iris' birth story

since i wrote out asher's birth story here, i figured it is only fitting that i also recount iris' birth as well.  this is what i wrote in the blog i had then, two days after giving birth.

January 17, 2007 - Wednesday

 the birth of Iris

oh.

my.

gosh.

wow.

there are no words to really describe...

i'll start at the beginning. 4am sunday i actually went into labor and we didn't have to be induced! we were able to follow the birth plan that we had written... no iv's, no drugs, all natural!

and so began the most excruciating, exhausting, delirious, painful, emotional, intense 29 and 1/2 hours of my entire life. those words don't really do justice to it.

no words.

if you've never heard of back labor before... *shudder*

i hated every minute of it.

up until the back labor started at about midnight, i was able to keep it together between contractions. i could chat with timm and our doula and the nurses, i could enjoy the soothing measures we were using for relaxation, i could focus.

after midnight, however... i was basically gone. there was nothing i could do to get comfortable and even in the breaks between contractions, my back was still a tight ball of fire.

i hadn't slept, had barely eaten, in active labor for more than a day. i was hallucinating... i was miserable. i'll be the first to admit it... absolutely miserable. i was thinking to myself, why am i doing this? why am i putting up with so much pain and exhaustion when they make DRUGS??? they have the power to take away my pain, i might be able to get some sleep and relief, because this could go on for so much longer....

so i asked for drugs. i couldn't take it anymore.

at that point, the nurse and my doula suggested i get my cervix checked to see where i was and decide from there if i should get the epidural.

that only made me more upset... i thought they were trying to undermine me or something. trying to keep the meds away...

but i was so weak i gave in to the exam.

as she checked me, a sound erupted from my body that i had never heard, i had no control over it... it was emitted from my vocal chords, but it originated somewhere else... somewhere ancient.

and suddenly there was a flurry of activity all around me, it seemed that out of nowhere all these people were in the room. i had to ask timm what was going on.

he had to tell me that the baby was coming.

the baby was coming! the end was close!

the pushing was difficult, but it felt good, it felt right. when i pushed i couldn't feel my back. i could feel my baby coming. i could feel her arrival. i could feel what i had been working toward. it was the strangest experience of my life. it certainly hurt as she slowly emerged, but it was a different pain and i could feel WHY i could feel it, unlike the back pain and the contractions. and finally all the tension left my body as this smooth warmth squirmed onto my chest, wet and alive.

it was the most surreal feeling and i was so glad i was able to feel it... i was really THERE. i did it. i hated feeling the labor at one point, but now i am so thankful for it.

Iris Mae Combs was born at 9:32am January 15, weighing 7lb 9oz, 21 inches long.