began to talk me through everything and she said, "Jessica you're going to have your baby girl and it will happen on your bodies time and everything is going to be amazing!" So she hooked me up to a monitor for about 20 minutes to make sure everything was ok with London. 

After everything looked good Anjli, my midwife, told me to go home, get some rest, and that the baby would be here sooner rather than later. 

The funny thing is that from my first appointment at Intown I wanted either Anjli or Julie to deliver me. Julie has little ones at home so she doesn't catch babies right now, but she is still fully engaged with the practice and everything that goes on there. So when my water broke there was a different midwife on call (ALL the midwives at Intown are phenomenal! Its just that feeling of connecting with someone and I had that with Julie and Anjli), so I was a little bummed, but when I got to the office Anjli was there and she said that she was on call next! Julie was actually doing Anjli's 37 week check up when I got there. 

Side note: Anjli was 37 weeks pregnant when she helped me have London!!

Ok so back to the story. I decided I wanted to try and walk this baby out so we met my mom at Lenox Mall and walked, and walked, and walked, until I was just exhausted. I gave up and said we should just go home. So we started back to Carrollton from Atlanta (yes the driving to Atlanta is a pain but so so so so worth it!!) At the Six Flags exit it hit me... WHAM! Contraction! WHAM! contraction again! It was so strong and intense and they were close. So we met my mom in douglasville and she took Lyla to my aunt Dawn then headed up to the hospital. (Contractions in the car are no fun, so uncomfortable, plus bumps along the way. I was READY to be at the hospital) 

Kyle and I got to Atlanta Medical around 9pm and they had me on a monitor to check London to make sure everything was ok. The monitor only had to be on for 20 minutes just to make sure everything was normal and looking good since my water had been broken for a long time. Anjli checked me, because I asked her to, and I was dilated to a 6! After she checked me I went to the shower. Wish I would've taken a picture of it, but it was a nice shower. I labored sitting on the birthing ball with hot water running down my back while they set up the tub. Anjli was there the whole time. She would go check on other mommas and take breaks and rest some, but she was there and I loved that.

Once contractions had gotten really strong I got in the tub. No monitors or IV's. Halleluah for birthing tubs! 

#whydidntidothisthefirsttime

I labored this way ^, and found a spot on the wall to focus on during contractions. I feel like laboring in a tub was a lot less painful than when I had Lyla. With Lyla I almost gave up when I was dilated to a 6, but Kyle said, "Jessica you know you want to have her naturally, you have made it this far, you are going to do this, you can do this!" Best supporter I have and he is my #1 fan. I'm one blessed girl for sure. 

At times the pain was so strong that I accidentally closed my eyes and dear goodness when you close your eyes (for me at least) the pain is so much more intense! So I had to refocus, which when contractions are coming close and strong its hard to sit back and simply take a breather. 

I'm pretty sure I lost it once she was crowning! The pain was so intense! No amount of water can make crowning less painful! And I don't know if it was the way I was sitting or what, but the front was just burning like crazy. Just being real. Kyle thought I was going to jump out of the tub at one point, well maybe I did try to out-jump the pain (WHAT?!?! who knows I was birthing a baby!) but Anjli pulled me right back down and told me to refocus and that she was almost there. Anjli massaged my back, poured warm water on my back, and was awesome. 

{August 2}

So coolest part, before crowning, was when I asked Anjli what was next, like what did I need to do. She looked at me and said, 

"Your body was made to do this, you will know. You will feel it and you will know when to push. And then you will push out your baby girl, catch her in the water, and hold her for the first time. You will deliver your baby girl."

And I did.

I felt her come out, sat back on my heals, London floated up to me, and I held my sweet girl for the first time. She was so quiet, so peaceful. Transitioning from the womb to the world was peaceful. There wasn't cold air hitting her little body or bright lights all in her face, and she wasn't screaming loud. She was just calm, being held by her mommy in warm water. It was perfect. 

After looking at her we sat her up and gave her a pat on the back and she coughed and then cried for the first time. It was so sweet. Anjli kissed me on the head and told me how awesome I did. Y'all I cannot express how amazing it was having a midwife! She was there the entire time.

So amazing! 

After she was born I delivered the placenta, which is just fascinating, and Kyle held London for the first time. 

He is so awesome. Loves his girls so very much. He adores them! I just love watching him with them. He is a baby person and was so giddy seeing London for the first time. 

Then my support team, my cheerleaders, my hand holders, they all got to hold and see London.

Having my mom, my mother-in-law, and sister in there was so awesome. Nothing like being surrounded by the people who love you the most when you are welcoming your new baby into the world.

 

So London came into the world with her hand beside her head (hints the extra intense burning during crowning) and she kept her hand up there. Weeks after her birth she still slept with her hand up by her head. 

After I got situated in the bed I held London again. I uncovered her, looked at her little body, her long toes and fingers, her hairy little ears. So amazing! Birth is just awesome! Everything about it is so awesome. So cool to be able to take part in Gods miracles. Such an honor to be a mother. 

Nursing seemed to come a little easier this time around which is a blessing. Nursing is such an intimate thing that us mommas get to do with our babies. So rewarding and beautiful. 

(Unsolicited advice ahead)

This delivery was amazing! I feel like I can say this because I have had 2 totally different birthing experiences. I recommend it to everyone! (Eventually I'll do a post on why I love midwives and water birth) I love the one on one time with the midwives. I love how hands on they are. I love how caring they are. I love how encouraging they are. I love how supportive they are. I looked forward to all of my prenatal visits. I looked forward to the group sessions. Anjli was awesome. She had her little boy 7 days after I delivered London! 

So happy to have the newest member of our family here, healthy and happy! 

So blessed! Thank you Lord for this sweet miracle of life that you have given Kyle and I. 

So grateful that The Lord called Kyle and I to be parents of these two little girls.