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Jackson (JJ) Lawrence Sex: boy Born: 05 March, 2008 Age: 3 years & 348 days Birthday in: 17 days Starsign: Pisces Development: See the 32 months page. Biggest achievement so far: Every day we find ourselves challenged in big and small ways...and we always find the courage, the determination and the willingness to rise up and overcome.

Birth details

Type of delivery: Vaginal (without pain relief)
Duration of labor: Total - 14 hours

Active labor: (4 cm)- 6.5 hours
Weight @ birth: 7 lbs 13 oz
Length @ birth: 21.25 inches

Jackson-(JJ)-Lawrence`s birthstory

A word to the wise....I am bluntly honest in pretty much everything so don't expect any fluff!

Well, as you are probably aware, I was so ready to have this child. The final two months were really uncomfortable with sleep issues, heartburn, and false labour. And let’s face it, I’m not the most patient of people and I like being in control. Lack of patience and need for control are two things, I will later learn, that leave quickly once a child is introduced into your world!!!

After going to L&D on Feb 29 due to contractions, and finding out I was only slightly effaced and not dilated was sooooo depressing. Three days later I had an appointment for acupuncture….I tried to get one that afternoon, but all the shops I called were booked until the following Monday, and though my desperation was coming through loud and clear and they were understandably empathetic, the weekend would prove to feel like forever. After acupuncture Monday at 5 p.m, I woke up at midnight. with wicked back cramps. I fell back asleep from 2 until 6a.m. and woke with menstral like cramps. I worked on the computer for awhile and had a surprise cough, which normally would have ended up with me needing to change my pants, resulted in bloody show in my pants…..it looked like something had started!!! I waddle-ran up the stairs to tell Jeff, but tried to downplay it as I didn’t want to get my hopes up again! As I had my regular doctor’s appointment at 8:45 a.m, March 4 (that day) I wrote down a number of questions, loaded up all the bags (very optimistic but trying to be cool) and went in. 1 cm dilated (which means labour could still be weeks away), but paper-thin effacement (now THAT was great news!) The doc swept my membranes and suggested we could have a baby within 24 hours!!! Having heard horror stories about doctors promising, but not delivering (excellent pun there!) I headed home with slight to moderate hope.

Told Jeff he was on-baby-call and by 1 p.m, felt he should leave work and come support me, false labour or (hopefully) not! Started to feel regular contractions by 4:00 and called Audra, our doula, to advise. She knew that I was so eager to have this baby so she kept me grounded, told me to focus on doing ‘regular things’ and call he if things felt like they were progressing. By dinner time, contractions were 6-8 minutes apart, fairly regular and Jeff made me start pacing and stay standing to get gravity to assist. We called Audra and she said if things did not speed up by 9p.m. we would slow things down so I could sleep through the night and attack it fresh in the morning. I thought, Screw That! and started to mentally assist my body in labouring faster, stronger and closer together. Called her at 8:30 pm as contractions were then 4-5 minutes apart lasting over a minute with intensity. Game ON!

Audra was here by 9:30p.m. Tuesday March 4, 2008 and by then I was in full labour mode. She got me into positions I had never even dreamt of getting into…naked…infront of a woman and my man. Howard Hughs would have been impressed, if it weren’t for the cottage cheese which had accumulated on my butt and thighs over the past few months. I weighed slightly more than Jeff at this point, something I had dreaded all thoroughout our pregnancy. My modesty was wasted and the pain of labour made any modicum of desire for decency disappear quickly!!!! Months prior, we had talked about me doing labour au natural, but I always figured if it got really bad, I could always try for pain relief. The pain was already feeling pretty strong, but bearable. Jeff and Audra were amazing at helping me, rubbing my back and hips, and keeping me strong through positive affirmation. By 10:30 p.m. I was writhing in agony, but it only lasted for 45 seconds every 3 or 4 minutes. I was ‘in the zone’ but Jeff was getting quite distressed and kept asking Audra if we could go to the hospital (which is only 5-10 minutes away). At this point, I was leaving fingernail marks and raking in the drywall as each wave of pain pressed down on me. Still not certain if Jeff’s main concern was re modeling or if it was the agony I was clearly demonstrating, Audra always did a good job of explaining the pros and cons and letting us decide. By 11:20 I was in so much pain, I wanted to go to the hospital….in hopes that it would get me drugs if nothing else.

It was a good thing I am overly organized and a bit anal as I had packed, repacked and repacked the hospital bags months prior as Jeff was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and I was in no mood to wait. The 5 minute drive was absolute agony, and I felt every bump and corner on the way. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be moaning, crying, clutching, grunting and gasping while (trying to) walk into a hospital? Neither do I as I was completely oblivious to my surroundings! I just hope that people could tell I was pregnant and figure it out for themselves. It was almost 12:00 midnight March 6, 2008 and I was immediately moved into a labour room as I was already 6 cm dilated. Thank GOD! Only approximately 5 more hours to go (Sweet JESUS) as I overheard from Audra having a conversation with Jeff. Even though they spoke in hushed tones, I was able to pick up on the important stuff! For a first birth, labour typically progresses 1 cm per hour after 4 cm, with about one hour of pushing.

