Labor and some family pics

Well I thought that I would post a little bit about the labor story...just in case anyone was interested in hearing it! As most of you know while we were living in Miami I was going to a midwife and had intentions of having our baby naturally...meaning no meds, iv's, ect. In fact, I wasn't even going to be in a hospital but a birthing center. And I was really excited about it and completely trusted the midwives. After moving to Kansas, I had to change my plans a bit. There aren't any midwifes in the area nor is there a birthing center...but I still wanted a natural birth. Luckily I found a doctor who was very open to fulfilling my birth plans.

Not only did I want to birth our baby naturally, I was kind of in a time crunch. Let me explain... my doctor is also my employer and he was scheduled to go out of town last Friday (the 13th) with his family, but he wouldn't go unless I had delivered. Believe me, I know how hard this guy works and I did not want him to stay in town for me! I was approaching 40 weeks with no signs of labor. I even asked to have my membranes stripped last Tuesday and I was so "locked up" that he couldn't get in to strip them! My mom also arrived that same day, wanting to play with a baby! Well normally I wouldn't have cared...a lot of women go past their due dates without any problems-except I didn't want to be the reason my doctor stayed home. So I started trying the "natural" ways of inducing labor for example primrose oil, castor oil, spicy foods, etc! Something must have worked because on my due date (the 12th) I woke up at 5:30am to use the bathroom and my water broke. No contractions yet, but I was excited because I knew that the baby would be here soon! At 9am I went in to the office to let my doctor know I was in labor, he checked me and I was only dilated 2cm. So I went home and walked on the treadmill to try to get things going. By 2:45ish my contractions were coming more regular but not very painful. We decided to go to the hospital at 4:30ish. My contractions were coming about 5 minutes apart but still not very intense. They checked me, still at a 2 but 90% effaced. At that point I was still pretty comfortable because I remember Friends was on and I was laughing at it. As time went on I started to get more and more uncomfortable during the contractions and eventually the contractions became so intense that I was getting nauseous and lightheaded. At this point I was very grateful for Josh who was rubbing my lower back and that helped me a lot! The nurse came in at 8pm to hook me back up to the monitors and after seeing how uncomfortable I had become, she decided to check me (I hadn't been checked since I came to the hospital). So at 8:15ish I was dilated to an 8, 90% effaced, and a 0 station. They didn't want to call the doctor yet because I was a first time mom and they assumed it would take a few hours still. Good thing someone changed their mind because when the doctor arrived at 9pm and checked me I was ready to go! Jackson was born at 9:16pm. That last hour and a half or so was extremely intense and at one point I felt like my whole insides were trying to come out...the nurses noted it as a "ring of fire" and that is a perfect description of what I was feeling. It only lasted a short time though and once Jackson was here, all the pain disappeared! It was pretty incredible. People keep asking me if I'd do it natural again...I'm not quite sure yet! As time continues on though, I think I could do it again, so we'll just have to wait and see I guess!

Enjoy some more pictures of Jackson! He is our "little burrito" and words cannot express just how much we love this little guy. What a joy it is to have him in our life!




With Grandma Van Woerkom

With Grandpa Van Woerkom

Jackson and Uncle Steve

Daddy and his little buddy.

Grandparents Van Woerkom

With Aunti Nina

Don't know why he looks so red in this picture! Thank you everyone for all the love and support that you haved shown our little family at this time! We are so grateful for your calls, comments, letters, presents, etc! We love and appreciate all of you!