Samantha Photo Album

Here is a link to some photos from Samantha's Birth and then of us all after.

Samantha's Birth Photo Album

Samantha's Birth Story

Samantha Lee Beaty came into the world on Friday, March 12th at 6:22am. God truly had his hand around this baby and delivery and we are so blessed with her presence.

Our birth story starts out on a walk the day before. Geoff, Miles & I were out for a walk Thursday evening but decided to head back early. Good thing! Right after turning around I felt a gush. Uh, oh, my water broke. What do you do in this situation? I couldn’t think of anything but to quickly waddle back home. The whole walk back I was laughing with Geoff trying to convince him it was indeed true. By the time we got home I felt like someone dumped a bucked of water on me from the waste down. Luckily no one else would have noticed!

We weren’t expecting this scenario. No contractions were happening that made me think labor was starting. So what do you do next? Lots of different advice from heading right to the hospital to staying at home until labor gets going. So we sought some advice from my sister (her water broke for all three kids) and our Bradley Birthing instructor.

Both gave us some good advice and we felt reassured that labor was likely to start in the next 24 hours. This baby was going to be early. The due date was 5 days away. By 8pm that evening my mother-in-law was there in case we needed to head to the hospital. I had just gotten up from a nap, and some easy contractions had started. I was starting to get excited. This might be the real thing. But no fast progress so at 10pm, with bags packed, we all headed to bed to either sleep until the morning or wait until something more happened.

Something more did happened. I never got to sleep and by 11pm the tough contracts were starting. I was definitely in first stage labor. I was getting the uncontrollable shakes and hard long contractions. I woke Geoff up and he jumped right into coaching: timing my contractions, getting me water, and helping me stay relaxed. Thanks to Geoff we ended up doing a good amount of work at home. This is the recommended approach for a natural Bradley birth. Especially since I had to use an external monitor at the hospital due to attempting a VBAC (vaginal delivery after a prior c-section).

By 3am contracts were very hard and we were headed to the hospital. All I wanted at this point was to be done. When I arrived at the hospital I was 5cm dilated, and 90% effaced. Yah! I labored for another tough hour while they filled out paper work. Finally I was given the okay to get into the tub. What a relief! It reduced the pain a notch. With each contraction I was getting a severe backache and strong surges of pain send down my round ligaments towards my knees. I can remember telling myself with each one “This is only pain, pain with a purpose. Stay relaxed.”

Turns out the two things I was most concerned about having to use, those things that lead you towards an unplanned c-section, didn’t work. Both the external monitor and an IV drip were not working properly. Throughout the whole bath time the nurse kept holding the wireless monitor and adjust it. After an hour in the tub she needed me to get out to get some better statistics on the baby.

After exiting the tub the nurse asked if I had any urge to push. I did and quickly got the green light. We were on to the next stage and baby was in good condition. The next half hour of pushing flew by and before we knew it we our baby was born. Geoff surprisingly announced, “It is a girl!” as both were thinking boy. Before I new it they laid her on my chest only seconds after her birth while Geoff cut the umbilical cord. What a precious moment I was so thankful to be un-medicated for. I stared at this wonderful child that God created.

What an amazing experience! I would never change it for the world. We stayed in the hospital for one night then headed home on Saturday to be together as a whole family with Miles. All and all it took around 13 hours from water breaking to birth, with only 7 hours of hard work and no medication.

Samantha Lee Beaty’s Statistics

• Sex: Girl
• Date: March 12th, 2010 at 6:22am
• Weight: 7 pounds, 9.9 ounces
• Height: 19 inches
• Delivery: I was able to have a successful natural un-medicated VBAC (vaginal delivery after a prior c-section) delivery!

RBC Women's Retreat

I headed to my churches women's retreat last week. What a wonderful time away before I dive into parenting 2 kids. Thanks so much Geoff for being willing to take on a weekend of boy time with Miles. We spent the time relaxing, studying the book of Ruth and of course eating. At my OB appointment this week they said I gained 2 pounds over last week! I knew exactly why... Here are some pictures.

Pregnancy Update

I am now 5 days away from my due date. Wow so soon. It has really hit me. People have asked if I'm nervous about the whole thing, especially with trying for a natural VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) and I've always said no. But after yesterdays OB appointment I'm not so sure I can say that. It's not that I don't feel ready. I am just reminded how much the doctors and I don't see eye to eye on the small issues. Each appointment they seem to add another thing. I knew from the beginning we didn't see everything the same, but now as the date looms it is bothering me more.

For example for a natural vaginal birth the best thing you can do is stay home as LONG as possible before being checked into the hospital. The longer you are at the hospital the more they will want to intervene and not always with necessary procedures. Wait well into the first stage. However now, as of the last visit, they want me coming in right away because of the "risk" a VBAC posses and labor in the hospital. This counters everything I've learned about a successful natural process. What do I do? Why are they mentioning this, among other things now? Why do they have to challenge the idea of letting a women, her body and her baby follow the natural process so much? Why isn't there a middle ground between a home birth and a hospital birth? I find I have many questions now swirling around in my head. In the end I know my main goal is still 'happy baby, happy mother' just like with Miles. But I do hope in the end I do not regret the decisions I made or are about to make.

Pregnancy Stats:

• Due Date: March 16th, 2010 (according to docs office)
• Timeline: 39 weeks, 2 days.
• Sickness: Nauseousness is back to very high. All day and night long. Ugh.
• Sleep: 2 out 10. I'm up most nights for hours at a time.
• Overall Feeling: Lets get this done.
• Visitor Hospital Policy: They lifted the restriction last week so Miles can now come visit us in the hospital! Ya!

Valentine's Day Meal

On valentines day Geoff and I cooked a new and fun homemade meal together. We had such a great time and Miles was a super star throughout it all. We pulled up his high chair to the counter in the kitchen and he sat watching us and reading a book the whole time. We made gluten-free meatballs with pesto pasta. Then had a layered strawberry banana fruit parfait for dessert. Yum! So good! If only we had the time to cook like that every night.