Tuesday 30 September 2014

Our piece of heaven

As much as every human being on earth has a mother who has gone through this birthing process of one sort or another... It makes it really special when it's you who goes through it.
Seriously.
No matter if you deliver caesarian or vaginally, it is just really awesome to go through pregnancy and then have this amazing little creature of yours in your arms.

Well, as you all know... this little lady made us all wait a little longer, but that was ok! We were able to rest, chill, and prepare.

On September 27th I met up with my midwife for a check up; had an amazing Acupuncture treatment from my bestie at her clinic (babe was moving the whole treatment); then went home and hung out.

It seemed by 2am (September 28th) things might have officially started for cramping, but I slept through it.
Took a wonderful Verbena Cocktail at 5am to see if this natural method of induction would work.
By 8am, Nikita (our dog) was up and needed outside... the last thing we needed was dog poo on the floor that morning.
Haha so I got up and from then on, everything indicated today was the day.

For the next 8 hours I was able to distract myself through the crampy stage.
Put in a pot roast, painted my nails (haha I know right), watched/slept through a movie, even went outside to scoop poop.
But by 4pm I sent a message to Tara (midwife) and Nadia (my bestie and Doula) that I was at a point were I had to really focus through the waves of contractions.
One last important piece to the birth team. Photographer. LOL--there was no way this kid was gunna come into this world without some proper documentation!

By 5pm everyone arrived and I was able to send one last text to Taylor before I put it down for the rest of the day. Lol she made me giggle.


The one thing that was amazing to experience was that after every contraction, came peace. 
No pain --literally nothing. 
Near the end, I was even able to take a mini nap between them. 
Ya, it was f*cking painful haha, but the fact that the pain completely disappeared was incredible.
Human bodies are amazing things.

And the pain, well it was intense cramping like most women will attest to... and it came in stages. Each time increasing --most likely following my cervix's lead in opening up lol
Jason asked me why I was smiling at one point (between a long contraction), I said "after these long waits, the next one is usually pretty intense"

Yup. Ouch.
My Rock

I laboured in a few places + positions. Both for comfort or to help the baby decend.

We stayed in the bonus room for an hour or so. Leaning over the yoga ball, then standing and "dancing" with Jason. Lol we haven't really danced since out wedding ;)
But by 7pm or so, I needed the power of warm water.

I didn't get into the birth pool right away, but stood in the shower for a bit, it seemed to slow down the contractions but helped with each one that came.

The hot water only lasted so long, so I asked for the pool to be filled... and oooo boy did that feel immediately better.
Didn't mean the labor process got any less insane (ha) but the comfort was there. The water took away gravity and the weight of everything on the lower part of my belly.

So from here on in, we were in our room and ready for this babe to make an appearance. It might have felt like forever, but by 9pm I was officially "pushy" 

--and LOUD.

OMG I am surprised the cops weren't called. There was no way... NO WAY I could have held back the primal sounds I was making.

Progress was made by my cervix, babe's head was low, and my water was still intact --then came the "bottom" bum pressure.
Oh wow. My hips felt like they were going numb, the pain was insane, but I tell ya... at no point did I want to give up or feel spent. 
I was going to DO THIS! Ha!
Jason was there to supported my back, Nadia was always in my ear saying "your making space for your baby" as well as applying cranial therapy/acupressure, and Tara's wonderful updates on babes position.
Oh and thanks for the cold cloth on my face. That was heaven.

Did I mention the Pot Roast was done? Lol made for a great snack for everyone, but the small bites I took almost came flying out on everyone and it made it verrrry hard to breathe during the contraptions.
Stick to water/juice during late labor stages next time Nicole. Hahaha. Sheesh.

Then ermuhgerd. I felt babe coming down and I wasn't taking this "ring of fire" shit. LOL --it hurt and I was impatient to wait for another contraction to continue.
My water broke on one push, and then on the next I pushed hard. I barely heard Tara tell me to slow down, but I couldn't. 
From what everyone saw... she shot out in that one push. 

And that feeling of her coming out was about the weirdest/bumpiest thing EVER. No joke...hahaha it is something that you really can't explain. 

"It's a girl!" I heard Jason say... our baby girl was out and she was wired for sound! 
She was placed on my chest and it was the greatest feeling ever... her teeny body and cries were about the coolest thing ever <3


Little Yammers was a 7lbs 1oz girl now officially named Sawyer Kayla Yamniuk. 
Our little piece of Heaven, or our S.K.Y. --she is so amazing and perfect. 

In addition to our little lady, what made the day even more perfect was the people present. Jason, Taylor, Nadia, Tara, Heidi (2nd midwife), and Vannessa shared in this experience and I am so blessed to have them in our life.

So, for now, it's sleep-eat-sleep-eat-sleep... oh, and diaper changes haha YUM! 
This won't be easy, but we are surrounded by so many epic human beings that it will be awesome.

Thank you to everyone who sent us love, messages, and gifts. So so so appreciated and Sawyer says thank you in her squeaky cry <3 <3
We are all excited for you to meet her. 

For now, I'm gunna go eat and feed this cool kid! 

But before you go, please check out HOPE MidwivesWomen's Balance Health, and Vanessa Brown Photography
<3 <3 Much love to them, my wonderful husband and Taylor for being there! 

To check out the amazing work Vannessa Brown did on the Birth Video, please click HERE and scroll down to the "Feature Birth Story" to watch Sawyers Birth.



P.S. I can see why women do this again and again. Ya I might be bat-shit crazy, but it was epic.