A Birth Story...

Sophia Colette Nourse

As most of you know, Sophia joined our family on Thursday, September 27th, 2007. It was the most beautiful (and painful) day of our lives. I am going to share the story over the next several posts, as there is so much to tell.

After our labor date on Tuesday night, I went to bed discouraged because I was not having any contractions. During the night, I woke up to several contractions, but they were very sporadic and infrequent. I woke up Wednesday morning and went to nanny as usual. I started at 9AM, and told Cara that I had been having some contractions, but they had mostly stopped by 7AM that morning. Almost immediately after she left, the contractions started up again, and they were only 7 minutes apart! I was in constant contact with both Jared, and Cara, keeping them aware of the situation. By 2pm, Cara was home and helping me through the "painful" ones (retrospect clearly shows these contractions were nothing in comparison to what was to come). Jared arrived at 3PM. It was at this point that my contractions sped up, and were now only 4-5 minutes apart. Jared drove me to Gary's house, because he has a huge jacuzzi bathtub. I soaked in the warm water for about 20 minutes before we realized it was slowing down the contractions. So I got out immediately. After about an hour, and the contractions were getting more and more intense, we left for the hospital.

This is what the sky looked like on our way to the hospital. God painted us an amazing picture to welcome our miracle into the world.

Jared pulled the car up to the emergency entrance, and I opened my door and climbed out. The second that both of my feet were on the ground, my water broke. Talk about timing! I waddled into the ER, and they wheeled me up to the maternity floor. On the way up, the nurse told me that they only had one room left-- the waterbirth room. Little did she know that we wanted to do a waterbirth! God saved that room just for us. At this point, even though I was in intense pain, I was completely amazed at how God was working everything out. To top it all off, our favorite midwife was on-call, and came in to deliver our baby.

We arrived at the hospital at 6pm, and endured 6 hours of painful contractions before they allowed me to get in the tub. When we arrived, I was dilated to 3cm, 80% effaced and baby was at "0" station. When they finally let me in the tub I was 100% effaced, and baby was at +2 station, but I was only 5cm dilated. It took about 1.5 hours of tub time for me to dilate to 8cm, at which point I got the urge to push. The midwife told me to wait (which was incredibly difficult). After another half hour, I was dilated to 9cm and started to push. After a little over an hour, Sophia made her entrance! Jared pulled her out of the water and held her up for me to see. He told me with amazement, "It's a little girl!"

Jared cut the cord, and then I got out of the tub and onto the bed, where I spent the next 45 minutes cuddling and loving my daughter...

Sophia Colette Nourse

6lbs 13oz

20 1/4 inches long

3:12am, September 27th, 2007

Woodwinds Health Campus

Labor Date

We tried it all. No baby. Just two bruised ankles, a sore back, and a bad attitude. Ugh.

We started with a twenty-minute ankle-pushing session (um, OUCH), then headed up to the bedroom for hanky panky, immediately followed by a mile-long power walk. At this point, I was having contractions pretty frequently, so I was getting excited. As I made our spicy tacos for dinner, I started feeling crampy, and my lower back was beginning to ache. Two more good signs! We finished dinner with burning lips, and laced up our shoes again. Back around the mile loop for a brisk after-dinner walk. Now I was feeling very crampy, my back ached pretty intensely, and I was feeling a TON of pressure on my crotch, but the contractions had ceased, so I bounced on my big birth ball. Then it was back up to the bedroom.

I fell asleep with a backache and cramps, and have been awakened at least seven times since then (it is now 3am) by very strong contractions. I guess there is still hope... I am not getting too excited though.

39 Week Check-up

I am SO PROUD of the progress my body has made over the past week!! Here is what we found out at our 39-week check-up...

Blood Pressure: 102/56
Weight gain: 1.5 lbs (36 lbs total)
Fetal heart rate: 132 bpm
Fundal Height: 37 cm

(Now for the exciting stuff...)
70% effaced
3cm dilated
-1 to 0 station

I was very excited to find out how much I progressed this week, and so was my midwife. I could tell my body was changing and it was wonderful to hear her tell me what changes had taken place.


