tatum's birth story | 9.29.18. | part II

Tatum Ross Hjelseth
born Saturday, September 29, 2018
5:14am

...now to continue on from part one of tatum's birth story

SATURDAY (29th)

1:10am

sleeping soundly in bed, i suddenly woke from a strong contraction and what then felt like i had lost bladder control and peed from it. in the back of my head i thought "could that have been my water breaking?" (knowing that when your water "breaks" it's not always a gush but can be a trickle). as tired as i was i considered just going back to sleep, but knew i needed to get up to the bathroom to see! as i stood up out of bed to head to the bathroom, the fluid continued and was definitely not pee. i was certain my water broke as it was a running stream. butterflies and nerves suddenly hit me so hard!

1:15am

i called my midwife, susan.

(who later i had found out had been at the birthing inn until midnight getting the rooms put back together after the painting had been finished. bless her heart for all she does.)

i explained to her what had just happened, and that my water seemed to have broke. she said "typically" in these situations when a pregnant mama's water breaks, it's about 12-24 hours until contractions start to pick up. but that that wouldn't be me based on how dilated and effaced i was two days before at my appointment with her. she instructed me to call her when my contractions were 4 minutes apart, and to not push it on waiting. she then suggested i try to go back to sleep and get what rest i could while i could. i was going to need all the energy i could get in the hours to come. 

eek! i couldn't believe this was it!

i hadn't ever experienced this before and it felt so odd knowing beforehand that labor soon would be starting and baby was for sure going to be coming today, likely by the afternoon!

brandon heard me up and about in the bathroom and came in to see what was going on. i told him everything, and we decided to both head back to bed and see how the next few hours went. again, typically my labors were long, so we were pretty certain we'd have some time here. my mom was asleep and i decided no sense in waking her until i was actually having contractions and things were starting to progress.

i got myself tucked back into bed and did my best to lay there and rest, trying to go back to sleep.

...but our baby was coming!! TODAY!!

i didn't sleep a wink.

1:45am

contractions. contractions. contractions.

they began. only half an hour after my water breaking. and did not let up. 

trying to "rest" through them became impossible. as they intensified brandon was bringing me hot pads, snacks, and water. 

there was no deny this was it.

they started and began at 10 minutes apart. and they were intense right from the get go.

2:45am

it was too hard to lay in bed any longer so i got up to work through the contractions. sitting with my legs wide on the exercise ball or holding on to brandon was the best way for me to take on each contraction. 

it all began to happen so fast.
contractions had only started an hour ago, yet i was already having to stop and work through every second of each one. i couldn't believe how strong they had already become.

3:15am

at this point i thought i should just let mom know what was going on. contractions were about 6-7 minutes apart when i first went in to her, and by the time i left they had jumped to 5-6 minutes. i headed back to my room to keep on keeping on through these as the intensity was really increasing. and quick.

3:45am 

*time and what was going on was such a blur! i've had to talk to brandon and my mom to help piece the timing & order into place*

by this time i had a couple contractions just 4 minutes apart. that was it! this was the point when susan said to call. but when brandon brought it up, my doubtful mind asked "but for how long should we be 4 minutes between contractions before we need to let her know?" always in labor i doubt, and delay! brandon called susan to ask, and she said to meet her at the birthing inn at 4:30! it was about a 15-20 minute drive for us to the birthing inn, so we didn't have a whole lot of time.

4:00am

we (and by we i mean brandon & mom) packed up our things, got clothes + shoes on, called kristal our birth photographer, brandon's mom rushed over to be at the house with harper and tanner, (who were thankfully fast asleep in bed!), and we worked our way to the car. all while i'm stopping to get through a contraction every few minutes.

4:10am

my contractions picked up so fast at this point. they quickly made their way to only 2-3 minutes apart. so close together that it was taking me forever to get out of the house and into the car. having to stop and work through all these contractions, i could hardly make my way downstairs and out the door. 

4:25am

we were on our way and headed to the birthing inn! 

contractions sitting down, in the car are the worst! i just wanted to get there to be able to get up and move. by the time we got there i was at a solid two minutes apart with hardly any rest in between. baby was making his way, and coming fast!

