The Birth of Orion Isaac
In December 2011 Brandon and I decided that we were ready to try for another baby. We were quickly approaching our first-born Elijah’s first birthday. We agreed that once we started having kids, we would try to keep them fairly close in age. It was nice growing up with siblings who were close in age. We felt that a two-year age gap would be perfect (if all went as planned of course). So Brandon and I started trying to conceive. With Elijah, we conceived the first time we tried. I naively believed that there was no possible way we would end up pregnant the first attempt again because that was pure luck, right? I am not a schedule keeper or a, know exactly when I’m ovulating kind of woman. There was no such thing as “planning” for us. It was “lets just see what happens”. Lo and behold, we got pregnant the. First. Time. AGAIN. Fertile? Apparently!
Our first baby was born in the privacy our home with my husband and our midwife. That was the plan, if it were God’s will, for baby number two as well. But we planned to go with a different midwife this time. We were blessed to find, who I would consider, one of the best midwives EVER. She was professional, sweet, gentle, loves Jesus and was just what we needed at the time. She is someone whose integrity I truly admire. I scored!!
This pregnancy was going surprisingly smooth considering the stressful life circumstances we found ourselves fully immersed in shortly after learning we were expecting. We endured hardship in our marriage, the separation and subsequent divorce of my parents who were going on 28 years of marriage, 2 moves, and financial hardship in the business PLUS the energy it took to keep up with our firecracker, Elijah. I was terrified that I would miscarry from all the emotional stress and hurt I was experiencing. It was a lot to process and work through. Sorry for the vagueness. I still have to process how the last year has impacted me. That’s a whole other story I’m sure I’ll be writing about eventually. Thankfully it didn’t have a significant impact on the development and health of our baby. Praise God. Hearing a strong heartbeat every few weeks helped me relax. Feeling my baby move brought peace and comfort.
While in the thick of the first 4 months, in between gagging and throwing up, I prayed and begged God for a girl. At one point I was even convinced that I was, in fact, having a girl. I even got rid of all of Elijah’s clothes that he had grown out of! Well, on the second day of the 20th week of my pregnancy, in the ultrasound room I immediately recognized that all too familiar body part! It was a BOY. I was happy and yet so sad! I think I even cried at one point. I quickly picked up the pieces and accepted that God’s plan was bigger than my own and moved on. I trust that if I’m supposed to have a little girl, I will. One day. If not, I’ll have nieces. J
Many weeks later, on Wednesday September 19th I was 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant. PHEW. I went in for what would be my last prenatal visit with Carol, my midwife. When she checked me I was 2CM dilated. In my mind I was thinking “ONLY 2CM DILATED?! IS THAT A JOKE?” I was becoming more and more physically uncomfortable and the possibility of being pregnant another couple days to a week was something I wasn’t excited about. I was tired. I was done. Plus, I’m impatient ;) I was ready to meet my little boy. We decided to go ahead and have my membrane stripped in the hopes that it might kick start labor. Afterward I went home and impatiently waited for something to happen. Nothing was happening though. Not a single contraction. Needless to say, I went to bed pouting and feeling sorry for myself that night.
I woke up the following morning with some pretty strong, consistent contractions lasting between 45-60 seconds every 3-5 minutes. I thought, this might be it so I texted Carol. Her advice was to rest/sleep/eat/hydrate and keep her updated every hour or so. I did as I was advised and I lied down until I eventually fell sleep. When I woke up around 12PM my contractions had come to a screeching halt. Big surprise right? Prior to my nap I had even called the mom’s to let them know that I was probably in labor. My mom drove down from Dewey, AZ to be close by in the event that it actually was go time. She arrived just in time for me to tell her I was in fact NOT in labor. Oh well, spending the day chatting and visiting with my mom didn’t suck at all!
Brandon and I decided that since I was not in labor we might as well go have some Mexican food at our beloved Arriba’s. My thoughts at the time were maybe if stripping the membrane doesn’t work then some spicy food might! So my mother, Brandon, Elijah and I headed off to eat. During lunch I had some pretty strong contractions but they were still so sporadic. I wasn’t getting my hopes up.
