Jolie's Birth Story

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

My prayer for Jolie's labor and delivery was that I would get to experience and rely on Jesus in a way that I hadn't before. He answered my prayer! 

The time spent in active labor with Jolie was short (3 1/2 hours), but our early labor went on for a full month. My Braxton Hicks contractions started at 19 weeks, and by 37 weeks I was dilated 1cm and 50% effaced already. At 38 weeks I was having pretty regular contractions and had dilated to 2cm. My sweet sister and Viva came to stay with me just in case I went into labor while my mom was out of town. So we waited... and we watched... and every time a contraction would catch my attention, I'd think "is this it??" But every time, the contractions would slow down. And I'd get discouraged. Allie so sweetly reminded me that every single contraction is progress! Every one of them gets you closer to meeting your baby. I'm so thankful for her encouragement during those long weeks of waiting. When my mom got back from her trip, she came straight to my house (the week before my due date). We thought for sure baby Jolie would be here soon. After all, the more babies you have the earlier they come, right? WRONG. In fact, the exact opposite is true for me. I tried EVERY SINGLE natural induction method possible to try to encourage Jolie to come. Everything you've ever heard that could possibly trigger labor. NOTHING worked. The Lord was/is teaching me that I AM NOT IN CONTROL. (This is a life long lesson for me, I'm afraid.) So after waiting and waiting, on June 14, the day before Jolie's due date, my mom went back to Jackson and my sister went back to St. Louis. That was hard. I was so disappointed that Allie wouldn't get to be there with me for the delivery. And knowing that it would take my mama 2 hours to get to me when it was time made me really nervous that she'd miss it too. We prayed. And I cried out to Jesus several times that week. I felt guilty for being so disappointed that I was still pregnant. I wanted her to be here so badly and I knew that she'd be coming soon but the waiting and the unknown made me crazy. I also had several near panic attacks where I just let fear take over and I wondered if I'd even be able to deliver another baby without medical  interventions. What if she didn't come before 42 weeks and we had to induce? What if I had an 18 hour labor and I couldn't handle the pain? After literally bawling my eyes out in my bathroom, the Lord sweetly reminded me of Isaiah 35:3-4: "Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, 'Be strong, do not fear; Your God will come! He will come with vengeance, with divine retribution. HE will come to save you!!'" Oh isn't He sweet! He is so good to comfort and remind us that He is God. He is on His throne! Nothing is a surprise to Him and He LOVES to rescue us when we cry out to HIM!! I love that time that I spent at His feet, crying out. 

Jolie's due date came and went, so we decided to carry on with our life as usual. The girls and I swam in our pool almost every day. We helped Jason with Kids' Game Night at church on Wednesday night. We went out to eat as a family of 5. And then on Friday the 21st (40 weeks & 6 days), I decided to take castor oil. Let's just say it was extremely effective in achieving its goal, and I'll leave it at that. :) I had been talking to my parents about coming to stay for the weekend, mostly just to visit but also hoping that Jolie might just come while they were here. They got to our house around 6pm and we had dinner together. I couldn't eat. I felt so nauseated that I had to excuse myself from the table and my sweet family let me rest. I slept until around 8pm.  At that point, I was having pretty strong contractions but I still thought that they were just Braxton Hicks. At 10pm, I was almost certain that we'd be having a baby that night. I got in the shower, because that had been so helpful with pain management for Stella. Jason turned on my Pandora and I worshipped and leaned on the Lord during each contraction. Once my hot water ran out, the shower was no longer fun. I could tell that we needed to go ahead to the hospital, which is about a 30 minute drive from our house. Being in the car while in active labor is torturous, but I'm so proud of myself for not cussing at my sweet man! That may or may not be because my mama was in our backseat, but I'm thankful that the Lord helped me bite my tongue :) When we got to the hospital around 12:30am, I was 8-9cm and hurting. A lot. Our nurses were beyond fantastic about working with us to birth the way I wanted to, and I'm so grateful for their support. My water still hadn't broken, but I was already feeling the need to push and bearing down involuntarily. That next 30 minutes was super hard. Standing up was probably the most helpful position to be in, but it hurt so badly that I opted to sit in the bed instead. I quite literally called out to Jesus with every single contraction. I'm so thankful that He designed them to come and go, with a break in between. When it was finally time to push, I had one nurse that was really helpful but she might not have had very much experience with unmedicated births. With the best of intentions, she tried to help by coaching my pushing. Instead of listening to my body and pushing when I felt like it, I tried to follow her instructions. The doctor on call came in just in time for the delivery. I know this is going to sound like an exaggeration, but I swear.. ask Jason or my mom.. Jolie literally shot out! There was no head is out... now the shoulders... now one more push for the rest. No. Like literally she shot out. The doctor almost dropped her. But he didn't. And she was perfect!

Jolie Mae Smith was born at 1:28am on Saturday, June 22, 2013 (41 weeks) weighing 8lbs and 6oz and she was 21 inches long!  Jolie is both our biggest and our latest baby! :) She is perfectly healthy and she was right on time. God is so good! From the waiting to the fully leaning on Him for the labor and delivery, Jesus has been so sweet in teaching me that He is in complete control and that He loves me and loves to rescue me when I will surrender to Him. 

My recovery with Jolie has not been so easy. I mentioned the "coached" pushing before and how I should've listened to my body... that resulted in some stitches and lots of postpartum soreness. Jolie is nursing like a champ and she only lost 3oz after she was born, but I am having some breastfeeding issues that I haven't had in my 34 months of combined nursing experience: plugged ducts and lots of soreness. We are working through both of those issues (with my precious sister's expertise) by changing nursing positions, applying heat, and massaging. The Lord has been reminding me that as much as I leaned on Him to sustain me during labor, I can lean on Him just that much during this postpartum period. I told you at the beginning of my post that my prayer was that He'd let me experience Him in a new way through this baby's birth, and He has answered me! I'm so grateful for the gift of childbirth and that He allows us to walk through it with Him. Jesus promises never to leave us or forsake us, and when we come to Him during times that are hard we get to see that first hand!

"A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come, but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world!" John 16:21

Thank you Jesus for the anguish that brings us to Your feet, and for the joy that You give when we surrender to You!! To God be the glory!