Welcoming Wyatt

Dislaimer:

PLEASE DONT EVEN OPEN THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE PARTIAL NUDITY, 
You will probably see boobs, me making unattractive labor faces, a very squishy vernix covered newborn, and did i say boobs? 

Ok you've been warned. I don't care if you see boobs. But you might. so consider yourself WARNED.

 If you are someone who wants to read this and NOT see boobs please send me a text or a message and i will send you a copy without pictures. 

Friday morning 

I hadn't had much rest the night before, It was a normal day of work for Robb and I can remember telling Robb about how tired i was and I talked about how i planned to take it easy for the rest of the day. I ended up taking a nap with seay at 2:30pm and we woke up at 4:11pm. 

I woke up and almost immediately sent robb a text telling him I felt off. My contractions were manifesting themselves in a way that was ENTIRELY different than my first baby. This time i was only feeling them in my bottom and I was not sure that i was even HAVING actual contractions yet. I never lost my mucus plug, or had bloody show. SO this baby was a total sneak attack. 

I was glad though, because on one hand if i was in labor now, that meant that we would have a new baby in our arms soon! The pregnancy was tough with a new 1 year old and I really felt I was unable to play and have as much fun as i wanted to with Seay. I was looking forward to being able to wrestle and tickle my toddler again without protecting my belly and having to stop him when he got too excited. 

  

In the matter of an hour my confusion at the pressure i was feeling changed to concern. At exactly 4:46 I told robb to stay at work...and then an hour later in a chat with a friend who was also expecting (aimee this was you). I messaged Robb to COME HOME. 

I had talked to my midwife on the phone and told her i was making dinner...which was true but i wasn't hungry at the time. See.... i was really only cooking because i didn't know if what was happening was real or just me feeling funny. I made a pot of ramen and it cooked on the stove where i forgot about it entirely and eventually walked back to it to discover all the water had boiled out of the pot and the noodles were WAY over cooked. 

Robb got home and we got stuff together to leave.  I had texted my sister telling her to meet us at our house to ride with us because we needed someone with us to watch seay in case my mom or robbs mom couldn't get to the birth center when we did.Then before we knew it we were on our way to the birth center at 7:00 p.m. in the car we took a video to document the trip to meeting wyatt. So off we went! Robb, Seay, Rebecca, and Me all in the car on our way to have a baby!!!

The car ride was WAY easier than I expected. During the drive there was a moment when I was feeling a little afraid of what was to come....The song Brave came on the radio, KSBJ (the christian radio station in houston) always seems to be playing what i need to hear during labor. Gods timing is always best. The words to the song really washed over me and i watched robb search for the song and download it to his phone. He could tell that the song just really resolved something in me...and as always his gift for discernment rang true. After I calmed down and regained my focus I was excited all over again.

 I sent a few selfies to my BFF Mckenzie who lives in Georgia so she'd know where we were heading.  I was excited and in a really good mood which was so different from seays birth where it took all my focus to just get through contractions as they came. I messaged a few other friends and natural birth mommas and told them we were on our way to have our sweet baby. Knowing i had women behind me praying and loving on me from afar was SO encouraging in that time. (Snark ladies, Lindsey and Cheryl this was all of you!)

I was scared that the fact i was in such a good mood meant that the baby wouldn't be coming for a long time but i was hopeful that i would be further along when we arrived to the birth center since the car ride was 2 hours long.

We got to the birth center just after 9pm and we were so excited to get me checked and find our how things were going. I was honestly just happy no one else was in labor at the birth center besides me. We got to pick the room we wanted and I got ready to be checked for dilation. I was prepared to hear that i was not dilated and needed to go walking or try to sleep.(Not something i wanted to hear past 40 weeks )

 After a VERY PAINFUL check for dilation ... (because unbeknownst to me ....my membranes were stripped) we were happy to find out i was at almost 5 centimeters dilated and 80 percent effaced!! IT WAS BABY TIME!

(no joke i was in so much pain i cried and Robb will tell you i did not shut up about how much it hurt for about 2 hours post check)Thankfully my birth team used that to help me in labor and remind me that nothing was worse than Bernadette's hand stripping my membranes in my cervix.


We got the tub going as soon as we realized it was go time and I got in as soon as i could. This baby WOULD BE BORN IN WATER and i was determined. 

Robb set up the camera for video footage of the labor and delivery.
Kristyn took some photos of us getting settled in,
I sat in the tub complaining about my cervix being checked lol.

 

We discussed random things. Even took a few more selfies and sent them to friends.(harley, aimee, mckenzie) in fact here are some video clips of what my labor was like for those of you who don't know. I felt like this labor actually needed video footage for people who would read my story...because my labor was so enjoyable and fun.
This youtube video is 20 minutes long.And has actual Labor SOUNDS (deep sounds through contractions) So you don't HAVE to watch it but its the most accurate depiction i have for how joyful, relaxed, and fun this labor was. (Link will be here as soon as my wifi cooperates) 

 I went into this labor excited to give birth again. Having had seay naturally just a few months before I was ready to do it again and I was really looking forward to seeing how Wyatt's birth story would unfold. Right after I got into the tub Kristyn proceeded to hang my birth affirmations above the tub.
I let the water calm my nerves and I told myself 
I could do it because I had already done it before. 

He seriously kept cracking jokes and making me laugh

Kristyn fixed my hair and pulled my bangs out of my eyes. Robb told jokes along with Ashley one of the members of our birth team. Ashley made me laugh and helped me get comfortable with her simply by being herself. I was so blessed to have her and Hailey present beside us during this process. Both of them offered comfort in their own way. I had prayed over who would attend Wyatt's birth and actually asked for Hailey specifically. I was so thankful when Bernadette said that was who was coming in. I cant explain how very important it was to me to pray over my birth team through the drive there. I trusted God to have the people i needed most around me. The people who would drive me forward and keep me focused. I'm so glad to say that I couldn't have arranged it better myself.

