Life with my Lineman: Bashlyn Val has arrived!!

One last picture, minutes before we left!! We had to recreate our announcement picture :)

I am so excited to be writing this post today!! This is going to be long, I am writing this in detail so I don't forget anything. If you are interested and can hang in there with me, feel free to read along :)

August 10th 2013 at 10:12pm Bashlyn Val Underdown joined us. Here is her birth story... :)

Friday August 2nd I had a doctor appointment and my midwife checked me and said I was completely closed up. She said to start walking again and start taking evening primrose oil and hopefully we would see some progress next week. On Friday August 9th she checked me and I was 1 cm and 30% effaced. Woohoooo, we were so excited I had made progress!!

The Logan County Fair was going on in Sterling that weekend so we went to the fair Friday night and walked around a bit. We were going to go to the rodeo but I told Brandon I was just feeling weird and didn't think I could sit through the whole rodeo. My lower back was really hurting, just a dull ache. We left the fair and went to a quick dinner and then went home to relax. I went to bed about 11 and was woke up at 2:30 in pain. I had what I thought was contractions but not sure. I started timing them and they were about 7-9 minutes apart, lasting 30 seconds or so. Laying down hurt so I moved to the recliner in the living room. I was able to fall asleep from 6-7. Brandon woke up and I told him "I think we're going to have a baby today" He goes "what, are you serious? I better pack my hospital bag!" I told him I didn't think we needed to go right now because they were not that close so we decided to go to the parade in town. We got to the parade and I walked down to Santiagos to get some breakfast burritos while Brandon set up our chairs. I was still getting the pains pretty bad but I could walk and talk through them still. We went home after the parade and tried to relax. I cried to Brandon telling him I was scared and I just didn't know what to do. I didn't know if these were contractions, I didn't know if I was progressing and I didn't want us to drive an hour and a half to Greeley for nothing, just for them to turn me away. I was sobbing. Brandon told me "Astra its ok, we're on Bashlyn time now. If we go and shes not ready yet, we'll get a hotel" That made me feel a lot better.

I decided to call my midwife around 1, I told her I thought I was having contractions, lasting 45 seconds to a minute long, every 5 minutes or so. I told her I had some that came at 3 minutes and some as long as 7. She told me she wanted them more regular and to go for a walk, take a bath, eat and call her when I didn't want to talk to anyone anymore. Well I couldn't take a bath and it was almost 100 degrees out so we went to Walmart to walk. As we were walking into walmart I got a contraction so bad it stopped me in my tracks. We only made it about a halfway through walmart when I told Brandon I needed to go home. I tried to eat an apple with almond butter and only ate about half of it. I decided I would call my midwife at 3 and tell her I was coming in. My contractions were still only 5 minutes apart or so and lasting about 45-60 seconds. I called my midwife and told her this and told her I couldn't walk through the contractions anymore and she goes "ok, how far away from the hospital are you" I said "about an hour and a half" and she goes "oh.....I forgot you were that far away, ok well I think you can make it if you head in now, just go to triage and I'll meet you there"

Brandon started loading the bags and car seat into the car. We took one last picture in between contractions and then we were on the road about 4. Driving an hour and a half to Greeley in labor was not the best road trip of my life. I was so uncomfortable and I couldn't move or do anything when the contractions came so I just had to endure them. I was nice to Brandon but I did ask him, "can you please not hit the bumps in the road, maybe get in the left hand lane, it looks less bumpy" As we got close to the hospital I kept saying "I don't want to have any more contractions in the car". We got to the hospital about 5:40 and went to the birthing center. We had to call on the phone outside the room to let them know we were there, Brandon goes "what do I say, my wife is in labor?!?!" I said "no just say your wife thinks she's having contractions." We got into triage and they hooked me up to all the monitors and started asking questions. I felt like all of a sudden I wasn't getting contractions anymore. I kept asking "is that a contraction on the monitor there, please tell me I'm not crazy" The nice nurse said "no you are not crazy, you are having contractions" She had to ask a lot of questions to put into the computer. My favorite was "Do you live in a house or apartment" Brandon and I laughed and I looked at Brandon and he goes "ummmm we live in a 5th wheel" She goes "ooookkkk it has running water and electricity right?" Brandon goes "oh yeah it even has a washer and dryer" She goes "perfect! They make them really nice now"

