Jaxon Eli Searle
Born October 9, 2014 at 6:20 am
8 lbs. 6 oz. 21 inches
10.26.2014
Jaxon Eli Searle
I have so much going through my mind as I once again enter into the world of new baby and motherhood. I'm going to try and remember Jaxon's birth day but to be honest, it's kind of a blur....
I went to the doctor at 36 weeks w/ no dilation, no effacement. Two weeks later at 38 weeks, I was 3cm and 50% effaced. The rest of the day (even though my midwife Heather said there would be cramping and bleeding from the check) I was sore and crampy thinking maybe this was it. I even called my mom and told her she should be there within 72 hours (stupid...I totally know now that I was not even in labor...labor is much more intense). She flew out a day later.
The waiting began--I had zero contractions for a week. Monday the 6th of October, I had another appointment and I was 4cm and 50% effaced. I thought I would never have this baby (always desperate thinking the last few weeks of pregnancy...). We discussed induction. I DID NOT want to have an induction and Heather knew that. I was only considering it because my mom was here and I had her come out too early and she was missing work and I was feeling so guilty...I couldn't even relax and I know it wasn't helping me progress. I made an appointment for the 13th of October to be checked again and then Tuesday the 14th we scheduled for the induction.
After the appointment, we went to a pumpkin patch to get my mind off of it so my body could do it's own thing. The added stress wasn't helping. I decided we would do something everyday until I went into labor instead of us sitting at home waiting. Ryker loved the bounce house and tractor rides. He would climb up onto the hay bales and say, "CHEESE!" He's such a ham! I also made an appointment for a reflexology session to do some acupressure to "induce" labor.
The next morning, we went to the Grapevine Mills mall. It's a big mall so we walked and walked and I was sore and tired. While walking, an asian man stopped me and told me he would give me a free sample foot massage. He was cheaper than the reflexologist so I figured why not...he suckered me in and I got a 30 minute foot massage. He kept asking me in broken english when I was due and I just kept saying, "Get this baby out." The lady who did the massage really got in there and rubbed all the right points. Besides that, it was GLORIOUS and a great way to relax! It was also my mom's birthday so we went to Applebee's for lunch and I ate WAY too much. I was having weird cramps and my mom was getting excited! After getting home I swear I bounced on my labor ball for forever.
On the 8th (the next day), as Randy was getting ready for school, he went into the bathroom and then very quickly came back out.
"Kayleigh??"
(Groggily) "....What??"
"Do you feel ok?"
"Ya why??"
"The toilet is different colors..."
I started laughing and told him that I had had a couple of really good contractions during the night and it was probably just my "bloody show." Which got me really excited. He went to school and my Mom, Ryker and I went to story time at the Library and played there. After coming home, Ryker was super cuddly that day...I think he knew something! Later that night we went to the Lewisville HS Homecoming parade. The whole community gets involved! I had my first real contractions there-mostly when I would hold Ryker. So my mom made me hold Ryker! ;) Once we got home, I put him to bed and bounced. I was having irregular contractions but by 9-10pm they were 7 minutes apart. I took a bath....glorious. But Randy and my mom were saying that I should figure out what to do with Ryker in case I go into labor in the middle of the night. (I was totally already laboring...). I called a friend in the ward and asked if we could bring Ryker over just in case we went to the hospital that night. (Note: I was in denial that I was in labor). So we brought him over. Instead of going to the hospital, I knew I would be more comfortable laboring at home. We used rice bags during the contractions to apply counter pressure and that helped with the pain. The contractions would start in the front and radiate to the back. The contractions spread out to every 10 minutes when I was resting and laying down. They started to get really intense and I keep waking Randy up to tell him lets head to the hospital so I can get an epidural and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go. But I would just think to myself, "Get to the climax of the contraction and then the rest is easy." Plus Randy wouldn't let me go! ;) Which I'm so grateful for. This went on for about 6 hours. I also got to a point where I realized that I could lay in bed and "suffer" through the contractions or I could get up and move around and get the baby out sooner!
Around 4am, I started to throw up and shake. I knew right then that we needed to get to the hospital ASAP because I was starting to transition. My contractions were still about 7 minutes apart but really intense so we pack everything up and head to the hospital. (Super annoyed that I didn't really wake Randy up to labor with me and help me through everything..I didn't use anything in my labor kit either.) We called the hospital to see when the front doors opened to see if we had to go through the Emergency Room or not. At 4:45 AM we went to the hospital and up to Labor and Delivery. When I got to the front desk, they were just looking at me like, "Can we help you?" I was like, "Am I in the right place?" A nurse replied, "Are you in labor?" Contraction hits. "YUP!!"
