Katelyn's Birth

Pure Joy

The Birth Story of Katelyn

You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, 

at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

The first 2 months of my second pregnancy I felt sick and had little energy. I was eating good and taking the same type of vitamins I took when I was pregnant with Caden, but food didn't taste that great and the vitamins upset my stomach. After a bit of research, I decided to try Garden of Life Raw Prenatal Vitamins and they were wonderful! No more upset tummy! I also started taking floradix iron once a week, which helped with the energy. 

We had several ultrasounds to see if we could figure out if we were having a boy or girl, but baby hid everytime! We thought we were having a girl and chose the name Katelyn right away, but weren't sure if it would be her first or middle name. We picked out a boy's name as well, just in case. 

For the rest of the pregnancy, I frequently forgot I was pregnant. We traveled to the midwest for Morning's wedding and made several trips to Uncle Coco's in New Mexico, we moved across town to a big house with a yard, taught Caden to ride a bike with training wheels, and had a lot of fun, enjoying the adventures of daily life. I especially enjoyed going to the zoo, I loved the look on people's faces when they asked how far along I was and I told them I was due in a few days.

In the third trimester, my blood work showed my iron levels were low. I began taking Floradix Iron daily, and drinking almond milk with Raw Meal from Garden of Life, but my levels stayed low. Then, I discovered that I needed to take vitamin C with the iron so it would absorb into my system properly; I also took a herb called yellow dock. After that my levels came up quickly. Iron is important for a good birth and aids in recovery, it helps your blood to clot properly. Knowing this, I spoke over my body and baby and told the baby she couldn't come until my levels were where they needed to be.

Two days before Katelyn was born, we celebrated Caden's 3rd birthday, he requested balloons and cake. 

The next day, our due date, came and went, with no signs of baby's arrival. But we weren't concerned, we knew she would come when she was ready. Everyday, the week before our baby was born, David's alarm would ring, he'd roll over and ask if today was the day? I'd say no, not today, and he'd get up to get ready for work. 

Today's the Day!

When David's alarm went off, I was happy to report that our baby would be born today! 

Around 5am, contractions woke me up, they were strong, 15-20 minutes apart, for 15 seconds or so and I was too excited to sleep! I emailed my midwife, and friend who would be watching Caden, to give them a heads up.

Around 1:30pm I started timing the contractions. By 2:30pm the contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart, at 30-45 seconds long, and my water was slowly leaking. I figured I had quite a while to go still and felt great. Caden and I were just hanging out, in our pajamas, eating snacks, watching cartoons and playing. David called during his break and asked me to call my midwife, he felt things were getting close. Desirre said she'd be over in a few hours to check on us. I called David back and had a strong contraction while on the phone; he decided to come home right away.

During the contractions I found that praying in tongues and pacing really helped to lessen the intensity. Caden thought I danced funny, but enjoyed dancing with me. Once during a contraction he wanted to show me something and was pulling on my hand, I asked him not to pull and he asked "Why Mommy you break?" that made me laugh. When Daddy came home Caden asked why is Mommy talking funny and tried to repeat me speaking in tongues. Labor was a lot of fun with a 3 year old! Caden was such a good, helpful, calm boy. 

Having David home put my mind and body to ease, and everything intensified. David was a huge help with each contraction, he gave me lots of kisses, back massages and encouragement. He hands were really warm which felt great on my lower back.

The midwives arrived around 4:30pm and started setting up for the birth. When they arrived I was speaking in tongues and heard Desirre say thats a good sound. I asked later what she meant by that, she said it's difficult to describe what they heard, however, every laboring woman makes a sound that is unique to her, when the baby is about to be born, she said its a sound that the midwife just knows. My friend arrived 5-10 minutes later to take care of Caden. 

At some point Desirre, embraced me; prayed over me, and everything intensified again!

The next contraction, was a big one, I wanted to climb the wall! I had a flash back of Caden's birth, thinking I had several more hours to go, I felt fear and the contractions became painful. David told me "You can do this!" that encouragement was what I needed to shatter the fear and regain focus.

I needed to use the bathroom, but was reluctant… we have a large bathroom area, with a walk in closet, a giant soaking tub and a shower room, however, the toilet closet is tiny, my biggest fear was I'd get stuck in there during the birth. A couple contractions on the toilet and I was done with being "stuck" in the bathroom. Several people were there checking on me, I remember seeing a flashlight and someone asking if the baby was coming. Just outside the toilet closet, I dropped to my knees, I could feel the baby crowning! David told me he could see a head; and next thing I knew our baby came sliding out.

It was 4:47pm, just 27 minutes after the midwives arrived! And only a 1-2 hours of active labor.

I was so excited to finally hold our girl! She was tiny, sweet, and just perfect!

We wrapped Katelyn in a towel and walked over to the bed, to rest, and deliver the placenta. 10 minutes later the birth was complete. I really enjoyed this pregnancy, but was quite happy to not be pregnant anymore.

Head circumference 13 5/8 inches

Chest 13 5/8 inches

Abdomen 13 inches

Apgar Score 9 out of 10

I remember feeling her crown, which was painful. But, I don't remember actually pushing her out, my body took over and did what God designed it to do. The charts show the whole birth only took 3 minutes! I only had a small tear, that was already healing and had the normal amount of blood loss. I felt great! The birth went really well and was much faster than I thought it would be.

The next morning I was ready to go downstairs and enjoy being a family of 4 to it's fullest. We spent most of the day resting in bed, but I did go downstairs for dinner and a movie that night. I've had no pains and postpartum recovery has been great.

I love being a Mommy to an adventurous little boy and a joyful little girl, they are so much fun and so different, yet similar. 

I love watching Caden teach his sister all about life. He gives her lots of kisses and cuddles. When she cries he's right there singing her a song and comforting her. The other day they were cuddling on the floor with their blankies, teddy bear and dolly when Caden smiled at me and said "Mama, this is the life!"

I love seeing David cuddle his baby girl and tenderly call her sweetheart one moment, then wrestling with his boy the next moment. He's a great Daddy to our kids he makes every day things fun.

Pictures by: Joanna Montes