I have been crampy again today-- another indication that labor isn't too far away. This morning, the house got yet another thorough cleaning, though this time it was not out of desire. Our three animals make quick work of destroying any level of cleanliness I achieve, and thus it was necessity that urged me into action this morning. After getting out of bed, and surveying the house, I burst into tears at the thought of cleaning everything AGAIN. So with tears streaming down my face, I wandered from room to room grabbing at messes and hurling them into their proper place while scolding each item for all its faults. I had somewhat of a meltdown. After the tears ran dry, I calmed down, turned on the radio and enjoyed the rest of the morning cleaning to music. I forced myself to think about why I was cleaning-- to prepare a safe, healthy home for our baby. That seemed to make things a little better.

Tomorrow night, Jared and I have a "labor date." We are going to put into practice any and every natural method of encouraging labor that we can. We are going to have this baby by Wednesday-- that's the plan. Here is what we have so far:

-Go for a rigorous mile-long walk
-Eat spicy tacos for dinner
-Push on my ankles
-Hanky panky

If you have any more to offer, we will try it!

A Birth Story...

Jared Earl Nourse

It was a brisk, December afternoon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jan clutched her belly and glanced over at her two-year-old daughter, Cassie, playing on the floor. Fondly, she recalled the many conversations they had had about how excited Cassie was to have a sibling. Jan was nine months pregnant, and had been experiencing some rather painful contractions for awhile now. It was time to call her husband, Gary, at work.

As soon as the call went through, Gary packed up his things, and ran to the car. He drove home in eager anticipation of what the evening might bring. When he arrived, he gathered up his wife and daughter in his arms for a big hug. Jan humored him for about one second, and then pushed away to get in the car. She was in labor after all, and ready to get to the hospital.

They arrived at St. Luke's a few minutes later. The nurses scurried around attending to the laboring mother, while Gary brought Cassie to the children's nursery and dropped her off. This would be her home for the next few hours. After seeing Cassie settle on the floor, with toy in hand, he retraced his steps and began to fill out various admittance and insurance forms. Soon, he was able to join his wife, and support her through each painful contraction. As he looked down into her face, he thought of how lucky he was to experience this with her. Hospitals were just becoming open to the idea of fathers being in the room during labor.

After two hours of pain and pushing, Gary and Jan met their baby son, Jared Earl. He had a full head of dark brown hair, and looked like he had been in a boxing match with all the bruises covering his face. They could tell from the get-go that this child was going to be their wild child-- that he would be the polar opposite of their little angel, Cassie. And he was. ;)

Jared in the hospital nursery, only a few hours old

Jared and his daddy

Cassie playing mommy with her new baby brother

Jared's first Christmas, at three weeks old

Jared Earl Nourse
Born: December 1, 1978 8:30pm
8 lbs. 9oz

St. Luke's Hospital
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

39 Weeks

My body is gearing up for delivery, I can feel it. Whether that delivery is hours away, or weeks away, I do not know.
My body has undergone a lot of change in the past week. Last week, I felt like I was getting closer to my due date and mentally ready to deliver, but my body didn't feel much different. This week, however, my body is getting ready to deliver as well. This is very encouraging to me. I am very anxious to go to our appointment tomorrow and see what kind of progress I have made.

The mucus plug (bloody show) is done passing. Now I am waiting to feel the trickle (or gush) of my water breaking, or a strong contraction (please, I will take anything!).

I have still been experiencing quite a few Braxton-Hicks contractions everyday. Some days bring far more than others.

The itchiness of my stretch marks has somewhat subsided over the past few days. I still keep my Mentholatum and cold pack nearby, but I am not needing them quite so frequently. (Praise God!) My belly feels SO HEAVY. Every time I turn over at night, I feel like I just might pull a muscle because of all the weight of my belly. It will be nice to transfer that weight into my arms, and not have it strapped to my belly at all times!

