Brady Birth Story Part 5

  This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here and Part 3 here and Part 4 here.

...

Remember my previous births — they broke my water with the twins, and they were born within an hour. They broke my water with Lee Lee and she was born within about an hour. My water broke naturally with Hunter and he was born in less than a minute. So, I really had delusions that they would break my water, around 9:00pm, and I’d be holding my baby by 9:15 or so. Really, you’d think this was my first labor by how wrong I was. 

My labor went on for hours — very similar to my birth with Lee Lee.  I remember asking the doctor to check my progress around midnight and she said I was dilated to 4cm, and I wanted to kill her.  I had no patience with this labor. I had no position that was bringing relief (even mental relief). 

Our nurse was wonderful and it turned out  that I had met her husband and we teach at the same school (one of my schools) and their last name is Miller and our last name is Miller and we have kids the same age and all our kids go to the same school… that part was great except I didn’t want to make new friends right then. I wanted to have a baby — preferably not in front of a new friend. 

After midnight, I just couldn’t believe every hour that passed. 1:00 am still no baby. 2:00am still no baby — and the doctor checked my progress again and said I was measuring at “4+cm”… that time I really could have killed her. 3:00am still no baby. 

Finally about 3:30, I asked the doctor to check again and she said I might be at 5cm now and I just pleaded with her about what to do. I was exhausted and I was not progressing (at least not as fast as I had come to expect from my body). 

I remember looking at her and saying, “Whatever you tell me to do, I will do. If you tell me to stand on my head, I will stand on my head. If you tell me to get an epidural, I will get an epidural. If you tell me to have a C-Section, I will have a C-Section. Please tell me what to do.“ 

Now, it is worth noting that I did not want a C-Section, and my doctor knew this. Also, I did not want an epidural, and my doctor knew this. 

This physician had been my primary OB for all my pregnancies and so far, all of my babies had been born naturally without an epidural and no C-Sections (INCLUDING my twins) and that was largely due to my rapport and relationship with this OB. 

She suggested I get in the bathtub. 

I had not gotten in the bathtub before this point for several specific reasons — some are valid and some are silly.

First, the hospital tub is a standard bathtub and not particularly comfortable to move around to different labor positions. I labored in the tub during my labors with Tracey, and Lee Lee, both for hours.  I knew that the water felt good, but the dimensions of the tub did not. 

Less important was the fact that I had makeup on and my hair curled and I didn’t want to ruin in appearance in the bathtub. 

I Know. STUPID!

But, in all of my first pictures with my babies, I had looked like I had had a rough day. Makeup running, hair wet, exhausted — I looked like I had a baby. All except Hunter. Hunter’s birth was so quick and no bath tub was involved, and I looked great in those pictures after he was born. I wanted that again so I was avoiding the bathtub. 

But, my OB advised getting in the tub, and I had vowed my allegiance to whatever she said. I got settled in the bathtub as comfortably as possible.  This time, I kneeled in the tub with my back to the spout and shower, facing the back of the tub, which has a little ledge where I could rest my arms.  This allowed me to kneel in the tub in between contractions, and during contractions, I could lean forward and lay my arms on the ledge of the tub which put me in a modified all-fours/hands and knees position kind of half-in/half-out of the tub.

As I got in to the tub, the doctor made sure that Chris knew where the call buttons were in the restroom, and our wonderful nurse told me she was going to use the restroom and grab a sandwich and would be back to check on us in a bit. 

As I said, our nurse was wonderful… and remains a good friend of ours to this day.

But… her telling me that she was going to use the restroom and grab a bite to eat made me so angry.

It infuriated me that my OB was going back to sleep and my nurse was getting dinner because they both thought I was going to be in labor for who knows how many more hours.  They left about 3:40. I had about 3 contractions and I kept telling Chris that I couldn’t do this anymore. I also told him that I was going to push this baby out the moment I had the chance — which he completely supported. As he saw with Hunter, when my body is ready to have the baby, I’m having the baby.  He encouraged me the entire time.

