Henry's Birth Story!

This past Wednesday, October 7th, we officially became a family of 5 when we welcomed our third baby, Henry Philip, to the world! 

My official 'due date' was 10/4 and in the week leading up to that day I was SURE that I was about to go into labor at any moment. I was feeling a lot of pressure and the strength and frequency of the braxton hicks contractions I had been feeling all throughout pregnancy started to pick up a little bit. I went out on lots of long walks with the kids, and tried my best to stay patient, despite starting to feel a little antsy. Despite all my 'feelings' though, my 'due date' came and went. 

I had an appointment at the birth center on Tuesday the 6th. At the appointment we talked about my 'post dates' plan. I made an appointment for an ultrasound to check fluid levels and a non stress test to check on baby for the following Monday. Even though I knew I had almost a full week before those appointments and that a LOT could happen in that amount of time, I couldn't help feeling a little discouraged. Particularly because my midwife said the baby felt a little posterior with his or her (because at that point we didn't know!) back listing towards my back. The logical part of my brain knew that there were plenty of things I could do to encourage baby's back to turn more to my front, and that baby could even turn all on their own even during labor. The hormonal part of my brain though was going through all the what-ifs of a posterior baby. Head not engaging, very difficult back labor, very long pushing phase. I started to have panicky feelings that the reason I was having all these contractions that didn't turn into anything was because baby was posterior and I started to feel fearful of going all the way to 42 weeks and being unable to deliver at the birth center. I spent the whole rest of the day crawling around on my hands and knees and sitting on my big exercise ball to encourage baby to turn.

When I went to bed that night I wasn't having any contractions, but was feeling a lot of pressure. What I was mostly feeling though was anxiety. I knew that feeling anxious and panicky could actually keep my body from going into labor. Not to mention it could keep me from getting some sleep. So I went to bed and sat reading through the positive affirmation cards I had written for labor and delivery while working on deep breathing. Going through them already made me feel calmer. When I was finished with them I turned out the light and laid down to go to sleep. As I was falling asleep I thought of all the fears and anxieties I had surrounding going into labor, avoiding an induction, and baby being posterior. I acknowledged them and then started praying. I prayed for my fears to be calmed. I prayed for patience. For wisdom. For peace. For strength. For clarity of mind. For TRUST. Trust in God's timing and trust in my body's ability to bring my baby at exactly the right time. I prayed myself calm and fell asleep.

I woke up once or twice early in the night to pee and noticed I was having a somewhat painful contraction each time I woke up. Then, shortly before 2am, I woke up and actually laid in bed through maybe 2 strong contractions or so before thinking, "Oh! Those feel real!" I opened a contraction timer app on my phone and went to the bathroom. I noticed I had had my bloody show and my app was showing my contractions coming every 7 minutes. I had to stop what I was doing for each one so I knew they were 'real' and decided to give the midwife a call. Since this was my third baby and since we live about a half an hour from the birth center I was told not to wait too long before going in. I had no strong need to labor at home like with the other kids since the birth center was just like home and there would be nobody pressuring me into interventions. The midwife on call only needed to hear "3rd baby" "7 minutes apart" and "bloody show". She said she would gather up her stuff and head right over to the birth center and told me to do the same. 

This was happening!

I went upstairs and woke up James, "We need to go to the birth center." Confused and half asleep he asked, "Why? Are you in labor or something?" which made me laugh a little. "Well yeah. It's 2am..." So he got up and started getting dressed while I called my mom (she and my dad started getting their things together to meet us at the birth center) and started gathering things for the kids. My bags were already packed, but I hadn't put anything together for the kids since I didn't know what exactly they'd need without knowing what time we'd be heading in. I pulled together food, clothes, and books for them. I knew they'd probably end up watching movies most of the day and I had put together big brother and big sister goodie bags for them with a few new little toys, coloring books, and treats. As I moved around the house getting things together I was still having contractions and they even got closer together the move active I was. Once everything was together we woke up the kids (both of them were very excited!) and loaded up the van to go! By now it was 3am so we were looking at arriving at the birth center around 3:30.

