Haddon’s Birth Story

Oh my word, it’s been WAY too long. So much has happened. I don’t even know where to begin except with the latest news for our family…

We welcomed a new baby boy {Haddon Cromwell} into our home right before Christmas!

He is SO PERFECT!!
7 lbs 6 oz || 19” long

It was a crazy 2019 and I’m excited for this new year! For now, I want to tell Haddon’s birth story, so I never forget the details!

A little backstory: This pregnancy came as a TOTAL shock and surprise on April 25th, 2019. I thought I was having peri-menopausal symptoms. My pregnancy was wonderful. I worked out 5-6 times a week, felt great although tired at times. I really had no complaints. My midwife appointments were wonderful. I adore my midwives. SO much. They are my friends and I love how they always take time to really connect with me. They put my mind at ease and listened to every “silly” concern, worry, thought or emotion I ever have.

I had prayed for a birth before Christmas. I just wanted to be able to stay home and enjoy my new baby rather than having to hoist my massively pregnant self to every family gathering.

Friday, December 20th, I woke up feeling off and I began having contractions that were different and more intense than all the Braxton Hicks I had had throughout this pregnancy. We weren’t SURE if this was it, but we got the kids dispersed to the grandparents and I got in the labor “let’s have a baby today” zone. I was breathing through contractions, but the timing was sporadic. Haddon had been posterior, so I had seen an amazing chiropractor who specializes in pregnancy. She is a miracle worker for helping pregnant mamas get their babies in an optimal position for birth. I also did a lot of spinning babies stretches, inversions and pelvic rocks too.

I labored on my birthing ball, read my affirmations, used my oils, listened to music, got in my zone and just enjoyed a quiet house. Late morning my midwife {Wetawnya} came to check on me. I was dilated…..”maybe a finger tip” width. I thought, “Are you kidding me?!” My cervix was thick and not effaced at all. All of a sudden I  felt defeated….what about all the Braxton Hicks? What about all the contractions I had worked through?

I cried. It felt good to get it out.

This “labor” was so reminiscent of how I felt in labor with Ridley almost 11 years ago.

Ridley was also posterior and I had THE WORST back labor. The medical staff did nothing to help move him. They never even suggested that my erratic and irregular contractions could signal he was posterior. Thank God for chiropractors and midwives! Wetawnya did several rebozo techniques on me to help loosen up my hips to help the baby move. She felt like he was just moving down and getting into a better position for birth whenever he was ready.

I was annoyed and frustrated, so I decided I wasn’t having a baby that day. I threw up my hands and said, “He may never decide to come.” I changed into my gym clothes, packed up everything. Put away all the birth supplies and decided to go the the gym. My mental health needed a good sweat.

It was our gym’s 12 Days of Christmas workout. I scaled everything and only did 3 sleds. When I finished around 26-27 minutes, I just knelt on the floor stretched out over my box. I felt WEIRD. My pelvic area felt strange. I even wondered if I had a bladder infection.

I dragged myself to the car slowly and came home. We got Ridley and Nora back from my parents. Cameron stayed with Ernie’s parents. I can’t remember what we had for dinner that night. I didn’t feel very hungry. I was so uncomfortable.

We fed the kids and put them to bed. I got in an epsom salt soak and tried to relax so I could sleep. I called Wetawnya around 10PM just to let her know I felt different. I got in bed and tried to sleep. Maybe I dozed a little. At midnight I got back in another epsom salt bath to try to calm down the serious discomfort I was feeling.

I got in bed around 12:30AM and dozed between contractions. They were about a minute long and anywhere from 8-12 minutes apart. Finally at 3:30AM I told Ernie, I have got to get out of bed. I can’t deal with how much it hurts when I am laying down!

So I got up and everything changed.

My contractions became more intense, started lasting longer and were closer together. Ernie dug his fists into my back through each surge. I could have used a couple more men pushing their fists into my back too. It just wasn’t enough for the pressure I was feeling. LOL

I called Wetawnya and told her she needed to come. This was either the real thing or I was done. Then I called Kelly. I started crying and wailed, “What if this isn’t real labor again?” 😭 She said, “It is real. I can hear it in your voice.”

Kelly got here first. She heard me grunt at the end of a contraction. She said, “Um, was that a push?” I said, “I think so?” 😂 She called Wetawnya who was still 15 mins away and told her to hurry.

When Wetawnya arrived she checked the baby’s heart tones and then I asked her to check me. I told her if I hadn’t dilated I was done and wanted to go to the hospital to have my baby cut out. I was 1000000% serious. 😂

She checked me and we looked at each other with big eyes. She said, well, you’re ready whenever you’re ready to push.

The other midwives and Mom got here. I remember the house being so dark and peaceful. I felt SO SAFE. Remember Ridley and Nora were here too. Asleep. I prayed Nora would stay that way.

The midwives got settled. They are so competent and amazing. They think of everything. Birth is messy and they are so respectful and easy going about all of it. Nothing grosses them out ever. They are so attentive and forward thinking with many things (oxygen, medications etc) available “just in case.”

