Jonathan Keegan's Birth Story

I cannot believe he’s finally here! Yes, HE! My little boy, my little Jonathan was born on Thursday the 26th. He was 6 lbs 9 oz and 19 ¼ inches at one day before our due date.

He very alert from the beginning

Ok so here is the story. We went to our doctor Tuesday morning for our 39 ½ week appt. Everything looked fine, I was still at 1.5 cm and 70%. The midwife offered to strip my membrane but Craig was very set on letting my body doing everything on its own. Honestly I was a bit tempted but I accepted his decision, after all it wouldn’t have guaranteed labor unless the body was ready. So that was a bit of a bummer, but obviously not an indication of when labor will start. We were also a bit worried that my mom would miss our baby’s birth if my sister, Missy, delivered before I would. She actually had her baby today, Congratulations big sis. Rachel Aileen is gorgeous, good job!

Anyhow, everything started Wednesday (25th) though I didn’t know it at the time. I had “cramps” that evening, but I now know that they were contractions. So I went about my evening, Craig and I even made cookies till late that night. I think it was midnight when the last batch was cool enough to be put away. Even though I was feeling blah from all the “cramping” I was planning on going up to Kennesaw (my college town) to visit some friends. I honestly had no idea that my labor had begun.

The oatmeal cookies we made were a great snak for the hospital stay

After only about an hour and ½ of sleep, I woke up to use the restroom where I discovered a bloody show (if you do not know what that means, again you probably don’t want to). I was so excited that I woke Craig to show him, he wasn’t that impressed and immediately went back to sleep, ha ha. I stayed up for an hour looking up information about how long after the bloody show most babies are delivered, having “cramps” the whole time. Most sites said that it could be days, so I got back in bed. I laid there watching the clock and noticed that the “cramps” were accompanied by “Braxton hicks” every 3 minutes for ½ an hr…huh! So I woke up Craig and told him my discovery.

He became very awake and excited, much more than when I woke him up before (this was at 3 am). The contractions were painful but I was managing pretty well so I didn’t want to leave for the hospital just yet. I took a shower and shaved my legs (vain…I know). I also loaded and ran the dishwasher, fed the hamster, made the bed…just little things I knew I would be happy to come home to and of course to keep my mind off the pain.

We then headed down to my parents house at 4, they live only 15 minutes from the hospital while we live an hr from it. So we labored there from 5 till 7. Me laying on the couch and DH massaging my back and timing the contractions. They pretty much stayed at 3 minutes, with a few 2 minutes here and there. The contrax were pretty strong at 7 so we headed off to the hospital. By 7:30, we were gowned and hooked up to monitors. They checked my cervix first thing and I was 5 cm and 100%. I had a natural birth but they had to put in a hep-lock for fluids and incase I needed blood or something for an emergency. It took the nurse 3 different tries and honestly my mind was focused more on the pain from all those than the contractions. From then on the time flew. I just remember Craig helping me relax, a lot of ice, and the song from the jello commercial. You know, the J. E. L. L. O. song…we had the tv on in the background just for noise other than my breathing. Craig was a big help by the way. He helped me focus on my breathing and reminded me to relax my muscles. Even though the attending nurse pretty much said the same things Craig did, it was until I would look at his face that my body would just go limp as I moved through a contraction.

By 9:45, I think, I wasn’t very focused on the time, I was 8 ½ cm and they decided to break my water. After that, everything went very fast. This was a good thing because there was meconium in water. The contractions became much stronger and faster, this was about the time I started to feel weak and unsure, but I knew there was no turning back. I kept my self encouraged by thinking of my baby and wondering about the gender. It wasn’t long before I started to feel the urge to push. However I was ready before the midwife was, so she asked me to wait while she called in back up because of the meconium. It felt like ages! I wanted my baby and I wanted the pain to stop. Craig was very much a part of the actual birth. I was ready to push so fast that they didn’t bother to put the stirrups up so Craig and a nurse were holding my legs. Needless to say he was where the action was. Which was encouraging to me because I remember him saying “I can see some hair!” When she was finally ready, it took 2 contractions with 3 pushes each and by 10:22 my little man was born. Craig must have been in a daze of amazement because it took him a couple seconds to call out to me…”It’s a boy, we have a son.” He was 6 lbs 9 oz and 19 ¼ inches long.
After Craig cut the cord, the nurses immediately took him to the other side of the room to clean and get all the meconium out of his chest, nose and mouth. I was exhausted but concerned and kept asking why I would not hold my baby yet. I knew the answer but I wanted them to tell me I could have him soon. When Jonathan was handed to me, I couldn’t believe it. He was finally here and he was mine.
It was honestly the perfect birth. Jonathan was an 8/9 on the apgar scale, I only need one stitch for a first degree tear, and Craig wasn’t yelled at once during the whole delivery. We were very blessed and I would do it again in a heartbeat, pain and all. Looking back we didn’t need to go through any birthing class or read all those books. God fully equipped my body naturally know how to deliver my baby. All I needed to know was to breath deep and slowly through each contraction while relaxing all other muscles, which we knew already. However, the classes and books gave me complete confidence in my body’s ability to deliver. So I guess they were worth the time and money.

Finally some pictures:

We had a big day

Father and son

Craig's grandparent

My mom and sister Jenny

This is a good pic of Jonathan

Going home

I didnt get much sleep at the hospital...

So small in his carseat

We were exhausted watching Craig unload the car

We are all doing great. Jonathan is the perfect baby. He is content to just be held and extremely alert. He has actually been sleeping on Craig’s chest for the last 3 hours, I need to wake him up to be feed or he will continue to sleep for hours, again…I am very blessed! We will post more picture from visiting friends and family later, Jonathan needs diaper attention....