Isaac's Birth Story
Full Name: Isaac (Ike) Joseph Kissinger
Name Meaning: Isaac means laughter (or 'son of laughter' - as Abraham and Sarah both responded in laughter when they learned God would bless them with a son in their old age); Joseph is after St. Joseph, patron saint of travelers and Austria, among many other titles!
Birthday: Friday, May 12, 2017 at 6:58am (10 days late)
Stats: 8 lb, 3 oz (3.74 kg); 19.5 inches (50 cm)
Place of Birth: Scheibbs, Austria
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When Brian got the job in Austria, one of the first things I learned about the country is that they deliver babies naturally without an epidural. Francis wasn't quite three months old at this time, and with the thoughts of delivery still fresh on my mind, I was worried. I had considered having an unmedicated birth with Ellie, but when labor started I wanted an epidural - and the same with Francis. I had no intention of changing how things had gone with them... but now it looked like Austria had different plans for me! Toward the end of my pregnancy, I learned that the hospital where I would be delivering did start offering epidurals within the last 5 years. But at this point I had already begun mentally preparing for a natural childbirth. We hired a private midwife who would help me deliver at the hospital and the plan was to avoid drugs and interventions if possible. Because the norm in Austria is for natural childbirth and the midwives are very experienced, the atmosphere for me giving birth naturally was very positive.
I met with my midwife at 38 weeks, 40 weeks, 40 weeks + 3 days, then + 5 days, then 41 weeks. At my 41 week check-up on Wednesday, she said we'd have to induce if labor hadn't started by Saturday. The good news was I was already about 4cm dilated and had some other signs labor was near, but no major contractions. I did NOT want my natural labor to be started with an induction - so I quickly stepped up the prayers that our son would be born soon. Sr. Maria Pio was able to come to my house and pray over me and the baby for labor to start soon. I felt contractions and great peace as she prayed with me. That evening, I was able to go to Bible Study and have my friends pray with me as well. I read over the words of encouragement and birthing advice that many of my friends had sent. I was sure God was going to help me go into labor before Saturday. Plus, it was a full moon that night, which I could see shining in the sky over the Austrian foothills outside our home.
On Thursday morning, however, I really didn't feel anything. I got to go with my mom to Ellie's Mother's Day Breakfast at her preschool. I had originally thought there was no way I'd be able to attend this special event, as it was 9 days after my due date. But I was so glad to be able to attend. After the breakfast, we made it back to the Kartause to see the procession for one of the Our Lady of Fatima pilgrimage statues making its way through Europe in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Mary's apparitions in Fatima. Then after a brief nap (while listening to the
Holy Spirit Labor Relaxation Album on my iPod), I headed out for a walk. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. I felt no contractions as I started walking, but felt my peace return as I listened to encouraging birth stories on my iPod (from the podcasts:
Birth in God's Presence; The Birth Hour; and
Birth, Baby, and Life). I knew I still had two more nights to go into labor naturally before Saturday's scheduled induction. But it turns out I wouldn't need that long... when I returned home from my walk about 2 hours later (with my mom a little nervous I'd been gone so long) I could tell something was starting.
We put the other kids to bed around 7pm. As I read to Ellie, I had to stop reading when a contraction would start. It only happened once or twice while I was reading to her, but she questioned why I was pausing - and I let her know the baby would be coming soon! After Brian got Francis to bed, he headed back over to the Kartause for Breakfast Under the Stars with the students. My mom also headed back to the Kartause where she was spending the nights until the baby arrived. That left me home alone, relaxed, sipping on raspberry leaf tea, and listening to the latest birth story on The Birth Hour about a woman who had a happy labor and delivery at 41 weeks and 2 days! By the end of that story, I knew my labor had started. I put on an episode of Downton Abbey and when Brian got home around 10pm, I told him he could go to bed and I'd get him when I needed him. I was sitting on the exercise ball while watching the show and a couple of times I had to get down on my hands and knees and breathe through a contraction. By 11pm, the contractions were coming closer together and I put on praise & worship music and walked around the house - making sure I had everything packed. I had made chocolate chip cookies, which are a specialty item here because they don't sell chocolate chips in Austria, for my midwife earlier in the week - so I got those ready to go. I didn't want to tire myself out too much walking around, so around 11:30pm, I kept the praise & worship going but I sat down on the exercise ball. I looked up good birthing positions on my iPod and read those until midnight. At midnight, I got in the bathtub. I knew the tub could slow labor down, but I figured a bit of relaxation would be nice.