The next contraction, with Chris beside me, positioned half in/half out of the bathtub (remember, on my knees in the tub but leaving my arms over the back ledge of the tub) with no warning to my surrounding people, I began to push the baby out (approximately 3:44am).

When Chris saw what was happening, I heard him yell (with a tone of panic I’d never heard from him before) for the doctor. No, he did not use the call button she so nicely pointed out to him. 

To Be Continued...

Brady's Birth Story Part 4

   This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Hubby and I made the decision about 4 o’clock that I should head to the hospital.

With Hunter‘s birth story in my head, I fully hoped that we would be calling the children before their 7:00pm bedtime to tell them the baby had arrived. 

That is not what happened.

My labor slowed on our drive to the hospital, and practically stopped by the time I had checked in, got settled in a room, had my IV Lockport put in, and talked to our doctor.

Knowing it was my sixth baby, and I was dialated to about 3.5cm (so much for the progress I thought I was making by mowing the lawn, and walking the kids to the park)... everyone agreed that I should be monitored a few hours before we would decide if I would stay or go home.

About 9 o’clock at night, my labor had completely stopped.

So... we discussed the situation... should I stay or should I go?

I could have gone home and waited for labor to start again - maybe a few hours later, maybe a few days later... maybe a week later.

Or, I could stay and have the baby.

A few hours away from my due date, I was ready to have this baby, and I did not want the continued yo-yo of “Am I in labor yet?” ”Will the highway be open?” “ What if we don’t make it to the hospital?”

The doctor and I agreed that she would break my water. I was not going home, and the baby would be coming.

Once again, remember my previous births — they broke my water with the twins, and they were born within an hour. They broke my water with Lee Lee and she was born within about an hour. My water broke naturally with Hunter and he was born in less than a minute. So, I really had delusions that they would break my water, around 9:00pm, and I’d be holding my baby by 9:15 or so. Really, you’d think this was my first labor by how wrong I was. 

To Be Continued...

Brady's Birth Story Part 2

 This post will be continuing on with Brady's birth story.  You can read Part 1 here.

We left off with Hubby and me on our Baby Moon in Grand Junction.

I woke up the next morning having consistent contractions and not wanting to go to breakfast. For our baby moon weekend, it was abnormal for me to pass up a breakfast out. Both Chris and I agreed that we should head home with the thought that we might be going to the hospital soon.

I experienced consistent contractions about 3 to 5 minutes apart our entire drive from Grand Junction to Rifle. When we got to Rifle, I suggested that we not head to the hospital yet, but go catch up with my parents and our children at the local bike rodeo about a mile from our house.  My parents had been watching our five little ones, and they were brave enough to take our crew to the local bike rodeo put on by the local police station.  I knew my parents could use our help.  Also, it was an outdoor event, and I thought walking around with the kids might help my labor progress, and we were now closer to our hospital and could leave whenever we needed to. 

Walking around at the bike rodeo, and spending time with our children, completely stopped my labor.  We all came back home, and I took a bath and a nap, hoping my labor would pick back up.  It did not.  While my contractions had slowed considerably, our whole household was on high alert knowing that things could change at any time… and maybe progress rather quickly.  Adding to the overall tension of anticipation that evening, a mudslide between our house and our hospital closing down the interstate.

This was all happening on Saturday (my due date was not until Wednesday), and so amidst the false labor, and mudslides, my parents were also considering if they could go up to Vail to gather some items from their condo before returning to our home for the duration of their visit.  They did not want to drive up to Vail only to find out Chris had rushed to the hospital and they were not here to help with the children.

The decision was made that afternoon that Chris and I would not go to the hospital, but my parents would not go up to Vail.  Everyone just hunkered down at home with all eyes on me waiting for labor to begin.  Okay, not really, but that’s certainly how it felt.

