We are just a few short days away from my daughter turning one and I am slightly in denial. Like how? How has a full year gone by?! It has been the best year ever! I realize that I have a lot of time that I’ve been away from my blog and one of the posts that I never quite got around to writing was all about Peyton entering the world. I know I’ll want to remember the events and things later on, and I thought It would be fun to share it all as we lead up to her first birthday!
I remember almost a year ago to the day ( Labor Day weekend) walking out of my orchestra classroom ( yes, I did have to return to school the last 2 weeks of my pregnancy) with everything all set and prepped for my maternity sub! I was leaving my classroom for the last time thinking Peyton would be born 3 short days from then. Her due date was September 7th, which was supposed to be the Tuesday after Labor Day. I remember leaving the school, grabbing myself some Starbucks ( pretty sure it was a pumpkin spice latte) and then heading into one of my favorite home stores to wander around before returning home.
I was due on September 7th, so I had planned a weekend of relaxing and getting ready and then our little girl should join us by Tuesday, right?! I had it all planned out! Lol! But jokes was on me… Peyton would take her sweet little time. Here’s what I wrote on fb 3 weeks after her entry into this world:
First off… PJ was extra fashionably late… Like her mama! I’m sure she’ll be like momma & drive daddy crazy with her non promptness. She was due September 7th, 2021 but her & God had other plans! Leading up to her birth, I decided to take the week off of September 7th thinking that she would come that day or within the week. I did everything to try and get baby girl Earth side, but she ended up joining us the following week!
As the days went on, I realized I was gonna ho go past 40 weeks. I was annoyed, anxious, nervous and honestly a little upset that I had taken a whole week off from teaching- hello workaholic. But, As I look back, I truly believe God gave me that week leading up to her birth, to mentally prepare for this new chapter and for her birth!
Sunday, September 12th, I began to have stronger and more consistent contractions and I knew- today was the day- We would meet our little girl soon! My contractions began at 10:30 AM, but weren’t really consistent until about 6pm. My doula, Kadie, came to our house to help me ride out most of the contractions from home. Ya’ll i can not tell you how much of a blessing she was leading up to labor and delivery and throughout my whole laboring process… i highly recommend getting a doula if you can! She calmed my nerves by talking with me, reminding me of my breathing techniques, giving me a foot, leg and back massage using oil & essential oils, helping time my contractions, and applying pressure to my lower back during intense contractions.
At 1:30am on September 13th, we headed to the hospital. I thought Pey would sure be coming soon but when I got to the hospital they told me I was only dilated to a 4. As my pain intensified , i utilized multiple positions: pulling myself up on the back railing of the bed in a squat position and at one point we made the bed into a seat with a rail so i could push against it on contractions.
I really had no idea how I wanted to birth Peyton other than I wanted to be in a hospital in case there were any concerns and due to my heart condition. But in the weeks leading up to birth and delivery, kadie and I talked a lot about the beauty of the woman’s body & how God created us to do this. She believed in me and helped me believe that I could give birth naturally. I mentioned that I would see how I was doing when I hit 8 centimeter dilated. If the pain was too much to bear then I would get the epidural. But if I could breathe through the pain and I felt I could do it, I’d push forward.
I was doing it- I was going all natural! God was giving me strength & every time my contractions came, I was able to breathe through them. Contractions continued from 1:30am- 8am and I wasn’t getting a lot of rest or relief— the contractions were lasting from 60 secs- 90secs with a rest time of 60secs. I was so tired, but God kept me going and I felt His presence in the room, as the ChristianHypnobirthing recording played in the background. I highly recommend this playlist for anyone pregnant mama! It had relaxing and clam music in the background and a British woman spoke over the top sharing bible verses and affirmations- it is simply beautiful!
Around 8am it was time to begin pushing. I had already been in positions where everyone could see everything, but now I was completely on display- legs up in the air, dave and katie on either side helping to bring my legs inward as the nurses watched as Peyton began to crown. I had no idea how many times I would have to push to get Peyton out, but I was so thankful that God gave me more rest time during those contractions so I’d have more energy to push. Every push I pictured her coming and when I finally surrendered to the pushing process, she was there- All 8 lbs, 12 oz & 21 inches of perfection.
That was literally the best day of my life! Holding her, skin to skin, having just experienced the amazing progression that is pregnancy and birth and delivery, i was in awe! I had just given birth to my little girl! There isn’t anything one can say to truly sum up the experience and the joy you feel when you finally get to hold your baby. Welcome to the world Peyton Jane!
