I am working on getting my birth story down in words and it is taking a lot longer than planned. It was a long birth and a lot happened that was not part of “the plan”. In the meantime I have received our birth photos from our fabulous birth photographer Bump 2 Baby and wanted to share some of my favorites. Most of you know that our birth did not go as planned and I am still processing everything that happened. The pictures are helping with this process a great deal. Abby, the amazing photographer, has been incredible throughout the birth process and after. She has done so much to go above and beyond what any birth photographer I know of would do, a lot of it done to help me heal from hopes and dreams that might not have played out hoped or expected.
Laboring At Home: The Intention of a Home Birth
I was in denial that labor had actually begun for real. It started Saturday afternoon and it was the middle of the night/wee hours of Sunday morning before I told Shannon (one of my midwives) to give the team the “go ahead” to come. Slowly our birth team trickled into our home.
The plan for Elijah was that he would go to my in laws house during the labor and come back right after the birth. He left us around 2 or 3 am.
I don’t think he even woke up until it was time to come rejoin us.
I had birth affirmations and encouraging scriptures on note cards placed around our bedroom and bathroom, where I planned to do most of my laboring.
A rare moment “between” contractions
The bassinet was all set up with baby supplies in our bedroom and two little shirts that said “I was born at home”. These will still go in my boys memory boxes as they help tell of our birth intention which will always be a part of their birth story.
One of the scriptures I chose.
Working through contractions with my doula, Hunter, who was an incredible presence at our birth. I can still see her calm smile encouraging me through my pain.
About half of my birth team 
Working through a contraction while my primary midwife, Darlene Schrivner, checks babies’ hart rate.
Rory was so low we had to do some maneuvering to get his heart rate.
The Belly
Trying different positions as labor intensified.
Finding some relief with the robozo
Strength is starting to fade, trying to find a second wind.
Kissing through contractions
Shannon encouraged me to have them prepare the birth tub and I found so much relief in the warm/hot-ish water.
The hours between 3am and 8am seemed to crawl. Not sure exactly where we were in the scheme of things but I know it was still dark out for quite a while during my time in the tub.
Laughing as we watched the “hoo hoo hee hee” labor video. It is hilarious! I’ll share that one in a later post.
Enjoying my strawberry Trader Joe’s fruit pop….a pregnancy essential and one of the few things I could fathom eating during labor.
Even in the throws of labor I managed to find something to laugh about. I come from a family that loves to laugh.
I so wish I remember what we were laughing about here….
Apparently I thought it was pretty funny too.
Labor was stalled at 5cm for so long. We tried many things to get past this stall, one of which was walking up and down the stairs sideways….
Back in the birth tub. Once it was set up I spent most of my time laboring there.
A very real moment….
Our final moments at home….the sun was up…in desperation I tried laboring in our bath tub to labor in our bath tub as Darlene did another check. Still 5cm. Feeling defeated after so long with no progress I asked for a hospital transfer and will forever wonder if that was the right thing to do.
Laboring at the Hospital
Checked into the hospital (still at 5cm hours later) and getting ready for pain relief.
Working through contractions with Chip
Feeling better with the dreaded epidural though we found that the medicine they used first made me itch and I am allergic to the tape. That was a fun discovery.
Chip’s Dad and Granny came to show their love and support while his Mom took care of our Elijah.
Wardrobe change. It’s almost showtime.
I found out that they were going to make me push in the O.R. I was not happy about this and decided once I hit 9 1/2 CM I was going to push while the nurse was out of the room. I also found out they would only let Chip in the O.R. Not my midwife Shannon, Doula Hunger or photographer Abby.
Shannon found this hilarious as I told her be prepared to catch the first baby.
The nurse came in and asked me what I was doing, saying she saw me pushing on her monitor. She seemed amused more than anything ( we liked her) and told me to stop.
They made me hold my arms up so that I didn’t pull my IV out. At the time it was funny but looking back now, it is just a cold reminder of how different this experience was from the beginning I had hoped my babies would have.