By Sunday morning, all signs of labor had disappeared, so I sent my parents up to Vail and prepared Hubby and the older kids to go to school on Monday (the younger ones were home last year due to covid and virtual teaching).  So we all headed to bed Sunday night with my parents in Vail, the kids and Hubby ready for school the next day, and my labor completely stopped.

To Be Continued...

Hunter Birth Story -- Part IV

Just recently I realized that I never really finished sharing about Hunter's birth story.  I mean, I did... he was officially born in Part III... but there really is a little more after that.

We left off with my just having delivered Hunter, very quickly after Hubby arrived at the Hospital.  Within ten minutes of Hubby's arrival to the hospital to be exact.

I moved to the hospital bed to regroup a minute and hold him while the midwife made sure everything had gone smoothly... but Hunter (who at this point was just Baby Boy Miller), Hubby and I did not take much time to relax.

When our baby boy was born, nothing really slow down because at 5:15 PM, we realized we could have the children come and meet their new brother that evening if we acted fast.  We made the decision to ask my parents to drive to the hospital since they would be driving right past Glenwood Springs on their way to Rifle, and we asked the Babysitter’s mother to drive our kiddos up from Rifle to meet their new sibling. 

We knew it would be a late night for our kiddos, and we would be forever indebted to our sainted baby-sitter and her mother, but we really wanted our children to be the first ones to meet their sibling and learn if it was a brother or sister.  Also, by the children and my parents coming up Friday night, we could all relax and sleep in on Saturday morning.

Hubby ran to the party store to buy some blue confetti so we could do a gender reveal, and I worked on getting showered, and dressed and moved to a residential room so I would be settled when the kiddos arrived.

My parents and the kids arrived probably shortly after seven and we got to introduce Hunter Miller to his older siblings and my parents.

When we introduced Hunter to his siblings and my parents, we did not yet have a middle name for him.

We had a wonderful time with the little ones and my parents, and our sweet baby-sitter and her mother who brought our children to meet their baby brother.

The baby-sitters even changed the kids into the special outfits I had for them to wear to the hospital, and they fed them dinner, and handled everyone as smoothly as you could imagine -- probably better than Hubby and I do.

We let the kids FaceTime their Miller cousins and announce the arrival of their baby brother, Hunter, and thankfully, they have so much family on that side that all of our children got to announce Hunter's arrival on at least one phone call.

Hunter did not not have middle name until later that night... but that is a story for another post.

Christmas Card and Birth Announcement

This year, our birth announcements to welcome Hunter Nicholas were sent with our Christmas cards... so here are both in the same blog:

Merry Christmas from the Mountain Millers

Message on front:

The Mountain Millers 2019

Chris, Brooke, Tracey, Howard, Caroline, Lee Lee, & Hunter

Message on back:

2019 Highlights:

Tracey: Learning to swim independently, hunting with Daddy, and starting kindergarten

Howard: Playing soccer, jet skiing with Sanden cousins, boating with Miller cousins and mutton bustin' 

Caroline: First dance recital, seeing bears and moose (and more) in Yellowstone

Addallee: Starting school, becoming a big sister

Hinter: Joining the family November 15, 2019

Chris: New job as assistant principal and eagle Vallye high School, taking the kids to 6 National Parks

Brooke: Welcoming baby Hunter, taking the kids to 17 states, and family reunions

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome Hunter Nicholas Miller

Message on front:

Hunter Nicholas Miller 

Born November 15, 2019

at 5:15pm

7lbs 2oz. 19in long

Then He had a little child stand among them. Taking the child in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes not only Me, but the One who sent Me." - Mark 9:36-37

Joyfully Welcomed by Chris and Brooke Miller

and siblings Tracey, Howard, Caroline, & Lee Lee 

 

How We Prepared For Our Hospital Birth

A few months ago (yikes, where does the time go) I posted as to why Hubby and I chose a hospital birth over a home birth.

As I promised in that post, this is how we prepared for our hospital birth, and choices we made that we feel made the experience very positive, healthy, predictable, and joyful.

The most important thing we did in in preparing for our birth... was PREPARE FOR OUR BIRTH.