My midwife came in and checked me and I was a "5 almost a 6"!!! As soon as she said this I started crying and said "so I get to stay, I don't have to go home" She said "you get to stay, this is not the time to cry, this is so exciting" We got sent up to our room and got settled in. My room was absolutely beautiful, a nice bathroom and huge jacuzzi tub! I walked a couple laps and my midwife said she'd come back and check me in a couple hours. Every time I would get a contraction I would just brace myself against the wall or bed and rock my hips back and forth. Brandon would rub my back and put his head on my shoulder and it was all the comfort I needed at the time. I talked to my mom on the phone and texted with a few friends throughout these 2 hours.

Talking on the phone with my mom

I'm ready!!

Cheers to having a baby!!

My midwife came in and broke my water at 8:22. I didn't know what to expect but that feeling was far from what I was expecting. It actually hurt way more and the water was so hot! She said my contractions would get a lot more intense now and she would check on me in a bit. I got into the jacuzzi tub and that only helped me for a contraction or two. I remember saying "I don't know what to do, I don't know how to get through these contractions" From there it was a bit of a blur. I remember getting out of the tub and all of a sudden there were 5 or 6 people in the room, the table was set up at the end of the bed with all the tools for delivery. They told me she was going to be here soon. I remember feeling like I didn't even have control over my own body. I would get a contraction and my body would push on its own, I remember saying, "I didn't even mean to do that" and my midwife said "its ok its your body doing what it needs". I remember this sound coming out of me that I had never heard before. I said "oh I feel so bad, I'm going to scare all of the other ladies here with my sounds" and the lead nurse looked me in the eyes and said "oh honey you are the only one on this end, sing it loud girl". There were several times they thought I would deliver her, once in the tub, while I was standing up and once next to the bed, again while I was standing. They kept getting the stuff needed to deliver and the midwife would say "I need hands over her to help me catch the baby". I was so hot, I kept crying, "I'm so hot, please cool me off" I remember 4 people fanning me trying to cool me off. Brandon said at one point after a contraction I said "dude this is hard" he said he had to laugh because I could have said so many other things. He said I was so respectful, I kept saying thank you and I never said one swear word. Finally my midwife was able to convince me to try to push in the bed. I didn't want to because sitting put so much pressure on me but I did it. I was so exhausted at this point and I would cry through the contractions, but I think it was just my way to get through them. I asked "how long does this take, how much longer is this going to be" my midwife said "for most women, 1-3 days" Brandon said that shut me up, haha :)

After several pushes and an hour and fifty minutes after my water was broke Miss Bashlyn Val Underdown was born. They put her on my stomach and I can't even begin to describe the emotion. I was sobbing, from happiness, joy, relief that labor was over and love. I asked, "what time is it, is it still Saturday" and they said "yes she was born at 10:12." Brandon got to cut the umbilical cord. He said it was like rubber, he had to cut three times. They took her to a station next to the bed, weighed her and gave her her first bath. She started crying and Brandon went over to her and started talking to her and she calmed right down. She knew who her daddy was! She weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces. They gave her back to me and helped me breast feed her for the first time. I was so exhausted I didn't feel like I had the energy to do this right now but I wanted to feed her so I did it. They brought me a sandwich and then about an hour later they helped us get to our new room. Brandon was able to do skin to skin for the first time, what a special moment. I fed her a few more times throughout the night, I didn't sleep a wink because I could not stop starring at her.

I am so proud to say I did this 100% natural. I didn't even have my IV hooked up until after I delivered her. It was hard and yes there was pain but looking back I feel like I got to enjoy my labor and delivery so much. It was painful and hard but It was almost like it wasn't even my body going through it, I had so much adrenaline going. It has been so fun writing this blog and thinking back about everything. This was truly one of the most incredible days of my life and I am so happy. I could not have done it at all without my amazing husband who kept telling me I could do this and comforted me the exact way I needed, even if that changed from contraction to contraction. The hospital staff was incredible and I am so thankful I got to stay with my midwives throughout my whole pregnancy!

Here are some pictures of our special day!