Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Introducing...

Adoniram Allen Baird (Adon for short)
August 19th, 2010 1:55pm
7 lbs 14 oz, 20 in. long


I had an AMAZING labor & delivery!!! Thank you to everyone who prayed for us - prayer works, let me tell ya!
Real labor began at around 9:00am on Thursday, the 19th and I had my Doula, Gracie Davis come over with her labor gear (birth ball, heating pad, etc) to help me labor at home as long as possible. Both she, Ryan and my mom helped me through the hard contractions with massage and acupressure. By around 12:00pm, I was starting to really think about drugs and with my contractions being 2 minutes long and 3 minutes apart, I was ready to go to the hospital...

...We got to the hospital at around 12:30pm and they started the admission process and hooked me up to the external fetal monitor to check on Adon. I was really starting to go through the "self-doubt" phase and told the nurses that I thought I might be in transition. Sure enough, after checking me, I was 6-7 centimeters dialated...

...As soon as they were done monitoring the baby, Gracie helped me get onto all fours for the rest of my labor (I was having a lot of back labor and this was how I was comfiest). As soon as I did this, things blasted off from there! I immediately dilated to 8 and my body was already pushing the baby out on it's own!!! This was the most bizarre yet AMAZING feeling EVER!!!
The baby was coming and there was NO amount of breathing it off to stop it!!!
I announced this to the world and they decided to check me again and sure enough, it was time to push =D I pushed for maybe 3-4 contractions and my little guy entered into the world.

This was by far the most painful experience I have ever gone through but for some strange reason, I'd do it again!!! I am filled with sooo much joy and excitement as I look back on the whole process. As painful as it was, it was awe inspiring and amazing to see my body do all of the work on it's own (with God as it's comander, of course) and feel the baby move through the canal and out into the world!

Not only was the delivery amazing but recovery has been 10 times faster and easier than it was with Kai. I didn't tear so to not have stitches down there really made recovery a lot easier =)
Now, I know there are other factors too like the fact that it's my 2nd baby and I was in much better shape to begin with ( I'm 7 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight already) but, I'm convinced that not having all of the drugs going through my body helped my body to get back on it's feet a lot faster.

Needless to say, I am soooo doing this again with my next baby!



Here's the proud and happy big brother! It was amazing how he went from being my little guy to my big boy in just one weekend =) Kai has been doing great with little brother. He loves to give Adon his pacifier and he always makes sure that the baby has his blanket too. Those are the 2 essentials in Kai's life =) hee hee

Will continue to keep you posted... still need to find the darn camera cord!

Love you all! =D

5 comments:

Michelle said...

yeah! i'm so happy for you! =D

Katie Virginia Battaglia said...

he's precious! I'm excited for you guys :) Two is a lot of work, but it's so worth it. Your boys are so close and will be best friends!

LauraT said...

Wow! What an awesome birth! They say a birth like yours really empowers a woman, gives her confidence and somehow changes her for the better. Wouldn't you agree? And not having any medical interventions does absolutely make recovery much easier. I am so happy for you and thrilled that you were wise enough to have Gracie help you. She's a God-send! Good job, Chalene, and I love these pictures!

Libby said...

Congratulations Chalene and Ryan and Kai! Your baby/baby brother is adorable! Love the photos. Love hearing your story - thanks for the inspiration!

Jayne Doe-a-Deer said...

Great birth story, Chalene! I'm so happy that you gave natural birth a try. So many women are overcome with fear and I sometimes wonder if God didn't give us "pain in childbirth" to help us know what our body needs to do. It's an amazing experience, I couldn't agree more. Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy :)