A Labor & Delivery Story
1/30/2013
4pm- membranes stripped
Today was the day. Or so we thought. After my last prenatal appointment and having my membranes stripped, we drove straight to my moms house in Temecula, Ca to be close to the hospital and wait for labor. It was traffic time but we still made it in an hour and a half. I experienced Braxton hicks on the drive but nothing alarming. For the remainder of the day I guess you can say I was expecting for the contractions to gradually start since my labor started about 13 hours after having my membranes stripped with Sahwin, so I just sat around the house, cautiously, while bouncing on my ball. It never happened. I woke up in the early morning disappointed, but at peace knowing that it was not God’s timing.
1/31/2013
7:45 pm- stooped to the castor oil level
Jake and I very well know that we do not have the “power” to put myself into labor, but we know that The Lord does…..and if He wanted to do so after I had bounced and pelvic tilted my booty off from the exercise ball after an hour and half, or after walking the neighborhood, or after “alone time” with my husband, that He would. So we had fun throwing the castor oil into the mix. 2 tablespoons with orange juice and two scoops of ice cream made this one tasty treat! I fell asleep an hour later with no contractions….or cramping or explosive diarrhea. Nothing.
2/1/2013
We went home to Big Bear the next day to finish off some packing for our move and realized the house was not comfortable to be in anymore with everything packed and having two kids, ages 4 & 5, who need certain things to be comfortable and entertained. So we stayed the night and left back to my parents house the next day…….
2/2/2013
We arrive in Temecula. The thought comes to me: hmmmmmm wouldn’t it be great to go into labor on Super Bowl Sunday and really give this false idol day a real reason to celebrate? Unfortunately I hadn’t been experiencing any labor signs but I still had all that pressure that made me really believe he was ripe and ready to come. So alas another brilliant idea.
I am just going to show up at the hospital and I am going to have a baby.
2/3/2013
It was already about noon when we had discussed this plan for the day so we continued on getting the kids exercise out of the house. We walked them around the lake and took them to the park. When we got back to my parents house I said “Ok, I’m going to go to the hospital in a bit” and my step dad looked at me in a panic like I was in labor. When I explained to them what I was doing, I’m sure they thought I was crazy.
So I packed my hospital bag, skipped the extra shower (which I regretted later) and gave my kids lots of hugs and kisses. Cipher was so cute, she hugged my belly to tell the baby goodbye but as she did this she hugged my belly upside down because “oh yea, the baby is this way!” I gave Jake a hug and kiss and told him to hang back at my parents house until I found out what the nurses would do with me. I didn’t want him sitting around when he could relax and get some work done and let the kids play more at their Nanner’s house before we moved out of state in a few days.
So off I went. To the hospital. By myself. Not in labor.
I get to the hospital and let the admittance department know I was there to check on my contractions. The hospital was nice and empty, a perfect day to have a baby 
I got upstairs to Labor & Delivery and let the kind nurse know that I had been having inconsistent contractions for the past 4 days since having my membranes stripped and since I was moving to a different state but no longer had anymore prenatal appointments I wanted to get monitored for precautions. The nursing staff was so understanding of all this and treated me with kindness, respect and love! I was in awe in my first 30 minutes of being here.
I get changed into my gown and hooked up to the monitors and it is 3:15 at this time so I began the timing. My sweet nurse checks me and lets me know I am a 4. No change. She informs me that she will monitor my contractions for an hour, re check my cervix, and go from there. She leaves the room and I start praying. Ok, ok, and I might have done some nipple stimulation to bring on some contractions. The nurse comes back one hour later and tells me I’ve had some pretty impressive contractions. My respond, “Really?! I couldn’t tell.” I felt just the usual Braxton hicks, and only a handful if that! She checks me and I am a 4-5. Weird. I put it off and think nothing of it.
The nurse lets me know that she feels that if she were to send me home, I’d end up having my husband deliver our baby but she needed to get the ok from the Dr on call who was at home watching Super Bowl. The Dr wanted me to be monitored for one more hour and to have better progress. So I txt Jake to give him an update and he said he’d continue praying for my progression. This is what Jake said his prayer was,”Father, we want your Will, please forgive us for being nervous about having the baby on the road. If it is your Will we will do it. I also confess that I am being impatient and think it would make everything a lot easier if You could bring the baby tonight. Please bring the baby, I’m sorry, Please bring the baby, I’m sorry for asking, thank you, I love you, in Jesus name, Amen.”
I tried to make myself comfortable but all I could think about was not going home. So instead of pulling out the iPad I continued to stimulate and pray. Your will, Lord. Your will.
One hour later, 5:15 pm, the nurse comes back and I am 6cm! What?! Really?! Because I don’t feel anything, I think to myself. The nurses tell me that I don’t even look like I’m in labor and I start to panic that they will send me home. But the Dr on call had given them the ok to admit me! Yay!!!!! So I tell Jake they are keeping me but to stay home for another hour because I felt this all too good to be true. I pray some more and thank Jesus and ask for his guidance and protection. I pull out the iPad to update everyone on Facebook except Facebook is blocked. Bummer. Cell phone it is.