Contracting in the car is AWFUL. I don't like sitting through contractions and all the little movements of the car just felt terrible. I was contracting about every 6 minutes during the drive so I didn't have TOO many, but the few I had were rough. I wasn't "in the zone" yet either which just made them that much more difficult. I felt like crying tears of joy when we pulled into the birth center parking lot. I knew I was due for another contraction very soon so I hurried out of the car to breathe through it on the sidewalk. The midwife on call, Gazelle, met us at the door with her trainee, Hannah, and we went in to get settled. Mom and Dad got there shortly after us and sat in the living room with the kids while James and I stayed in the bedroom so I could get a cervical check. I was pleasantly surprised to hear I was 4cm! I was 50% effaced so I still had a good bit of work to do in the department, but I was on my way. Gazelle and Hannah left us alone at this point and said they'd come check baby's heart rate in about a half an hour or so.

Through the rest of the dark hours of the morning I hung out in the living room while the kids watched movies (I thought they'd go back to sleep, but no luck there). My contractions weren't especially consistent. They were following a similar pattern to what I had experienced in early labor with Kate. They were coming about every 4-5 minutes, but only every other one would be especially strong. The ones in between were short and not very intense at all. My mom, James, and I (with Kate in the stroller in hopes sh'd sleep a little) went for a walk down the street around 5:15 in the morning.. Hannah was going to check me again at 5:45 to see if I was making progress and truly in active labor. Walking didn't make my contractions any more consistent, but the strong ones did get stronger so that was good!

At my check after the walk I was at 6cm and about 80% so that was good news! I was feeling tired at this point and my contractions took the hint. They spread out to every 10-12 minutes and I spent some time eating and snuggling my big kids. How awesome to be an environment where nobody was rushing me or watching the clock!

We went for another walk, but my contractions were still hanging out around every 10-12 minutes. They were definitely strengthening though and I felt a lot of pressure.After our walk my back was feeling really sore so I spent some time leaning over a counter in the living room letting my belly hang. It felt AMAZING, especially when coupled with James rolling a wooden roller along my lower back. Contractions were still quite manageable. I was using some hypnobirthing visualization techniques and deep breathing. As long as I was able to hold my focus through the entire wave I felt pretty great. There were a few where I lost focus and they were completely different contractions. Focus was obviously the key.

At this point Gazelle and Hannah had gone home as their on call shifts had ended and Sheila came in. I was so excited to see her. I had just seen her the day before at my prenatal appointment. The one where we made that 'post dates plan'. It was nice seeing her while in labor less than 24 hours later! Plus she just has a personality that really clicks with mine. She wanted to check me again at 9:45 since my contractions weren't getting any closer together and hadn't gotten any stronger. I was still at 6cm so we chatted a bit about some options to move things along. She said that my water bag was bulging and she'd break it if I wanted, but that would possibly take my dilation back a centimeter or even 2. That's exactly what happened during Sam's labor and I definitely didn't want that. Sheila was trying to be diplomatic and just lay out my options without influencing my decision, but I could see in her eyes that she didn't think breaking my water was a good idea. She said we could also try a little nipple stimulation, that hopefully 15 minutes on a breast pump would maybe get things moving along a little more. This was exactly what I had done with Kate and it had worked great so it was definitely an option I felt comfortable with. She also said I could absolutely just keep doing what I was doing and see what happened. No rush. I loved that. I loved how comfortable and not rushed I felt the entire time I was there. Sheila left the room then to let James and I talk about what we wanted to do. He and I both agreed that nipple stim worked in the past, so why not give it a try again. My contractions were already starting to regulate a little more just sitting in the bedroom. I told James I thought I needed some time away from the kids. That maybe relaxing a little, just him and I in the bedroom, would help things move along. I felt a little weepy at the thought of not hanging out with the kids, I had been feeling really clingy to them, but it really did seem like some time away would be a good idea. This was only reinforced when Sheila came back in and suggested some time away before even asking how we had decided to move forward. So we all agreed on taking some time away from everybody out in the living room, and trying some nipple stim. Sheila recommended I eat some more too. James went and got me some pretzels and filled up my water bottle. He came back in with Emily, our nurse who left us with the pump. At 10:29 I started on the pump, planning 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off, and then 15 minutes on again if it seemed like I needed a little more. About 2 minutes into pumping I felt a contraction starting. James rubbed my back and shoulders as I went through it, like he had been with a lot of the other ones, but this one was different. It was super strong and there was a lot of pressure. It lasted a long time and I started to lose control a little. When it ended I was immediately shaky and covered in sweat. James got in my face and said, "That was very intense. Are you ok?" I said, "I feel like I'm in transition, but that can't be right. I'm 6 centimeters. How many minutes have I been on the pump? I don't know if I can do another contraction on the pump if it's like that." Just as James was telling me I had been on it for about 5 minutes another contraction hit me, "Hit me" is really the only way to describe it. "Turn it off turn it off turn it off!" was all I could say to James. He turned off the pump and I threw the flanges and bottles onto the floor, standing up and grabbing onto a windowsill. I felt even more pressure and vocalized through the contraction for the first time. I was struggling to hold my focus. James asked if he should call Sheila in and I told him if I had another like that then yes. I was feeling that panicky, shaky, transition feeling, but not fully believing that's what was happening since I was still thinking I was 6cm. I told James I had to pee and he insisted on coming with me. I got halfway down onto the toilet and said, "I can't sit down." Another contraction came and I grabbed the wall, "Call Sheila now." but James was already getting her. She came into the bathroom and asked how I was doing. I told her my body was pushing and another huge wave came over me. She helped me walk back to the bed and she and her assistant started getting things ready quickly. Emily, our nurse, had gone upstairs to the offices and they were trying to get her back down there. My mom said she saw the nurse come running down the stairs and through the living room and that's when they knew something was happening. James went and got her right then so she could take pictures for us. Sheila was trying to get me onto the bed, but I couldn't do it. I went onto all 4s without even thinking about it and Sheila told me to stay there if I was comfortable. The crazy waves that had been crashing over me this whole time were easing off and I was feeling intense pressure. That's when it actually hit me that this was it! We were about to meet our third baby!

