For years, parents have been sharing the beauty of their child’s birth experience via the lens of professional photographers for years.
We’re concentrating on one tale at a time in a new series, highlighting the many diverse ways infants are born and the beauty of each family’s narrative. In her own words, Wilkenson describes how unpredictable childbirth can be, no matter how many times you’ve been through it. I have five children. My eldest is 6 years old, and then I’ve had four babies in the last four years. It’s been interesting!
After having my first child in a ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ, I’ve had all of my subsequent ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄɪᴇs at home. I ʟᴀʙᴏᴜʀ for around 24 hours with my first, and I believe it would have taken longer if I hadn’t been given Pɪᴛᴏᴄɪɴ. Then I had roughly two hours of ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴇ ʟᴀʙᴏʀ with my second. Maybe I was three when I had my third? My fourth took 14 hours and was excruciatingly ᴘᴀɪɴꜰᴜʟ from the start. Because of that, I went into my most recent birth knowing to expect the unexpected, but also with a clear sense of what I hoped for, if possible. I wanted my husband to catch the baby. And it was really important for me to try and have some peace and quiet right after the baby was born. I was fully expecting to go to 41 weeks because that’s what happened with my first and my third, but I’d also been feeling pretty ʟᴀʙᴏʀɪsʜ from 36 weeks onward.
At 39 weeks, I went to bed like usual and then woke up maybe 45 minutes later to a ɢɪᴀɴᴛ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ and ᴛᴏɴs ᴏꜰ ᴘʀᴇssᴜʀᴇ. I felt like the baby was right there. I do have a history of some really fast ʟᴀʙᴏʀs, but I’ve also had some long ones, so I felt like I didn’t know what was happening. I woke my husband up and he was kind of like: “Are you going to have a baby right now?” My ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs were three minutes apart. Right, when he asked, I had a ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ʜɪᴛ and I started sʜᴀᴋɪɴɢ. I thought, “Oh, my goodness, did I basically wake up in transition?”
We’d chatted with my ᴍɪᴅᴡɪꜰᴇ about what to do if things proceeded rapidly because I’d had some fast ʟᴀʙᴏʀs before. So we had this brief time of self-preparation. Thankfully, my ᴍɪᴅᴡɪꜰᴇ, who lives about 45 minutes away, arrived on time, so we didn’t have to. My ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs were super close together and I remember thinking to myself, “I need them to slow down because I cannot do this.” I was still preparing myself for the idea of doing this for another 14 hours after my last ʟᴀʙᴏʀ, even though everyone else seemed to understand how close I was. I hopped in the bath. I was still thinking I was just in there to slow my ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs down, and my husband and ᴍɪᴅᴡɪꜰᴇ were kind of like, “Sure, Ash, whatever you say.” In the water, things did sᴘᴀᴄᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴀ ʙɪᴛ, but then the ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs got really ɪɴᴛᴇɴsᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ. And it was clear they weren’t dilation ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs. They were get-the-baby-out ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴs.
I got out of the tub, and he was born within a ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ and a half. My husband was able to catch him, and then I just held him and looked at him for a while. He’s such a chill baby. I love that I can see it in these photos, even though he has that little pout face. He has such a sweet demeanor, and he has had it since the very beginning. It’s hard to put into words just how amazing it was to have him here. It was one of the highest joys I’ve ever experienced. To see him and to find out he was a boy and to hold him on my chest and to hear him cry and to see his face and to finally be done with the really long, hard journey of ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. I soaked up all the snuggles and cried and cried and cried and was so happy and thankful that we did it!
The kids slept through the whole thing. We had a friend here who was planning to watch them if we needed it, and we were open to them coming in if they wanted to — or staying away if that’s what they preferred. But they ended up waking up maybe four hours after the baby was born. They were excited to say “hi” to the baby, but then they wanted to go to my sister’s so they just kind of took off. I got a nap. Now that I have done this five times, I have definitely learned to expect the unexpected and to be OK if absolutely nothing seems to be going the way it’s “supposed” to go. It’s kind of like having so many kids close together. Sometimes we’re like, “Oh, my goodness, this is crazy!” But our ʜᴇᴀʀᴛs are full. This ʟᴀʙᴏʀ and birth were so different than what I had hoped and dreamed for the entire ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ, but after he was there, I was extremely proud of myself and so pleased with how everything unfolded. I look back on the baby’s birth story and see the hand of a ꜰᴀɪᴛʜꜰᴜʟ Gᴏᴅ written all over it.
Source:babiesadorable.com