 Labor from start to finish was FULL of conversation. Literally constant talking between contractions. Robb told me to make low sounds like sam elliot, shawn michaels, and a few other deep voiced celebrities during labor any time i wasn't focusing on staying with low sounds. But I felt an energy in the air, one i can only describe as pure joy. Robb smiling, Kristyn laughing, the birth assistants from rite of passage telling me i was a pro at labor. . . I felt so in awe of the whole experience. Were they really telling me i was doing awesome or just saying what they said to everyone?? 

It wasn't till i got home and watched the videos that i realized they were talking to me. They were telling me that Robb and I were a team unlike anything they had ever seen. Hailey even cried at a few points If i remember right. What we didn't get on video were the moments i spent in worship during labor. Our cameras memory was full and I had to delete some old moments to be able to record more of our labor. But the song Brave really hit me hard during one of my contractions. I was in tears and just total surrender to God and the process.  Thankfully Hailey shot some of those moments with the camera when she walked in the room. 

The lyrics to You Make Me Brave by Bethel

I stand before You now
The greatness of your renown
I have heard of the majesty and wonder of you
King of Heaven, in humility, I bow

As Your love, in wave after wave
Crashes over me, crashes over me
For You are for us
You are not against us
Champion of Heaven
You made a way for all to enter in

I have heard You calling my name
I have heard the song of love that You sing
So I will let You draw me out beyond the shore
Into Your grace
Your grace

You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
No fear can hinder now the love that made a way

You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
No fear can hinder now the promises you made
You make me brave

I think a lot of people go into natural birth thinking that its all about learning how to deal with pain, i did the first time.This time it wasn't about that at all, 

This time it was about focusing on all the good. 

Drawing strength from all the joy. 

Dwelling on the love that was coming from my husbands beautiful eyes, 

Listening to his voice telling me that I was amazing, telling me that our baby was coming. 

I was constantly envisioning myself in that beautiful bed holding my sweet baby boy. 

Contractions began to take more and more of my energy. It was close to 4 am when the birth team wanted to check me again and to do that they wanted me to get out of the tub. I didn't want to move because i was so afraid that like last time my labor would progress exponentially and I would end up giving birth on the bed again and not in the water. But Ashley convinced me that NO MATTER WHAT I would have my baby in the water. 

So I got out, I changed positions, I suffered through about what felt like hours of painful contractions. (really it was like 4 contractions total....lol When i have to do something i didn't want to do i turn into a big baby) Once out of the tub My labor definitely progressed I had some VERY hard contractions on the bed in less than desirable positions. Finally i was determined to get back in the tub. I didn't want to go through another contraction unless i was in the water. I could tell that things were almost over. On the bed I almost lost my cool. I knew in that moment when I was wanting to say no over and over...that Wyatt was soon to arrive. 

Soon after I got back in the tub I told Robb to turn back on the camera because my body was pushing the baby down with every contraction. Always playing the martyr I didn't want to believe that he was as close to being born as my body kept telling me. I would go through a contraction and my stomach would push down. my moans at one point turned to a push sound and Robb and Kristyn called for someone to come check. I felt like I had just pushed out his head. But what it actually ended up being was the intact bag of waters. 
The pressure was unreal, I basically begged for them to break my water bag because I couldn't stand the pressure. 

Wyatt wanted out and when i tried to push with the next contraction I felt the water break and the pressure release. His head was right there within a matter of seconds. I heard them rushing to get gloves on and someone screamed Bernadette we're crowning! In ran bernadette and I was so focused on pushing slow and with my body that I didn't pay attention to anything else. 

Pushing is my favorite part, because then I'm just focused on working with my body to get the baby out. I pushed like my life depended on it, Wyatt's head was out, but now his shoulders were stuck. He was a BIG boy. I remember reaching and feeling his hair, then ashley moved him while i pushed for the third time, Ashley told me not to stop pushing so i didn't...I pushed until my body told me to stop. I took a minute to breathe and they were getting ready to catch him. I heard kristyn say "your baby is almost here!" Robb looked at me and said "you got this." I bent my head down and pulled my leg up higher I was in a full on squat, my body surged and suddenly there was a baby being lifted up from under me and into my arms. 

At 4:24 am after 4 hard pushes and 12 hours of labor from first contractions at home to holding my son. My second born was here.

Wyatt Jasper Grey was here. . . He was 22.5 inches long and 9 pounds .11oz he had a head full of blonde hair and I was so excited to meet him. My little warrior. 

I was so elated. My heart overflowed with joy and excitement at having finished another natural birth. The relief, the rush of hormones, the overwhelming joy, I was so happy. I was so proud of my birth team. I was so amazed at myself. I felt so GOOD! I literally felt so great. That was not how my first natural birth went at all! I definitely think joy and laughter had a lot to do with how my whole labor and delivery process worked out in the end. 



Looking back on the whole thing from the bed across the room while holding Wyatt i kept telling everyone how easy it was and how surprised i was that it was over already.  I felt no after birth pain like i had with Seay. The only issue i had was with Ashley trying to stitch me up. I hate needles. (Even the ones that numb you so you don't feel the needles that sew you up lol.) But My water birth was amazing. Every second of Wyatt's birth I felt like i was 100% present for. Which is exactly what i wanted. It makes me so glad that my son was brought into the world surrounded by the voices and laughter of those who love him. Laughter in this case was the very best kind of medicine. 

Now a slew of photos
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remember if your uncomfortable with nudity please request a photoless copy. or just dont go further.