Logan Ryan's Birth Story

On Thursday, 12 days before Logan's due date, we were headed to Lufkin to spend the weekend with Blake's brother and sister in law. I started feeling crampy and was pretty sure that Logan had dropped down lower and that I had dilated a little. During the night that night, I had contractions that woke me up every 15 minutes or so for five hours. But they never got closer together or more intense and by the time I got up they had quit. All day Friday I was crampy and moody and was kind of scared to be around anyone in fear that I would snap someone's head off. On Friday night I once again had about 5 hours of contractions during the night that quit by morning. I texted my midwife and she encouraged me that though they weren't the "real thing" that they were doing something; she just wasn't sure what without checking me. And considering I was 4 hours away checking me wasn't an option. I was feeling really confused and nervous. How would I KNOW when the real thing started? I didn't want to drive four hours for nothing, but I REALLY didn't want to deliver the baby in the car on the side of the road. I was stressed. Saturday morning Blake and I picked up Hope from my sister-in-law, went and ate donuts, and then did some shopping. It was fun and relaxing and I found myself slipping back into a better mood. I had off and on contractions that were growing a little in intensity, and even had to stop and breathe through a couple as we shopped. We went back to my brother in law's house and I changed clothes and sat and talked to my sister in law and best friend while they got the house set up for my baby shower. My baby shower was so much fun. My closest friends growing up were there and most their moms. It was really nice catching up with everyone and great to get so much of the stuff we still needed for the baby and the punch was amazing! I drank a liter of it I think. I was having contractions through the whole shower. They were staying pretty intense. I got to where I was completely focused on them when I was having them and had a hard time trying not to show that I was distracted.

Everyone left from the baby shower, and the guys came back to the house. I decided to start quietly using the contraction app on the phone to time contractions. Everyone was sitting around in the living room visiting and watching Callie our niece be cute and the kids play. All the while I was in my own little world. My contractions were only every 13-15 minutes, but they were starting to be painful. Blake was sitting very close to me and at one point held up the camera in front of us and said "smile" and took the picture below. I was in the middle of a contraction and my smile was more like a teeth gritting than a smile. The picture is awful quality, but it will forever hold a memory from that day.

