{"id":3015,"date":"2014-08-19T03:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T03:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kerrspot.com\/?p=3015"},"modified":"2014-08-19T03:10:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T03:10:00","slug":"jonahs-birth-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kerrspot.com\/jonahs-birth-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonah’s Birth Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been meaning to write this for a while, but there never seems to be a good time. \u00a0Tonight I decided to give up an hour of sleep so I could tell the story of Jonah\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

The Days Before<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jonah was due Thursday, March 27. \u00a0Since he hadn\u2019t arrived yet, we spent his due date with some of our favorite homeschooling friends. \u00a0They brought lunch, and we had a fantastic time together as usual.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That night, however, things didn\u2019t go as we hoped. \u00a0Sophia started throwing up. \u00a0When stomach viruses hit our family, life can be crazy. \u00a0Rarely is only one person affected, and sometimes it takes two to three weeks before everyone is back to normal.<\/p>\n

Sophia continued throwing up until March 31. \u00a0That day, a Monday, Aaron took the girls to their dance classes while I stayed home with Sophia. \u00a0Besides throwing up in the morning, she was actually feeling quite well. \u00a0While Kayla and Madeline were at their class, Savannah, Sophia and I finger-painted. \u00a0It was also a gorgeous spring day, so we spent a lot of time on the deck. \u00a0Too much spring sun or heat often means hives for Kayla, and sure enough that\u2019s exactly what happened later that night. \u00a0Kayla had also broken out in hives the morning Savannah was born, caused by a warm bath the night before. \u00a0<\/p>\n

That night I went to bed close to 11:00 but only slept a few minutes before waking up again. \u00a0I felt hungry and wide awake, so I had a small snack and read until I felt tired. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Waking up in the Night<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 2:20 a.m., I heard Sophia crying over the monitor. \u00a0Aaron checked on her, took her to the bathroom and came back to bed. \u00a0I was surprised she needed to go potty, because she started staying dry at night shortly after turning two. \u00a0At 2:45 she woke again. \u00a0This time Aaron brought her to the upstairs bathroom, and I knew something was wrong. \u00a0Sophia had diarrhea, but then another funny thing happened. \u00a0My water broke! \u00a0I started shaking and feeling nervous because from past experience I knew what that meant: \u00a0we were going to have a baby, and we were going to have him fast! \u00a0My water broke at the start of labor with Kayla, and she was born less than six hours later. \u00a0Also from experience, I knew that labor contractions after my water has broken are much more painful and intense. \u00a0I had a feeling I was in for a short, intense labor.<\/p>\n

Calling My Midwife<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>I called my midwife shortly before 3 a.m. \u00a0She advised me to shower and then try to fall back asleep. \u00a0I also wanted to email to some friends, asking them to pray for a smooth birth. \u00a0I sent the email at 3:47 a.m., right around the time my contractions really started picking up. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Active Labor<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Falling asleep wasn\u2019t an option anymore, because my contractions were close together and strong. \u00a0I tried to watch the movie I had planned to watch during labor\u2014Dan in Real Life<\/em>\u2014but didn\u2019t get very far. \u00a012 minutes into the movie we paused it because labor was quite intense. \u00a0During that time I also ate a popsicle, another thing I had been planning to do during labor. \u00a0It made me feel nauseous. \u00a0I battled with nausea during most of my labors, so that was nothing new. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Second Call & Arrival of Midwife<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 5:15 I called my midwife again. \u00a0I told her things were moving fast and that I was ready for her to come. \u00a0She arrived just before 6:00, got settled in, and then checked to see my progress. \u00a0When she said I was about seven centimeters dilated, I felt a bit discouraged because I knew I still had transition ahead of me. \u00a0But a few seconds later she said, \u201cEight!\u201d \u00a0Then I felt encouraged because I knew that if I could dilate one centimeter during one contraction, it probably wasn\u2019t going to take much longer.<\/p>\n

Birth<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way else to say it: \u00a0the end is hard. \u00a0The pressure is intense. \u00a0Everything in you wants to get the baby out of your body! \u00a0But thankfully it lasts such a short time. \u00a0Jonah was born smoothly at 6:44 a.m. \u00a0He arrived five days late on April 1, 2014. \u00a0April Fools\u2019 Day was the one day we hoped to avoid, but oh well! \u00a0Things like that don\u2019t matter anymore once you have a beautiful baby in your arms. \u00a0It took a few minutes for Jonah to be a nice pink color, but thankfully there were no complications with his birth. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Meeting Sisters<\/strong><\/p>\n

The girls slept through his birth. \u00a0Sophia was the first to wake up around 7:45. \u00a0Unfortunately she woke up pretty cranky from not feeling well and not getting enough sleep. \u00a0After she met Jonah, Aaron went to wake the other girls. \u00a0They were super excited! \u00a0We also called Aaron\u2019s parents and asked them to come to get the girls. \u00a0But we didn\u2019t tell them we had already had the baby! \u00a0That was a fun surprise.<\/p>\n

The day of Jonah\u2019s birth was the last day of Sophia\u2019s stomach virus, but unfortunately Savannah came down with it on April 2. \u00a0Aaron and I were juggling the needs of five kids\u2014one who just overcame a virus, one who was throwing up and one newborn who wasn\u2019t happy with the spicy food I ate for dinner! \u00a0<\/p>\n

Life has settled down now, but our home is always active! \u00a0Jonah is such a precious ball of joy. \u00a0We adore him and thank God for knowing our family needed him! \u00a0He\u2019s such a great addition! \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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