HG's birth story... Finally!

It took me a while, but it's finished. Here is Hannah's birth story.


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Hannah Grace Lyon’s Birth Story

Born 6/7/2010 at 4:44PM

As we approached Hannah’s due date I experienced all kinds of emotions. I remembered approaching the due date for my first born and being filled with excitement and wonder. This time around however I knew the pain I would endure and just hoped that it wouldn’t last as long this time. I braced myself for another mental and physical marathon that would test me like no other experience. I was in labor with Blaine for 29 hours and I came away battered, beat down and not really knowing what hit me but thankful it was over! But here I was doing it again.

Friday, June 4^th came and went (the day that Blaine—our almost 2½ year old told us Hannah was “coming over”) and in my frustration and misery decided to mow the lawn. Yes, mow the lawn. On Saturday June 5^th, at almost 40 weeks pregnant in the Texas heat I was out there mowing the front and the back yards. I am surprised that no-one called CPS concerned about my unborn child! Well it got something going—but it wasn’t what I had planned.

I woke up Sunday morning, the 6^th, sick as a dog. I had not been that nauseous in a long time so it got me thinking that maybe this was a sign of pre-labor. I made it to church but had to leave the service because the music was shaking my body and I was feeling even worse. I waited outside for David and Blaine and when the service was over we rushed home and I immediately collapsed into bed. I slept for a few hours and then some really strong contractions hit, followed by multiple trips to the bathroom. In fact, I laid next to the toilet most of the day—it was not a pretty sight. I couldn’t take in any food or water all day without losing it. I was absolutely miserable. David finally gave our doula, Jessica, a call and she said that I probably was going into the early stages of labor and to keep her posted, but not to be worried. I finally started feeling better around 9:00 pm but I was so sore from lying around all day that I did not want to go to bed, plus sleeping hasn’t been all that easy so I wasn’t that that excited about trying to sleep. However, I did manage to fall asleep and I logged in a good four hours before labor began. Around 3:00 am, the real deal started. Contractions were about 9 minutes apart—pretty weak but very consistent. Then around 4:00 am they increased in intensity and duration and every hour after that they seemed to change. I let David sleep and walked around the house, managing pretty well on my own. David got Blaine ready for the day and off to school around 8:00 am while I continued to manage the pain. While David was gone I spent time getting our bags by the door and packing the last few things I needed. I showered and put on my ‘work’ clothes (J) and enjoyed these last few moments as a pregnant (and relatively comfortable) mama. Jessica, our doula, came over around 9:45 am and David arrived home from taking Blaine and dropping by work around 10:00. Now the real fun was to begin.

I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees, crawling around on the ground, on my birthing ball, and in the shower. I listened to meditative music that was played in my yoga classes and I tried to let my mind go to peaceful places both during and in between contractions, despite the intense pain I was experiencing. Both Jessica and David kept me drinking plenty of fluids and I managed to get down a bagel with peanut butter and a yogurt in between contractions. I also did a lot of walking, which seemed to bring on stronger contractions (I knew I needed to open my cervix more and more and walking certainly did the trick). As we approached 1:00 pm the pain was becoming unbearable and I was having horrendous back labor that brought me to tears every few minutes with each contraction. Jessica and David took turns pushing my hips together and applying pressure to my back which relieved a lot of that back labor pain. Finally around 1:30 pm I said it was time to go to the hospital and hoped and prayed that I had dilated significantly. David called the doctor and they wanted me to come to the office! The office!? Was that a joke? Apparently they don’t like to send patients to the hospital unless they are certain the woman is in labor. While I could understand that, there was no mistaking my pain and there was no way I was going to the office, so after another hour of laboring at home we headed straight to the hospital. One quick car ride and three contractions later I was in a wheel chair being taken to my labor and delivery room. Nurses asked a flurry of questions on the ride up the elevator in between contractions and then rushed me right into my room. I got on the bed and after they checked baby’s heart rate and my vitals Kathy Harrison-Short, the (amazing and wonderful) midwife on call, checked my cervix and I was… 8.5 cm dilated (YAY!) I cried tears of joy because I had accomplished so much in that time at home—just what I had hoped for. While I celebrated, Kathy and the nurse rushed to prepare for delivery. Through the next five contractions Jessica and David applied pressure to my back and Kathy massaged my feet and when they checked again I was at 10 cm and ready to push. I was so scared that I was going to get stuck at 9cm again (like I did with Blaine) but David, Kathy, Jessica and my nurse assured me that I was well on my way to delivering this baby and this was a different birth than my first. They were all so positive and reassuring that I knew they were right. I finally said that I was ready to push and everyone got into position.

One small obstacle—my water had not broken so they gave me the option to push or have it ruptured but said things would move much more quickly if they ruptured it so I gave the go-ahead. As soon as Kathy did this, Hannah moved down further and within 20 minutes, after some serious breathing and pushing, she came out. Kathy noted that I did not have any tears (awesome!) and Hannah Grace Lyon was delivered right to my stomach, David cut the cord and she didn’t need to be taken away because she had great color and was breathing fine. David and I got to hold her and love on her and then the nurse took her to be weighed. She weighed in at 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. She spent the next hour nursing (like a champ, I might add) and then went to the nursery with her dad for her first bath.

The rest of the story is literally another story… we were supposed to be released from the hospital 48 hours later but a positive blood culture came back which landed Hannah Grace a two day stay in the NICU. Thankfully, it ended up being nothing and she came home with us completely healthy. I was grateful to have another completely natural birth and might even do it again someday! J I could not have asked for a better experience or a more amazing birth team.

Blaine, her big brother (by 2 years and 3½ months) was excited to hold her and kiss his “beautiful Hannah”. And beautiful she is!