Just awhile later we were all sitting down to eat pizza for dinner and I had another contraction that hurt even worse. It took all my will power to sit there and act normal. Right after that, the phone rang and it was my midwife. I went to the back room to talk to her, but a contraction hit and I knew I wouldn't be able to talk. So I let the phone ring and breathed through the contraction, and then called her back. I told her that the contractions weren't getting closer together, but that they were hurting worse. I told her I could no longer talk during them. She told me to get on the road. I called Blake back to the room and filled him in. I told him that I still didn't know if it was real or not, and didn't want to make a wasted trip. He immediately said, "We are going, and we are going right now." I reminded him that homemade ice cream was in the process of being made and I knew he would want some, so why didn't we wait until at least after ice cream." He said, "No. We are going now." He said he was going to let his family know and I called after him, "Tell them it's probably not the real thing. We just want to be safe." I really did not want to cause a big stir only to get there and not be in real labor for another week. We got everything together, threw it in the car, and were off. My contractions continued to be every 13 minutes or so and I had to breathe through them. Between contractions we talked and had a really nice, peaceful drive. About 2 hours into the trip we stopped so I could go to the bathroom and Blake could get some ice cream...consolation for missing out on  homemade ice cream. I had a contraction in the bathroom waiting on an open stall and then another one when I got back outside. That started them every 10 minutes and my breathing changed to moaning. They were not fun but luckily I was still getting 10 minutes in between to regroup. I was in communication with my midwife off and on throughout the trip. Around this time she called and Blake answered instead of me and I think that was a red alert to her. She told him she was notifying the birth center and a midwife at the birth center in Grand Prairie so that if we didn't think we could make it to her, we could stop there. Right about the time we needed to exit if we were going to stop at Grand Prairie, I had a contraction and felt this strong urge to lift myself off my seat and move my hips from side to side. I did and felt him slide way down. But feeling determined, I told Blake, "Keep going. Let's try to make it." He agreed and we drove past our exit praying that we wouldn't regret it. At that point my contractions started coming every three to five minutes. When Blake realized how suddenly things were progressing he said adamantly, "Do not move your hips again until we get there!!" About 25 minutes from arrival I started shaking and my teeth started chattering. At this point I knew this was the real thing and that I was more than likely in transition. About 10 minutes later my moaning turned to what was more like grunting and Blake kind of freaked out. We both knew that meant my body was starting to push on its own. He turned on his flashers and started driving faster, but almost immediately a police car u-turned and started coming after us. I looked over at Blake and could read his mind. He wanted to ignore it and keep going. I told him through my grunting/moaning, "STOP! I will be ok!" So he pulled over, rolled down his window, put both of his hands outside the car, stuck his head out and hollered, "My wife is in labor!" The officer walked up to the car, looked at me, (I had my face in my hands and my forehead resting on the window) and asked if we were going to the hospital. Blake told him that we were going to a birthing center 5 minutes away and he said, "Okay. Be careful and congratulations." And we were off again...this time without the flashers and a little slower. :) We pulled into the driveway at the birthing center about 7 minutes later and my midwife ran out to meet us. I went to the bathroom and then she checked me and told me that I was 9 centimeters, completely thinned out, and +4 station. She told me I could get in the tub that was all prepared for me and start pushing. I got in and immediately had a horrible, pushing contraction. I know a lot of women that feel relief during the pushing part. I don't. I HATE it. During the contraction I was wailing that I wasn't ready and I couldn't do it and all other kinds of nonsense. When the contraction ended I felt so very sleepy. I drooped over the side of the tub like a half dead woman, and asked for water. They brought me water, and gave me some kind of homeopathic drops to calm me down, and took my vitals and the baby's. From what I can remember I had two more contractions that I pretty much yelled like a banshee through. My midwife told me that the next contraction would deliver the head and the one after that the rest of the body. She told me to push slowly. The next contraction I think I remember yelling that it burned over and over. At one point they were all (Blake, the midwife, and 1 of the 2 student midwives) were all telling me loudly to push slowly, and I told them back MORE loudly, "NO I want him OUT NOW!!" They told  me I needed to move a different direction so my midwife could reach to flip him to keep him from getting tangled in his cord. Somehow I made myself move and she flipped him as his head came out and the burning stopped. Thank the LORD! I reached down and felt his head....and I felt HAIR!! I had been praying that this baby would have hair for months! I was so excited and it gave me the motivation to keep going. The next contraction hit and I pushed the rest of him out, turned over and my midwife handed him up to me. What a crazy, incredible feeling of relief and happiness and awe. Molly told me congratulations and I told her that I was so sorry that I had been yelling at her for the past 30 minutes. She told me, "You didn't yell at me, and you have NOT been here 30 minutes. Looking at the notes that the other student midwife had been taking we discovered that he was born only 20 short minutes from pulling up to the birthing center. What a whirlwind! Whirlwind is too mild though. Hurricane that's better. What a hurricane!

Logan Ryan Davis weighed 6lbs 4oz. and measured 20 inches long. He has brown hair and eyes that look like they will be brown. We immediately thought that he was adorable and he was so tiny and quiet. We spent the next 40 hours staying with my midwife at her house and she kept a close eye on him the first 24 hours because he had a little trouble with regular breathing in the first few minutes and also had a wet part in his one of his lungs for the first 12 hours or so. He got over both things on his own though and has been doing great ever since.

Today he is one week old and I am absolutely in love. Every day my attachment and love for him multiplies. I am breaking the rules and he sleeps with me at night snuggled up under my chin. I will treasure these days for the rest of my life.
A sweet friend in El Gorion in Guatemala held my hands before I left and said while wiping tears from her eyes, "When I prayed for you and your baby God gave me a vision that this baby will be healthy, handsome, and a great blessing."
I think about her words a dozen times a day. How right those words are. So overwhelmed with love and gratitude for this amazing blessing.