Adventures of the Spencers

Now that it's been a year, I need to share Gwen's birth story. One year ago today I looked into the eyes of a strong-willed, fighter of a baby. She has grown into such a vivacious little girl, never ceasing to amaze us with knowing exactly what she wants, her tinkling of laughter and her shock of red hair (still surprising to us)! Always quick to give kisses, she snuggles into her mama and papa and loves to dance to ANY form of music. Constantly following her brother around and playing with his tractors, she can't bear to miss out on anything he's doing. Gwen Elora~Ann Spencer, thank you for making our lives so much more full and beautiful over the past year. We can't wait to see what the next year brings us with you!

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Gwen Elora-Ann Spencer, here is your birth story! (first in words followed by pictures)

Tuesday, June 19, was a beautiful summer day. Hyatt and I woke up slowly, read books in bed and began our normal day. I noticed some tiny rushes and tightening in my burgeoning belly, but being 37 weeks, I didn’t think anything of it. There was no way this baby was coming this early when Hyatt came two weeks late! Hyatt and I danced in the kitchen during breakfast, went adventuring after our chicken chores and hung two loads of laundry on the clothesline… all the while I kept noticing that these rushes were about four to five minutes apart and not going away! We went to Grandma and Grandpa Spencer’s house for dinner and after talking to our midwife, Sara, I had half a glass of red wine in order to help the rushes to subside… or so we thought!

Those rushes did not stop… in fact, they became stronger. Garrett and I stayed up and talked about how we weren’t going into labor, I folded laundry and snuggled on the couch. We finally went to bed around 12:30 in the morning where I was awakened every twenty to thirty minutes with rushes that were getting a bit more intense. At 3:30 a.m., Hyatt woke up to nurse and as he was nursing, my water broke. I called out to Garrett, “Grab a towel! I'm pretty sure my water just broke!” It was definitely my bag of waters and labor began it’s tenuous journey! We called our midwife around 4 a.m. when the contractions were about three to four minutes apart and I realized we were most likely going to have another expeditious labor, similar to Hyatt’s. This time though, I was much more relaxed about the process! I cleaned the kitchen, got out towels, wished I had my birth kit (I just ordered it two days prior) while going through the leftovers of my birth kit with Hyatt, got out snacks (and yet again wished that I had gone to the grocery store that morning when I was denying that I was in labor), all the while chatting with Garrett and watching Hyatt run around. He did not go back to sleep that morning, I think he could feel the energy in the air. Leaning on the counter and breathing through the rushes seemed to help, I felt amazing! Hyatt wanted to nurse about 4:30 and I thought I’d try, as I had no idea how long labor really would be. This was torturous! These brought the rushes on in such a dramatic and intense way that I couldn’t keep nursing. Again, this quickened the pace of our labor. Sara, our midwife, and Jodi, her apprentice knocked quietly around 5 a.m. and it was such a warm, familiar feeling to see them walk in. Sara gave me a big hug, but I remember feeling so focused that I couldn’t really appreciate it then, but I think back to that moment now with such a warm memory. Not many women have that love from their caregiver, and I have such a woman in my life to help guide and support our birth in the comfort of our own home.

I kept moving and moaning with the rushes, being much less self-conscious this time to make the necessary noise. I do truly believe that opening the mouth and just letting the sound out, low and deep, not only helps to open the cervix, but brings such an earthiness and grounded feeling to connecting with your labor. My mantra of “Relax. Release. Breathe. Smile” is something I kept going back to. We are fortunate enough to be in a place to choose how peaceful we want our birth and how we want to bring our baby earthside; so, I want to remind myself to smile and enjoy this experience!

The rushes were becoming stronger, so Garrett called his mom to come and help with Hyatt. The birth tub was being filled up on our screened in porch, so I took a moment by myself to walk outside and feed the turkeys. I was worried with all the commotion of the day they might be forgotten about… or it was my body’s way of telling me to take a quick moment by myself to prepare for the next step. It was beautiful outside, the sun was barely starting to peek through and it was cool and breezy, but still warm for a summer morning. When I returned back to the porch, the birth pool was almost filled and I felt ready to get in but decided to keep moving for a bit longer. Sara mentioned to squat through the rushes and this felt amazing, I could feel the baby moving down and engaging. It’s hard to describe this feeling, but it makes me feel strong and centered in birth. After a few squats, I decided to get in the tub and transition came quickly. Again, I was sick and Garrett was the one to soothe me as I kept apologizing to everyone! Around this time my wonderful mother-in-law showed up and we all decided that Hyatt could take a little break to feed the chickens with Umma. I really wanted him to be around when his sibling was born though, so I asked Peggy to not be gone too long! Little did I know...

This time it was just me and Garrett laboring. Sara and her apprentice observed and let us be in the moment. He held my hand through rushes (even when I squeezed it ridiculously hard), told me how proud of me and amazed he was by me, told me I was beautiful. To me, time flew by, and in reality it did too. I felt the urge to push and she slowly descended, moving back up with the beginning pushes. Because I had experienced this last time, I didn’t feel as frustrated by this slow and steady process. Within a few hard pushes her head and eyes were out. Patiently, I waited until the next rush and pushed the rest of her head out. No one has told me if her eyes were open at this point, but I do know that it took more than one push to get her broad shoulders out, even though the pain seemed minimal. At this point I turned and pulled the rest of her body from within me. We didn’t know if we were having a girl, and had suspected we would have another boy. After I looked into our baby’s beautiful eyes I looked… and told everyone in surprise, “We have a girl!” Our baby still had not taken a breath yet. I rubbed her back and talked to her, urging her to breathe. Sara tickled her foot… still nothing. Immediately, the birthing high snapped back to reality. The panic in my heart began to rise – come on little girl… breathe! Sara took her from my chest and placed her mouth on our baby’s. Moments later, she cried for us and was returned to my arms. I didn’t know this at that point, but my midwife had actually sucked the contents of our little girl’s throat to help her breathe – I personally can’t think of anything more warm and loving that a birth professional could do.

I looked around and it was a bright and beautiful morning, full of sunshine. Today was the Summer Solstice and between our two favored girl names, one meant Pure Light. Gwen Elora~Ann Spencer was born into the name that suited her perfectly.

Gwen Elora~Ann Spencer, 7 pounds, 6 ounces, 22 inches long. June 20, 2012, 6:45 a.m. (just over 3 hours of laboring)