The Moodys' Musings: Cooper's Birth Story

On Thursday, September 8, after Nate got home from work, I headed to Marion-Polk Food Share to volunteer with some people from our Bible study group (we do it once a month). I'd been having more Braxton-Hicks contractions than normal, and on the drive there, I began to realize some of them were feeling more "real."

Of course, I went anyway and didn't say anything to anyone. :) We were bagging potatoes out of huge crates and I did sit down to do it. I also let someone else haul all my bags to their final destination. I felt like a wimp, but didn't really want to go into full-blown labor there. :)

When I got home, I told Nate what was going on. I didn't want to be an alarmist, but since we had Judson to think about, I felt like we needed to at least alert my parents. After hearing how fast a number of my friends' second deliveries went (and considering how fast my first one was), I was also pretty convinced things would kick into high gear at some point and happen really quickly. We called my parents around ten o'clock, I think. My mom said they'd get some things in order and we decided to talk again in an hour. Though I wasn't in any pain yet, I called about twenty minutes later and said I'd feel best if they came down that night. They'd already decided the same thing...

I didn't sleep well at all that night, but not because I was in pain. I had a few contractions, but mostly was just anticipating what was to come.

Nate didn't go to work on Friday, and things were seeming to move slowly. I was glad to have my mom here to take care of Judson, but I mostly felt fine. I tried to get some sleep in the morning, but seemed to have more contractions when I laid down. Once in a great while (half an hour or more in between), I'd have a semi- to moderately-painful contraction, but other than that, we were just hanging out. It was a gorgeous day (90*ish), and Judson played in his pool for hours.

Nate discovered a "contraction timer" app on his phone, which honestly was really great. Though my contractions were mostly non-events, they eventually started to get closer together and I decided we should head to the hospital around 4:15. Though Judson was so happy to have his Grammie to play with that he hardly acknowledged me all day, I cried pretty hard when I had to leave him. I think part of it was that I was dreading what was to come (labor, not the baby).

We got to the hospital just before five. The nurses at the station thought I was there to visit someone. I found this out later, but they didn't think I was really in labor (apparently I didn't appear to be in enough pain). Maybe it was because I showed up on my due date. :) Anyway, they didn't have me sign a consent form for my baby.

In triage, the nurse checked me and was amazed at how low the head was. She said I was at least 6-7 cm, but probably more, because the head was in the way. I was SO HAPPY, especially since I wasn't in that much pain yet. Then I found out that the midwife I most wanted was the one on call and I was even happier!

On the way to my room, I signed the baby's consent form while the nurse said, "You sure fooled us!"

I was in the jacuzzi tub by 5:30 and spent the next hour and a half in there. Once the midwife got there (she lives in Silverton, so was really quick), she said I was probably feeling so good because my water hadn't broken yet. (It broke much sooner with Judson.) That hadn't occurred to me, and I'd been wanting my water to break so we could get the show on the road. As soon as she said it might not break until I was ready to push, I told Nate to start praying that that would be the case. :)

Unlike last time when Nate was instructed to not talk or touch me, this time he had a job to do. While using the contraction timer app earlier, I realized I liked knowing when the contractions were about over. Once we were at the hospital, Nate's job was to tell me at about 50 seconds that it was almost over. I think he was glad to have a job to do. :)

I did have some intense contractions during that time, but none that made me feel out of control, like I had with Judson. At 6:55, I had the first contraction that gave me an out of control feeling. My water broke right then and I felt like I was ready to push. Another midwife had joined us by then (she's new and still needs some births where there's another midwife in attendance). She checked me and said I was complete. I moved to the bed and pushed for seventeen minutes before Cooper Anne entered the world. I was pretty sure I saw that she was a girl, but they put her on my chest and didn't say what her gender was. I asked and no one knew. I think Nate might've held her up to look and sure enough, we had a baby girl. I was thrilled...to have a girl and to be done giving birth! Like I did with Judson, I just kept saying, "Thank you, Jesus" over and over. What a miracle!

Honestly, things couldn't have been more perfect and I felt great from the start. The nurse was amazed when she came back to check on me and I'd already gotten cleaned up and dressed. I felt good enough to get in and out of bed multiple times throughout that very first night. (Cooper was slightly longer than Judson and a pound lighter. I had underestimated the difference a smaller baby could make in the birth process!)

We are so thankful to have a little girl. She is just as sweet as she can be, and Judson continues to dote on her. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us!

Now, for a few more pictures from the hospital... (We had lots of visitors, which made us feel very loved. However, I'm not going to include more pictures because they take too long to upload.)