Kathrynne's Birth Story

by Crystal Paine

It all started on Wednesday morning with a routine appointment at the birthing center. (We opted to use a local free-standing birthing center for our prenatal care and birth. This birthing center is a three-story Victorian home. It is overseen by a female doctor, but the main care providers are Certified Nurse midwives and nurses.) I was 41 weeks and 5 days overdue at the time, so after the ordinary check up, they hooked me up to the monitor for a non-stress test. All went well there and baby appeared to doing well. Because I was almost two weeks overdue, they decided to send me to another doctor's office for a sonogram and a biophysical profile of the baby (which is basically a series of tests which the baby must pass to prove that there is no imminent danger in waiting a few days to deliver) to determine if everything was okay.

The sonogram went well and the baby did well on all of the tests but one. We could not seem to get the baby to show any signs of respiratory movement. After trying for over an hour to get these, the sonographer sent us to get something to eat/drink in hopes that that might wake the baby up. We came back after a little while and tried again. Still not hardly any respiratory movements.

Our midwife said for us to go home and if natural labor did not start by 8:00 a.m. the next morning (Thursday), I was to start taking castor oil. If that didn't induce labor, I would be induced Friday morning.

I had trouble sleeping Wednesday night and didn't end up falling asleep until around 2:30 a.m. I awoke at 5:00 a.m. with mild contractions. These were much stronger than anything I had had before and coming at regular intervals (maybe 10 minutes apart). I was pretty confident that this was the "real thing." I decided to wait on taking the castor oil and called the midwife a little after 8:00 a.m. and she told me to wait a few hours and see if they kept progressing. At this point, the contractions were quite endurable, but hard enough to definitely get my attention. J Jesse, my wonderful husband, decided to stay home from school and work and "wait it out" with me. Around 10:00 a.m., they started to subside and then altogether quit.

By 12:00 p.m., I was rather discouraged as I was not having any contractions any more and was just plain tired. (Since I'd only gotten 2½ hours of sleep the night before). I called the midwife and asked what I should do. She suggested I go ahead and take the castor oil and try to lie down and get a little sleep.

I survived downing the castor oil (mixing it with chocolate pudding and not looking at it or thinking about it while I ate it!) and within almost 15 minutes, the contractions began again! So much for sleeping! But, I was happy to be "doing something" again.

Throughout the afternoon and early evening, the contractions continued to get stronger and I opted to lie in the bath tub for a while to relax. This worked wonders, but when I got out, I was ready to get back in because the contractions were much stronger when I wasn't in the water.

Around 7:30 p.m., the contractions began to get quite intense and Jesse just pretty much stayed by my side and held my hand through them. My family and some friends had made up some cards with Scriptures on them for me to use during labor and these were so helpful. I found that by focusing on two words from a verse and breathing, the contractions were not easy, but were manageable. I had to just take one at a time and try not to think about anything beyond that contraction. Jesse was so good to coach me through them. He would encourage me the whole way through and when they would start to subside, he would say "only 30 more seconds," "20 more seconds," "10 more seconds" "5,4,3,2,1" "There, you're done, good job!" In between contractions, I would just focus on relaxing and mentally preparing myself for the next contraction.

By 8:30 p.m., I was beginning to feel we needed to call the midwife and let her know what was going on. I got out of the tub and sat on my birth ball. When a contraction came I would rock on the ball, breathe deeply, and squeeze Jesse's hands (poor guy, I'm sure his hands must have been sore the next day!). This seemed to be the most comfortable position for me besides the tub. I just kept reminding myself that this was for our baby and it was all worth it.

Jesse called the midwife around 9:30 p.m. and after talking through things with her and letting her know what was going on, they decided we should go to the birthing center. Jesse got everything ready to go while I laid on the couch and tried to relax. At this point, I was so tired that I was falling asleep between each contraction (remember, I had only slept for 2½ hours the night before). It almost seemed as if the contractions were getting easier and I began to wonder if I had made the right call in saying I thought I was ready to go to the birthing center.

When we arrived at the birthing center, I felt embarrassed that we were there as I thought it was probably going to be hours before I had the baby. I even apologized to our midwife as soon as we got there because I felt I was taking her time and effort and I probably wasn't really in that hard of labor.

The midwife, Norla, checked me and I was at 4 plus cm and my cervix was paper thin. She said I was definitely in active labor and was there to stay! I could tell she was expecting I was going to be there for quite some time, though.

Almost immediately, I got in the Jacuzzi. It was amazing how good the warm water felt! In between contractions, I was able to almost completely relax and Jesse and I were even talking about other things totally unrelated to the birth. Norla went into the other room to fill out some paperwork and when she came back in about 15 minutes or so later, the contractions had greatly intensified. I had only had a few contractions in that time period, but the pressure and intensity had greatly increased. I felt as if the baby was going to explode out of me.

When Norla came back in and watched me go through one contraction, she immediately realized by the way I was acting that I must have progressed quite a bit (she told us this later). She said she wanted to check me again and when she did, she looked at me and said, "You're almost done!" I could hardly believe my ears. I asked how far I was dilated and I about flipped when she said "9 almost 10 centimeters." Wow! Was I ever glad we had decided to go to the birthing center when we did. And no wonder I was feeling so much pressure! I was so happy to almost be finished.

Pushing the baby out was the "surprise" for me. I had been fairly well prepared for the labor, but I guess I had not prepared myself for pushing. I soon realized I was going to have to be doing most of the work here. My body had gotten the baby down and ready to come out, but I was going to have to get the baby out. I was a little scared when I realized how much effort I was going to have to extend. I felt tense and nervous about it all. So, for about 15 minutes, I didn't really push very much and just mentally worked through it all. I had to pray a lot and God just gave me peace. I realized that the baby had to come out and there was only one way - by me pushing! J I had come this far, there was no turning back!

Once I had worked through this, it took me another 15 or so minutes to figure out how to push properly. Once I got "into the groove," it was not that difficult. It was only hard for me because I was quite exhausted and did not seem to have much energy left.

The nurse arrived about this time and she was a huge help and support. Everyone was such an encouragement and they kept coaching me and encouraging me that I could do this. Norla said she saw the head and within a few more contractions, my water broke (we opted to let it break naturally). After a few more contractions, the baby was crowning. The nurse held up a mirror and showed me the baby's head. That was a great encouragement to me because I knew I was so close to meeting our precious baby. I gave it my all in the next few pushes and she was out! What an incredible feeling to see them hold up our baby for the first time! Almost instinctively, I looked to see what the gender was. I had to look at least three times to be sure she was actually a GIRL! I couldn't believe my eyes! I looked up at Jesse and said, "It's a girl!" He gave a shocked expression and had to look for himself to believe it.

What a thrilling moment! Kathrynne Elizabeth, our precious baby girl, had arrived at 1:14 a.m., January 28th, 2005, weighing 7 pounds 13 oz.!

I am so grateful to the Lord for a beautiful birth. It was truly an amazing and positive experience. Jesse was a wonderful coach and I was blessed to have such gracious and caring attendants. God was so gracious and we praise Him for His loving favor in giving us the precious gift of Kathrynne Elizabeth Paine. We are truly thrilled and humbled to be her parents and we pray that we can raise her in the ways of the Lord. That she would, as her name means, be a pure vessel, consecrated to God and fit for the Master's use.

Crystal Paine is a 24-year-old homeschool graduate from Topeka, Kansas. She is the blessed wife of Jesse and joyful mother of Kathrynne. Visit her site, Biblical Womanhood, for books, articles, encouragement, and inspiration!

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