Lately, several people have told me to enjoy these last few days without a baby. I can completely understand their advice, but at this point, I am really ready to meet this baby. I am so uncomfortable all the time, that there is very little hope of enjoying my time in this state (uncomfortable is really not a strong enough word...) I have enjoyed my time being pregnant, but now I am completely ready to move on to the next stage of this beautiful process. I am anxious to meet our child-- the beautiful creation God has been growing inside of me.

Daily Report

Warning: This post is graphically inclined. Beware.

I am up in the middle of the night, because once again I cannot sleep. I feel like a lot has changed since I updated yesterday. I am quite sure my body has been progressing considerably!

Here is the latest:

• There is a significant increase in pressure on my pelvis. The baby may possibly have dropped more.
• My hip and butt bones are very sore. I believe they are very loose and ready to expand for delivery. I have to take it pretty slow walking around.
• I had around 25-30 contractions yesterday. That is almost 2 per hour that I was awake.
• I am having the "bloody show" and passing the mucus plug. This started three days ago.
• I have had a constant backache accompanied by a crampy, premenstrual feeling.
• Jared checked my cervix (the midwife showed him how to do it safely), and said it feels far more open then last week. This could mean I am dilated more. Our next appointment is on Monday-- I will let you know for sure then.

I feel my body gearing up for the big day. I am sure it will come soon. Even if I go past my due date, that is still soon! One way or another we will have a baby within the next few weeks. Wow. Simply amazing. Keep your phones nearby!

Daily Report

Kristi had the good idea to give a brief daily report of my progress, since it could be any day now...

Due Date Countdown: 9 DAYS

• I have at least 10-15 Braxton-Hicks contractions every day
• I have only had a few mildly painful contractions, these are rare though
• Jared and I have been trying various techniques to encourage labor, but my body is not getting the hint
• My stretch marks are so itchy, that it is honestly driving me out of my mind. The only thing that helps at this point is slathering on some Mentholatum and holding an ice pack on them. When they start to itch though, there is honestly nothing else I can think about, because it is such an urgent and unrelenting itch.

38 Week Check-Up

Once again, our check-up was fabulous. And once again, everything was the same as last week. Details:

Weight gain: 0.5 lbs
Blood pressure: 102/62
Fundal height: 38 centimeters
Fetal heart rate: 140 bpm
Effaced: 50%
Dilated: 1 cm
Station: -1

Next appointment: Monday, Sept 24th, 3:20PM

38 Weeks

Thirty eight weeks. Wow. Only two weeks until my "due date." I was happy to read this week that pregnant women are actually due for a span of four weeks (38-42), and they just give you a due date at forty weeks because it falls in the middle of that four week span. So looking at it that way, I AM DUE NOW!!! This baby could come anytime now over the next four weeks! (Let's hope it got a little of mommy's impatience, and decides to come early!)

I have been extremely tired all week. Everyday I feel like my energy level is on empty, and I am always up for a nap.

On Saturday morning I woke up at 5AM with a burst of energy and an urgent need to clean. So I jumped out of the bed and scoured the house from top to bottom for three hours. I have read that this sudden urge to

make things ready for the baby is called the "nesting instinct," and that labor can follow shortly after it hits, even within hours. (However, this instinct can hit up to several weeks before the baby is born as well.) Believe me, I was jumping at every little pain that day, waiting for the contractions to start. Obviously they never did. :(

My feet have begun to hurt this week. It is mainly at night right before I go to bed, and then again in the morning right after I wake up. I believe that the cause of the pain is blood or fluid pooling in my feet and making them slightly swollen and painful to put pressure on. Also, I have a sharp pain across the arch of my right foot, that I think may be tight tendons or ligaments. Every time I take a step and it stretches the tendons running from toe-to-heel, it shoots pain through my foot. I am not sure what is causing this. I have just been stretching my feet and legs as much as possible, trying to keep them loose. (I talked to the midwife about this, and she said that it is similar to carpal tunnel . Basically, the increased amount of progesterone during pregnancy breaks down the sheath covering the tendons running across my arch. Which means that there may be a spot on my tendon that is exposed, causing the shooting pain. It is like a live wire that has lost a section of its outer shell.)

