Wally

We got to st. Joes around 1:30pm on January 17, after several visits to triage for high blood pressure and my blood sugars suddenly being low, the docs decided to schedule an induction at 37 weeks, so here we were, at 37 weeks, ready to welcome our baby boy into the world. Jimmy was excited and I was very nervous. Oh I was just so nervous, I much prefer to let babies come when they’re ready. I knew that for the health and safety for us both, that this was the right choice, but that knowledge could not calm my heart.

As excited as I was to meet my baby, as ready as I was for him to be in our arms, my nerves were winning the battle. Luckily, my husband’s excitement was infectious, and it calmed me just enough. The docs came in to check and I was only dilated to 3cm and baby was still sitting high, so we decided to try cervidil to get labor moving. After a few hours I was at 4cm, but baby was still sitting high and my blood pressure was creeping up so we decided to start pitocin. This was the part I was most nervous about so we decided to start the pitocin at 1 unit and only increase by 1 at a time- still hoping baby boy would easily accept his invitation to join our world. Contractions started picking up and getting uncomfortable and we figure “oh boy! He’s on his way!”, so, at 10:30pm on a Tuesday, we decided to call our doula, Hanna.

What we did not know was that my sweet baby boy was going to make us wait. He wanted to make an entrance. He would come see us when he wanted and not a moment sooner- we noticed a pattern after a few hours, we would increase the pitocin, contractions would get very intense and 1-2 minutes apart for an hour or 2 and then everything would stall. Over night and into the next morning Jimmy, Hanna and I ate snacks, bounced on the ball, talked, laughed and took turns resting. We felt so bad that we had called hanna in so early, but she never made us feel like she was anything less than happy and excited to be there with us. It was absolutely amazing having her there, Jimmy could sleep, she was able to support me through pitocin increases and helped keep our nerves at bay while we waited for baby boy to be ready. Wednesday morning I was still at 4cm and he was still sitting too high to break my water. I really, really did not want to take this from my body, from my son. I wanted this part to happen naturally. We agreed to hold off a bit longer and continued increasing pitocin and started talking about breaking my water when baby dropped a little more. By 2pm, more than 24 hours later, I was at 5cm but baby had dropped enough that breaking my water was possible. I was so emotional about it - still wanting this experience for us - but Jimmy and I talked, and with how slow things had progressed and I was getting tired, it just made sense.

So, just after 3pm the doctor broke my water. The nurse hooked me up to a portable monitor so I could try laboring in the shower, and within minutes the contractions were already getting much stronger. Jimmy and I got in the shower around 3:30pm to try and find some comfort. The contractions were right on top of each other, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe through. My husband has always been very in tune with me and my emotions , my needs, seeing me suffer was as hard in him as it was on me. Just as I started doubting myself, Hanna put on some music and would poke her head in the door and remind us that we were doing the hard things, that I was doing the hard part and it would all be worth it. For about 45 minutes of rough transition, Hanna was there cheering us on, my husband softly singing me our favorite songs and helping me to focus and breathe as I roared through contractions.

I was exhausted. I decided I couldn’t do this anymore, I needed rest. I sat down to go pee before heading to my bed and this was when my quirky, darling boy decides to tell me he’s ready. I hadn’t been sitting for more than a few seconds before I yelled “I have to poop!” quickly, followed by “I have to push!” Hanna came running in and planted herself out in front of me and then quickly ran out of the bathroom yelling “he’s crowning!” Seconds later, Hanna is back catching my beautiful little boy’s head as my husband grabbed his butt on the way out. As Hanna put him on my chest and a flood of nurses and doctors came in, I knew Hanna was right. It was all worth it. We did the hard things. The rest of my heart sat right there on my chest, my husband at my side, brushing kisses and whispering how well we did and how of course this would be the way our son entered the world. We laughed and cried and held our beautiful little boy.

Thank you so much Hanna, for catching Wally, supporting us on our journey and capturing so many beautiful moments with our family.

~Kristina and Jimmy