Anora Jean's Birth-Day

Moms-to-be usually hear the scary/traumatic birth stories thanks to shows like TLC's "The Baby Story." I know when I was awaiting the birth of Jackson, my first born, I heard several birth stories that made me want to "cross my legs."

Well, I think the normal and uneventful birth stories are just as worthy of being heard. So to you first time mommies waiting for your child's birth-day, you can read Micah's story here and keep reading on for Anora's. (I wasn't blogging at the time of Jackson's birth, but one of these days I should share that one too.) May these birth-day stories inspire you and give you hope for a beautiful birthday for your child. You can do it!

Early Saturday, March 26th -
I had several strong contractions while still in bed that I thought might turn into full blown labor, but then Jackson woke up with a terrible cough and sore throat and the contractions petered out on their own. I spent the whole rest of the day taking care of all three of my boys (including Colin) who were very uncomfortable with head colds. However, I never managed to catch it my self.

You may think that that's not technically a part of Anora's birth story, but I find it interesting how God's grace is so sufficient even in the little things. He knew we needed one more day for me to look after the boys and to have Anora quarantined in my belly while they were pretty sick.

Sunday, March 27th -

The boys did not make a peep and I slept all the way until 3:15am when I started having regular contractions about 10 minutes a part. After an hour they got stronger and I woke Colin to inform him that we may need to get ready to have our little girl.

4:30 am I could no longer lay in bed and just breath through the contractions, although they were still about 10 minutes apart. I got up and took a shower and once I knew the contractions weren't going to subside, Colin jumped in the shower and I began to gather our things for the hospital and get the house ready for the couple we arranged to watch Jackson and Micah who live about 30 minutes from our house.

5:00 am Colin calls the couple to have them start heading over to the house. My contractions are 8 - 10 minutes apart, but I can no longer talk or walk through them. The most comfortable position during those contractions was leaning on a table or counter and standing on my tip toes. Colin and I both eat breakfast.

5:30 am - Jackson wakes up coughing and Colin goes in to his room to give him some honey and comfort him. Several days prior, Jackson told me that he had a bad dream that I left and didn't tell him. So Colin and I both decided it would be best if we told Jackson when we were leaving. Jackson was a little weepy about us leaving, plus he was still sleepy and not feeling well. However, I was able to talk to him between contractions and remind him that there was a present waiting for him that he and Micah could open when we were at the hospital. That seemed to do the trick ... but I ended up having to go up there a second time before we left to talk with him again. That time I didn't make it out of the room without having a contraction and here's how the conversation went:

(Me taking deep breaths and holding on to his bed posts.)

Jackson: Mommy? Why are you doing that?
Me: Because baby Anora REALLY wants to come out.
Jackson: Mommy? You can go now.
Me: (still taking deep breaths) Give me just a minute.
Jackson: Why?
Me: Mommy can't move right now.
Jackson: Oh.
(My contraction stops.)
Me: Okay. We're leaving for the hospital now. I love you.
Jackson: You're going to the hospital right now?
Me: Yes.
Jackson: Okay. I love you.
Me: I love you too.

(I leave the room just before another contraction comes.)

5:30am - My contractions are about 3 - 5 minutes apart lasting about a minute each and we're not sure if we can wait until our friends arrive in order to leave for the hospital so we call our neighbor to come over. Colin says, "I'm going to call the midwives and have them get a hotel room ready for us." (I love that slip up, so I had to put it in the story.) When he calls them we find out that Helen (who also delivered Micah) is on call and will be delivering for us.

5:35am - Our neighbor arrives.

5:45am - We finally have everything we need for the hospital and have the house ready for the caretakers. The couple from our church arrives and we head off to the hospital.

The contractions continued to be 3-5 minutes apart and it helped tremendously to just moan through them. Every other contraction was very hard and longer (closer to 2 minutes long) but I had almost no pain in between contractions. I also had a couple of double peak contractions (contractions that would peak and then never fully subside before the next contraction peaked) and those were challenging especially given the fact that I was sitting in a car.

6:30am - We arrive at the hospital (pausing a few times in the parking lot and foyer for contractions) and go back to the delivery room. The nurse has us fill out some quick paper work, they draw blood, checked my cervix (which was 4-5 cm dilated and fully effaced and Anora was low enough that the nurse could feel that she had a lot of hair)and monitor Anora's heart rate and my contractions for about 15 minutes while they filled the tub.