The contractions were the most painful I’ve ever experienced in a birth. I have a super high pain tolerance and I’m very much in control of my body through being in control of my thoughts. Mindset is everything. I imagine I’m somewhere else (usually at the beach hearing the waves roll in with my toes in the sand) and just work through it. I do this when I’m working out too.  If you see me with my eyes closed I’m pretty much always at the beach. 😂

I breathed through each surge with a very low, mostly quiet moan. The key to staying loose and relaxed (as my sister taught me!) is to have guppy lips. You just flap those lips and keep your tone low and everything will be okay. I imagine my body being full of liquid discomfort and I focus on breathing it all down and out my feet with each contraction.

Finally around 5:30AM I really started feeling the real need to push. After a while I still didn’t feel like he was moving down and I began to feel discouraged. I had an idea in my head that this time I would only push a few times. 😂 Well, some things are out of our control and this was one of them.

I said to the midwives, “I think he’s never coming out.”

They were so encouraging and said just enough to help me keep going. I labored and delivered standing up…that was a first. I’ve had a baby with my feet in the air flat on my back in a hospital bed, twice kneeling on the bed over a birthing ball and once standing up. I love working with gravity rather than against it. It just makes sense.

I FINALLY started feeling him coming down. Those were some longggggg contractions and long pushes. I remember saying, “Oh my word, he’s right there. Can you see him?” They couldn’t. Yet. But I knew he was close.

The next few pushes brought my sweet babe into the world. I’ve experienced the “ring of fire” twice before. Gasoline and matches accurately describes it. But this time didn’t hurt at all. I just felt pressure. His head was out. I knew with the next contraction he would be here. So we waited. Meanwhile Ernie and the midwives were thrilled that he was en caul (still in the bag of waters!) I could hardly wait for the INCREDIBLE relief I knew was coming when he was fully born.

The next surge came and I pushed with all the primal, deep, mama bear, gentle force I had. Sweet relief, he was out. When Ernie caught him the bag of waters broke so we didn’t get photos of him en caul. It all happened so fast. Haddon was born at 6:20AM, December 21, 2019.

I remember standing there just so happy he was here and safe. It took a minute or two for me to get on the bed so they could hand him to me. It was the SWEETEST moment evrrrrrrrrrrr. I won’t ever forget it.

They listened to his heart and lungs. He is perfect.  We waited a good long while for the cord to stop pulsing and then Ridley got to cut the cord. It was really special that Ridley got to see his youngest sibling come into the world and that he got to participate in a small way too.

After a little bit the placenta was born and it was perfect too. We slathered my belly with Helichrysum essential oil. It’s an incredible tool which resulted in my bleeding being minimal for which I’m SO grateful. It was much less than Nora’s birth. 🙌🏻

Haddon latched right away and the after pains were INTENSE. OUCH. They get worse with each baby and good grief it was awful. I was able to manage the pain with Arnica tablets and a wonderful herbal tincture called Birth Ease.

The midwives treated me like a queen. They spoon fed me oatmeal, held my cup with a straw so I could drink a Zyng, they took me to the bathroom and waited on me while I showered. That post-delivery shower is the best thing in the entire world. 🤣 Seriously, there is zero care like the tender care, availability, attention and love from midwives. 😭🙌🏻💗

They did all the weighing, measuring, stats etc. Then Nora woke up. Oh my word, HOW did she sleep through the entire ordeal? With chatter and people outside her door? With me moaning a baby out right beside her room?

One word.

Grace.

Nora wasn’t sure what to think. She’s still adjusting a month later, but she ADORES her baby brother. She’s convinced I have “a sistah” in my belly. Haha! Poor baby.

Haddon’s birth was everything and more that I prayed (and dared to hope) it would be. Redemptive. A crowning moment for my child bearing years. Peaceful. I did a LOT of spiritual, mental and emotional work through my entire pregnancy. I KNEW I had to have my heart and mind in the right place. I used copious amounts of Valor, Believe, Surrender and many other oils. I had a routine with affirmations for each one. I imagined myself grounded in Jesus, strong like a massive tree that nothing could blow over.

On the Friday before Haddon was born when I was having Prodromal labor, I was listening to Shane and Shane sing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”. That song wrecked me in the best way. A phrase jumped out at me and has stuck with me ever since…

“Believe Him and all will be well.”

Simple, powerful truth.

Simply believe.

So that’s what I did. And that’s what I’m still doing. All my fears, all my anxiety, all my worries, all of me I surrendered to Jesus. I gave it all to Him knowing full well that He has it all in the palm of His hand. All I have to do is believe and trust. It’s a daily surrender. A daily giving it to him. Believing….

All is well.

All will be well.

My recovery has been wonderful. I’ve been able to rest and enjoy Haddon. He hasn’t given me the best sleep, so I may say something weird or completely forget something I was supposed to do. Ernie has been a champ making my breakfast, taking care of kids, the house, school etc. Kelly has been a total gift keeping me well fed with whatever sounds good. Our family and church family have been a huge blessing with meals and anything else we’ve needed. I’m so thankful for incredible support.

Haddon is a gift. A gift I didn’t know I needed.

I’m so grateful.

XOXO

Myra