Category: Lover

Joanna Elizabeth’s Swift Arrival!!

Published on by Sarah E. CooleyLeave a comment

It’s never too late to post the birth story of your child… So what if she’s almost nine months old?! 😉

I had planned on doing this immediately after she was born, but life with two kids has been a lot more chaotic than I had ever anticipated. Honestly, we didn’t get her sleep down until she was 6 months old mostly because 6 months went so quick that it felt like a week…

Anyways, to the story…

I was 39 weeks and some odd days pregnant and eagerly awaiting Joanna’s arrival.

Just as a precursor, I never let my midwife check me so I had no clue how dilated or effaced or any of that I was… Seriously, it’s pointless. You can go from 0cm to 8cm within minutes. When baby is ready, your body gets ready… Google it. That’s how God designed it. It’s true 😉 Save yourself the stress and someone peeking up your privates… Sorry prob TMI, but it’s a birth story, sooooo… #sorrynotsorry

Ok, seriously, back to the story, I’ll get off my soapbox now…

We had moved into our new home a month and a half earlier. We were getting projects done left and right. Our first big project was the outdoor area. We (and when I say we, I mean that I sat on my butt while Eric and friends worked hard hahaha good planning on my park, eh?) dug out the rectangle plot that was to be laid with concrete and put the rebar in. Saturday came and the cement truck came bright and early to pour concrete while some friends helped to smooth it all out and make it perfect for our patio cover to sit on.

I remember waking up that morning thinking, Joanna was coming soon and boy howdy, I felt like I got hit by a bus. I think i got a total of 4 hours of sleep that night and I was feeling big big BIG. I told my friend that I was SO ready to have this baby… she laughed I think hoping that baby girl didn’t keep me waiting.

Saturday came and went with no baby. Wah wahhh….

Sunday morning around 2am, I remember waking up to go to the bathroom and having a sizable contraction. I went back to sleep, but was woken to contractions around 6am about every 15 minutes. Then they got closer and closer. 12 minutes. 10 minutes. Then they leveled out. I texted my mom that today might be the day…get ready!

Once my husband woke up, I told him what was going on. We decided to head to church and go through our day like normal. During the pastors sermon, I was trying my best to pay attention, but I was honestly just timing contractions. I can’t remember anything from that mornings message. Haaa!

After church, we went to Target to pick up some things… witch hazel, I think. (I should have written this months ago… I can’t even remember why we went to Target that morning hahaha).

We then went to Panera to get some lunch. I DO remember indulging in some tasty Mac n Cheese and a huge cookie… and maybe I remember that now because I’m on Whole30… haha Dreaming of a bowl of mac n cheese and a cookie someday in the distant future…………..

I texted my mom that we were heading home and she left Riverside and met us at our house.

Seriously, this is our day. It was totally normal. She came and helped me finish folding laundry and putting it away. My friends Krystn and Cassidy came over to help finish off my desk/hutch, and I swept the front driveway of all the dust from the sanding they were doing. The neighbors came by and were playing with Jackson and asked when I was due.

I said…. Well, maybe today!!! Haha!

We went back inside and I think sometime during that day I took a bath and a shower (MY Faves during labor). Seriously, so relaxing… those of you who will be in labor soon, stay at home as long as possible AND eat lots of food while home AND SHOWER AND BATHE!!! These are things I missed out on with Jackson being in the hospital early, but got to enjoy with Joanna and they made all the difference!

Around 4ish, I started really feeling the contractions, though still not as bad as labor with Jackson… I remember feeling super nauseous and my lovely mom got me the peppermint oil to smell. I think this is the only way I didn’t puke at home. For whatever reason, my body responds to pain with puke…I don’t get it! So nastyyyy!

Contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for a minute each.

We called our birthing coach because we were so confused on when to come in. I was walking and talking while having contractions, but they were so close together, we were so confused. With Jackson, we went in days early, so we didn’t want to repeat that again.

 

She said, “you’ll know when it’s time….” She could hear me talking in the background and said it probably wasn’t time since I was still nice and talking in the background 😉

Well, after going back and forth for probably 10 minutes, we decided to go in. We made the drive with my mom following us in the car. We get to the ER checkin and the nurse asks how far apart my contractions are and we say about 3 minutes… As I am standing there talking to him, the whole room is staring at us because I’m having contraction after contraction, breathing and moaning through each of them. HA! I would have loved to see the horror on the young man’s face… I remember walking in and seeing him and thinking he is going to be horrified! haha

I initially insisted on walking instead of the wheel chair they offered me, but when I could barely walk 5 feet without having a contraction, they insisted I sit down…

We get to the checkin at L&D and my contractions are closer together. They put me in the triage room check me (EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THAT IS SILLY…. I’M ABOUT TO HAVE A BABYYYY ANY MINUTE!!!). Once she checks me and I about die from the contraction she induced, they get a room ready for me quickly…Joanna is coming SO SOON. I get to the room and it’s a rush to get everything in order.

Nurses are running in and out. One is asking me tons of questions and I can barely answer them through the contractions that don’t stop. Another nurse is trying to insert the hep-lock and every time she gets close, I have a contraction and make her stop touching me. Then I tell her I’m denying the service and she finally backs off HA…those poor nurses probably hated me. I was not very nice…. woops!

