Birth Story

Thursday, Feb. 4th, 2016 I went into labor around 10 p.m.  I was 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant and just about ready for you to come join our family.  I had planned to get one more night of really good sleep and then the next morning, your daddy was going to go play a round of golf while I took sister to bring the van to the DEQ and out for a lunch date (long story short about the van, but it was in the shop for a whole week with our hospital bags and your carseat, etc. and we just got it back the day I went into labor!).  Your daddy had gone out to a game night (what a nerd!) and I had spent the night doing some picture organizing, painting my toenails, and generally relaxing and decided to quickly do a forward-leaning inversion to try to encourage you to get or stay in the right position- to avoid back labor- before going to bed.  and about an hour after that, boom contractions started! They were fairly mild at first and about 20 minutes apart, but strong enough that I guessed it was labor since all I had experienced up to that point had been painless tightening.  I told your daddy when he got home from game night that I thought I was in early labor and to head to bed and try to get some sleep just in case.  He went to bed, but I couldn't sleep- maybe a mixture of being excited/nervous and also the contractions were painful enough to keep me up.  So, I watched some Netflix (Private Practice) and tried to really rest the best I could and by around midnight, the contractions were about 9 minutes apart. I was trying to really feel each contraction and let them open up my cervix and do the work they were meant to do instead of tensing in response.  I was getting kind of annoyed because I wanted to either get good rest or get the show on the road, so I got up and started putting away laundry and doing some last minute cleaning- actually i thought that might stop the contractions- I was kind of thinking the laying down position was making it worse.  But apparently, that helped them along! by 2 a.m., the contractions were getting pretty strong and were only 5 minutes apart, so I woke up your daddy and we started getting our last minute things for the hospital- robes, contacts and glasses, our own pillows, etc.  Your daddy was shaving in the bathroom and I realized the contractions seemed close together, so we started to time them and we timed 4 at 2 minutes apart... but only 30 seconds each, so we called the midwife on call and she said to go ahead and come in.  So, we started our almost 35 minute drive and even got stuck behind a 32 car train on our way hahah! Each contraction, I had to turn around and get on my knees with my elbow on the seat.  I guess I was pretty focused, because it actually didn't feel like that long of a drive.  When we arrived, we grabbed our stuff and started walking in.  I had one contraction in the hallway leading into the building and the 2 security guards offered me a wheelchair- ya right like I wanted to sit down! so we went up to L&D and got checked in! They got me to triage and wanted to monitor the baby for 20 minutes, but I was not a big fan of that idea.  The little monitor kept coming off and contractions were coming too quickly for me to really get it on comfortably.  They checked me and I was dilated to a 6 and about 80% effaced so they got me moved over to a birthing suite.  By the time we got there, I definitely hit transition and the contractions became really painful.  I remember saying that I needed water to deal with them, but they wouldn't let me get in the birthing tub because I was too far along- they checked when I got to triage and I wouldn't move out of hands and knees so they could only say 7 or 8.  So, I went into the shower and labored there for about half an hour- it was so much better than just moving around in the room.  They would even close the door and leave just your daddy and me alone to labor and it was kind of sweet.  Your daddy was a rock star supporter! He pushed on my back for each and every contraction- counter pressure and was so gentle and encouraging to me. He later said that with each contraction, he could feel my bone moving out of place as your head came down- I feel so lucky that your dad got to be a part of my birth experience and really experience it with me as best as he could!  I complained later that I never got my "rest and be thankful" stage of labor this time and your dad replied that my last 2 contractions in the shower were about 4 minutes apart and between them I sat down on the chair and just rested...hahaha what a nice break! All of a sudden, I had to push. I started pushing and my water broke- I don't remember it hurting the first time, but this time it did!  The nurses seemed nervous because they hadn't had a chance to check me, but I told them I was pushing and the midwife said it was ok because I was unmediated and she could tell I was really listening to my body.  So, they got me over to the bed and raised up the back so I could lean against it on hands and knees and I pushed.  With my first birth, I never had any pushing urges so I just pushed when I felt like it, but this time I had definite contractions telling me when to push.  It was kind of terrible, but kind of awesome- fast and furious! I only pushed for 15 minutes before you came out! It was pretty awesome! They let me pick you up off the bed and be the first one to hold you and then they left the umbilical cord attached until you got all the cord blood.  Daddy got to cut the cord! and then they left us alone for a good hour of skin to skin and breastfeeding before they did any testing.  You were born at 4:44 a.m. after only an hour and a half-ish at the hospital! We felt so lucky to have such a perfect birth experience- no meds, no interventions, no tearing, no shoulder dystocia- hallelujah! We were so surprised you had blond hair and light, almost blue eyes.  I thought for sure you would be dark like your sister.  You looked just like mommy as a baby- so beautiful! Before we moved up to recovery, daddy and I took some time to pray over you and your future and thank God for the wonderful pregnancy and birth experience.  I love this birth story so much- I feel so proud of myself and of you and how we worked together so beautifully.  Thank you for giving me this beautiful gift and experience, love!