I sign in and take a little while to get to the room which kind of annoyed the nurse because she said, "We really need to get you in your room so I can check you." I get undressed, dressed in the hospital gown and she checked me. "You're at a 7-8. Call the Midwife!" I was kind of freaking out because Heather knew I wanted to labor at home but she warned me to at least give her enough time to get there because she lives about 30-40 minutes away. Luckily it was early enough in the morning that she got there super fast. I was surprised! She walked in and I immediately started apologizing for waiting so long but she was happy with where I was and how I was doing. So we put in the Hep Lock and buckled down.
I owe everything to my midwife and nurse. They encouraged me to keep going and breathe through it. I had to have complete silence and wouldn't let Randy talk to me, but when Heather told me to breathe it was refreshing. I was also apologizing incessantly to Randy for telling him to shut up. ;)
So I got there at 5am and at 6am we started recording the birth and laboring process. I'm so glad we record our births so I can go back and watch it because everything is fuzzy. But I started pushing about 6:10am and he was born at 6:20am. I pushed I think like 4 times. It was kind of scary starting to push just because I didn't understand how it would feel and what it would be like. But it was so refreshing to just have my body KNOW what to do instead of me forcing it to do something. I looked up at Heather and asked, "Is there anyone else here having a baby?" She said there was and I said, "What if I scream and freak them out???" She said I wouldn't scream. And I technically didn't, but I was vocal and a little loud towards the end.....About the third push, everyone started telling me to "push, push, push!" He had the cord wrapped around his neck once pretty tight so they wanted to get him out!
Ring of Fire is real folks and I cried, "Get him out!!!!" He came out blue and I was just thinking, "Make him cry!" He started crying real quick and pinked up really fast. He had some bruising around his eyes after for a few days and his eyes were bloodshot, but he is absolutely perfect!
So Jaxon Eli entered this world at 6:20am on October 9, 2014. He was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches.
Right after, I delivered the placenta, did a round of pitocin to help the uterus clamp down and stitched me up (my old episiotomy tore when we had to get him out fast). We transferred to the recovery room an hour later. I showered and we were ready to go! We did laps around the hospital and I was feeling amazing! Night and day difference from Ryker's birth. I'm so grateful I have had the opportunity to experience a natural unmedicated birth and I don't think I'll ever get an epidural again. Jaxon and I were both so alert and have healed fast!
We left the next afternoon and it was super nice to not be at the hospital longer than we needed to be and be in our own home! Recovery has been great and super fast. We both got our chiropractic adjustments and that was a heavenly day to get that done!
We are so grateful for family members and friends who have helped us in any way: Staying with us, preparing meals and watching Ryker and making sure he gets a little attention too!
I went to the doctor at 36 weeks w/ no dilation, no effacement. Two weeks later at 38 weeks, I was 3cm and 50% effaced. The rest of the day (even though my midwife Heather said there would be cramping and bleeding from the check) I was sore and crampy thinking maybe this was it. I even called my mom and told her she should be there within 72 hours (stupid...I totally know now that I was not even in labor...labor is much more intense). She flew out a day later.
The waiting began--I had zero contractions for a week. Monday the 6th of October, I had another appointment and I was 4cm and 50% effaced. I thought I would never have this baby (always desperate thinking the last few weeks of pregnancy...). We discussed induction. I DID NOT want to have an induction and Heather knew that. I was only considering it because my mom was here and I had her come out too early and she was missing work and I was feeling so guilty...I couldn't even relax and I know it wasn't helping me progress. I made an appointment for the 13th of October to be checked again and then Tuesday the 14th we scheduled for the induction.
After the appointment, we went to a pumpkin patch to get my mind off of it so my body could do it's own thing. The added stress wasn't helping. I decided we would do something everyday until I went into labor instead of us sitting at home waiting. Ryker loved the bounce house and tractor rides. He would climb up onto the hay bales and say, "CHEESE!" He's such a ham! I also made an appointment for a reflexology session to do some acupressure to "induce" labor.
The next morning, we went to the Grapevine Mills mall. It's a big mall so we walked and walked and I was sore and tired. While walking, an asian man stopped me and told me he would give me a free sample foot massage. He was cheaper than the reflexologist so I figured why not...he suckered me in and I got a 30 minute foot massage. He kept asking me in broken english when I was due and I just kept saying, "Get this baby out." The lady who did the massage really got in there and rubbed all the right points. Besides that, it was GLORIOUS and a great way to relax! It was also my mom's birthday so we went to Applebee's for lunch and I ate WAY too much. I was having weird cramps and my mom was getting excited! After getting home I swear I bounced on my labor ball for forever.