A few minutes later, a poor girl comes and tries to take my blood. Geez…. That didn’t go over well either. I don’t even remember if she got blood, but I remember not too soon after, my water broke as I was doing squats to relieve the pressure from the contractions. I thought I peed myself….thank God no one can pee that much… so nasty! They were cleaning me up when TRANSITION hit… BOOM, I was ready to push… I remember trying to yell that I wanted the epidural in my head, but the sentence didn’t even come out in a complete sentence hahahaha Eric kinda looked at me like I was crazy. I was definitely crazy… ha!

I get on the bed and hug the back of the bed and had my butt in the air like a stink bug. That is literally how Joanna came into this world with only a few pushes. So funny to think about. It was NOTHING like the movies. Nothing like my first birth with Jackson. From the time I got to the hospital to the time I held her in my arms was somewhere around 45-50 minutes. So quick! I couldn’t imagine it any other way. It was perfect!

After I had her, we had a little scare with lots of blood. The midwife was nervous that I had hemorrhaged, but it turned out that my placenta had torn during labor or pushing or, who knows when.

I was just happy holding my sweet baby girl!

…Joanna Elizabeth… 7lb 14oz, 20.75inches, born at 7:53pm, November 13, 2016…

Ok people, here is the amazing thing…

With Jackson, I was kinda clueless. They told me I had to birth on my back because he was a big baby. Well, guess what? Pushing took an hour and a half, I had a serious urethral tear, and Jackson had a hematoma (big swollen bruise) on his head/skull and was DEFINITELY cone-headed…HA!

With Joanna, gravity did it’s thing and she came right out. I know, I know, second baby… BUT YOU GUYS, I firmly believe that because I had to lay down to birth Jackson, it caused so many problems. When you become pregnant, do your research! It will make it so much easier on yourself, on your recovery, your pain management, etc. (I have a great (and funky) birthing coach I’d love to recommend to you that helped us so much with both the births of Jackson and Joanna!)

Labor and Birth is so instinctual. You have urges and you follow them. When you are supposed to push, you know it because God created it that way. It was seriously AMAZING to me to see how God has created women… so intricately and so creatively.

I mean, who can imagine a better way to bring a baby into this world. Pretty stinkin’ awesome!

Ok, I’m done now… I’ve written a book. Enjoy!!

Sweet Whispers to the Lord

Published on by Sarah E. Cooley1 Comment
So, I have journaled religiously for the last 4 years. Started my senior year of high school and haven’t stopped since. It is pretty therapeutic for me actually. After I journal, it is almost as if I have dropped a backpack full of bricks from my shoulders and can think clearly. Along with my journals being filled with information about the past, it is also filled with prayers, sweet prayers, of how my God has provided for me and protected me. 
I am not saying this for you to feel bad for me, but I have been through a lot in the last 4 months; I say this to show how great my God is. All through the journal I was reading through just today, listed was prayer after prayer, whispers to the Lord for his help, strength, contentment, wisdom, love, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, peace, and grace. Reading through my most recent journal that I have almost completed, I have seen the Lord answer those whispers softly back to me in the most intimate way that only my Lover could do.
This morning I was looking through one of the journals I had recently finished up to find an event that had happened in my life before my boyfriend and I broke up. It was a pretty significant event but I couldn’t remember all the details. I was positive that I wrote it in the journal, but alas, I had not. As I was trying to find this event, I remembered more of the details. 
It was a school night and one of our good family friends was visiting us. She normally would go to my families house to visit, but we were all busy with homework and work so she visited CBU instead and then went out to dinner with my parents. Before she left, she wanted to give us a gift. That gift was a word of knowledge from the Lord. Normally, I am not so keen on those things because I get worried that someone is just spatting off words and not really hearing the truth from the Lord. This was quite the opposite. The reason I know this is that after the fact, it has proven true. (Note: those of you who have been given a word of knowledge by someone, please please please test it with scripture!!!!)
She said to me that the Lord is going to cover me like a warm, blue, fuzzy blanket. She said that it would almost feel like I was wrapped in the clouds. She had said that in this time the Lord was going to become my comfort and my lover. That he was going to provide for me and keep me safe and warm inside of his arms. How could I have forgotten that? It is only after the fact that I remember.
I wept when she told me that. I wept because I knew the Lord was going to completely rock my world and break me of the sins and idols I had built in my life. A month or so later, he did. I became single even after less than six months before I thought I would be married this summer. I had to completely depend on the Lord. The Lord became my comforter and lover. He was so quick to jump to provide for me. And that is what he is doing now. He is filling me with a peace that is beyond comprehension. Joy that is indescribable. A grace for people and circumstances that I never though I would have. This love and grace could only come from the Father.
And as I read through the journal that I wrote in just today, I cannot thank my God enough. I cannot stand here and not give the glory to Him. Because he has provided time and time again. Even when I thought my world was going to end. Even when I thought my life was over. He was there carrying me through the storm. And, ironically enough, the journal I have now is based off the “Footprints in the Sand” poem by Mary Stevenson. If you haven’t read that poem, please go to that link and read it. That poem describes my life the last 4 months. The Lord is so good!

To Be Continued… =)