I spent the remainder of the day resting until around 6:30PM then Brandon and I headed out to our marriage group. I figured it may be the last time I get to group for a while, I better go! Not to mention if for some reason I did go into labor, there was an OB in our group that night. I was in good hands. ;) While we were there I had a couple pretty strong contractions, again nothing to fuss over! We left at around 9:30PM and on our way home my contractions seemed to pick up again. They were 7-10 minutes apart this time but were pretty strong. They stayed consistent like that the rest of the night. I puttered around, did some laundry and made sure the house was picked up. Later on I put my headphones in, turned on my birth playlist and lied down. I fell asleep for about an hour. At midnight my contractions became significantly stronger. I continued to try and sleep through them but it just wasn’t happening. At 2AM I told Brandon it was time to have his mom come pick up Elijah and to call Carol. He said, “shouldn’t we wait a little while?” Let me think. Ummmm…no. At that point they were 3 minutes apart and lasting a minute.
Within an hour my mother-in-law, mom and Carol were all there. They were scrambling around helping us get ready while I was resting and laboring. A short time later the grandmas took a very confused Elijah home with them for a “sleepover”. The poor boy had no idea why he was leaving mommy and daddy in the middle of the night. I could rest easy knowing he was in good hands but couldn’t help but feel so sad for him. His life was about to be turned upside down! He had no idea what was coming! I didn’t expect an easy transition but I was pleasantly surprised by his warm welcome for his brother. He is still so sweet and loving toward him.
When Carol checked me at around 3:30AM I was 4CM Dilated and definitely in active labor! Hooray! It was really happening! We lied down around 4AM to attempt to sleep, or at the very least, rest. I lied there for 2 hours while my contractions continued to progress. They were becoming stronger and stronger. At 6AM I couldn’t lay down any longer. I was uncomfortable, nauseous and hungry. I ate, hydrated and continued to labor using a birthing chair. Brandon was with me through every contraction, applying counter pressure to my lower back. After laboring on the chair for a while I decided to get in the bathtub and let the warm water work it’s magic and relieve some of the discomfort. It helped but it didn’t stop the dry heaves after every single contraction. At this point it was around 7AM. While in the bathtub my contractions took a turn and became very difficult to relax through. I was tensing up and feeling like it was close to push time. Carol checked me and I was 9CM dilated. I was in transition.
I decided to get out of the bathtub and go back to the bedroom. On the way back to my room I had a contraction that was so strong I thought my water was going to break. I was feeling lots of pressure. I got back on the birthing chair and squatted through a few more contractions until I couldn’t handle the intense pressure anymore. I got up onto the bed and within minutes my water broke and I could feel him coming down! Yay! And at the same time OW! I got into position and started pushing. I thought I was going to be pushing FOREVER. It was so intense. I was shaking and teetering on the edge of freaking out! I was listening to Carol’s instructions and doing my best to follow what she was saying. Counting with her. Pushing. When Brandon said that he could see our son’s head it was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. I was almost there! I could do it. It’s amazing that God gave me a husband who’s an exhorter. He knew that in that moment I would need words of encouragement, which my husband is gifted in providing! Praise the Lord. A few more pushes and out came his head. Within moments I was holding my perfect, wonderful son! Nothing even comes close to accurately expressing the joy that that moment holds for a mother. It’s like nothing else in this world. It’s relief, empowerment, adoration and peace.
Orion Isaac Bush was born posterior at 8:27AM on September 21 st 2012 (his due date), in the comfort of our home, weighing 7lbs 8oz and was 20 ½ inches long. He looked just like his mommy!! I’m so grateful to God for a safe and quick delivery. I’m also so thankful for my support team. Brandon was, once again the perfect labor and delivery partner. He was calm, encouraging, loving and emotionally present. Carol is hands down, the best midwife out there. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I’m truly blessed.
Thanks for allowing me to share my story,
Bethany
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