4:45am

by now we were at the birthing inn and into the room. 

susan and her team had everything all set up and ready to go for me. 

i climbed onto the bed and she checked me to see where we were (i don't remember, but i'm sure i was already at a 10 by this point) and how baby's position was. he needed a little bit of adjusting to get right into the ideal position, so susan worked her magic to help to turn him just a bit.

laying on the bed, i suddenly had to throw up (which i always have done in labor) and this was a big sign that we were there. threw my hair up, the tub was being filled, and it was in i went.

susan knew we had kristal coming to take some photos for us, and i remember hearing her tell my mom, "if she doesn't get here now, she's going to miss it."
holy moly. i couldn't believe we were at this point and we were at this point now.
i haven't a clue what time it was when i got in the tub, or when i started to push. it was all just consecutive, with no time in between to break. i went through a contraction or two, felt the urge to push, and began to do so. physically my body was there and doing it, but mentally i was not. we went from 0-100 quick. too quick. i kept staring at susan in disbelief and vividly remember saying "i can't do this. tell me i can do this."
as i was about to push again susan told me this was it, he was coming this time. i could.not.believe.it. HOW??? i had just gotten here to the birthing inn no more than 30 minutes ago.

5:14am
TATUM.
sweet tatum.
he was here. he was so, so here.
his perfect face. his perfect lips. his perfectly healthy little baby body.

kristal arrived nine NINE minutes before tatum was born. how in heaven's name she made it on time, still amazes me. again, God had his perfect timing on it all. to only have been at the birthing inn some 30 minutes before i pushed tatum out, another miracle.
we did it. and it was truly over before i knew it.

as cherished and special as this birth of birthing tatum is to me. it really is so near and dear to my heart and i am so so thankful that i was for the third time able to have the natural, water birth experience that i so badly wanted. in some ways i've also mourned this birth process. i LOVE birth and i LOVE pregnancy. and this time it was over faster than i could comprehend. 3.5 hours from start to finish, where my body did so much during that time. each phase of labor went by in a snap. all too quick for me to wrap my mind around it and process what was happening. and suddenly there i was with my baby in my arms and semi confused, yet so overjoyed that he was here! as i've looked through our birth photos, i find myself staring at my face and feeling those emotions all over again. i can see my initial uncertainty of 'what just happened?', which then turned to complete happiness and relief for holding my baby tatum. my perfect baby tatum.
these pictures have helped me to process all that those few hours held for me.

"when a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world." John 16:21

i hame some amazing birth and after-birth pictures that kristal took. stay tuned for a part III post where i will share more of those.

{clickable links here to previous posts}

welcome baby tatum

tatum's birth story | part I

tanner's birth story

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

tatum's birth story | 9.29.18 | part I

Tatum Ross Hjelseth

born Saturday, September 29, 2018

5:14 am

baby you were born on a beautiful, sunny fall day.

the day is so etched into my mind. vivid, and yet a blur at the same time.

the morning i felt like i was hit with a ton of bricks as you quickly made your arrival.
- - - - - - - - -
prior to writing down our birth story, i read back through tanner's birth story just to be brought back to that day. it has me feeling a little lost as i sit to write tatum's. birth with tanner was so sooo similar to birth with harper. (her birth story isn't documented here being that she was born prior to this blog). but after my first two, i figured that's how birth is for me. long and steady.
and that's what my expectations were leading up to the day of tatum's birth.
- - - - - - - - -
but it was everything but that.
- - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - -
my due date was october 4th. my midwife susan was going to be out of town come the 5th. so we were so praying and hoping that baby would make his way before then. she had been there for both our other babies, and i couldn't imagine if she wasn't there to help me through with this one too.
- - - - - - - - -
i had been having a TON of really uncomfortable braxton hicks contractions for a handful of weeks prior. more uncomfortable than i had experienced with my previous pregnancies. these ones were stronger, where at times i had to stop in my steps until one passed. they were also much lower. i always typically felt them in my lower back, like menstrual cramps. but this time they also had worked their way down low, and in front. about a week prior, the uncomfortableness of contractions had picked up. at times being 15 minutes apart for a couple hours, then eventually letting up.

- - - - - - - - -
SATURDAY (22nd)
i lost my mucus plug that evening. and it sent me into nerves of feeling like this could be happening any time (i hadn't experienced this prior to labor with my others). i was nervous to go to bed that night. i always feel that the nights are so telling of where we are headed. but i slept all through the night, not being woken by contractions.

SUNDAY + MONDAY (23rd + 24th)
both evenings i lost a little more of my mucus plug after having lots and lots of contractions throughout the afternoon and evening.
finally decided it was time to have our bags packed!

