Kaidan Eugene Ranck

I wrote this forever ago and forgot to post it. But here it is, Kaidan's Birth Story.

Saturday was really, a rather normal day.

I insisted to Jameson that we had to go buy our Christmas tree and get it up because we really had no idea when the baby was coming and I did not want to miss out on the experience. So we went to the DI, bought a tree stand. Went to the tree lot, picked a tree, some kettle corn and yummy Korean BBQ. We went home to play a game with family but ended up not. One of my good friends asked if she could crash at our place that night so we had her come over.

I started to feel some stronger contractions around 7:30 so I took a big hot bath to try and calm them down. I wasn't uncomfortable by any means, but I also knew the contractions were becoming consistent. Jessica got here so we hung out, talked, joked about her recent car experiences then got ready for bed. It was around 10:00, I think.

Jess left on her date and we tried to go to sleep. Jamie is blessed and knocked out. The contractions were about every ten minutes and I just couldnt fall asleep between them. I knew this was it but that I also had to wait until they were close enough together. So until two I sat out in the living room bouncing on my birthing ball and trying to get into positions that felt better.

That is when I noticed something was different.

I could still feel the contractions. But more than those I had contractions in my lower back. And those took all my attention. At two I woke up Jamie telling him I couldn't do it on my own anymore. He was very sweet (despite having been ill all day) and started to help me get through them. Jessica got home about 3, we told her what was going on, Jameson woke up his mother and we were on our way to the hospital. I had this nagging feeling that they would send me home because it hadn't been very long but the contractions were five minutes apart and I was feeling very little relief i between.

We got in, met with a nurse, checked in and the measured me at a 4. They watched me for an hour and without progressing, the midwife told them to go ahead and send me home. The nursing staff was very concerned about sending me home because they were all convinced I was in true labor. But we lived close enough to the hospital that they felt I could probably make it back in time. The nurse said I would be back in that day (Sunday) to have the baby. We left and I felt very discouraged. I had been so certain I was in labor and I was already in a lot of discomfort. How would I know when to go back?

We got home just after 5. I tried to sleep but every 5 minutes a contraction would hit. Luckily, as odd as it is to say, luckily, the children were up at their normal 5:30 so I could go in their room to try and distract myself. Jessica didn't know we had come back, so she came in to help. I was able to semi distract myself and let Jamie get some sleep. But once he was up, I was done. I took a shower, but after being up all night I kept jerking where I stood between awake and asleep and knew I had to lay down. The hot water was just helping the pain in my back.

I tried to sleep again but nothing had changed. The discomfort was getting worse and it got to the point where I was moaning into my pillow. My sweet mother in law, Jessica and Jameson got the children ready for church. My father in law was speaking so Jamie came in to ask if I was up for him going to listen. A contraction hit and I was really struggling to not cry out, so he made the executive decision to take me back to the hospital. My mom had also just suggested the same thing over a text. I was feeling a lot of self doubt about my ability to gauge my discomfort because they had sent me home only a few hours earlier. It was now 11.

We went to the hospital, walked into the same stupid checking room with new blue bands on my wrist and a lot of anger. I didnt want to be sent home again but I also knew I was in labor and didnt want to be told I had to go home to do it some more. The nurse, Wendy, was amazing. She said she had heard of me and was hoping I would come back to help her not be bored anymore :) She said a lot of the right things that day. She checked me and congratulated me on waiting as long as I had, I was now an 8 plus!

When she told me that the bigger nicer rooms didn't have a bath, I told her to stick me in a smaller room, I just wanted the bath. So we grabbed our bags and walked next door. I was the only one in that wing and it stayed that way the whole time. Small rooms all the way! They let me labor another hour, broke my water and that is when things got... well... out of hand. I had made it to a ten, which I never did with Bear. But I was also very uncomfortable.

Kaidan was curled up on one side of my body and his head turned sideways, caught on something. In case you remember reading Chloe's birth story, she was the same thing and they had to use forceps to get her out. I was already hurting and hearing about this position started to really freak me out. I suddenly felt very out of control. I kept asking questions but I swear no one answered them except Jamie. I didnt know if he was going to come out and I didnt know if I was going to be able to continue pushing. I was exhausted.

I am not a mean laborer. I do not yell "You did this to me!" or "I hate you!" In fact, I said a lot of "please" and "thank yous" between my rather "barbarious yalps". I now know what women are talking about when they talk about back labor. And I add my testament to theirs. It is the worst feeling in the whole world.

What happened was this. His head was turned so that the hardest part of his skull was going up and down my spine. Even though I was at a ten and effaced, he was getting stuck so even though he dropped almost out every time I pushed, the moment I stopped, he was sucked back up and going along my spine again. With that kind of pressure on my spine, my labor felt like one huge contraction. We pushed for 45 minutes.

I say "we" because it was just as much work for Jameson. I had enough sense that every time I looked into his eyes I saw how hard it was for him to work with me. Jameson is one of the most empathetic wonderful men I know and he loves me. He loves me enough to not only let me choose how to deliver our children, but to support me in it. He was hurting. I wish I could have reigned in my pain, to yell less, to be less panicked. But I couldn't. I felt very out of control because of the back labor. Every time the midwife would check me during a contraction I tried to get her to stop, I would yell at the nurse to stop messing with the monitors to get Kaidan's heart beat. The only one I didnt get frustrated with was Jamie.

Nurse Wendy was awesome at applying pressure no matter the position I assumed. My midwife Becky was very encouraging of me trying new positions and getting Kaidan into a more productive position. Jameson was always by my side, encouraging me and loving me through it.

We had finally gotten Kaidan's head turned and he was crowning! I was so thrilled and I knew it was over that I would not stop pushing. I had now been contracting for almost 16 hours, without sleep. I was done. So I tried to push him out. I thought that was what everyone was telling me to do. Jameson told me that everyone was trying to get me to stop.

hahahaha. Like that was happening.

After his head came out, he stopped. I was really confused. Turns out, his shoulders were broad, so he was stuck. AGAIN! So we pushed his shoulders out and finally, at 1:44pm, Kaidan was here and screaming and my back finally didnt hurt. Halleluiah!

7lbs 10 oz 20 inches of glory. He is our biggest baby. And boy did he feel like it. It is strange to say that as I snuggle him and marvel at how small he is.

Bear and Chloe adore him. Bear did a dance where he stood when he walked into the hospital room and saw him. Chloe kept holding him and kissing his head. Jameson had sent his mother a picture of him after he was born and Chloe was enraptured. She kept asking questions and making observations about how he looked (she is super into anatomy right now).

We are thrilled he is here and love every inch of him!