Coulson

 The Birth Story of Coulson Ellsworth Diehl

I think Coulson’s birth story started two weeks before he was born.  That weekend, on Saturday we woke up very early in order to drive up to the ward campout to help make breakfast (there was no way on earth Emilee was going to camp even one night 9 months pregnant).  As we were driving up the curvy and foggy road to Mount Palomar, Emilee begin to have contractions, we were a little scared that our baby would arrive up on top of the mountain far from any medical help.  Emilee even said, “I think this was a very bad idea for me to come up this dang mountain.”  We think the change in elevation (we went from sea level to over 5000 feet in just over an hour) may have caused the contractions to begin.  Nevertheless, the breakfast and drive home were quiet and void of notable contractions.  The next day as we rushed to church, Emilee again had a couple strong contractions.  As I settled into my seat on the stand, I saw Emilee suddenly get up from her pew carrying Eliza and exit the chapel.  I was concerned, so I discreetly sent her a text message, she didn’t respond (I found out later that she had left her phone in her pew).  Note to full term pregnant women:  always carry your cell phone.   Then as the first speaker in the Sacrament service was beginning his words I see Emilee in the corner of my eye signaling for me through the glass window of the closest door to the chapel.  I leave the stand and exit into the hallway, Emilee informs me that for that the past 30 minutes she has been having erratic but strong contractions.  A friend from the ward met us in the hallway and offered to drive Emilee home while I finished conducting the meeting.  When I came home immediately following the meeting, Emilee told me that once she got home and laid down her contractions stopped completely.  After a barrage of text messages and phone calls from concerned friends in our ward we felt a little embarrassed that we had caused such a scene at church.  After such an exciting weekend we felt that Coulson’s arrival was imminent.  A week passed with few strong contractions and our friends in the ward, the Thackers welcomed their baby Easton on the following Saturday.  Then another week passed and each day seemed to have fewer and weaker contractions. I even heard Emilee say a couple times that Coulson felt like he was sitting higher and that her pregnancy was regressing.

The birth room

            Then on Halloween Sunday we went to church, and for me it felt like déjà vu all over again; as the sacrament meeting was beginning Emilee suddenly got up from her pew and left the chapel, I again texted her (I promise I don’t normally text during sacrament meeting), again no response.  I was slated to speak in church and Bishop leaned over to me and asked if I had written out my talk so they could deliver it for me in case I had to leave early.  But then just as quickly as she left, Emilee came back in and took her seat, it was a false alarm.  Apparently Emilee just had to visit the bathroom.  I think we need to develop some kind of hand signals so that she can tell me when I should be concerned.  Anyway, all was quiet during church and we felt like we had at least another week of waiting for our baby to arrive.  After church I collapsed on our couch while Emilee updated our blog.  When I awoke Emilee nonchalantly tells me, “By the way, I’ve had several strong contractions over the past hour.”  The contractions continued quite regularly, so I started to time them (using a contraction timer android app, of course J).  They were coming about very 10 minutes and were lasting about 90 seconds.  Over the next hour or two as I tried to calmly hand out candy to trick-or-treaters the contractions started coming every 6 minutes and were lasting about 120-150 seconds.  About this time I started calling our list of friends who had agreed to watch Eliza while we were in the hospital and Emilee called the midwife.  The midwife told us to come in and Sarah Darby agreed to come put Eliza to bed and sleep in our apartment for the night.  By 7:45pm we were in the UCSD Hillcrest hospital.  They took Emilee to triage and checked her, she was dialated to 5cm and was 80% effaced, she was a “keeper.”  We had a few minutes to wait while they cleaned one of the birthing center rooms, so I went to get our bags and to repark the car.  When I tried to re-enter the hospital I was locked out!  Apparently they lock all but the emergency room doors at 8pm. Eventually, I found my way in and met up with Emilee about the time they were wheeling her up to the birthing room.

Minutes after Coulson's Birth

Once in the birthing room things seemed to go very quickly, at least for me anyway.  As Emilee breathed her way through contractions our kind nurse asked her a million different questions, and provided her with a birthing ball to sit on.  Emilee seemed to like the birthing ball.  The nursed begin filling the water tub with warm water and called in a doula.  As the tub was filling with water I sat on stool next to Emilee and massaged her back and did my best to coach her through the contractions.  About 9pm the volunteer doula finally arrived, I think she was on call and left a Halloween party to come help.  She massaged Emilee’s back and Emilee started to get the urge to push.  They kept her on the birthing ball for a couple more contractions and had her move to sitting on the edge of the bed.  By the way, the bed in the birthing center is not your normal hospital bed, it is a queen size normal bed.  With Emilee sitting on the edge of the bed I sat behind her to help support her.  The midwife checked Emilee again and informed us that she was completely dilated and ready to give birth.  Like I said, it seemed really quick.  Emilee pushed again and her water broke, and then she pushed two or three more times and out came Coulson.  They handed him to Emilee.  For me it was a moment of pure joy to see our baby boy for the first time in the arms of his mother.   After this Emilee was able to move to a laying down position in the bed and we were able to peacefully enjoy our first moments together with Coulson.  Coulson was born at 9:34pm, he weighed 8lbs 11oz, was 22inches long, and had head and chest circumferences of 14inches.  In all Emilee had about 4.5 to 5 hours of active labor, the last hour and a half was in the hospital.  Afterwards the nurses and midwife were joking that Emilee gave birth so fast that they filled up the water tub for nothing and the doula was there for only the last 30minutes.  We feel very blessed that the labor was so short and that everyone is healthy and well.

The next morning I went and got and Eliza and brought her to the hospital to meet her little brother for the first time.  She seemed most excited to see her mom, but was very cute when she met Coulson.  She kept saying “baby” over and over again while pointing at him. But when we asked her where her baby brother was, she would still point at Emilee’s belly.  We don’t think she quite understands where babies come from yet.  

    

From the mom:
We really had a great experience at the birth center.  I couldn't tell you who all was there but their voices were kind and encouraging and they helped me breathe through some seriously intense moments.  I read the hypnobirthing textbook during pregnancy hoping to learn a thing or two.  I will not claim to have really mastered the technique but I can honestly say it seriously helped and I recommend it to everyone.  They teach you how to breathe but also how to live with a positive outlook and trust your body and know that is capable of amazing things.  This time around I was able to stay calm and collected, knowing that each contraction brought me closer to my baby and that as I relaxed more my body was able to work more efficiently with each surge.  Being able to breathe between the contractions helped me conserve energy and made the whole ordeal much less exhausting.  When I had Eliza I remember pushing with all my might and straining so intensely.  Hypnobirthing teaches you to relax and breathe through every contraction even when you are pushing, no straining, ever.  With Coulson I focused on relaxing and with each urge to push I tried to relax and let my body do its job until at long last I was holding him on my chest.  In that blessed moment I was filled with pure joy and above all sweet relief, it was over!  As I sat holding him I was overcome with gratitude.  In the beginning of the pregnancy there were a few complications and there was an issue with his size later, and as all moms do, I worried the whole pregnancy that something would go wrong.  All of the issues we had were not that big of a deal, but they still made me aware of the delicacy of life and I prayed constantly that all would be ok.  As I sat on that bed with my baby boy and my husband I felt overwhelming gratitude for so many answered prayers.  I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience.  Coulson is healthy and perfect in every way and the recovery for me has been excellent.