WEDNESDAY (25th)
i had a chiropractor appointment that morning.
i noticed my contractions really picking up that afternoon to being more frequent, and about every 15 minutes. this went on for a handful of hours, but didn't stick and eventually slowed down come evening. i very much think this could have been due to my appointment that morning.
in pregnancy with tanner i had gone to the chiropractor for an adjustment and then the next day he was born. so here i was a little on my toes this day!
i was also having to make my way to the bathroom more frequently. which was another sign for me that we were getting close to meeting our baby. this was typical for me prior to labor beginning. but whether that meant one day or a handful of days. who knew.

THURSDAY (26th)
i had an appointment with my midwife, susan, that morning and i was so anxious and ready for it! especially after all the increased contractions i had been having the day before. we were planning for her to check me, and i couldn't wait to see what progress (cross my fingers) my body had made during these last weeks of all these contractions!
every one of those contractions had been doing so much work! and i was thankful for it, knowing they were getting us ready and prepping for the day labor really began. in pregnancies prior, my body hadn't made much progress until true labor actually began. making my labors quite long (28 & 22 hours).
i was dilated to a 3-4, my cervix was really thinned and soft, and she could even feel baby's head!
my body had made so much progress. so much so that susan was careful not to disrupt things too much as it was likely if she did, labor could be initiated that very day. which i didn't want to happen. i even asked her if there was anything i could do to stop labor from happening for a few more days. what 39+ week pregnant mama says that?! (we were hoping for my mom to get here first, and i was planning to have her get on a flight and come up the next day).
based on all this progress, susan didn't think i would even make it to my due date of the 4th. which was such a relief! to me it meant that this would happen before susan left town (on the 5th) and she would be here for this baby. we scheduled my next appointment for monday, october 1st. if i was still pregnant then, she would strip my membranes to get things going and help ensure baby would get here before she left.

seems silly now, but that afternoon i was feeling stressed. they were painting at the birthing inn (to be done friday), but if baby came thurday or friday i would likely be in a different room than i had hoped for, not the one where harper and tanner were also born. which i was feeling really sentimental about. that room was like home. where i felt so comfortable. i knew it so well being where we had brought both our other babies into the world. our photographer, kristal had a whole afternoon of mini sessions scheduled for saturday afternoon. and though she said it would all work, i didn't want to put a wrench in her afternoon of shoots. my mom wasn't here yet. and brandon had a big work appointment on saturday. i just wanted to have control over this and wait until sunday!
but truly, who was i even kidding. babies come when babies are ready to come.
looking back, it's so clear God had is hands right on this. HE made the timing of tatum's birth PERFECT. perfect in every way.

thursday night we got a surprise at our front door. mom and flown in early and she WAS HERE! my heart burst and i suddenly had so much relief. she was 100% going to be there for the birth of our baby boy. she brings so much support to me and can recognize my needs even when i'm not able to. knowing both brandon and my mom were going to be with me through all of my labor and delivery gave me so much peace.

FRIDAY (27th)
last minute things.
mom, the kids, and i went to costco for a much needed haul on groceries.
brandon and i snuck in a quick dinner date while mom watched harper and tanner.
things felt like they were falling right into place.

that night contractions had been no different than the days prior. as i was walking up the stairs that night to head to bed, i had one contraction that hit me harder and i had felt it down my inner thighs. got me thinking for a sec as i recognized this feeling from labors prior, but then no others followed. so to bed as usual i went around 10:30 pm. and i hadn't a clue what was about to happen in a short 2.5 hours.

hang tight for part two.
....................

{clickable links here to previous posts}

welcome baby tatum

tanner's birth story

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

welcome to this world sweet baby tatum

we are all head over heels in love with this precious soul who God has gifted us.
he is pure love and perfection.
a whole sixteen days now we've had our sweet tatum ross in our arms.

after a birth experience that was not what i was expecting and quicker than i could comprehend.

this little is such an angel.
sweet, calm, content. and truly hardly cries.
he's gotten an extra special place in my heart as he has been letting me get some sleep!
all the praise hands!
i'm up 1-2 times with him in the night. it's a quick diaper change, swaddled back up, nurse, and then he's back to sleep.

and here he is! the first moment of holding him in my arms.
emotions resurface as i look at this picture and i see all the love and support surrounding me and our newest baby who had just entered this world. no better feeling than holding my baby for the first time.