Keep in mind, it was almost midnight and I gave birth at just past 3:00a.m. so you can conclude that I was progressing rapidly. My membranes had not ruptured so there was tremendous pressure. Contractions were coming fast and furious and although I was in tremendous pain, I was acutely aware of Jeff being in the room and being my ‘rock’. He did such an amazing job, my love for him did nothing but get stronger with each wave. I couldn’t have done it without him.

Time passed, I am not sure if it was quickly or slowly. I remember having an intense fear of needing to push too soon, intense humility of Jeff being anywhere ‘down there’ and seeing anything that would haunt him for years to come, and the thought (and occasional outburst) where I claimed I could not do this, make it go away, make the pain stop. They broke my waters around 7 or 8 cm (need to ask Jeff for confirmation) and after that I was so deeply in the zone. I remember being so relaxed between contractions that some people in the room thought I was actually asleep. I don’t know about ‘relaxed’, but I had retreated into a deep dark place, as per Jeff. My body took over, my mind went primitive and I lost control and my body gave several huge pushes, even though I had been told I must avoid that at all cost. I didn’t realize this was normal and the next step. I had moved baby down and was now 10 cm dilated. It was time to push.

No one expected this this quickly and Jeff had just ran down to the cafeteria to get coffee. Audra quickly called him on his cell and he rushed back, spilling the coffees in the interim all over the hallway. It was such a relief to push, but co-ordinating the pushing, the breathing, and the effort was difficult especially after trying with all my might NOT to push. I remember doing 3-10 second pushes during each contraction. By the third push, I was exhausted, and what progress the baby made disappeared. 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. The baby was crowning and the stretching sensation was beyond comprehension. I have never experienced that level of pain. This went on and on for 6 or 7 contractions. All of a sudden, there was a flurry of activity. I opened my eyes and there were 10 doctors and nurses there, whereas before there had been three. Something was going wrong. Baby was in distress, heart rate had dropped considerably, code pink had been called. I wasn’t aware of this. His cord was around his neck and because he wasn’t coming out, it was cause of concern. I heard them telling me they needed to use suction to get the baby out. I asked if we had any choice and was told resolutely no. The doctor attached the suction and tried to work with my pushing and the contractions, but my perineum was too tight. Unsuccessful, with fetal distress increasing, they did an episotimy and all of a sudden, his head was out and he was looking straight at me. I was in such an exhausted state and so worried about him, I didn’t feel happy, only relief that he was out. Baby had had a bowel movement as he was being delivered so they whisked him away to clean him and do some tests. He was screaming and wailing so I knew he was alright.

I forgot that I still had to deliver the placenta, and when they told me that, any sense of relief disappeared! “Do I have to push?” I asked febally, to which the reply was no, and my humour came back quickly. They pulled on the cord and the placenta slid out. Baby was on my tummy at this point, and he was already trying to crawl up to get to the breast for milk. Merely seconds old and that instinct was there. He was so alert, I knew that I had made the right decision not to have the drugs. Pain is temporary, or so I thought before attempting to breast feed!!!! He latched and fed beautifully and gazed adoringly at his mommy and daddy and held onto our fingers.

Degrees of pain are so funny….they had to give me local freezing in order to stitch up the perineum. It was 2 needles and they friggin hurt! After what I had just gone through, you would think that I wouldn’t even notice. I guess that just goes to show that we are capable of so much more than we believe we are. The stitching was taking so long, I asked them if they were doing needlepoint down there. Note to self, never joke with a doctor who has been on call for 24 hours, and who can essentially give you back your original sizing, or potentially ruin your sex life forever! I found out though that stitching up an episiotimy is like hemming pant cuffs. I will never look at sewing the same way again!!!!

Jackson (JJ) Lawrence German was welcomed into our loving arms at 3:04 a.m. Wednesday March 5, 2008.

Baby’s weight - 7 lbs 13 oz

Baby’s length - 21.25 inches

Baby’s head circumference - 36 cm (14.2 inches)

Weight gain for mommy – 48 lbs

Weight loss day after birth – 15 lbs

Feeling - Deliriously happy

Daddy’s email announcing the birth - We've got a 7lb 13oz, 21.5 inch long baby boy born at 3:04am on March 5/08.

Everybody is happy and healthy and Karyn did the whole thing without an epideral or pain medication. It was the most amazing thing in the world and Karyn was a superstar.

We look forward to introducing him to the world.

Jeff and Karyn

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