David & Jesi #2

Birth Story of Taimalie Jimmer  (TJ)

The last two weeks of my pregnancy were miserable. I had intense surges every night for about 2-3 hours, long enough that I would start to think maybe it was it, but not long enough for me to really be in labor. His due date was April 5th and that night the surges didn’t go away. I wanted to stay home as long as possible, but with David working the night shift I was home by myself with my 2 year old Kai. I was worried about having enough time for David to come home, drop Kai off at the grandparents, and get to the hospital. Also, I was tired of doing it alone. So I called David and we checked in to the hospital about 2 am on April 6th. My friend Holly and her husband Colter met us there. She was going to be coaching me since David was planning on delivering the baby and Colter was willing to be our cameraman.

I was progressing along slow and steady, but I wasn’t worried because that’s normal and I was feeling good. I was distracted by the conversation in the room, but I was still abel to stay relaxed. My first nurse was knowledgeable about HypnoBirthing and she was very accommodating. The nurses switched a couple times after that, but I wasn’t really aware of all that was going on. I was doing great, until we had an unfortunate incident with an incompetent resident.

He was the doctor on call and he wanted to make sure that they would be able to give my doctor enough time because of how fast I went last time. He checked me and told me I was completely effaced and dilated. I didn’t think so because I didn’t feel like I was ready to bear down, but I was ready to believe him because by that time it was 5:30 and I was tired because I hadn’t slept. So they got everything ready and called our doctor. Nothing happened for a while until Dr. Berry got there. David was ready and the resident left us to do our thing. After nothing really happening besides normal contractions for about 30 minutes Dr. Berry decided he would check me and see what was going on. He informed me that the resident was a moron (not in those words because he’s too nice for that, moron is my word). I was completely effaced, but I was still at a 5. That was discouraging to hear after thinking that I was ready, but David and Holly were great and keeping me encourage and focused on the end goal. Dr. Berry ruptured my membranes because he was worried about the baby’s heart rate. If I am able to avoid this method in the future I would because my surges became WAY more intense once my water was broken.

After all this I was really ready to get down to business. I put in my ear buds to listen to my birthing playlist, laid back, closed my eyes and relaxed. Next thing I knew I woke up to the strongest surge yet. I wasn’t planning on falling asleep, but my body needed the rest and surges didn’t stop while I slept, I just kept progressing. I plan on just staying at home and sleeping through the next one. It was now about 8:30 and it was really time for me to bear down at this point. It was exhausting because I really didn’t feel like I had the strength, but when I felt like I had nothing left I was able to breathe through it. David did a fantastic job delivering TJ. He helped relieve pressure for me and Holly was a great coach. I didn’t know this at the time, but my little guy had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, but it was loose and David with the guidance of Dr. Berry was able to easily unwrap it.

After the whole body was out David placed my TJ on my stomach and I held my squirming healthy baby boy. He was rooting around with wide open eyes and he actually nursed for the first time right there in the delivery room. It was a lot easier this time because now I knew better what I was doing so he was able to latch on. He stayed with me until David and the nurse took him to weigh him and measure him. Taimalie Jimmer Fiso was born at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 19 in long. After some more family bonding, David and TJ went to the nursery to get him cleaned up and I got cleaned up.

It’s been interesting to compare my two labor/deliveries. They were both natural, but I feel like my second one was more intense. I attribute that to my membranes being ruptured and to the fact that he was a bigger baby. If I could have done something differently I would have stayed at home longer and tried to sleep more. I would also have left in my ear buds and just listened to my playlist the whole time and not worried about anything else going on in the room.

Even though I can see things I would change now, the experience I had was just fine and both the baby and I were healthy, happy, and aware. Now we are a happy family of four and Kai is a very loving big brother.

Thank you for everything Launi!