Yes, I realize I just said the same thing, and yet I couldn't believe how many first-time pregnant moms with whom I spoke hadn't prepared for the birth.  Sure, they had a beautiful nursery, really cute baby clothes, they had their newborn photo shoot booked... but they had not done any preparation for the BIRTH of their child.  At most maybe they had toured the hospital and decided which room they thought looked most cozy.

Hubby and I prepared for the BIRTH starting seven months before our baby was born, and kept studying up until D-Day.  My body was spending nine months preparing itself for the major event of birth... my mind, spirit, and husband needed to prepare as well.

During my first trimester, I read, Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley, and Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon.  These books helped me even begin to mentally prepare for what it would mean to give birth and decide if I wanted to try to give birth naturally, and if I thought The Bradley Method would be the right choice for me.

After much research, I found a Bradley instructor in my area and signed Hubby and me up for the twelve-session class beginning in October (our baby was due in February).

The Bradley Classes were amazing, and helped both Hubby and me to prepare for everything from pre-labor, to relaxation techniques, to routine labor, to what to do if unforeseen circumstances arise.  To read more about our Bradley experience see this post or the Bradley Label of the blog posts.

The Bradley Classes involved class sessions, workbook homework assignments, physical homework for both my husband and me, and physical exercises for me to practice.

I had shared the face I was studying the Bradley Method with my OBGYN doctors, but within a month of my due date, I went online and used a few websites to help me actually write out a birth plan.

I used several birth plan websites, but I believe the one from which I drew the most information was  http://www.pregnancyandbaby.com

My birth plan outlined the training I had had, how I planned to handle Labor, Induction and Labor Augmentation, Anesthesia, Cesarean Section Delivery, Delivery, Immediately after the Birth, Newborn Care, Postpartum Care, and Breastfeeding.  Yes, it was not a short document.  It was mostly made up of headings and bullet-points, with some bold for a couple of important details such as "Please do not announce the baby's gender.  My husband will do this when he sees for himself," and "Please do not offer me any anesthesia unless I ask for it."

I then took this birth plan with me to every doctor's appointment I had during my last month of pregnancy and discussed it with each of my doctors.  (When I say "each of my doctors" there are four OBGYNs in the practice, and, by not knowing when the baby would arrive, whichever physician was on call when I delivered the baby would be my doctor.  So, during my last 6 weeks of pregnancy, I had a doctors appointment with each of the four doctors who might delivery the baby.

I thought it would be a pretty simple process, hand off the birth plan, and tell them I'd see them at the birth.  Each and every physician took the birth plan and read through the entire thing, there, in the room with me, as soon as I gave it to them.  They also, each, told me point-by-point the aspects of the birth plan that they did not like.

Although from the same practice, each doctor had different parts of the birth plan that they would not agree to.  It was through this process, that I learned which of the four obstetricians aligned most closely with my plans for childbirth. 

In fact, it was through this process that I learned that the obstetrician that I had been seeing has my primary doctor informed me that would not agree to not offering anesthesia.  There was more to the conversation, which ended with me, sitting in my car, on the phone with Hubby, crying and wondering if home birth was not the better way to go.

Again, it was through my written birth plan, that Hubby and I learned which doctor most closely aligned with and supported our plan for labor and delivery, and we started praying like crazy that she would be on call when the time came for my birth.  God is wonderful, and she was on call the entire time I labored and delivered.

Hubby and I also toured the hospital, which was nice to learn the layout, although I think it benefited Hubby more than it did me.  I didn't do a lot of traveling around the maternity ward once we arrived.

I would say, of everything we did to prepare for our hospital birth, the most important thing Hubby and I did was study together.  For us, it meant Bradley classes, but going into labor and delivery we BOTH felt ready for a test -- we had prepared and studied, both together and a part, and we both had our own roles to play during our final exam.

