Finley Nash: Birth Story
This is the birth story of our sweet Finley Nash.
I can’t believe our little guy is here and already almost three months old- HOW?! Time has gone so quickly, and I am finally getting around to sitting down and finishing his birth story post. Our little man came into this world with a bang, and his story will always be one of my favorites to tell…
I was 41 weeks pregnant on Wednesday, January 2nd, and we had a baby check up and Non-Stress Test scheduled at Baby + Company, our birth center. I was eager to see if any changes had occurred because I was getting more and more uncomfortable as the days progressed. I also had been having braxton hicks contractions in the evenings for two weeks which I never had with Theo. So, we got to the birth center and the Non-Stress Test was perfect, our little guy was just super comfortable in mama’s belly. My midwife also checked me and… NOTHING. I was pretty bummed, as I had a scheduled induction planned for the following week for post dates if nothing happened. But, we stayed optimistic and headed back home and tried to look on the bright side. I just kept telling myself, that he would come when he was ready. The Lord had all this under control; I just needed to surrender to His plan and let my body do it’s thing. I was post dates with Theo as well, and if you have ever gone past your due date, you know the struggle is SO real. But, I had the BEST support system, tribe, squad, whatever you want to call it. So many of my friends and family members stepped up, spoke life over me, prayed for me, and sent me the sweetest messages, Bible verses and more. One of my amazing doulas Helen- The Aussie Doula, sent me this blog post and it was spot on.
Here I am before our baby appointment in all my 41 week glory- my face says it all!
After we got home, we hung around the house and I started nesting… AGAIN. Theo went down for a nap, and I started cleaning downstairs. I had tried so many different things to get labor started… pineapple, spicy food, evening primrose oil, red raspberry leaf tea, bouncing on the birth ball, walking, sex, you name it. The one thing I refused to do was… CASTOR OIL. I was petrified from all the stories I had heard, and I had made up my mind that I just wasn’t going to do it. But, my midwife had shared a birth cocktail with me, she actually called it the “baby torpedo,” and for good reason. You combine 1/4 cup of champagne, 1/4 cup of pineapple juice, 2 tablespoons almond butter, and 2 ounces of castor oil and you throw it on back and wait. Jonathan put it all in the blender and even served it in a cute glass with a festive paper straw. I drank it around 1:30PM and waited and waited. It didn’t really do much besides make my stomach hurt, so I continued cleaning and went on about my day. Later that evening, I started having contractions. But, I had just assumed they were those teaser contractions- braxton hicks, that came most evenings. Around 6PM, Jonathan started dinner, and Theo looked at me and said, “Hey mom, let’s get this party started!” His new thing has been having dance parties every night, it’s the cutest thing ever. Theo and I started jumping around and dancing and then I would take little breaks and bounce on my birth ball. Once dinner was ready, we all sat down to eat as a family of three. After we ate, I cleaned up while Jonathan and Theo played. All the while I was still having contractions. About 7PM, with me not knowing, Jonathan texted my mom to forewarn her that I was having contractions, even though I told him not to because I was certain they were not the real deal. I had mentioned earlier, while eating dinner, that we would call my mom around 9PM after Theo went down and we were settled if they hadn’t gone away. We got Theo bathed and ready for bed. We did story time and hugged and kissed our first born. I remember thinking this could very well be the last time it’s just the three of us. I snapped this photo after that thought and hugged and rocked my boy extra tight that night.
9PM rolled around and the uncomfortable waves hadn’t gone away, so we called my mom and stepdad and told them what was going on. I remember thinking, “Okay, they live an hour away and if it ends up happening at like 3AM, it would be better if they came now instead of the wee hours of the morning.” They arrived at our house around 10PM, and were in shock with how well I was doing. We walked around the house and I showed them all the different jobs we had completed, one of which was the nursery, and the other our third floor which is now the guest room/office. My stepdad went on to bed, and my mom, Jonathan, and I stayed up. I planned on doing the Miles Circuit while watching a movie, but then figured if this was really happening I probably should go ahead and shower and shave my legs. So, I went upstairs close to 11PM and got in the bath tub, Jonathan went ahead and called our doulas and told them what was going on. They decided to head on over. Jonathan also called the midwife and told her what was happening, she wanted to talk to me and suggested that I come in around 1:30AM. I was certain that I was okay and that I just wanted to stay home and rest and would keep her posted. By the time our incredible doulas, Paige and Helen got here, I was in the bed resting, and ended up falling asleep despite my contractions. Before I fell asleep, I remember feeling guilty that we had all these people at the house and labor had seemed to “stop.” Jonathan even went down to tell the doulas they could leave because things were at a stand still and I was asleep. But, they decided to stay and just rest on the couch. My mom even mentioned to me later that she walked by my bedroom a couple times and she heard me breathing heavy, groaning, and she noticed my leg twitching in my sleep, but all I remember was getting a good little nap in before things really started to progress.
I woke up around 2AM and wanted a snack. While Jonathan went and got me some food, I soaked in the bath tub. I added Clary Sage and Jasmine essential oils to the bath water with epsom salt, these oils are great to help with labor progression. As I soaked and tried to relax in my aromatherapy bath, I ate my snack but was starting to get more and more uncomfortable. Around 3AM, I got out of the tub and threw up a couple times. My mom and the doulas came upstairs to check on me. Helen had mentioned that me getting sick was a good sign and we were getting closer to meeting this sweet boy. Throughout that hour, it was very peaceful and calm despite the contractions. The lights were dim, I had my labor playlist going, birth affirmation cards, and oils diffusing. My birth team was so helpful from Jonathan doing counter pressure, my mom rubbing my back and neck, and the doulas helping coach me through breathing exercises. A few things that helped me tremendously were: a cold washcloth applied to my neck with Lavender and Peppermint essential oil, counter pressure, and calming background music. Also, I stacked pillows up on my bed and when a contraction came, I would lean over and lay my head on the pillows and just rock and sway while standing, it really helped a lot. The natural swaying helped Finley engage lower and lower into position. During this time, I couldn’t talk through the contractions, but when I would have a break I was back to laughing and chatting. I continued to empty my bladder frequently and I also drank water and just constantly kept moving and changing positions to keep my pelvis open.