My stretch marks are continuing to grow, and continuing to drive me out of my mind. They are SO ITCHY all the time. It nearly makes me cry when my shirt brushes against them and the itch fest starts all over again. It is like scratching one of the most itchy mosquito bites you have ever had only once, and then trying not to scratch it again. Or like a mosquito bite between your toes, that constantly rub and initiate the itch factory AGAIN. The vitamin E oil and cocoa butter have been rendered useless as they no longer grant any relief to the insatiable itch.

Those are my only two complaints this week. God has been granting me comfort in these last days. Jared and I are both eager to meet our baby. Last night, Jared surprised me when he stared at my belly for a moment, and then posed the question, "Are you gonna have that baby soon?" I could hear the excitement in his voice. Then he ran into the kitchen and got the bottle of "Mongolian Fire Oil" and poured it over my plate of spaghetti. Then he said, "We are gonna help it out a little."

(nothing happened. sorry babe.)

A Birth Story...

(REVISED EDITION)
Naomi Rose Norquist

On a cold Alaskan morning, Becky pulled herself into the truck for the 100-mile journey to the nearest hospital for her 38-week check-up. Her husband Jim was in the driver's seat next to her. They had come to Alaska three months earlier to serve for one year at a Bible camp that was located in the middle of nowhere (so remote in fact that the address read: Mile 95 of the Glen Hwy). The hospital to which they were now headed was a tiny, six-room hospital used mainly for workers building the Trans-Alaskan pipeline. It was nestled in a small town called Glennallen. Shortly after arriving in Alaska, their doctor found out that Becky had given birth to twin boys almost two years previously. He immediately ordered a sonogram to make sure that her large belly did not contain two babies again, as they were not equipped to deal with a high risk pregnancy. During that ultrasound, they found only one beautiful baby girl. They gave her the name Naomi Rose. During those last few months of the pregnancy, Jim would often talk to and sing to his little developing daughter in-utero.

After two hours of bumping along, they arrived at the hospital. The check-up was normal, and the couple was told she had another week or two at least before the baby would come, as she was not at all dilated nor effaced. Jim and Becky piled back into the truck and made the long trip home.

Later that day...

It was getting cold enough now, especially in the Alaskan climate, to start preparing for winter. Jim and Becky started splitting and piling wood for the long, cold winter. After throwing wood for awhile, Becky started to have some fairly painful contractions. She sat down to rest. When the contractions got worse, they decided it may be time to jump back into the truck. They hurried their 22-month-old boys, Andy and Ben, over to the neighbors, and once again set off toward the small hospital. Meanwhile, a snowstorm had been brewing, and now hit them with full force. With a pregnant bladder, and a two-hour drive through the mountains, a stop was inevitable. As they crept along the mountainside, Jim looked for a good spot to pull over for a quick pit stop. Becky carefully climbed out of the truck and emptied her full bladder with the snow swirling around her. A gust of frigid, snow-laden wind sent her back into the truck with a shiver.

When they finally arrived, they were told to wait in the clinic's waiting area, because all of the six hospital rooms were occupied. While they sat there, Becky's labor stopped. The contractions were becoming less consistent. By this time, it was the middle of the night. As you can imagine, this was the perfect recipe for misery. Becky broke into tears. They drove six hours to and from this hospital today, and now the labor had subsided. When dawn started to peek over the horizon, the doctor came in and told the weary couple to go home. Once again, Becky was in tears. Just as they were getting up to leave, SPLOSH! Her water broke.

Since all of the hospital rooms were still full, the staff cleared out the hospital waiting area and turned it into a make-shift room for the laboring mother. There was a pull-out couch that they directed Becky to, and there she laid for most of the day.



After almost sixteen hours of enduring contractions in that hide-a-bed, Becky was moved to the delivery room, where she gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Jim turned shining eyes on his new daughter.