Delivering in the Operating Room (on a broken operating table!)
We have these pictures because our wonderful birth photographer, Abby, gave Chip her camera to take in with us.
Pushing out my Rory
Rory is out! And it was no small feat being forced to lay on my back on a broken table.
A first picture of Rory
I tried to push Patrick for 45 minutes but his heart rate kept dropping. At one point I passed out.
As Patrick was being delivered, we got a picture of us with Rory.
Daddy and Rory
Patrick was whisked away to the NICU and Chip went with him. His heart was not beating and he was not breathing at birth. His heart quickly started but there was big concern about a lack of oxygen.
The NICU on Patrick’s Birth Day
At less than an hour old, a cold blanket treatment had already begun to prevent swelling of the brain of our sweet baby Patrick.
Sweet tiny baby.
Chip getting comforted by his Dad after leaving Patrick in the NICU
Late night in the waiting room. Elijah can be seen climbing the chair in his PJ’s
The Final Hours of the Birth Day
Chip came in and explained to me what was going on with Patrick
Feeding Rory, one arm was so full and one so empty .
Our sweet nurse came in to offer comfort
Rory, a champion nursling from the beginning just like his big brother.
Chip updating his family
It was such a long night for this big brother
Granny was excited to be here for the birth of the two littlest Parishes
Grandmother was excited to see the second newest grandchild.
The Next Morning
One of the amazing things about our photographer was that she offered to come see us the next morning and photograph Elijah meeting Rory for the first time and my first moments with Patrick when I went down to the NICU. These were moments she knew were important to me when we discussed her photographing our home birth. We are so blessed to have Abby on our birth team as she made sure that although our hopes for a peaceful home birth went out the window, she still captured those moments that were so important to me.
About 16 hours post partum cuddling with Rory in our hospital room. He never left me side.
Enjoying my precious baby
Rory Mark Parish.
Wearing his first outfit, a cute little elephant two piece from Granmumsy and Pop
Adoring my sweet Baby A
I was so grateful to have my mother in law spend the night with me so Chip could be with Elijah at home.
Elijah sees his little brother, Rory, for the first time……
Brotherly love at first sight
I love Elijah’s sweet heart, so kind and gentle to his little brother.
Telling Elijah how much I missed him
Elijah gave Rory the present he picked out for him all by himself
Elijah loved his big brother presents, especially the Little People School bus. There were also some books on being a big brother and a big brother photo album for pictures of him with his brothers.
Sweet sleeping Rory
Sweet Daddy kisses
We headed down to the NICU……….
My first moments with Patrick
Our sweet Baby B
Mama and Daddy cherishing moments with little Patrick
So brave for one so tiny
Nothing was harder than leaving that baby that day and after day after until he was home with us
Our Herbal Bath
One of the things I was really looking forward to about our home birth (and another reason why Abby rocks) is the herbal bath. This is usually how home birth photos get wrapped up and Abby knew that I was really looking forward to the bath and the photos. It was to be one of the experiences that we thought we would lose when we transferred to the hospital…until Abby offered to host and photograph an herbal bath of me and my boys when Patrick came home. My babies were two weeks two days old for their “first” bath.
Precious moments with Rory
The herbs Abby used to prepare our bath
I felt like a princess with my baby princes in this luxurious bath created by Abby
My Rory and his beautiful blue eyes. Magical.
So much love for these two babies
Love this shot of Patrick’s baby feet. We were still working on weaning from the bottle at this point and had stop a minute to give him a quick bottle feed after breastfeeding.
Beautiful Patrick
Thank you Abby for all you did for our family. We love Bump 2 Baby Photography and we love you!
I read this with tears in my eyes. Overwhelmed with emotions for you, and everything that went with the birth of your two beautiful boys. Also with the deep understanding of "did I do the right thing?".
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is an answer to this, except to focus on how busy those little guys are going to keep you.
Thank you for sharing and congrats Momma, you did great!
Congratulations and thank you for sharing. A truly beautiful story.
ReplyDelete