Hubby knew to stay calm, and relax me, and not let the pain I was in impact his actions and decision making.  It is not uncommon for a woman to be encouraged to get an epidural because her husband is so upset watching her in pain.  He is the one tracking down the nurse and demanding that someone help his wife.  If a husband is acting like that, you better believe, the hospital staff will respond.

We remained very calm, informed, and felt very in control of our hospital birth the entire time.

Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions about the manner in which we prepared for our hospital birth.

Why We Chose A Hospital Birth

I am an old-fashioned person.  I often wear skirts, I bake and can, I want to stay home with my child, I am a homemaker, I prefer natural remedies to treat illnesses and, though Hubby and I are in the field of education, we are praying about possibly homeschooling our children.

I don't think any of my friends or family would have been surprised had I told them Hubby and I were planning a home birth for the birth of our first child.  Some of them may have tried to persuade us to change our minds, but I don't think any of them would have been shocked had that been our decision.  A home birth was NOT our decision.  From the very beginning of our pregnancy, Hubby and I both felt led to plan for, prepare for, and carry out, a hospital birth.

I have known many women who have given birth at home, and all of them highly recommend it, but neither Hubby or I felt inclined to follow their recommendations.  The most common endorsements for it I have heard involve how comfortable the women felt, and what a beautiful experience it was.  I don't doubt their word at all; however, we chose a hospital birth, and we were incredibly pleased with our decision.

Hubby and I prepared for labor and delivery through The Bradley Method of childbirth and we attended twelve weekly classes with three other couples.  We were the ONLY couple in our class who was planning a hospital birth.  I think being in the minority helped Hubby and me to discuss a little more extensively the reasons we did feel strongly about having a hospital birth, but we never felt pressured to change our plan just because the other couples were planning home births.

Here are some of the factors that contributed to our decision to plan for a hospital birth:

•  Hubby and I both have incredible respect for the field of Western medicine.  Both my father and Chris' sister are physicians, and we were raised to trust doctors.
• We not only trust doctors to handle medical emergencies, we also trust doctors to first "do no harm" -- we trusted them to let us have an un-medicated birth as our first choice
• We live 25 miles from the nearest maternity hospital... and that hospital is not equipped to handle high-risk situations.  If we planned a home birth, and, God forbid, something necessitated our getting to a hospital, we would have to rush 25 miles to the nearest hospital... and then possibly be sent 100+ miles on to a hospital that could better handle our emergency.  We didn't want all of that time to elapse in the case of an emergency.
• Many people told us that having a home birth does not make a mess, that the midwives have a great system... but we have a hard time picturing that, and it really seems like it would make a huge mess.

Despite Hubby and I being like-minded on wanting a hospital birth, we did our part to educate ourselves and prepare ourselves to be very active participants in the hospital birth scenario, and I think it was our plan, preparation, and research that led to our wonderful, comfortable, and incredibly fulfilling hospital experience.

In the future, I will post how we prepared for our hospital birth, and what made the experience so comfortable and rewarding.

It's A Girl!!!!

Welcome, Tracey Ann Miller!

The following is from an email that my wonderful husband sent out to family and friends announcing Tracey's arrival:

Brooke and I are so excited to announce the arrival of our healthy perfect daughter, Tracey Ann Miller.  She was born around 8:00 pm on January 24th weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long.  

Brooke did the whole thing without pain medications.  She thought she might want the drugs through the really rough patches, but through the amazing coaching of her tearful husband, she pushed through and delivered Tracey without meds.

Tracey's name comes from Brooke's older sister, Tracey, and her middle name, Ann, is my sister and mom's middle name.  We have faith she will honor her namesakes.  

We are so overjoyed with God's perfect gift.  Thank you for all of your prayers in the days leading up to this (and please keep them coming now that we are parents).  :-)

Love To All,

Chris, Brooke, and Tracey

Our new little family, Mama, Daddy and Tracey Ann

 

The Proud Sanden Grandparents, Grammy and Papa

  

The Proud Miller Grandparents, Grandpa and Grandma

 Isaiah 12:5
Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.