Severan Joseph Arrives! (Birth Story)

My eviction notice eventually worked... though I am sure it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Severan actually being ready to join our family.

If you don't enjoy the details of a birth story, you might want to scroll down to the pictures ;)

Around 10:30 am on Sunday morning, January 13th,  I began having contractions.  I knew we had to be getting close to "the day" since I was five days overdue but having had several false alarms in the previous weeks (when I was sure labor would be starting) I wasn't holding my breath.  Finally though, around 5:30 pm, I called my midwife to get her opinion.  She asked if my contractions had increased in intensity and duration over the last few hours and since my answer was 'no' she told me to eat dinner and go to bed at home but to "get organized and get ready to come to the hospital."  We did just that.  Both kids went to bed knowing that we might not be there in the morning, I alerted our superstar kid-watchers and eventually we headed to bed.  But, that didn't last long.  Around 10:00 pm that whole "intensity and duration" thing happened and David said he knew it was time to go because I began to sound different as I breathed through contractions that were lasting about a minute long and coming one after another, and sounded pretty much like a wounded wild animal!  We got the midwife on the phone and she said it was TIME! :)  Happy, happy, joy, joy!

David called Ali (night-time and morning kid-sitter extraordinaire) and Sarah (morning and day-time kid-sitter extraordinaire) and let them know we needed to go to the hospital.  As David packed up the vehicle and made me a snack I got myself in the car and prayed this labor and delivery would be short and sweet.  Ali arrived within minutes and we were off.

The hospital we delivered at was pretty far from our house (considering Blaine and HG were delivered at a hospital that was under ten minutes away from our old house) so thank God we went in the middle of the night as there was no traffic.  We had my special baby music playing the whole time - music I had picked out and been playing for Sev and I for months prior to his arrival.  I am sure David and the L&D nurses get sick of hearing the same songs on repeat, but it is a wonderful meditative practice to me!  The song I listened to the most was by Hillsong United and is titled "Oceans."  Meditating on the lyrics and hearing the soothing music were a great comfort to me through the waves of intense contractions.  Here are the lyrics, which I absolutely love.

"You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"

We arrived in our room around 1:00 am I suppose.  The team got to work preparing my antibiotic that needed to be administered because I was Group B Strep positive and they asked me tons of questions.  Finally they checked my cervix and I was a disappointing 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced.  After my antibiotic was done and baby was found to have a strong heartbeat they unhooked me from everything and I hopped into the jacuzzi tub for over an hour.  After that I went to the birthing ball, moved on to hang on David's shoulders and finally ended up on my side in the bed, where I spent most of my time and felt most comfortable.  In the middle of all these position changes we discovered that (like Blaine) Severan was presenting sunny-side up and the lip of my cervix was not coming over his head so I couldn't start pushing, though I knew it was time.  Misery began to set in for me as I began to remember how long we waited for these two things to come together when Blaine was born: forever!  As we approached the 5:00 am hour I had been in very painful back labor for almost 10 hours and knew that I needed some relief so I requested a pain reliever in my IV to take the edge off.  While the painful contractions didn't lessen I was able to rest in between contractions and this was HUGE for me in terms of being able to recover and prepare for the next wave of pain.  The medicine only lasted 30-45 minutes but it felt like an eternity to me because there was real rest.  My nurse also administered a bag of fluids for hydration and that allowed my contractions to space out a bit more which made them more manageable.  Don't get me wrong... I still cried and continued to complain that I was not going to make it but "Team Severan" wouldn't let me give in and David knew I didn't want an epidural, so he was my #1 fan and encourager!  At 6:00 am they checked me again and I was 7.5 cm dilated (YAY!) After a short celebration and high fives I continued to labor and at 7:30 am the nurse and midwife made a plan to get baby around my cervix so I could push.  They put me in the "Queen of Sheba" position (I'll spare you the details), my midwife went in and held my cervix while I 'gently' pushed his head past that last bit.  AND IT WORKED!  Amen!  And then the real work began.  It felt sooooo good to begin pushing.  Wow!  After about ten minutes of pushing I asked how much longer and I got the typical "you're almost there.  Not much longer." answer - which did NOT satisfy me.  I begged for a number and when I threw out there "6 more pushes?" they agreed!  It's funny now, I think. :)  She asked if I wanted to feel his head coming out and my answer was the same as it was for the other two kids when I was asked this: "NO!  Get him out and I'll feel his whole head!!!!" And I'm happy to report that he was out in just four more pushes.  :)

Arriving at 8:31 am on January 13th, 2014 was our third born, beautiful baby boy, Severan Joseph Lyon.  He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds and 14 ounces (wow) and was 20.5 inches long.

I hope Severan always remembers that double
chin I developed and endured for him.

They let us do delayed cord clamping.  David is
clamping the cord after it had stopped pulsating.

So glad it's over and he is finally here!

He loved his first bath.

Brother and Sister meet Sev for the first time.

Mimi and her third grand-baby.

We were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday morning and have been adjusting well at home.

A huge thank you to Ms.Ali and Aunt Sarah for:

A. Putting up with my "I think I'm in labor.  Oh wait, just kidding." texts.
B. Taking care of our kids and making them feel comfortable and loved while we were gone.
C. Being awesome women that made my going to the hospital so much easier!  

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all you did for us!

And to my baby's daddy :) David - you were the best support person in that room for me.  Both the nurse and the midwife complemented on how awesome you were in there.  Your calm, your words of encouragement, your strength (which helped relieve my back labor), and your believe in me got me through those difficult 12+ hours of labor and delivery.  I love you so much.  Thank you.

Welcome to our family, Severan.  We're wild, we're crazy, we're fun and we LOVE you so much.

HG's birth story... Finally!

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


-->

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!