Around 4AM is when things got crazy, my contractions were frequent and painful. I was getting teary eyed during the strongest point of them and that’s when my mom and Helen locked eyes and said, “It’s time, we need to go NOW.” Jonathan had been downstairs making coffee, and he came up to everyone scurrying around the room trying to get ready to go to the birth center. We finished packing our bag, and headed downstairs. At this point the contractions were coming quick, so I would have to stop what I was doing and breathe and sway through them, which made getting out the door even harder. By the time we got out on the porch, it was 5:06AM and I had another contraction; so I had to hold onto the stair railing and stop again. Helen called the midwife to let her know we were on the way. She also told Jonathan to go grab some beach towels and put them in the car just in case anything should happen, and thank God he did. I got in the car, and then had to get right back out and stand through another contraction. We finally left the house at about 5:11AM, keep in mind the birth center is about 30 minutes away. My mom jumped in the backseat. Our new car has captain chairs, so Theo’s carseat was in one and then Finley’s was in the other. She put Finley’s seat in the third row and was literally sitting in the base of Finley’s seat helping coach me through the waves of contractions en route to the birth center. I had three bad contractions on the way and I had to unbuckle my seatbelt turn around and put my knees in the seat and hold onto the back and let it pass; then I would turn back around and buckle up. It was a rainy hot mess of a ride. Jonathan was driving so fast and when my mom mentioned turning on the hazard lights he panicked because this car was two weeks old and he had no idea where the hazard lights were! So, he ended up just flashing the brights on and off to alert people that we most certainly were in a hurry.
I remember getting off the exit coming into downtown and feeling the most urgent need to push. I said, “I NEED TO PUSH NOW.” Both my mom and Jonathan said, “NO!” Despite what they said, I bared down and pushed just a little and… my water broke. When I felt it run down my legs, I knew that this babe was almost earth side. Part of me felt a sigh of relief and the other part of me felt anxious that this baby was about to be born in our new car. I tried so hard to not give into that persistent need to push. I closed my eyes, prayed, tried to relax, and just took deep breaths. My mom started calling out every name of Jesus and I remember thinking, “Okay, it’s going to be okay, just try to relax.” Jonathan ended up running three red lights, and thank God he did. We were literally seconds from the birth center and I bared down and pushed a little more and I felt Finley crowning, I reached down and felt his head and thought that this birth was really happening in the car. We pulled right up on the curb of the birth center and the lights were off, Jonathan ran out and started banging on the door. We saw our midwife come running from the back ready for us. I got out of the car, waddled in the door, and Jonathan said, “WE NEED A TRIAGE ROOM NOW!,” and then I said “NO, HE’S COMING NOW!.” I remember locking eyes with my midwife and she calmly said, “Okay, okay, just lay down.” She pulled my sweatpants down, and I barely made it on the ground before pushing once and there he came… right there on the welcome mat. Jonathan caught him with his bare hands. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice. The midwife helped get it unraveled and then ran for her “precip” supplies. Finley wasn’t crying and he was pretty cyanotic, my mom and Jonathan started rubbing him and he let out the sweetest little cry and I remember breathing a huge sigh of relief and thinking, “WE DID IT!”
After Finley was born and on my chest, I didn’t have a care in the world. My midwife suggested to just go ahead and deliver the placenta in the lobby and then go to my room. I figured “Why not?, I just blew this baby out in the lobby of the birth center, it doesn’t matter now!.” I was just thankful he was here and that he was healthy, nothing else mattered. Later, they brought a wheelchair out and asked if I could get up and get in it. I got right up with baby Finley in my arms and plopped right down in the wheelchair… still in complete shock at what just happened. My mom, Helen, Paige, Jonathan and I just couldn’t stop smiling and laughing at this crazy whirlwind of a birth that just took place.
Our sweet angel boy. I can’t believe how blessed we are to have you. You sure made quite the entrance! Jonathan and I are so thankful and blessed to welcome another sweet boy to our family. We had such a beautiful birth team and are so thankful for all of those that helped and prayed for us in and out of the delivery room, I mean lobby. God is so good to us, and He gets all the glory. Thank you friends for your well wishes and prayers, we are adjusting well to being “Graham fam party of four.”
“Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” James 1:17 MSG
Lori says
Love, love, love this!! Such a sweet and exciting birth story. I read your blog post to my hubby and I turned to look at him and bless it he has tears in his eyes.
Many blessings to the Graham family! XO
Brittney says
Thank you Lori!!! Awww that is so sweet! It’s such a crazy, beautiful story! Thanks for reading! 🙂
Cheryl Poplin says
Such a sweet day for you! Love this story and the outcome.
Brittney says
Thank you Cheryl!!!
Maggie Rose Hasty Thompson says
This made me cry girl!! Ur amazing!!
Brittney says
Awww thanks girly!
Rachele :) says
You have such a beautiful heart. What a story and how wonderful !
Brittney says
Thank you friend!!!!