...Tatum Ross Hjelseth...
born september 29, 2018
5:14 am
8 pounds 2 ounces
20.5 inches long

weights since birth:
birth:: 8 lbs 2 oz
2 day:: 7 lbs 10.5 oz
12 day: 8 lbs 10 oz

the last two weeks have felt like such a smooth transition for our little family.
with the support of my mom staying with us for the first week and a half, and then brandon taking time off work to be home, we have all been able to soak in these first precious days.
tatum fits in so perfectly and has the best brother and sister who give him all the best loves and kisses.

i have such a thankful heart for my amazing midwife, susan (who has helped me to bring all three of our babies into the world). she is such a blessing to me and gives me strength and support to help my birth wishes come true.
also how grateful i am for the birthing inn. to have a beautiful, peaceful place for me to birth my babies... i can't imagine it any other way.

we love you sweet baby tatum!! so thankful to have you in our arms to love and kiss on you. i can't get over your sweetest hair and beautiful features. what a pretty baby you are and your mama loves you ever so dearly my precious baby.

(i'm working on our birth story, so that to come!)

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth

Tanner's Birth Story

Tanner Ross Hjelseth

born Wednesday, July 13, 2016

3:19 pm

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.

.

well.. tomorrow my baby will be four whole weeks old. and though every detail of his birth is still so vivid in my memory, it's about time I get his birth story written and shared.

a lot took place before the moment we actually welcomed him into this world :)

of course I know babies come when babies are ready and there's no way to determine when they will be born (especially without any interventions)... but baby Tanner really caught me off guard.

being that I was a whole eight days over my due date with Harper, I was absolutely certain that I would reach and pass my due date with Tanner as well.

so from the beginning :)

.

.

.

MONDAY

all was well and nothing out of the norm when I went to bed that night.

in the middle of the night though I woke a few times from some braxton hicks contractions that were just a bit more uncomfortable than normal. but nothing alarming.

TUESDAY

I had 9:30am chiropractor and 10:30am massage appointments scheduled.

I had still been noticing my braxton hicks like I had in the night, but they hadn't changed and were by no means regular in any way. as I was busy with my day I half noticed them due to other distractions of the morning's busy-ness.

my massage therapist (who knew I was just a couple days from my due date) pressed on some pressure points and used cleary sage essential oil during my massage. both of which are suppose to help in getting labor started if your body is ready for it.

after my appointments (which felt so great!) I headed home to carry on with the rest of my day.

Brandon was working from home that day. I mentioned to him how I had been feeling more braxton hicks. by late afternoon I wasn't only feeling them in my lower back (which was typical throughout my pregnancy) but also some here and there on the sides of my lower abdomen. 

but all was bearable and I was certain it was nothing and that it would eventually just go away.

around 6:30 that evening we were home eating dinner and I started noticing contractions happening more often. I made a few glances at the clock and they seemed to be like every 8ish minutes and a little more uncomfortable. but again, still manageable. 

still, I was certain it was nothing and that it would eventually just go away.

we carried on with the evening. dinner clean up. Harper's bedtime routine- bath, milk + bubble guppies, brush teeth, books, and then lights out.

--it was a little extra special that night as it was her birthday eve and in the morning she was going to wake up a big two year old!!

Brandon was taking work off for her birthday (Wednesday the 13th)  and we had a fun day planned to celebrate her. the zoo. finding dory. birthday gifts. and cupcakes.--

it was now about 8:30pm and I was still having the same contractions. Brandon and I changed into our sweats and went downstairs to blow up balloons for Harper's birthday in the morning, watched a little DVR, then headed up to bed around 10:30pm. 

as I was trying to go to sleep, my contractions had become just too uncomfortable for me to lay through them in bed. as each one came I had to get up out of bed (every 8ish minutes) to move and work through them. at that point Brandon thought we should really start tracking these better to see what's going on. he was feeling pretty certain that I was in labor at this point.

but still, I was certain it was nothing and that it would eventually just go away.

to fast forward a little and to not bore you with all the details (if I haven't already, that is) ;)

the night continued on like this. I was in and out of the tub a couple of times, had music going, and my hubby by my side as I worked through each contraction. this all continued until about 6am Wednesday morning with contractions coming and going every 4-6ish minutes.