When the crazy waves were calming down I was able to regain my focus and use some hypnobirthing techniques again. I started to feel really calm and let my body do it's thing. I could feel the baby moving down without me doing anything but deep "birth breathing". Somebody brought James a cool cloth for my head just as I was opening my mouth to ask for one. Contractions started again, this time with a very distinct purpose. I was still just letting my body do what it wanted to do, not actively pushing, just breathing baby down. I did this for maybe 2 or 3 contractions, sipping water that James brought over to me in between each one. Then I wanted to push into the pressure a little. For the first time I was feeling 100% in control of the pushing phase. With both other kids this part felt totally out of control. This time was no less intense, but the amount of control I felt was so amazing! I was able to rest in between contractions which was wonderful. I'd keep my eyes closed, take deep breaths, sip water, and repeat positive affirmations to myself in my head. "This is it. My body is doing exactly what it's supposed to. Trust in that. I will be holding my baby so soon." Then when I'd feel the next contraction starting I'd say out loud, "Ok." and dig down deep.  I continued to breathe the baby down, just with a little more intensity now. Sheila broke my water then after asking if that's what I wanted. When she broke it I felt the most immense relief! I did hear somebody say, "Meconium." And I laughed a little and said, "Well we're 3 for 3. All our babies pooped." And then promptly forgot about it. I had already asked about the birth center's policies as far as babies born having already pooped. In the hospital that meant I couldn't have immediate skin to skin because they wanted the baby to be suctioned first. At the birth center though, they just keep an eye on the baby in those first couple minutes before determining whether or not they need suction. Knowing and trusting this, I was able to focus on getting the baby out and not worry about the meconium. The next contraction I felt baby's head coming out. I tried to breathe the head out slowly as best I could. That contraction faded just as Sheila told me, "Great job Sarah. You can reach down and feel your baby's head. The hardest part is over." That pause between contractions, knowing baby's head was out and being able to reach down and feel it, was sort of surreal. I felt really suspended between two worlds almost. I've never had a pause like that after my baby's head had been birthed. It was a very calming feeling somehow. With the next contraction, everybody helped me flip onto my back so that Sheila could assist the shoulders a bit. This was the one moment I felt any anxiety. My baby's have not always gotten their shoulders out very easily and I know that has the potential to be dangerous. I barely had time to dwell on that though because Sheila was saying, "Sarah. Reach down and catch your baby."

Having a baby born into my own hands, and being the one to pull this new little creature onto my chest was one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far. I cannot put into words the feelings I was having right then, but pictures almost capture it.

There was no crying from baby for a little while, but I didn't feel even a second of worry. Because I could feel everything. I could feel the baby's moving, I could see the baby looking up at me (oh what a precious, quiet moment!), and I knew that everything was absolutely fine. After a few minutes baby did cry, but only a little, and that's when I said, "Oh! Wait! Is it a boy or a girl?" Sort of really cool to hold our baby for several minutes before even knowing this important bit of information! James, who was sitting right next to me took a peak and called out (with obvious emotion), "Oh! It's a boy!" And I just kept repeating, "Henry! Hi Henry! Hi baby boy!" And just like that our family grew.