THE TUB! I love the tub! The hospital we delivered Micah and Anora in has a portable tub that they can fill up for laboring moms while they have contractions, but not for delivering. The warm water and the buoyancy took the edge off of the contractions for me. As soon as I could I got in there.

It's at this point that I lose track of exact time. The contractions continued to be 3 - 5 minutes apart and getting more intense and a little more pushy. I also had some back pain with a few of the contractions as well. Nothing sharp, just radiating pain in my back during the contraction. It helped to be on all fours in the water while I was having the contractions. It also helped to have Colin rubbing my back between and during those contractions. But I still had little to no pain in between contractions. Helen came in during that time to check up on us and see how we were doing. Then left us alone for a bit once she got the low down of how things were going.

After about the third or fourth pushy contraction and feeling a little doubt and nausea, we called Helen in to have her check my cervix again. I was 7-8 cm dilated, but she could easily stretch me to 10 which meant I was ready to push.

9am - Helen broke my water to help speed up the dilation. It took her a few times because the sac was so strong, but that wasn't painful at all. The fluid was clear, but just trickled since Anora's head was very low.

I pushed a couple times through the contractions, but I still had a little lip of my cervix that wouldn't move out of the way. It felt like a had longer breaks between each pushing contraction with no pain at all. I even said between contractions once, "I feel bad that you guys are just sitting around waiting for me to have another contraction." Helen laughed and later Colin told me that he thought that was adorable.

Eventually Helen held my cervix back between and during contractions. THAT was painful, but only when she was holding it. After a few pushes she suggested I move to the toilet to see if I could get the cervix to move with the help of gravity. After a few really hard pushy contractions on the toilet I moved back to the bed. My cervix still had a lip.

Helen held my cervix back through 3 or 4 more very strong and long pushes until Anora began to crown. I had the mirror there to watch her come into the world for the very first time. Helen coached me through those pushes to insure their was a little tearing as possible (I ended up with only one stitch).

9:33am - Anora arrived and was placed on my belly immediately. She yelled right away and pinked up within seconds. She was GORGEOUS! That moment is the most wondrous, most beautiful and rewarding moment God could give to a woman after all of the hard work and pain of childbirth. I'm continually amazed at how God is a just AND gracious God all at the same time in so many areas of life.



After the cord stopped pulsing, Colin cut it and soon after I delivered the placenta. I got my stitch and Anora and I jumped back into the tub (which I guess was bending hospital rules, but ... eh). She nursed beautifully in there for quite awhile. In the mean time Colin called everyone he could think of.


It wasn't until about 2 hours after she was born that we got out of the tub and got all of her stats and by then she'd already had two meconium movements:



7lb 14oz
20 1/2 inches

We are all just smitten with this little girl. We praise God for his grace and provision and protection during her beautiful birth-day and stand, once again, in awe of his sovereignty and providence over HIS creation.

Micah's Birthday Story

Here's the whole story as I promised:

October 24th 2008 ~ Micah dropped onto my sciatic nerve causing me pain when I walked, bent over, ... pretty much did anything. At that point I was mentally, emotionally and physically ready to go into labor. I was just holding on until my sister (Sarah) and brother-in-law's (Josh) arrival, so that Jackson would be taken care of in his own home.

October 25th 2008 ~

6:30am ~ Sarah and Josh surprised us by showing up five hours early!!! They drove through the night from L.A. to get to our house (they even stopped and slept in a parking lot for a little while). They are such servants.

8:00am ~ Early First Stage Labor ~ I started to have contractions that were consistently low. They were irregular and I could still walk and talk through them, but I had a hard time concentrating on conversations.

11:00am ~ My sister and I went to a friend's baby shower even though I was having more regular contractions (I didn't time them, but they were probably about 10 - 15 mins apart). I was still walking and talking through them.

3:00pm ~ I decided to lay down for a nap (just in case this was the "real deal"), but ended up just laying in bed timing my contractions for an hour. They were getting a little more intense and they were about 5 mins apart.

