The Birth Story of Steyr Thomas Ritchie - Part 1 of 2 - Plano Birth Photographer
When I asked Melissa to tell her Birth Story she sent me one of the most detailed Story I have ever received. I love it!!! This is 100% from her viewpoint. This first post will be about the 2 weeks prior to Stery's Birth at Plano Birthplace in Plano, Texas.
Steyr Thomas Ritchie was born on May 21, 2018. But, for me, the story of his birth began just over two weeks prior…
May 6, 2018:
It was a Sunday and Garrison, Emmeline, and I was having a relaxing day at home. I was sitting in the living room watching tv when I started having some cramping. I had an irritable uterus and had been on Procardia since 29 weeks, so I grabbed a large glass of water and laid down on my side feeling confident they would go away. Several hours passed and the cramping was not stopping so I shot a quick text to my midwife, Jeannine, explaining what was going on. After a few exchanges, we decided to have me come in to be checked given my history of preterm delivery with Emmeline. I was 36+3 at this point. We got to the birth center and Jeannine checked me; I was 2-3 cm dilated and my cervix was very soft. We all thought we would have a baby by Mother's Day which was the following Sunday. We headed home on strict bed rest until Thursday. This would put me at 37 weeks exactly, which we had to be in order to deliver at the birth center.
May 10, 2018:
We made it to 37 weeks! The day came and went without any signs of impending labor, and we celebrated our little victory that we were going to have a term baby!
I was still having frequent contractions at this point but they were not forming any sort of pattern or increasing in intensity.
May 15, 2018:
I was on my way to work since I no longer had to worry about trying to not go into labor when my contractions really picked up in frequency and intensity. I was sure that this was it! This was the day we were going to meet our baby boy! I turned around and headed back home. I got home and started timing them; they were coming three to five minutes apart! I called Garrison to tell him I was in labor and needed him to come home, but he wasn't answering his phone. I must have called him a dozen times on both his cell and work phone. Now, I'm slightly freaking out that my labor is going to pick up fast and he was an hour away not answering his phone. Finally, I called the main line at his office and got in touch with some random girl in customer service. I told her I needed her to find Garrison and tell him I was in labor and he needed to come home ASAP.
Just about then I got a text from Jeannine saying she needed to move my appointment I had later that day because she had 2 moms at the birth center in labor. I messaged Jeannine to let her know that I thought I might be in early labor and spoke with Adrienne, Jeannine’s backup midwife, who felt like it would be a good idea for us to come in to check things out. I text my doula, Christina, and photographer, Kourtnie, to let them know what was going on so they could get ready in case this was the real deal.
Garrison got home around 9:30; we loaded up the car and headed to the birth center. After we arrived, I was checked by Teri, another midwife, and I was still at a soft 2. I felt too nervous to go all the way home so Garrison and I went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. During lunch, I was so uncomfortable that I couldn't even sit still. I had a chiropractor appointment at 2 o’clock in Frisco so we headed over there after we finished eating hoping an adjustment would provide some relief.
After my appointment I was still contracting so we headed back to the birth center to see if I was progressing at all. Teri met us in the lobby and checked me again and I was still at 2cm so not in active labor. We spoke briefly with Jeannine about a plan of action and decided to go to the mall with Christina to walk around a bit. Walking actually seemed to calm everything down and finally around 6 o’clock, we decided that nothing was happening and I felt ok to head home and go to bed after a long day.
May 18, 2018:
We had an appointment with Jeannine that morning and still were not making any progress as far as dilation despite near constant contracting. I had a membrane sweep and we hoped that would get things going in the right direction. We also made a plan to maybe break my water the following Wednesday; I really wanted to go into labor on my own but I was becoming exhausted from not being able to sleep. Jeannine suggested I call Dr. Brianne Katz at Uprise Chiropractic to see if she could help; she called her the labor whisperer.
I called Dr. Bree as soon as I got home, explained my situation and she was so incredibly sweet to squeeze me into her schedule early the next morning.
May 19, 2018:
I got up early and left the house at 7:30 so I could get into Dallas to be at my appointment by 8:30. Dr. Bree explained what she would be doing, and she told me it was going to hurt, but she would be able to stop my prodromal labor so that my body could go into labor for real. Let me tell you, I had been seeing a chiropractor since 24 weeks, but I've never had a more painful adjustment in my life! But, that being said, I instantly felt a million times better after she was done.
May 20, 2018:
I actually got 10 hours of sleep and woke up not contracting! It had been a full 2 weeks of misery and it was finally over. I felt great all day, and that evening I started losing large chunks of my mucous plug. Gross, I know, but I was excited, hoping this was a sign labor would be soon!
Midwife: Plano Birthplace
Chiropractor: UPRISE Chiropractic