Trigger warning, blood and placenta
It was an eventful week leading up to our birthing day. Monday my car was in the shop for overheating, Tuesday we found out the head gasket blew (again) we needed a new car soon, as Nate's car is only a 5 seater and we could have a baby at any time. Thankfully Nate's older brother is a car salesman and we found a car by Tuesday evening that was in our price range, had enough seats, and room for car seats.
Wednesday evening I started having light spotting of old brown blood, I told Nathan we had 48 hours. That we need to get this car as soon as possible.
Thursday, 41 weeks.
We woke up around 9 to get to the car lot, Adam requested new brakes on the car for us, so we had lunch out that way, and went back to the car lot. Test drove, finished our papers, did finances, insurance and finally had our car. I was getting tired, anxious, hungry and just sore. I wanted to go home and take a bath and relax after a long day. We stopped at my in laws on the way home to stop and say hello and show off the new car. At this point in the evening hormones are in full gear, I'm crying and just over the day. Thankfully his mom is literally a gift on earth and as I sat in the car crying she brought me all the snacks. Avocado bagel, cut up fruit, water, and a wet towel to wipe my face up from crying. I was so tired and hungry and just overwhelmed.
When we got home I got in the bath right away as Nate settled the kids down for dinner and bedtime.
I tossed and turned what felt like all night, up and out of bed peeing what feels like every hour. I remember bending over the bed during some of my awake time, shifting and rocking my hips. Contractions were starting throughout the night, but they were so inconsistent and I was still able to get some sleep so I didn't think anything of it.
By 8 am I lost my mucus plug, this was so odd to me because my other two pregnancies my waters have broken and I've never seen a mucus plug before. I sent a photo to my birth photographer and she verified what it was
Everyone else was still asleep, so I tried to lay in bed and wait for Tessa to wake up, as she nurses first thing in the morning. But I also wanted to get as much done as possible around the house before labor actually kicked in.
I woke up Nate around 9 to run to the store to grab a few basics for the kids, milk, yogurt, and some wireless headphones for me.
In my head I had this idea I'd make breakfast and lunch and start laundry and homeschooling. Yeah funny idea contractions got very intense very fast. I made coffee cake for the kids and I think we got a math lesson done and that was the amount of housework that was done. Every contraction I moaned though, Cayden and Sebastian would howl like a wolf, so I had put an end to that real quick. Around noon Nate wanted to time some of my contractions, and they were minutes apart, lasting around 40 seconds. I tried to keep moving though the house and stay busy, cleaning up or whatever I could do to distract myself. Once I saw how consistent my contractions were, I had told Nate that we should probably contact Lisa, my photographer, but Nate had already gotten that taken care of. I started a hypnobirthing session on the exercise ball, and Lisa arrived shortly after. After my session, Nate and I did our laundry, and put the second set of sheets and shower curtain on the bed. We timed some more contractions and I could feel the contractions getting stronger and stronger. I did another hypnosis, it was a 28 minute hypnosis and I still felt 4 of my contractions, I knew at this time I was progressing closer.
When I was done I went out to the kitchen to try to eat. I had a smoothie in the morning, and wanted to try to eat again before active labor and transition. I cut up apples and grabbed a yogurt. Lisa had asked if I wanted to try and go for a walk, but I felt like getting in the bath. I ate one or two apples and knew that solid foods weren't going to work. I ate most of the yogurt, and Nate was great at making sure my water was always filled with crushed ice and water. I also had body armor drinks to help with electrolytes in case I didn't want to eat.
I was starting to feel nausea after a while in the tub, and knew that I'd be close to transition soon.
I ended up vomiting what felt like all the body armor, and was back to strong contractions.
With my contractions, more and more plug was being lost. My waters still haven't broken.
My contractions were getting very strong, and Nate got changed and ready to get in the tub with me. He finished making the kids lunch and had them all settled. For a while he sat next to the tub holding my hand, and then I had felt I needed to change positions and he got in the tub and sat on the ledge to push on my hips and back through contractions.
At this point my body was giving me the instinct to push, but Lisa didn't think I had transitioned so to just push with my contractions. I was nervous I wasn't ready and didn't want to tear. A few more contractions I had felt down and felt a head, but it wasn't as engaged as when I had felt Tessa's head during crowning. But because my waters didn't break I was able to feel my waters and the head. I knew I was just a few contractions away from having this baby earth side. Between contractions I'd lean against Nate's legs to regain energy, my arms were going numb between contractions. Nate was rinsing and ringing cold wash cloths over my face between contractions, helping me drink water, we were so close.
Then a contraction hit. And Lisa announced there was the head, Nate was ready and caught the baby and handed them to me and cradled against my chest. Thankfully Nate noticed right away that we had a nuchal cord, I had tried to remove it and it was snug around, so thankful for Lisa as she helped slide it over babies head. I had gotten it caught on the eye socket so there was a lil bruising on the face from that. Lisa grabbed the receiving blanket from the closet, the same receiving blanket from Cayden and Sebastian hospital birth, that we also used for Tessa's birth. Then Lisa went and got the kids from the living room. We waited for all the kids to gather in the bathroom with us to remove the blanket and see if we were having another girl or another boy to the family. It's a girl.
Tessa was so excited she went and got a stuffed animal for the baby, but decided she liked that stuffed animal so she had to pick a new one for the baby.
Baby latched right away to breast, as I started to deliver my placenta. I kept feeling pieces and thought that my placenta was in pieces, for a brief moment I worried and we were setting plans for where the kids would go and if I could find a midwife for a one time visit for retained placenta. Because septic and infection is not something to play around with. I was having trouble delivering my placenta in the position I was in, so I tried being almost in a frog position in the tub but was worried about slipping forward or backwards while nursing the baby. So Nate set up chux pads in front of the tub, and helped me out of the tub and I held the baby and my placenta. I was able to get better positioning and birth my placenta outside of the tub. We inspected it and it was all one beautiful piece. Nathan rinsed my placenta and placed it in the bowl..
The pieces I was feeling was the sac of my waters. My waters must have broke as she was being born so there were many pieces of it in the tub.
After birthing my placenta, Nate set up chux pads all over the bed. Baby, placenta and I got comfortable on the bed, and we called the kids in for cord burning. We all picked our candles and started the burning. The kids were not very amazed and wanted to get back to video games. Nate finished the cord burning as the baby rested on my chest. She was so wide awake and alert, looking around and such at peace. She had nursed again, so of course Tessa wanted milkies too.
Finally we did the weight and length of our new arrival. 9 lb 4 oz, our biggest baby I think we measured her at 20.5 inches long.
Tessa wanted to hold her, and of course she had pooped on Tessa's brand new dress, literally came in the mail that morning. tes kept laughing and telling everyone that sissy pooped on her.
We made our calls to both grandparents, and to Maria to announce that baby is here.
I showered and we decided back and forth between two names for her. At this point I was starving and needed all the food in the world I had so much energy and felt so alive and amazing. Nate brought me warm Ramen.
After Lisa had left, Tessa had asked if she had left, and if we get to keep baby Tessa is very excited that "we get to keep her!"
Athea Gene Hernandez
Born March 19th 2021
9 lb 4 oz
Born around 450 ish pm
Photos by Lisa Marie Kollmann with Simple Dimple Photography