We waited for the cord to stop pulsating before James cut it, and around then Henry started rooting so I got him latched on while birthing the placenta. I had a small tear that required a stitch or two and once that was taken care of everybody helped move me up on the bed propped up on pillows. Henry stayed latched and nursing the whole time. Once I was situated my mom went to get my dad, brother, and kids. Sam and Kate climbed right up in bed with me and started loving on their brother. I couldn't believe I was sitting their with all *3* of my babies. Sam especially had such a sweet reaction. I was a little worried because he had been SO sure my whole pregnancy that he was getting a sister, but he accepted a brother with so much love. We counted all of his fingers and toes together and Sam exclaimed over how, "Tiny and cute!" they were. After a few minutes my parents and Tommy took the kids back out to get their Big Brother and Big Sister bags of goodies. 

Sheila was a little concerned at this point about the amount I was still bleeding an hour after birth, so I handed Henry off to James for some skin to skin while Sheila checked me out. Henry slept peacefully on Daddy's chest for an hour while we got my bleeding under control (thankfully it was never overly alarming, my uterus was just being a little on the lazy side which is apparently common once you've had more than 1 or 2 kids). Everything was perfectly fine and behaving the way it was supposed to fairly quickly.

After an hour sleeping with Daddy we got Henry's official stats (8 lbs even and 20.5in, our smallest baby!) and James gave him a sponge bath. Henry got to go to meet his Nana, Grandpa Bob, and Uncle Tommy for a little bit then while I ate. My mom had made my 'birth meal' (french toast, eggs, sausage, and fruit per my request!) while Henry was being weighed and bathed. Best french toast I've ever eaten! I showered after that and then everybody except James and I headed home. My mom took Sam and Kate back to our house. Henry had his official newborn checkup now and did great. Barely even fussed. He latched on again after that and James, our sweet baby, and I dozed off in the bed for a while. It was so peaceful. 

We woke up to get our discharge info. Just a couple sheets to keep track of Henry's and my vitals for the next couple days (nothing major, just temp and respirations/pulse) and clarifying the day and time for our home nurse visit to do Henry's hearing test and have him weighed again. After that we were cleared to go! So about 6 hours after our boy made his appearance, we were loading up in the car and heading back to our big kids in time for dinner and bedtime. So wonderful to be able to sleep in our own bed that very night!

I am so grateful to have been able to have a birth center birth. The entire experience was so relaxing. There was never a moment were I felt rushed or pressured. I truly felt that the experience was 100% MINE. There were no negotiations, no compromises, just complete trust in my body from everybody in attendance. I love that our family was able to stay together. I love that Sam and Kate met their brother when he was only minutes old, and that we were all able to snuggle in bed together. And I just love how calm the entire thing was. Such a beautiful way to grow from a family of 4 to a family of 5. We are truly, truly blessed.

Katherine's Birth Story :)

I want to share the birth story for our precious baby Kate :) Her birth was an incredibly amazing, and empowering experience! I shared Sam's birth story on this blog as well, and I love having it documented! Both birth stories were written and saved on my computer within a week or so of their births. I wanted to get them written quickly so I could keep the emotions 'fresh'!

Ever since Sam was born, I haven't stopped researching natural birth. For his birth I had no pain medications, but I did end up having several interventions that sort of had a domino effect leading to his eventual vacuum extraction. I wanted to avoid all of that with Kate and do it MY way. I absolutely 100% believed that I could labor without any interventions and let my body birth my sweet girl the way God made it to do. I knew that ANYTHING could happen though, and was planning on keeping an open mind to allow interventions if they were necessary for either my or the baby's health. I was extremely blessed however, and my labor and delivery were able to happen totally naturally.

So, without further ado, here's Miss Katherine's birth story!