6:30pm
Jake is with me, and I am 7cm dilated! I am in active labor and pain free. Yes, pain free! This is unreal! We knew we were not “lucky”, but blessed. Blessed to be given this nice and empty hospital to deliver in, a sweet and kind nursing staff to care for me, and the kids only 15 min away from us. Some might see this as luck but I urge you to put that kind of thinking to the side for a bit and consider the possibility of another way of thinking. This was the work of God, a gift he had given to us. Following Jesus doesn’t mean we live a spectacular life or are given dream labor and deliveries, or fancy living. But HE knows our hearts and we are taken care of and even rewarded at times. I had gone through such a horrific experience with Emunah’s labor and delivery, not to mention disrespect from the hospital staff, that I truly believe We were blessed with this new experience.
When it was time for me to get rechecked I was introduced to a new nurse. She was friendly just like all the others. But something was different. Come to find out she was a Christian, a believer and follower. We had some good conversations during her shift. It is clear that The Lord has/had something in the works.
I find out that I am stuck at a 7, something I was expecting. After staying at a 7 for two hours they offer the pitocin. I talk it over with Jake and decide I’d like the pitocin to get things rolling. I prepare myself to experience pain from the intense contractions that are most likely to come. I let the nurse know that because of the intense contractions that are to come I’d also like the epidural. (I am still pain free at this time.)
9:30pm
I receive a very low dose of pitocin. Still no contractions that I feel.
10:00pm
I received the epidural from a man who clearly needs prayer for his demons to leave and to submit to Jesus. This man scared me. I thought to myself that maybe Jesus was trying to tell me something, so I had considered not getting the epidural. after all, I was still not experiencing pain but I kept thinking this was too good to be true and that I’d experience it at some point. Getting the epidural felt weird and different this time around. It kinda scared me. When it was finally over I expected to go numb from my waist down but I didn’t. The anaestesilogist and nurse kept asking me if I could feel my contractions and when I’d say no, the anaestesilogist would get all proud like his medicine was something great. This made me want to scream, “I haven’t felt my contractions this whole time!” I should have opened my mouth.
So then it was time for the catheter. Ouch! The nurse was shocked that I could feel it and let me know that I would most likely feel the baby being born then. She tried to cheer me up by letting me know that at least I wouldn’t feel pain of my contractions due to the epidural. (Yea, nice try. If she only knew I was already pain free). So there you ladies go. Finally, I get pain……from the darn catheter. Oh, and the last time I got my cervix checked. The same nurse had a very hard time and it was obvious because it was the most painful exam EVER I almost cried. She said she had numb fingers from carpel tunnel and had another nurse come check me. So I feel bad to say, but since the painful exam and catheter were done by the same nurse, I think it was probably the nurse that caused the pain and not the procedure itself. I am still recovering from the catheter procedure and I really hope no damage was done.
11:30 pm
Time to push.
I started to feel pressure but was told to not push because the Dr was not there yet. After saying I need to push 3 times, I was finally able to. This is where I felt things.
I’m going to hand things over to Jake to write this part because he saw more than I did.
Hello everyone! So, Jacie was laying on her side and wanting to push. The doctor took his sweet time coming into the room. I could hear him outside talking and I remember thinking,”Don’t yell or be rude to him, just stay calm.”
They finally let Jacie lay on her back and got her set up to push. The nurse put an oxygen mask on her, but I think she forgot to turn it on. Jacie kept complaining that she couldn’t breathe, she was a trooper though she kept her cool.
As she started to push I was holding her left leg back, she told me later that I should have pulled it back farther because it made it easier for her to push. I’m not the smallest guy so I’m used to hearing,”ouch you hurt me don’t be so rough.” So I was attempting to be gentle but failed.
Jesus was controlling Jacie’s pain so well that I was in shock at how well she was doing. She wasn’t moaning or screaming or anything. It was incredible. Then I looked down and saw the doctor attaching something that looked like a small piece of surgical tubing. He said,”The babies head just needs to get past her pelvic bone.” He had attached a suction cup to the babies head. and was now gently pulling on the tube. It them popped off and Jacie screamed for the first time. Not from pain but because the strange occurrence frightened her. I had no idea that the suction cup was going to bruise the babies head. but it did. He reattached and helped the baby past Jacie’s pelvic bone then detached the tool. Jacie only pushed for 32 minutes. Not very long and I don’t think he needed to use the suction cup but there wasn’t much I could do aside from start a scene and make an uncomfortable situation more uncomfortable for everyone. The last thing I wanted to do was scare or confuse Jacie. She did wonderful.
Carbon Black Wells was born at 12:02am 2/4/13 at 8lbs 7oz and 20 inches. I hugged the nurse and the doctor. I prayed and thanked our Lord for giving us another one of His children to watch over.
Carbon is the element made by God needed to sustain all life forms. Black is what I wanted his first name to be. Because I just like it no real meaning. Although I could get all weird and come up with some deep meaning it really doesn’t have one. Ciphers middle name is Crimson. So I think it’s cool they both have colors for middle names.
