Titus' Birth Story: {Part 2 of 2} Labor & Delivery

If you missed Part 1, you can read it here

The moment the baby shower ended, my sister was ready to have her baby! :)  Her due date was August 23 but she was ready to be done.  About two weeks before he was due, we thought Selina was going to have him, but it was a false alarm.  I had by camera packed and waiting by the door.  I stayed up till after 11PM waiting for her to call me to tell me to come to the hospital but it was not meant to be.  Then on Saturday August 16, she went into the hospital at 6:30PM in labor.  Baby Titus was finally going to be here!!!  

My husband was on his five day break from the fire station that weekend so I was really thankful because I knew I would have him to watch the kids, however he had a meeting that evening from 6-10PM!!!  This was a really important meeting for a missions trip he is going to in October and he really did not want to miss it.  We talked about it before he went and he told me that if after Selina got to the hospital, if she was progressing very quickly, he would come home early from his meeting.  I was so worried that I would miss the whole birth.  

When Selina got to the hospital her midwife wasn't there yet so her and her husband Brent walked the halls until she arrived.  During this time I was getting my three kids ready for bed and waiting for Selina to call me to let me know how dilated she was.  At 7PM, I got a phone call from my sister in-law Andrea.  Her and my brother in-law Mike (Nathan's brother) were coming into town for the weekend and wanted to know if they could stay the night with us.  Of course that was fine with me so they got to my house around 7:30PM.  I told them all about what was going on with Selina and they said if Nathan wasn't ready to come home yet when Selina needed me, that they could stay with the kids.  I was so thankful they just randomly ended up at my house that night because at 8:30PM, just minutes before Mike and Andrea were going to go get some dinner, Brent called and said that Selina's midwife had checked her and that she was dilated to 7CM.  He said Selina wanted me there ASAP and to please stop on my way and get Brent and Ellie (their oldest biological daughter) some dinner. 

I had just got all the kids to bed right before Brent called so I grabbed all of my things, thanked Mike and Andrea about a thousand times and headed out the door.  I stopped at Chick-fil-a on my way to the hospital.  I had already had CFA for lunch but seriously, who can go through a CFA drive-thru and not get anything??? Not me!  I may or may not have a slight addiction.  I wanted to get a milkshake but I thought that might be really unfair to my sister.  Drinking a milkshake in front of a laboring woman just didn't seem right.  So I just ate nuggets and fries in front of her...maybe that was wrong too?  She didn't mind though really.  We all got a good laugh out of it actually. 

Selina was at 8CM when I got to the hospital but she was not in horrible pain yet.  Her contractions were strong but not to the point where she couldn't talk or laugh in between them.  She looked amazing and was so excited she would be holding her baby soon! 

 Her daughter Ellie (12 years old) came to be with her during the birth. This was going to be a huge experience for Ellie.  She did really great during the whole process. 

It's amazing seeing your baby's name written on the hospital board.  It kind of makes it all seem more real, like "wow this is actually happening!"

 Brent is full of lots of humor.  The last visit Selina had with her midwife Kim, she gave the kids some stickers.  Brent, being silly asked "where his stickers were?"  So Kim showed up to the hospital room that evening with stickers for Brent!

 Selina's delivery room was room #202. 

 Selina kept looking at the baby heater.  She kept touching it saying "My baby is going to be laying right here in just a few short hours!"  If you have children, you know what that feeling is like!  You know how incredible it is to feel your body preparing to push out your baby.  You know what if feels like to be excited, nervous, anxious, terrified, and joyful all at the same time.  Birth is such an incredible journey.

 

 Selina was incredible through the entire labor process.  For the first few hours she was able to talk and laugh in-between contractions.  We walked the halls and every few minutes would stop so that she could breathe through a contraction.  She liked to lean against the rails in the hallway and have someone press against her back.  We did this most of the night until the very last hour when her contractions became very intense.

 Brent was a wonderful support.  It makes all the difference when you have a husband who is completely there for you, holding your hand, rubbing your back, getting you water, talking you through each contraction, cheering you on, helping you stay strong. 

 It's also fun to watch your husband pretend like he is having a contraction!  Never a dull moment with Brent.  He knows how to have fun during labor, but he also knows when it's time to be serious and he did not cross any lines.  We all got a good laugh from this. 

It's incredible laboring with a midwife.  Kim was amazing.  I went to the same midwife center that Selina went to with my pregnancy with Alanna.  If you have never used a midwife for birth, I highly recommend it.  It was the best decision I ever made in regards to birth.  

The bond that is formed during labor between a husband and wife is incredible.  