I woke up around 6:40ish on the morning of Tuesday the 20th having been up off and on all the night the night before with contractions strong enough to wake me up, but nothing that I was able to time. A contraction would wake me up, I'd think, "Hey! A contraction!", go pee, get back in bed, and fall back to sleep for an hour. I had a checkup scheduled for Tuesday morning and was laying in bed longer than I should have because I didn't want to have to start the process of getting myself and Sam ready to go. Around 7 I knew I needed to get moving so we wouldn't be late and as I rolled over to get out of bed I felt a 'pop' and fluid starting coming rushing out of me. I said, "WHOA!" and quickly went into the bathroom so as not to ruin the bed/carpet. I knew my water had just broken, but I had no clue what to do about it! I was just standing in the bathroom saying (to nobody), "Ummm... uhhhhh..." I managed to text James to tell him to come home and he said he'd be there in 15 minutes or so (yay for living on base now!). I then called my mom who was just about to leave for the train station to catch her train to come down here! She said that she would cancel her ticket and that she and my dad would just start driving as soon as they could. I then called L&D to tell them that my water had broken, but that I wanted a natural delivery and so I wanted to try to labor at home. The nurse I spoke to said that she technically wasn't allowed to tell me I could stay home, but off the record, thought it was a good idea. She said I was of course more than welcome to either keep my scheduled appointment or go to L&D triage to be checked, but to expect to be told I needed to be admitted immediately although I was of course well within my rights to say, "No thanks. I'll be back later." By now James was home and we decided to keep my original appointment, and to see what the midwife said. I was starting to have some strong-ish contractions, but nothing very regular. James went to get Sam and was then going to put together our bags just in case. Sam wanted to nurse so I brought him in bed with me and started to nurse him. That caused several pretty strong contractions and then all of a sudden another huge gush of fluid. I quickly put Sam down and ran into the bathroom. That's when I noticed that the fluid was not clear and that Kate must have had her first bowel movement while in my belly. I figured the hospital would be pretty adamant to keep me and monitor me closely because of that. We rushed to finish getting our things together, stopped to snap 1 more belly pic, and headed off to L&D instead of my appointment.

Once in the hospital, I was hooked up to monitors in triage. I was told I was going to be admitted, and said that was fine. They said I'd need constant monitoring because of the presence of meconium in my fluid, but that they had wireless monitors that would enable me to move around as I wanted. I got EXTREMELY lucky with the OB who was on call that day. She is apparently the only one who tends to AVOID pitocin at all costs. I guess if any other OB had been there that day, they would have immediately wanted to start pitocin when they heard my water had broken and that it wasn't clear, and I would have had to fight my way to the birth experience that I wanted. So I am extremely grateful for the dr who was there that day! They checked me in triage and I was a 'stretchy' 3cm, 75% effaced, and baby was at 0 station engaged in my pelvis. All good signs! I was still contracting on and off, but nothing consistent. I was admitted and in a room sometime between 9 and 10.

Once in the room we found out that the wireless monitors were currently not working, so I would need to be attached to the machine the whole time. Since we had Sam with us though, this was just fine. It would have been difficult to walk the halls with him. I could still move very freely about the room, and was able to just unplug myself  as needed if I needed to use the restroom or go across the room for a moment. They brought me a big exercise ball, some water and juice and told me to get to work! So we set Sam up in a corner with toys, books, and puzzles and eventually he just watched movies. We even brought his potty because we knew he wouldn't use the big one ;) So basically we totally took over the room. I labored for a few hours, breathing through contractions, and the nurse popped in every hour to check my temperature (to make sure there was no infection coming along while my water was broken). Contractions did pick up in strength and were sort of consistent, but it would be something like 'baby contraction-baby contraction- strong contraction- baby contraction'. I was rocking on the ball, pacing, swaying, squatting, doing everything I could to really get things going!

Around 1:45 they brought in a double electric breast pump and hooked me up to that for 15 minutes. That was the key! I several strong contractions while hooked up to that and after I was finished, had another huge gush of fluid. Contractions immediately set up about 3-5 minutes apart and maintained their strength. I was checked again and was about 5cm, but able to be stretched to 6, 80% effaced, and baby was still at 0. I continued to pace, sway, and squat and used deep breathing and visualization to get me through each contraction. I found that doing a very rhythmic neck roll in time with each deep breath really helped a lot! I also kept repeating in my head, "Relax the face and the rest will follow" and concentrated on not showing my discomfort on my face. When I was able to keep my face calm and relaxed, it helped SO much.

Around 4 I texted my friend Kim and asked if she could come to the hospital between 4:30 and 5 to pick up Sam and take him to our house to play until my parents got there around 5:45/6ish. The plan was for my dad to stay at the house with Sam and for my mom to come to the hospital to be in the room with me. Kim came and got Sam around 4:45 and her timing couldn't have been better because at that point my contractions were getting even closer and were very intense. Around 5:30/5:45ish my nurse, the OB, and the head resident OB came in and said that they had seen some 'squeezy' contractions on the monitor that were obviously really squeezing and drawing Kate's head down because her heart rate would drop with each one. Baby girl was doing fabulously though and brought her heart rate up quickly each time. They said they thought I was probably getting close and wanted to check me. I agreed, and right around then I started getting the shakes which told me I was most likely in transition. Almost there!

The resident OB checked me and said I was 8cm, fully effaced, and baby was plus 1. I had an extremely strong contraction while being checked with which I felt TONS of pressure. The drs and nurse left the room. Immediately I broke out in a cold sweat, started shaking uncontrollably, felt nauseous, and slightly 'out of control'. My contractions then started piggy backing on one another. I was still able to breath and visualize through them, but I felt panicky and freaked out a little when James came near me (up until then he would be standing with me during contractions, either applying counter pressure to my hips or swaying with me). I also started feeling 'pushy' and my body started taking over. I called the nurse back immediately. It was around 6 o'clock, just about 10 minutes or so after being checked at 8cm. The OB and resident came back as well and after hearing just 1 or 2 of my contractions in which I involuntarily squatted and started making 'pushy' sounds, they said they wanted to check me again and started having everything brought in to be ready for the big event!

Just as I was getting into the bed to be checked, my mom walked in the room! I was starting to feel a little calmer now, which told me transition was passing and it was go time! I said, "Hi mom. Good timing!" They checked and sure enough I was complete and baby was making her way out. I let my body do it's thing while they set things up and got a squat bar for me. I wasn't consciously pushing, but felt my body doing it and could actually feel Kate moving downward. Amazing feeling! They got the squat bar set up and 2 residents got in front of me to deliver. They looked confused. The attending OB smiled this HUGE grin and first said to me, "I love you for letting me prove all the doctors who would have immediately put you on pit wrong! In your face other doctors!! I'm calling you my breast pump induction from now on!" she then smiled at her residents and said, "Have you ever seen a squat delivery?" they shook their heads, they had never seen a fully natural delivery at all. The OB smiled even more and said, "This is going to be awesome and fast." She was so excited! I loved it!

Contractions started hitting HARD and it was definitely push time. I was vocalizing through contractions at this point, just sort of a low humming sound. I pushed once or twice on the squatting bar, and was able to reach down and feel her head :) I was half in tears and saying things like, "I want her out NOW ok? Ok?! I just want her out!" and, "No! I don't want to stop because it hurts to stop!" I sat back from the bar between contractions to rest, and then when the next one hit I said to myself, "This is it, I'm not waiting anymore" and went for it. Everybody was CHEERING! I swear it was like we were at a sporting event! "Omg! Sarah! You're amazing! Omg! Look! She's coming out NOW! You're doing it! Wow!!" it was very nice encouragement ;) I felt her crowning and got a burst of energy from who in the hell knows where to get that baby OUT! Her one shoulder did get a bit stuck for a second, and that was actually a very surprising feeling for me. I had just felt her head come out, a split second of relief, and then pain again which took me by surprise because... well her head was already out! I had no clue what I was feeling til I heard, "There's her shoulder!" I heard them say they were looping the cord from where it was wrapped long-ways around her body, and then she was OUT! All told, the pushing phase lasted less than 15 minutes and I pushed about 3 times (in between my deliberate pushes, I was letting my body bear down and do it on it's own)

 They had to take her over to the warmer right away to give her good suction because of the meconium in the fluid, but I got a quick look at her first, and James went over with her. The first thing I said was (through tears), "She's really a girl right?!" because I had had so many boy dreams lol. They assured me that she was. I delivered the placenta then naturally and I had one very very small tear that just required 2 or 3 stitches. Then my nurse helped me strip down up top so I could have skin to skin with my beautiful 8lb 8oz, 21 in little girl. She was born at 6:28pm and by 6:45ish she was latched on ;) I turned to James while we were looking down at her for the first time and said, "I did it exactly how I wanted to." and he said, "Hell yeah you did." It was an awesome moment! Afterwards the head resident OB came up to me to thank me for, "Furthering her education" since she had never had the opportunity to see a delivery like mine before and she was so happy that I had given her the opportunity. I thought that was really cool! I thanked the OB and nurse for being so understanding of my birth plan and for helping me have this awesome experience. They both said that they're the ones who should have been thanking me because they didn't actually have to DO anything at all. Just watch while I did it myself lol.

All in all, it was an amazing day and I feel incredibly blessed!