and here are all the text messages we received after announcing your arrival!  I put these in your sister's baby scrapbook, but I am not sure when or if I will get around to making you a detailed baby scrapbook, so I wanted to make sure I at least documented them here for you! I am sorry that you won't get as special of a scrapbook or as much 1 on 1 attention as your sister did when she was a baby...but I hope that having a loud, vibrant, joyful home and a sister can make up for it!

*Aunt Marisela: Congratulations sis!!
*Uncle Nick: Wow nat! I love her already, of course!! You are such a great mom 
*Uncle Alex: Congratulations!! So happy for you guys :) 
*Lacy (mom's group): I heard you had baby June today!! So happy for you! Congrats mama!!
*Aunt Alisa: Hey!! Congratulations on the new baby!! Mom told me she was here.. Yay!
*Sylvia Naef (friend): Hi gorgeous momma! Your baby is so beautiful!! How did labor go?! I hope everything went well and your able to recover and rest these few sleepy baby days. Let us know if you need anything and when we can come by! 
*Grandpa Rick: Congratulations! She is beautiful. I'm glad to hear that both of you are doing well. I'm looking forward to meeting her.
*Jessica Lundin (friend): Congratulations natalie!!!! What a beautiful baby. We're so happy for you guys
*Faith Schwanemann (friend): Oh my goodness!!! I had no idea you had her!!! So glad I texted you. Wow. Good work Natalie!!! I'm so amazed. June!!!!! So thrilled for you guys. Please let us know if you need anything!!!
*Ashlee Haynes (friend): She is perfect!! Wow! Congratulations :) I am so happy for you all I didn't have my phone all day! When was June born exactly? How big is she? She looks so sweet!
*Great Aunt Cindy Huchel: Congratulations on the birth of June Elizabeth!!!! What a darling name!!!!! Love it! Saw her picture on FB - sweeeeeet! Hope you, Jesus and Johanna are doing well!! Love you 

6 days old!

ooh my sweet pumpkin! you are 6 days old today and I am so so in love with you! You are so incredible and I feel so thankful to be your mama! Motherhood is so much easier this time around- I am such a different mama to you than I was to Johanna at this age.  I feel like I know what I am doing and you are also a rock-star breast-feeder and sleeper, so things just feel smooth and easy! I am not constantly googling things or worried about you, I am able to relax into you and ENJOY it! I am enjoying you SO much. you are perfect! I am just so in awe of you and how God created you inside me. How He created you to instinctively nurse at my breast and my body knows just what to do to nourish you. Oh, motherhood is the greatest gift and joy of my life- besides my marriage to your daddy.  Your daddy and I were so surprised to see your blond hair and almost blue-ish eyes.  I was picturing you as a little mini version of Johanna the whole pregnancy, but it is like God is telling me that you are an entirely different person than your sister, which of course I know, but it is very interesting feeling all the feelings postpartum brings and trying to separate and understand my feelings of love for you and your sister.  I had your placenta made into pills and those are helping my mood tremendously- I think I did have slight postpartum depression with Jo and as you can tell from my gushy post here, I am feeling so much better this time around.  Every time I start to feel sad for no reason or easily offended, I can take a few pills and my mood quickly changes back to normal.  Your umbilical cord fell off on day 3 and you have already rolled from tummy to back- albeit on a slight incline ;) you are such a superstar baby! You latched on immediately after birth and have been breastfeeding like crazy ever since.  With Johanna, I had so much trouble nursing, so I am so pleasantly surprised by the breastfeeding experience this time around- i am enjoying it so much! What an incredible blessing it is to be able to nourish your tiny little 8 pound body with my own!  You are just such a wonderful baby and I am so so thankful I get these next few weeks with your daddy home to just soak you in- in all your newborn goodness! I love you so much, June Elizabeth!
Anyway, I just wanted to share my thoughts and feelings at almost a week in... I am waiting on some pictures from the hospital, and then will share your birth story next!

More pregnancy pictures :)

you were soo active at night- starting right around 8am and going until like 11:30 ;)

probably my favorite pregnancy pic! so cute!

33 weeks!

8 months!