Eissa's Birth Story - Part 1

(Note: I am posting twice today...scroll down for the other post)

I found out I was pregnant with Eissa Jan. 31, 2006. Hadley was 11 months old at that time (Grady had just turned 2). There was a LOT of transition going on during my pregnancy with Eissa.

We had moved from Phoenix, AZ (where Grady and Hadley were both born) back to Longview, TX when Hadley was 4 months old. We set up house in Longview (did some traveling during the summer to see Joel's family) and got re-established in the Longview community (traveling was over and we moved into our house in Longview in August '05). Then, in November is when we started seeing the doors opening up to move on to the mission field with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship). We of course did the whole holidays with family (in Louisiana). Like I said, found out about Eissa's pregnancy in January. Put our house up for sell in February. Joel no longer had a job after the first part of February. We spent the month of March in a hotel in the Dallas area (Joel was getting his private pilot's license)...had had a huge garage sale to sell most of our stuff the weekend before we left to go to Dallas. It was in April that we found out about Asas de Socorro and started the process of going with them instead of MAF. In May, June, and July we spent a good bit of time visiting family and friends in Louisiana...we lived in Longview still, but spent alot of time in Saline. Joel also worked some as a flight instructor at a nearby (near to Longview) airport. By the end of July we had sold and closed on our house. At that point we didn't even know where we were going to go after that, where we were going to have the baby, who was going to deliver, etc. (I was due Oct. 6th). I had been seeing an amazing midwife there in East Texas and I SO wanted to have her deliver Eissa. Right at the last minute in July, a couple from our church offered their guest house to us to live in and have Eissa in. When we moved out of our house, we were able to take some of the stuff directly to their guest house for when we moved in there. We weren't moving in just yet. No, we still had to travel to Louisiana, to Boston and then to Brazil (yes, flying internationally at 34 weeks pregnant)...then back to Boston, to Louisiana, and then, finally, to our little guest house in Kilgore, TX, where Eissa was born. We arrived at the guest house Sept. 10th. It was good to finally be where we were going to stay until I birthed this baby (I was 36 1/2 weeks pregnant). :-) (pictures: on a walk in Boston; on a plane on the way to Brazil)

That week we got to work getting everything ready for when the baby came...we just knew that it was going to come any day (esp. me...why I ask myself now, but whatever). :-) Joel took care of the kids mostly (a big job) while I set up house, made meals to freeze, bought everything needed for the home birth, etc. We were busy, hurrying to get everything done before the baby came. (picture: Hadley had to have a picture on her stool too)

Around Sept. 15th I started losing some of my mucus plug (maybe this was part of the huge motivation and push to get everything done quickly). Even though I knew that that didn't really mean anything (I knew that some people start doing this weeks before their baby is born sometimes), last time, with Hadley, when this started happening, I was in labor with her within 24 hours. So, I felt sure that it would probably be soon. (picture: we did LOTS of walking while we waited there at our cute little guest house in Kilgore)

Nothing happened and the next weekend I experienced the most horrendous headache of my life (what I would definitely classify as a migraine) that seriously put me out from Sept. 22nd - 27th. But, nothing really happened after that...no more mucus plug, no contractions resembling labor, etc. So, we just waited...waited and walked and I was also using some herbs off and on for the 3 weeks or so before labor (for instance, using Evening Primrose Oil as a vag. supp.). At my 36 week appt. (on the 11th of Sept.) I didn't have any dilation or anything. At my 37 week appt. I was 60% effaced, but still no dilation. I wasn't checked at my 38 week appt. because I had that horrible headache and such. I skipped my 39 week appt...I was fine and was just so ready to have a baby...I was 4 days away from my due date and just felt sure that I didn't need to go. :) I was supposed to go see my midwife again on Thursday, the 12th...6 days after my due date. But, fortunately, it happened on the morning of the 10th...I went into labor. (picture: early stages of labor...still walking around)

And all about that...tomorrow.