The bruise on the back of his head made me angry when I saw the nurse giving him his first bath and he started crying when she rubbed it. It made me angrier when his jaundice levels increased and the pediatrician told me that it was because his body was healing the bruise and using the resources he had to fight the jaundice. I laid hands on Carbon and prayed for the Lord to heal Him. He never got sick and his skin and eyes cleared up without any medical assistance at 8 days old.
We have truly been blessed.
Carbon and his sister’s (Sahwin was not warmed up yet to his new baby brother)
Welcome to Munah's Cupcake. An inspiration of sweet faith. On November 11th our daughter Emunah Cupcake(Sweet Faith) passed away due to a condition called Potters Syndrome. Her story can be read 
He’s beautiful!
And what a wonderful birth story. God was indeed with you.
Looking forward to hearing more about the new little Mr. Wells.
Thanks Tammy
I’m glad you liked his story. And thanks for stopping by again!
Love your story!!! Saw you at modest mom<3 sounds like you have some very blessed kids to have such a strong mama! My labor story is here…
http://oneorganicmama.blogspot.com/2013/02/birth-babies-vbacs.html
Thanks, I went and read your story. It reminded me of how I was with my first THREE labor and deliveries; so uninformed and naive. Glad things went well for you
Thanks! Thanks for sharing yours <3
Wonderful news! What a blessing! I’ve been wondering and thinking about you. Glad you checked in. Have a safe move.
Hi Cynthia….I’ve been thinking of you too, how are things?
Better, thanks. One step at a time.
I’m glad to hear
Wonderful story!!!!! Simply beautiful.
Congrats on the new little one.
Thank you
Wow, what a story! You are so lucky. I’ve heard of other ladies saying they have pain-free labours (or really short labours). I wish it would be like that for me! Congratulations.
Yay! Congrats!
Wow! Sounds like your labor was awesome! (I’m pretty sure I’ve never said that before.). You go, girl! Funny that you just packed up and headed to the hospital on a whim, and then were admitted and had your beautiful baby that night. Congratulations to you and the hubby. Carbon is just adorable. Love the cheeks and little chin! Hope you all are doing well in your new place. Dennis and I moved shortly after Christian was born and it was pretty tough, but it seems like y’all were up for the challenge and I imagine are doing great.
Congrats again, Jaclyn!
Wow! Sounds like your labor was awesome! (I’m pretty sure I’ve never said that before.). You go, girl! Funny that you just packed up and headed to the hospital on a whim, and then were admitted and had your beautiful baby that night. Congratulations to you and the hubby. Carbon is just adorable. Love the cheeks and little chin! Hope you all are doing well in your new place. Dennis and I moved shortly after Christian was born and it was pretty tough, but it seems like y’all were up for the challenge and I imagine are doing great.
Congrats again, Jaclyn!
Ha, yea…..I’m pretty sure I’ve never said that to anyone regarding their labor, either! But yes, we are all doing well. We are pretty much settled into our new home. It helps that newborns sleep so much. Blessings to you and your (growing) family!
Ok, I’v.never read anything on this blog before, so this is a total God thing.. labor fascinates me sowhenI saw pain free labor Ihad to check it out. as I was reading I noticed Our baby boys were born a day apart.
this labor and delivery was also unique for me, we choose to birth at home with a midwife. it was a total God thing and he was so faithful. while it was not pain free, it was way better than I expected. transition was hardly even there, I was only in labor for a fraction of the time I was with our first, and our midwife Is a Christian who is an active believer and follower of Christ. the whole.thing was showered in prayer and scripture from the people present and our community of believers.. it was miraculous.
I love your sons name.. I also love the color theme in both of your kiddo’s names. we have a bitof a theme too, not really on purpose, just another God thing. our first daughters middle name is truth, and our son’s middle name is remnant. God showed me his name whenwe wetter reading scripture to our daughter. and her middle name comes from a season of life God brought me to when I was pregnant with her. Just really being a seeker of truth rather than man or his opinion. anyway, your post was super encouraging. thank you. and many blessings on your new home.
in Christ,
Lanai
So cool how God works,isn’t it?! I’m glad that He brought you here and that Carbons birth story was an interest to you. I too wanted a home birth with a midwife, except it unfortunately was not possible for us. That is ok though, because The Lord obviously had something great already planned for us! Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment.
P.s. I LOVE your sons middle name!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God bless! He is beautiful. If this is not too personal of a topic (and when you have time!) could you comment on your family’s view of family planning? Enjoy your sweet little bundle of joy!
I would love to Shannon! Especially because it is perfect timing……I’m already ready to be pregnant again….lol
Awesome birth story! And you gave all the glory to the Lord.
Thanks Leigh
Praise God for healthy babies! Looks like you have another cutie on your hands.
Jacie – What an amazing birth story! I am just in awe of God’s handiwork in it all!
I have been so blessed to have gotten to know you through the link up and to be able to follow your pregnancy. You are an amazing woman and your testimony speaks volumes! Thank you so much for being a “virtual” friend.
Love you sweetie!!
Yay!!!! I am so happy for your family! He’s just beautiful, Jacie!