When Selina started going through transition, I stopped taking pictures.  We turned the lights down very low and I did not want to disturb her with lights and pictures. She sat on the ball for some time and then asked Kim to check her to see how dilated she was and if Titus was in the right position.  Kim said that she was dilated but that Titus' head was not in the right position.  His head was turned to the side.  She had Selina labor on her side in the bed for several contractions hoping to move him into the right position.  Laboring in bed is EXTREMELY painful.  It is almost unbearable.  I felt helpless watching  her labor in bed.  She was so calm and in control of herself while walking the halls, but while laboring in bed...she was obviously afraid, and in terrible pain.  She never screamed or yelled.  But her labor sounds were much stronger, much more intense.  Kim tried to move his head into the right position during several contractions, but he did not want to move.  

After several contractions, Selina said she needed to push.  Kim told her to trust her body.  I grabbed my stool and put it at the head of the bed so that I had a perfect view of Titus when he was born.  Selina started pushing and after a few pushes, we could see Titus' head.  He was coming out face up!  Once his head was out I saw how blue he was.  Babies are usually a little blue, but Titus was really blue.  It scared me.  Then his head started going back inside.  Once the head is out, normally the rest of the body comes out on the next push but something was wrong...he was not coming out! I was pretty scared at this point.  Terrible thoughts were going through my head "Is he dying?  Did I just take pictures of him dying? Somebody do something!!!" And then with Kim helping turn Titus' body, and Selina pushing harder than any push she has ever done...they got him out!!! My heart was beating so fast!  I was just thanking God he was ok!  It was a really scarey experience but after having time to process it, I knew God was in control of it all.  Selina's midwife handled the situation incredibly and Selina stayed focused and calm through it all, even though I know she was terrified.  We later found out that what happened with Titus is called Shoulder Dystocia.

Once Titus was born they immediately placed him on Selina!  That is the moment that every mother waits for.  The moment when you see your baby for the first time.  The moment when you touch their soft skin, hear their little cry, kiss their beautiful lips, smell their sweet smell!!!  It is a moment that words just can not explain.  

Photographing Titus' birth was truly one of the most incredible experiences of my life!  I am so thankful I was able to do it for my sister.

Happy Birthday Titus Alexander Bergey

You are loved more than you will ever know! 

Born August 17, 2014 at 2:17AM
 8 pounds 13 ounces, 20 inches long

You can read Selina's Blog Post on Titus' Birth here .

Titus' Birth Story: {Part 1 of 2} Maternity & Baby Shower Pictures

As most of you know by now, my sister Selina and I are extremely close.  I have three best friends and she is one of them!  I was so happy this past November when Selina and Kim (best friend/photographer) were both able to be at Alanna's birth.  A few weeks after Alanna was born, Selina found out she was expecting her eighth child.  I was so excited for her.  She had wanted to be pregnant for some time.  We both really wanted me to be able to be at this baby's birth so that I could be a support to her, and so that I could photograph the birth.  

Now you may not know that my sister and her husband are on deputation to be missionaries to South Africa.  They live full time in a travel trailer and go to churches presenting their mission in order to have those churches take them on for support.  They had to be in town once a month in order for Selina to have her monthly appointments with her midwife.  I was really happy about that because it's been really hard this past year since they moved into the trailer.  I have missed all of them so much when they are out of town.  I know I was spoiled this year.  I am afraid after they leave next week, I won't be seeing very much of them anymore.  That thought is too overwhelming to think about right now so I will save all those feelings for another post.  

My point in telling all that was that because they travel, Selina and I were afraid she would go into labor while they were in another state and I would miss the whole birth!  Another fear we had was that my husband would be at work and I would have no one to watch my kids.  I also wasn't sure how Alanna would be sleeping at night by the time the baby was due.  If Selina went into labor at night and Alanna was still waking up multiple times, I was afraid of leaving her and then her waking up and crying all night.  We both decided to just pray and pray and pray some more about it.  Leaving it in God's hands was really all we could do.  Birth plans are good to have but let's be honest...they never go how we planned :) It's better not to stress about it! I know that's easier said then done though.  

In July, I took my sister's maternity pictures.  We tried three times before the day we actually did them, and they got rained out each time.  But I'm thankful now that they did get rained out because each of the days we had tried to do them were on days that were terribly hot.  On the day we were finally able to do them, it was such a beautiful night.  It was only about 75 degrees with a slight breeze...Perfect!!!  God really is amazing in how he works things out for our good.  I was so happy with the way her maternity pictures turned out.  It was probably my favorite session ever!  Is she not incredibly beautiful!

On August 2, my Mom and I had a baby shower at Selina's church.  It turned out beautiful!  Selina's Pastor's wife was such a HUGE help, and one of Selina's good friends did a beautiful devotional for us.  The sunflowers were so pretty, the cakes were all delicious, the iced-coffee was amazing, and we all got baby fever from looking at the adorable baby stuff my sister got.  OK OK...maybe not everyone got baby fever but I sure did!  

