Judah Keona / A Waterbirth Story

I have prayed many things for Judah. I pray that he would be a man of God, free from religion, but trusting, loving & walking as Christ did; in faith, humility, strength, confidence, love, truth, & gentleness. I am excited to see what God has planned for him.

Judah “praised”    

Keona “God’s gracious gift”

It's amazing to me how different every birth is! During my pregnancy & in the weeks leading up to Judah’s birth, I spent a lot of time preparing, both physically & mentally for a second natural birth. I could not have imagined how quick & smooth it would go this time!

My contractions started Wednesday night around 9. They were timeable and somewhat intense. I knew they’d be this way right from the start since I was already dilated to a 5. I called our midwife to give her a heads up. We were all under the impression that I’d be having this baby tonight or in the early morning. However, my contractions stopped completely when we went to bed at 11. I was rather disappointed & thought to myself that this little boy was never going to come! But looking back our sweet little boy was giving his mama a break and let me get a full nights rest before his arrival. That next morning at 6:30, contractions started again & were intense right from the start. I couldn’t sleep or lay down any longer from the pain, so I got up & started getting ready. Luke got up shortly after & he threw on his “my wife rocks” t-shirt & said, with great enthusiasm, “I am wearing this shirt today because you are going to rock this birth.” It certainly made me smile. He is such an encourager. As we continued to get ready, Luke did the hip squeeze on me during contractions to help ease the pain. This is how I got through doing my makeup. Listen guys…I love my makeup & it’s nice to feel somewhat put together when you’re about to have a baby. We called my mom to have her head over to the house. And, we called the midwife to let her know we’d be headed to the birth center soon. Meanwhile, Maylea was still sleeping and I was struggling with the thought of having to say goodbye to her when we left, knowing that when we came back she would no longer be my only baby. I was a lot more emotional during this labor. There were so many emotions to handle; happiness to meet our little boy, sadness that a season of my life was changing, and excitement. I know, how can you feel those things all at the same time? It’s possible.

Luke had the car all packed up, mom arrived, and Maylea was up. Luke and I had eaten breakfast and I continued to labor through the contractions by leaning over the counter and swaying back and forth. Strangely, I didn’t feel too much in a hurry; maybe because I had only been having contractions for an hour and a half at this point. But they were getting more intense. We said goodbye to Maylea, and I tried not to lose it, and then we left.

I was turned around in the front seat of the car, hugging the back of passenger’s seat, as we drove. On our drive to the birth center, we got on the turnpike…now normally Luke will go straight through the Epass and just wait to get the bill in the mail to pay it. However, today he decided to stop… much to my dismay. It was awkward…you know, in my nightgown and in the middle of labor…but whatever. My contractions didn’t slow at all in the car, like they did with Maylea, but intensified. I was really having to concentrate through them now as they hurt worse and were longer. I kept telling myself “pressure, not pain.” Amazingly, that helped a lot! Easing contraction pain and letting labor progress has so much to do with the mind and releasing your fears. When I said that little phrase, the way the pain felt changed and didn’t hurt as bad. I wanted something to distract me, so I started playing the song “Oceans” by Hillsong, on my phone. I closed my eyes and forgot about everything else.

Rewind to a few weeks before I had my first baby. I was so fearful about labor; if I’d be able to get through laboring naturally and all the unknowns. I finally sat down one day, wrote out all my fears, prayed, and released each one of those fears to Jesus. Once I finished, I sat quietly for awhile and I had the most distinct image of my head being under water, under the waves of the contractions. Seeing Jesus’ hand reaching toward me, above the water, above the waves of the contractions to pull me out. He was saying walk with me, above the fear and above the pain. It was so beautiful! And, I carried those words and that picture with me through my labor with Maylea; knowing that He was with me and that He would help me. Fast forward to the car ride, I played the song “Oceans” because it reminds me of that picture and His words. I become so at peace, remembering and listening to it. I will say I was even less fearful this time around and I believe that helped with this labor so much.

My midwife called as we were about 2 minutes away, asking if I was pushing yet. Surprised she’d ask that, I said “no…,” not thinking I was that far along. We arrived at the birth center and she met us outside, along with the student midwife and helped Luke carry all our stuff up. While in the elevator, I remember noticing that I was sweating. I thought to myself that it was strange since I couldn’t be in transition yet. We got into our room around 9am and I got checked. I was 8cm dilated! I cried tears of relief as I knew it would be over soon! I couldn’t believe how fast it was going. I asked to get in the tub to labor and they started filling it up. My doula was called earlier to head over as well. Kendra (my midwife) got out my lovely essential oil birthing kit and started diffusing. They also started heating the crock pot with wash cloths that I brought. Lavender and Frankincense were added and the cloths were placed on my lower back during contractions. Oh my! I did not anticipate them helping so much! They took most of the pain away! I was so amazed! If I can help it, I will not have another birth without my essential oils! I got into the pool about 20 minutes later. Lavender and Peace & Calming were added to the water and I labored on, enjoying the relief that the warm water brought. Jeanelle (my doula) arrived and sat by my side outside of the pool. At this point things started getting a bit hazy. I know Luke jumped in the pool , behind me, at some point. Jeanelle was encouraging me, as it was getting really hard. My contractions were not on top of each other though like Maylea’s were, so I still had breaks even during pushing. I started feeling the urge to push, and shortly after my water broke. Shortly after that I was checked again and was fully dilated. I started pushing slowly as I felt the urge, and breathed Judah down instead of forcefully pushing. It was so gentle! That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt…it hurt  A LOT! Especially as he “slowly” crowned. I pushed hard for awhile, as he started to crown. Jeanelle stuck essential oil bottles under my nose to give me energy. And with one last hard push, our sweet little Judah was born in the water and quickly placed on my chest! It was absolutely beautiful! He was anointed with Frankincense oil and prayed over. I felt so empowered and so loved by all the support I had! Judah was born 8lbs 4oz. Born at 11:11am. Not quite 4 ½ hours after my contractions began!

                         

Oh this sweet boy is so good to his mommy! I love thinking back to his birth. I am so grateful for the strength and courage that is to be found in my Savior. I’m grateful for an encouraging and supportive husband! For my amazing doula and friend, Jeanelle; and my awesome midwives, Kendra and Laynie!

“He was afraid and began to sink.”Lord save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.” You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:30-31

Spirit lead me where my trust is  without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever you would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger, in the presence of my Savior