On the 8th (the next day), as Randy was getting ready for school, he went into the bathroom and then very quickly came back out.
"Kayleigh??"
(Groggily) "....What??"
"Do you feel ok?"
"Ya why??"
"The toilet is different colors..."
I started laughing and told him that I had had a couple of really good contractions during the night and it was probably just my "bloody show." Which got me really excited. He went to school and my Mom, Ryker and I went to story time at the Library and played there. After coming home, Ryker was super cuddly that day...I think he knew something! Later that night we went to the Lewisville HS Homecoming parade. The whole community gets involved! I had my first real contractions there-mostly when I would hold Ryker. So my mom made me hold Ryker! ;) Once we got home, I put him to bed and bounced. I was having irregular contractions but by 9-10pm they were 7 minutes apart. I took a bath....glorious. But Randy and my mom were saying that I should figure out what to do with Ryker in case I go into labor in the middle of the night. (I was totally already laboring...). I called a friend in the ward and asked if we could bring Ryker over just in case we went to the hospital that night. (Note: I was in denial that I was in labor). So we brought him over. Instead of going to the hospital, I knew I would be more comfortable laboring at home. We used rice bags during the contractions to apply counter pressure and that helped with the pain. The contractions would start in the front and radiate to the back. The contractions spread out to every 10 minutes when I was resting and laying down. They started to get really intense and I keep waking Randy up to tell him lets head to the hospital so I can get an epidural and I wasn't sure how much longer I could go. But I would just think to myself, "Get to the climax of the contraction and then the rest is easy." Plus Randy wouldn't let me go! ;) Which I'm so grateful for. This went on for about 6 hours. I also got to a point where I realized that I could lay in bed and "suffer" through the contractions or I could get up and move around and get the baby out sooner!
Around 4am, I started to throw up and shake. I knew right then that we needed to get to the hospital ASAP because I was starting to transition. My contractions were still about 7 minutes apart but really intense so we pack everything up and head to the hospital. (Super annoyed that I didn't really wake Randy up to labor with me and help me through everything..I didn't use anything in my labor kit either.) We called the hospital to see when the front doors opened to see if we had to go through the Emergency Room or not. At 4:45 AM we went to the hospital and up to Labor and Delivery. When I got to the front desk, they were just looking at me like, "Can we help you?" I was like, "Am I in the right place?" A nurse replied, "Are you in labor?" Contraction hits. "YUP!!"
I sign in and take a little while to get to the room which kind of annoyed the nurse because she said, "We really need to get you in your room so I can check you." I get undressed, dressed in the hospital gown and she checked me. "You're at a 7-8. Call the Midwife!" I was kind of freaking out because Heather knew I wanted to labor at home but she warned me to at least give her enough time to get there because she lives about 30-40 minutes away. Luckily it was early enough in the morning that she got there super fast. I was surprised! She walked in and I immediately started apologizing for waiting so long but she was happy with where I was and how I was doing. So we put in the Hep Lock and buckled down.I owe everything to my midwife and nurse. They encouraged me to keep going and breathe through it. I had to have complete silence and wouldn't let Randy talk to me, but when Heather told me to breathe it was refreshing. I was also apologizing incessantly to Randy for telling him to shut up. ;)
So Jaxon Eli entered this world at 6:20am on October 9, 2014. He was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches.
Right after, I delivered the placenta, did a round of pitocin to help the uterus clamp down and stitched me up (my old episiotomy tore when we had to get him out fast). We transferred to the recovery room an hour later. I showered and we were ready to go! We did laps around the hospital and I was feeling amazing! Night and day difference from Ryker's birth. I'm so grateful I have had the opportunity to experience a natural unmedicated birth and I don't think I'll ever get an epidural again. Jaxon and I were both so alert and have healed fast!We left the next afternoon and it was super nice to not be at the hospital longer than we needed to be and be in our own home! Recovery has been great and super fast. We both got our chiropractic adjustments and that was a heavenly day to get that done!
Playing in the hospital room.
I had SO many wristbands.
Hearing Test
My amazing Midwife Heather
We are so grateful for family members and friends who have helped us in any way: Staying with us, preparing meals and watching Ryker and making sure he gets a little attention too!
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