Here I am again. I don't blog fashion outfits anymore but it's easiest to post this story here to share! The reason I'm putting an intimate part of myself out there by posting my new babe's birth story is because throughout my journey I've been inspired hearing the birth experiences of other powerful women, and I hope my story does the same for someone else. Ushering a soul into this side of eternity is a life changing encounter and rite of passage. It expands the spirit into a higher level of existence. Before I had Avery and Ben it was as if I only lived life in 3 dimensions, and now I'm in 8. Like my favorite colors were blue and green, but that's only because I didn't know what indigo, cobalt and sage were yet.
It is my heart that every woman have a fearless, empowered and protected experience in childbirth. That they can treasure the moments in their heart and feel so thankful for the little one God has entrusted them with. That they would feel like a true badass after the feat their body just pulled off. Birth is a supernatural soul, spirit, mind and body encounter that crosses us over the threshold into motherhood. It is pouring out your life for one to come forth; being a part of the legacy they will leave in their lifetime. It is a beautiful privilege.
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THE STORY
It was Avery’s birthday. I was 40 weeks and 3 days. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be crazy cool if both our boys ended up being born on the same day? I felt my body was ready. So in the afternoon I decided to aggressively sniff Clary Sage essential oil in a napkin to try and get the ball rolling, maybe send me over the edge like it had sent me into labor with Ave. Nothing happened. So I continued with the order of things that I had for my birth with Avery anyway - getting high on Clary Sage, a long walk, a glass of wine. Contractions didn’t kick in so I assumed Ben wasn’t coming today, maybe tomorrow.
I went to bed at 1:30am after watching 12 Monkeys. I had a strange and intense dream and woke up to contractions at 4am. I was groggy and irritated at having been rudely awakened by such intensity and thought “I sure hope I’m not going into labor right now, I don’t feel like pulling an all-nighter.” But I decided I might as well time the contractions to see how far apart they were just in case. Sure enough, 45 second contractions 3 minutes apart. Here we go! I got up to walk around and see how I felt and pack my hospital tote, knowing that I might not have much time before we left for the hospital. I didn’t have to use the bathroom but felt water trickle down my leg. I woke up Joey and said “hey my water broke, call mom.” It was 4:20am and I texted my doula to come over too, they both arrived shortly. I couldn’t stay still. I had to walk around, rock my hips, lean back and forth, stay in motion. I started feeling shaky and nauseous with that familiar rush of adrenaline. My doula timed my contractions and they were less than 2 minutes apart. I was surprised I had woken up in active labor and was already in transition, dilated more than 6cm within a half hour! She told me it was time to go to the hospital, so I breathed and swayed through the next contraction and agreed “let’s go now.” After she asked if I felt the baby pushing I felt it out and realized that yes, my body was about to push this baby out whether I was an active participant or not.
5:00am: Joey once again committed a speeding felony driving to the hospital. At first he was being a responsible citizen and cruising at 70 but I calmly told him that if he didn’t speed up, Ben was going to make his grand entrance in the car. He shifted into NASCAR mode and we pulled up to the hospital about 25 minutes later. I prepped him, “just grab the wheelchair and I’ll get out of the car when I can.” Joey wheeled me through the emergency doors and the front desk told us we couldn’t go upstairs yet, that we had to check in and do our paperwork. I told him to keep wheeling me we’re going upstairs now, baby Ben is coming. I knew I was 10cm dilated, so I scoured the waiting room and determined a good spot to push out Ben in case they didn’t take us upstairs fast enough. Joey kept up the pace hesitantly and a nurse finally escorted us upstairs.
5:30am: Upon entering the delivery room, the nurses and midwife instructed me to sit on the bed and asked for my name and Kaiser number and wanted to take my blood pressure. I made a beeline for the far side of the room and said “I’m not getting in that bed!!” Immediately shedding my pants and tossing them on a guest chair, I kneeled down with my elbows resting on the end of the bed. I leaned forward and rocked my hips back and forth, inhaling deeply and blowing out lip raspberries. I could feel baby Ben coming to the end of his journey and I hadn’t even started pushing! I told them the baby is coming now. Like now. The hospital personnel kept trying to convince me to move to the bed. They asked for my name and Kaiser number again. A nurse requested taking my blood pressure… I finally yelled “HE’S COMING OUT NOW!” because I wondered if they were going to even catch him at this point. I moaned through my first intense push and the midwife started unexpectedly massaging my perineum. I shouted “PLEASE DON’T TOUCH ME!” and then asked Joey to play the hymn on my playlist “All Creatures of Our God and King.” I didn’t expect that, but knew it was the soundtrack for this sacred moment in eternity.
Swaying my hips back and forth, I found a way to kneel further back so my arms could cover my ears as they rested up on the bed and it felt amazing. With my hips tilting forward in primal intuition, I immersed myself in the intensity of 3 more pushes and Ben crowned and descended into the midwives’ hands. The nurses and midwife looked shocked, a deer in the headlights expression I would call it. I crawled up into the bed and they rested Ben in my arms. I greeted him with a smile, “hi baby Ben! It’s so good to meet you, I’ve been waiting for you.” He crawled across my chest and started nursing immediately. I didn’t have to teach him anything, he was a champ! My placenta came out over a half hour later and then Joey cut the cord. Ben was out at 5:40am, 10 minutes after entering the delivery room.
Swaying my hips back and forth, I found a way to kneel further back so my arms could cover my ears as they rested up on the bed and it felt amazing. With my hips tilting forward in primal intuition, I immersed myself in the intensity of 3 more pushes and Ben crowned and descended into the midwives’ hands. The nurses and midwife looked shocked, a deer in the headlights expression I would call it. I crawled up into the bed and they rested Ben in my arms. I greeted him with a smile, “hi baby Ben! It’s so good to meet you, I’ve been waiting for you.” He crawled across my chest and started nursing immediately. I didn’t have to teach him anything, he was a champ! My placenta came out over a half hour later and then Joey cut the cord. Ben was out at 5:40am, 10 minutes after entering the delivery room.
After an hour or more of cozy bonding time, breastfeeding and a leg massage from my wonderful doula I decided to freshen up since they were going to move us into the recovery room. I mean I had just gotten out of my warm bed and rushed to the hospital to have a baby. I put on clean clothes, did my hair and threw on some lipstick to feel more put together. I felt energized and completely drugged with the cocktail of hormones and oxytocin as I’ve experienced with natural birth.
And that is our sweet Ben’s story.
Welcome, Benjamin David Brooks! 5:40am June 22, 2018. 7lbs 8oz and missing his big brother’s birthday by 5 hours and 40 minutes.
I guess he didn’t want to share his birthday!
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