4:00pm ~ First Stage Labor ~ I had one or two contractions that were hard enough that I couldn't walk or talk through them anymore. I told Colin that we should head to the hospital. Jackson woke up from his nap just in time for Colin to say, "Jackson we are going to the hospital. You will stay here with Auntie Sarah and Uncle Josh. When you come and see us as the hospital you will get to meet your brother, Micah. Is that okay?" Jackson: "Mmmm ... Yup." He gave Mommy and Daddy a hug and then was off playing (that was such a sigh of relief for me). While in the car my contractions became so strong that I couldn't just breath through them. I had to moan through them and they were now about 3 min apart.

4:45pm ~ We arrived at the hospital. (From here on out I don't have specific times ... I was a little preoccupied.)

They monitored me and the baby for about 20 mins (felt like FOREVER) and then checked my cervix. I was 6 -7 cm dilated about about 75% effaced with the baby at -1 station. (For those of you who don't yet know what all of that means: it meant this was the "real deal.") The blood work and paper work went flying and the midwife came to cheer me on through contractions.

They were able to get us a tub room. By the time they were done monitoring me and the baby and filling out paper work I was ready to get into the tub. It felt SO good to get in the tub because I was still having back pain from Micah sitting on my sciatic nerve.

At that point the nurses and the midwife left Colin and I alone to labor. My contractions were really hard, but they were still about 3 - 5 min apart. My fondest memory of the whole labor was sitting in the tub talking with Colin in between contractions about how God shows us grace even in our curse of childbearing. God was so gracious (to me anyway) to give me enough of a break between contractions to reflect on the miracle that he was doing through me.

After a couple of contractions I started to feel more of an urge to push. At that point my midwife came back and they quick checked the baby's heart and my cervix. I was 8 -9 cm dilated, almost 100% effaced and the baby was at +1 station. My midwife suggested I sit on the toilet to get the last cm to dilate and while I did that she had to make a quick phone call.

I moved to the bathroom and had one hard contraction and then became very nauseous and confused. I didn't know whether to sit, stand, lay down, etc. TRANSITION!! I even said that out loud. "I feel like I'm going to throw up. I'm confused. I must be in transition!" Having that realization alone made transition so much more tolerable (THANK YOU Nicci (my Bradley teacher)).

My midwife came back and I told her I had transitioned. We got me back into bed and began Second Stage Labor. It felt like forever to me, but I was still having breaks in between my contractions where I could hold conversations (not deep ones mind you, but I could talk). I remember my midwife calling me a "Rock Star" several times during Second Stage Labor. What encouragement to keep going! My midwife checked my cervix again and suggested she break my water to speed up labor. I was hesitant, but I decided to go ahead and have her break my water. After that I was 9 1/2 cm dilated, but every time I would have a pushing contraction the cervix would move with the baby, so the midwife had to hold open my cervix with her fingers ... pretty uncomfortable, BUT I think it made the time between contractions shorter and in no time the baby was crowning and I was pushing.

My midwife was great at coaching me through the burn of the head crowning. OH YEAH and did I mention that my husband is the most wonderful childbirth coach I could ever ask for. He kept whispering in my ear that he was so proud of me and that he loved me. I remember my midwife telling the nurse "Aren't they so great. Don't you just love the way they work as a team?"

They adjusted a mirror for me so that I could see the baby coming ... it is the most amazing thing ... words cannot describe what it's like to see your baby coming into the world for the very first time.

7:07pm ~ As soon as he was out Micah was placed on my chest skin to skin. I LOVED the fact that I was the only one to hold him for the first hour or so after labor. He barely cried, but he as great color and had no fluid in his lungs at all. He got a 9 on both APGAR tests!! After is stopped pulsing, Colin cut the cord. I delivered the placenta and got stitched up (only on stitch - YEAH).

7:30pm ~ Micah and I got back into the tub for his first bath and first feeding. LOVED IT!!! Colin called Jackson at home (who was getting ready for bed) to tell him that his brother was born and that he could come and see him tomorrow at the hospital.


Micah Russell Doughan
Born October 25, 2008 7:07pm
8lb 13oz
21 1/4 inches long

We had a wonderful birthday for Micah ... PRAISE the LORD!! Thank you for all of you who were praying.

Micah Russell Doughan

Introducing the newest Doughan Boy: Micah Russell Doughan
Born October 25th, 2008 7:07pm
8lb 13oz
21 1/4 inches long

More pictures and a birth story to come!