Now that Selina had her maternity pictures and her baby shower...She would be happy for Titus to come at any time!

You can read more about Selina and her family here if you would like.

A Day At The Water Park

This past Saturday I woke up not planning to go anywhere or do much of anything other than some laundry, lesson plans, and cleaning the house...none of which sounded like much fun.  It was just the 3 kids and me at home since Nathan was working at the station.  So, I decided to text my mother in-law and see what she was up to.  My husband's parents live about 1.5 hours from us which is a perfect drive for a quick day trip or a short weekend stay.  She (Kelly) said that her and my father in-law (Ray) didn't really have any plans for the day and asked if we wanted to join them at an in-door water park at a military base near their house.  Of course the boys thought that was a fantastic idea! 

I quickly cleaned up the breakfast dishes, packed up towels, swimsuits, changes of clothes, diapers, wipes, lunch, snacks, drinks, toys... and the list goes on!  Seriously, traveling with kids even for a day trip requires a lot of stuff.  But I think I did pretty well getting everything together on such short notice.  We only left about 20 minutes later than I had planned.  And we only got stuck in traffic for about 25 minutes so we made it there in pretty good time.  

The in-door pool was in the Aquatic Center on the base.  They only charged us $3 a person to get in!  It was such a fun little pool/water park.  They had a huge slide, a whirlpool/lazy river, and a kid pool with a mushroom.  The kids all loved it!  Ruy loved the slide and Liam loved the mushroom.  Alanna loves water.  She stood at the side of the pool and played with a little toy boat or splashed the water the whole time. 

We stayed about 3 hours and then headed to a little park to let the kids play.  Once we got out of the van, Liam ran into the grass and pulled down his pants and underwear and just stood there.  "Um, Liam...what are you doing?"  "I need to go poop Mommy!"  "Baby there isn't a toilet here and you can't just poop in the middle of the playground field."  That was an interesting conversation I had with Liam!  And it was a pretty funny sight seeing him strip down in the middle of that field!  I asked him if he could wait a little bit until we went to dinner.  He said he could but then he just stood there looking at the playground instead of playing.  Then he came over to me and bent over saying how bad his belly hurt.  I knew at this point he really had to go.  Him not wanting to play meant he really was hurting.  We headed back to the Aquatic Center but he didn't go.  So we headed to dinner.  We had a yummy dinner at Moe's and after two more potty attempts during dinner....we finally solved Liam's issue! :)  Poor little guy.  It's hard being three. 

After dinner we loaded up in the van.  It was such a beautiful night.  We rolled down the windows, turned on Patch the Pirate, and headed home.  We got home at bedtime so I just put the kids in pjs, brushed their teeth, and tucked them in.  They all crashed pretty fast.  It was a really wonderful day.  I'm glad I decided to give up spending the day at home cleaning and doing laundry. 

Alanna.Nine.Months

August 14, 2014

Nine Months

17 pounds, 11.2 ounces, 27.75 inches

With your brothers I found myself constantly saying "Oh I can't wait for them to walk, or I can't wait for them to talk".  But with you, I finally realized that I need to stop wishing the time to go faster.  There is no better moment then the moment you are in!  You will only be this age for such a short period of time, and then it is gone.  

This past month you rode in a grocery cart for the first time.  You seemed pretty happy about it.  You loved looking around and trying to grab my hands.  You don't ride in the front of the cart much though.  You still ride in the Ergo mostly everywhere we go.  I prefer carrying you and you prefer to be carried, so it works out well for both of us! 

You didn't get any new teeth this month.  I have to admit...I'm pretty thankful for that.  Last month was pretty rough after you cut four teeth in just a few weeks.  You do however, LOVE to eat now!  You eat pancakes, toasts, eggs, muffins, applesauce, watermelon, macaroni, bananas, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, goldfish, graham crackers...basically you just want whatever it is that everyone else is eating!  You are able to pick up food on your own, and prefer to feed yourself over me feeding you with a spoon.  

You started walking while holding onto furniture this past month, and just a few days ago you stood on your own for the first time!!! 

You don't really like baby toys.  You want whatever toys your brothers are playing with and you even enjoy chewing on Duke's toys.  Yes...it's super gross you like to chew on dog toys but they must be great because your brothers both chewed on them too! You get really mad when I take them from you.  I am convinced baby toys are a waste of money and I won't buy another baby toy for any of my future babies :)

Your favorite spot in the house right now is the front door.  You love it when I leave the door open so you can sit and look out the glass door.  You will sit there and watch your brothers play out front, or just watch the cars drive by.  

You are such a blessing to our family baby girl!  

Happy Nine Months!

We love you so much!