WEDNESDAY

6:00am

since the time between my contractions was moving around from 4-6 minutes, we thought it'd be a good idea to contact my midwife to see what she thought.  I was still in doubt that labor had really started because of the contractions (which yes, at this point had certainly gotten more intense) they however could go 4 minutes between then slow down to 6 minutes. 

and in my mind (as referenced earlier) it was near impossible that this baby was going to be born BEFORE his due date- let alone on Harper's birthday! it was all just going to stop and go away.

(as I look back on it, who was I kidding!)

we checked in with my midwife each hour to give her an update on where things were. she encouraged me to rest when I could since I had been up all night long. and I most certainly would need my energy as this progressed.

with the slow down between some contractions, she figured that the cause could possibly be that baby may have gotten out of position.

11:00am

we loaded up the car, Brandon's mom had already come over to be with Harper at this point, and we headed in to The Birthing Inn so that Susan, my midwife, could check me and see where we were with things.

contractions were strong. it took a lot to work through each one. and they most certainly were NOT stopping.

I was dilated 4cm. I was shocked!

as Susan had predicted, baby had flipped to the other side and was out of his usual position. we decided to do what was in our power to get this labor progressing. Susan stripped my membranes and turned baby back to the position we wanted him in.

now it was go time!

Brandon unloaded the things from the car while I settled into the room. we weren't going to be leaving without our baby in our arms. ahhh! it was really happening!

though I had finally accepted the fact that labor was happening and baby was coming, mentally I was a little unprepared since I had never, ever, EVER expected this to be happening on this particular day.

11:30am-3pm

labor. labor. labor.

contrations. contractions. contractions.

with as much rest, fluids, and food in between as possible!

somewhere during all this (I wasn't watching the clock) Susan had given me the option of breaking my water.

well... my hesitation here was that I remembered that point when Harper was being born and once my water bag was broken, contractions really intensified as I went straight into transition phase.

mentally, I wasn't so sure I was ready for this... I knew how intense it was at the moment, and knew it would only intensify.

I took some time, ate some food, prayed, and got to the point where I felt a bit more refreshed and ready to push through this last stretch. 

3pm

it was time for Susan to break my water. she checked me and I was at 9cm! she said baby was going to be coming soon. and by soon that meant by like 3:30/4ish! tears just started flowing. I can't put into words how much relief I felt in this moment. I knew it was about to get tough, but to know that we were so close- it washed away all of the worries and stress I had been feeling prior to this moment.

3:05pm

we went ahead with breaking my water bag. the next contraction was so intense. but to know I was so close!! that helped me through every bit of it.

3:05/3:10pm

I got into the tub.

had the feeling I needed to push and began pushing.

3:19pm

our sweet baby Tanner was born.

relief. so much relief. labor was over and I had my baby boy in my arms.

the emotions, the feelings. it was all so much. 

I could feel God's presence so well and I felt I had the greatest reward from Him.
that reward was a perfectly healthy 8lb 2oz, 21 inch baby.

this perfect baby boy decided to come on the day we least expected.
and gave his sister the greatest birthday gift :)
we have birthday twins born exactly 2 years + 30 minutes apart!

I felt it all. I was present in it all. in the end I had the moment I was waiting for and my baby in my arms. it's all worth it. every moment of it. every bit of pain and discomfort was completely gone the moment my baby landed on my chest.

this guy right here. I could not have done it without him by my side. he was there with me for each and every contraction. birthing our babies has been two experiences that have brought us even closer together. it's indescribable.

I did it. we did it. and we now have our perfect, healthy baby Tanner.
he's everything we had dreamed and prayed for.

.
.
.
may seem like a long birth story (then again, this is what birth stories are about). for me there's even so much more to it than this.

birth is a topic I just love and love to share about. any questions- ask me. I am so willing to share. especially when it helps another mama out.

...another piece to the story. all of these amazing pictures. when we first arrived at The Birthing Inn, my midwife offered us the opportunity to have a birth photographer (if we wanted and were comfortable, of course). I was in from the moment she said the words! she had a photographer Linenko Photography to do some "working" photos for her and she thought we'd be a good family for it. I can't begin to express how blessed we felt to be given this priceless gift.
memories and photos that I will forever cherish.

"When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world." John 16:21

Tanner Ross Hjelseth
July 13, 2016
3:19 pm
8 pounds 2 ounces
21 inches long

Xoxo

-Brittney

follow along on instagram @brittneyhjelseth