The excited couple made phone calls to the anxious grandparents waiting in the "Lower 48."



Naomi Rose Norquist
October 23, 1983
5:45pm
7lbs. 12 oz.
19 3/4 inches long
Faith Hospital


Naomi's ID wristband


Baby Naomi

37 Week Check-up

Our check-up went really well today. Everything was much the same as last week. Here are all the important details:

Group-B Strep (GBS) test: Negative!!!
Hemoglobin: 12.5 (needs to be between 11-16)
Weight gain: 1.5 lbs (34 to date)
Blood pressure: 106/58
Fundal height: 37 centimeters
Fetal heart rate: 148 bpm
Effaced: 40-50%
Dilated: 1 cm
Station: -1


Next appointment: Monday, Sept 17th, 3:20PM

My Newest Trick

37 Weeks

My Braxton Hicks contractions have increased considerably over the past week. I have been getting them several times per day, usually following a spurt of activity. Laughing hard always brings them on as well.


The baby is so big now that it constantly pushes on my ribs, which gets very uncomfortable. It has also recently developed the habit of kicking my ribs and pelvis bones. That baby has one strong kick, cuz it hurts sometimes!


My stretch marks continue to sting as my belly grows larger with each passing day. I have been rubbing Vitamin E oil on them several times per day now, since it relieves the itch and burn.


I have encountered several people over the past week who have asked my due date, and then when they find out it is 3 weeks away, look at my belly in utter disbelief and proceed to tell me that that can't be possible because my belly is so small. Let me tell you folks, my belly is NOT small. It is heavy, painful, uncomfortable and very, very LARGE compared to what it was. To be perfectly honest, my belly looks small because my boobs are so huge and it doesn't stick out much farther then they do. If I were to hoist up these knockers and show you where my ribs are buried, you would be able to see just how big my belly truly is, and I think all these disbelieving onlookers would sing a different tune.


I have been struck with a new found urgency to be prepared for little Presh. I did the final load of baby laundry today, and smiled in excitement as I folded all the tiny onesies, socks, blankets, and burp cloths. Also, I have been pouring over the name book again this week, desperate to make sure we have the best possible names chosen for our dear babe. It is hard for me to believe that the end is so near. It seems like I have been pregnant for so long, and it is unreal that we will see the result of the past nine months, in only a matter of weeks!


Right now, the poll regarding the sex of our baby is almost exactly evenly split. I want to hear your guess. Boy or girl? I promise you will have an answer within a few weeks!

36 Weeks

Can you even believe it? I am in the month of my due date! Only 25 days to go!! With the way the past few weeks have been going, this baby is going to be our my arms before we know it!

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday morning. I give Jared kudos for waking up at 7:45am with me, after getting home from working at the fair the previous night at 3AM. Whew! He is a devoted daddy though, and loves coming to the appointments with me.

Once again, we were met with great news:

• I gained one pound since the last check up (32.5 lbs to date)



• Blood pressure: 102/52



• Fetal heart rate: 150 bpm



• Fundal height: 36 centimeters

Things are really speeding up now! Starting with this one, my appointments have become weekly now. Also, I got several tests done in preparation for labor. I got a pelvic exam today to test for Group-B Strep (GBS), which involved a vaginal and rectal swab (not as bad as I was anticipating). I will find out the results next week. GBS is a virus that comes and goes rather quickly, and 40% of all women are carrying it at any given time. If I am positive for GBS, I will be given two doses of antibiotics during labor, so I don't pass the virus on to the baby during delivery. I was very happy to find out that even if I am positive for GBS, this will not compromise our waterbirth plans! I also got a finger prick to test my hemoglobin, and had to give them a urine sample.

Some of the most exciting news we got today is that the baby is head down, and in the perfect position for birth! I am 40% effaced, 1 cm dilated, and -1 station. (All you moms out there will be able to interpret this pregnancy jargon!) It all basically means my body is preparing for labor! It could be tomorrow, or it could be 5-6 more weeks! You just never know when that baby is going to decide it's time!