Following the tradition I set with Augustine, I think it is much more fun to post a birth story a year removed from the event. If you want to read Augustine’s birth story, click here.
Unlike Augustine’s early arrival, Jane’s due date had already passed. She was due on the 13th and came a couple days behind. We had the Lowerys over for dinner and settled into bed not expecting anything out of the ordinary due to my non-existent symptoms thus far.
At 1:00am on the 15th of June. I awoke to realizing that my water had broken. We called the midwife and she said that we did not need to go to the hospital until my contractions were 5 minutes apart. Otherwise, go back to sleep, and enjoy the comforts of my own home. Shaun and I debated whether to gather up the last few details of what we would need to go to the hospital (camera, my pregnancy medical folder, etc). Since I wasn’t feeling any contractions, we decided to pack things up real fast and head back to bed. At 1:45am I had my first contraction. We knew to wait until they were 5 minutes apart until we should do anything serious. However, contractions started to progress fairly fast, so I decided to hop in the bathtub around 2:45 so ease the pain. Shaun (thankfully!) decided to go pick up Ben Wall from his home a little over a mile away to stay with Augustine while we left for the hospital. By the time Shaun returned finally returned at 2:55 am with Ben, I was already feeling like I could push. It took awhile to get out of the bathtub, out of the house, and into the car as we had to stop between each contraction (and they were one on top of another!).
We took off in the car and I yelled at Shaun to both speed up (to get to the hospital fast!) and slow down (to avoid the bumpiness of the speed bumps around campus housing). Fortunately the hospital is only 2.5 miles away and there was little traffic at 3:10am! We arrived to the hospital at 3:20am. I “waited” in the lobby while shaun talked to the receptionist as to whether I needed the labor ward (at risk/complicated pregnancies or the location to receive an epidural) or the midwife unit (normal pregnancies). I screamed at Shaun to just make a decision, and they chose to send me to the midwife unit. As we were walking to the room, I stopped on a wheelchair due to another heavy contraction. Shaun asked if we could use the chair and they quickly wheeled me into a room.
At this point, I was super hot and gladly received the hospital gown. I asked what to do, and the midwife responded to position myself in whatever way is most comfortable. She said I could push if I felt like it. From her further advice, I climbed on to the table with my back in the air and within the first push they could see her head! The next push her head was out, and the third push she was born! 3:47am- 20.5 inches 8lbs & 7.75 ounces [Augustine was the same height, but only 7 lbs]- yes, that’s two hours and 2 minutes from my first contraction.
The Lord was so gracious to get us there safely and just in time. The midwives were wonderful and provided us with tea and toast after the delivery. We stayed in the hospital til 4pm that day and were able to be in our own home with our daughter that same evening! It was such a unique experience for us, and we were super thankful to birth a child in Scotland!