I filled the tub, which is in the bathroom right between Ellie and Francis' rooms. Ellie woke up and came to the bathroom and asked, "Mommy, why are you filling the tubby now?" I told her the baby was coming and I had to take a bath. I tucked her back in bed and both kids stayed asleep for the remainder of the night. Which is kind of surprising given the next 4 hours I'd spend in the tub, listening to the praise & worship playlist Brian made me. He actually downloaded the playlist on the Spotify app on my phone, which ended up being perfect because after his original list had played in just kept on playing similar music. I lost track of time as the music continued to play. Once I found a comfortable position seated in the tub, I prayed and focus on my breathing as I felt the baby move down. I wasn't in pain. There was pressure at times when my stomach tightened, but I just breathed. Breathed and prayed. And slept a little between contractions. I thought of different people in Heaven -- my grandmothers, our Dominic, and our dear friend's daughter Gianna Rose -- and felt very close to them. I wasn't timing the contractions but I knew I was having one or two per song. Brian came in at 2:45am (I had to ask him the time) and I told him I was doing well and he could go back to bed. Around 4am I was really nodding off between a lot of contractions (aside from the brief nap, I'd been awake for 24 hours because I had woken up early that previous morning with excitement that it could be the birth day!). I figured being in the tub so long had stalled labor (because I wasn't in pain) and thought maybe I could relax just as well between contractions laying in bed. So I got into bed, but there I wasn't as comfortable. Plus I could see the clock, now I knew the contractions were strong and were coming every 3 minutes. I had asked God for a sign of when I should go to the hospital. I didn't want to go too early because I thought the noises from other women laboring would really worry me. I got up to use the bathroom and there was some bright red blood. A sign, I thought! (The Divine Mercy Image of Jesus was an image I wanted at my birth and Sr. Maria Pio also had that sense -- so I figured my signs would come with blood and water).
I had Brian get the phone so I could call my midwife; it was a little before 5am. I could speak clearly with her on the phone between the contractions, so I thought maybe I hadn't progressed that far, but I told her I was ready to come to the hospital. We agreed to meet there in 30 minutes (we live about 20 minutes away). Brian called my mom, who happened to be awake already and finishing her morning prayer. By the time I got down two flights of stairs in our townhouse, stopping on the main level to drop to my hands and knees on the couch, I thought things were getting intense. My mom arrived at our door as we were getting in the University's minivan. Brian had the front door open for me, like he had when Ellie and Francis were born. But I opened the backdoor and knelt on the bench seat on my hands and knees. Brian had loaded up the car, and directly in front of me on the floor were the Divine Mercy Image and the icon of Our Lady, Mother of Helpers -- however, I couldn't quite see them because of the plate of chocolate chip cookies covering them.
We had agreed to meet my midwife on the 3rd floor, the labor and delivery floor, but when we arrived at the hospital she was just arriving as well so we met her in the parking lot. The first thing I did was insist that Brian give her the cookies (something we all laughed about later!) Then she helped me out of the car. It was very difficult to stand and she asked if I wanted to sway on her as she could see I was having a contraction. I said yes, and it felt wonderful as she slowed my breathing and calmed me down. We walked a few steps and another contraction hit - same pattern where I would sway with her and she would breathe with me. It felt really good. Brian and my midwife checked us into the hospital, while I swayed with one or the other. I could chat with them between the contractions, but by now there wasn't much time in between contractions.
When we arrived on the labor and delivery floor, all of the rooms were available. I picked the room next to the birthing tub, thinking I may want to continue laboring in there. My midwife wanted to check the baby's heartbeat. I told her I didn't want to lay down and she said she could check it on the birth ball. She put on the intermittent monitor and said it sounded great. She then asked me to get on the bed just briefly so she could check me. She checked me and said, "Good. You're open. [long pause -- or that's what it felt like as we waited for the number of HOW open]. You're 10 cm." Praise God! I had made it to 10cm open with very little discomfort! I couldn't believe it. But yet I could, because I had been praying for this type of labor after learning about 'supernatural' births.
Now it was time to push. The last podcast I had listened to was all about pushing. And I had just read about the different pushing positions a few hours earlier. My midwife suggested I stand at the end of the bed and hold onto the bar. She told me my water was still intact which was good because it was protecting the baby's head. (Apparently eating all those dates had done its job!) After a couple of contractions, where I'd squat down when they hit, my water BURST and gushed forth from me! It was an amazing feeling! I was facing toward the window at this time and I could see the Divine Mercy Image placed on its ledge -- another sign God was present.
We moved over to the birthing chair. I had one or two contractions there and then my midwife said she didn't think I was ready for that yet and had me stand back up over on the side of the bed. A couple more contractions happened there. I would squat down with one of my legs resting on my midwife's leg as she also squatted.
Then we moved back to the birthing chair. She called in the doctor. And then she made another frantic call - as Brian described it - I don't remember the phone calls. Brian thought maybe something bad was happening, but in walks someone with a cup of hot coffee. Was she falling asleep and needing caffeine?? No. Rather, she soaked a paper towel with the hot coffee and told me she was going to apply it to my perineum to expand the blood vessels to reduce tearing. She had three pairs of scissors laying at my feet as well. She told me later, that she thought because it was taking long pushes to get the baby down, he was already 10 days late, and Francis had been over 9lbs, she wasn't sure how big this guy was going to be. Well, she never had to pick up those scissors!
After she applied the coffee, which honestly felt amazing, I grabbed onto the cloth at the top of the chair. I pulled on the rope as I squatted and pushed during the contractions. It was just a couple of contractions before I heard her saying "Here's the head"... I felt him coming down (but NO ring of fire -- thank you coffee!!). I screamed his name two times and in one push - his whole body came out! It was the most wonderful feeling! I looked down and there he was. "His name is Isaac?!" my midwife asked. Yes!! I rested back in the birthing chair, where Brian was sitting behind me. And she placed Isaac in my arms, me in Brian's arms. After staring in amazement at Isaac, I was able to turn around and tell Brian I loved him. It was a very special moment. Isaac had been born at 6:58am, about an hour after we got to the delivery room.
We let the cord pulse and delayed cord clamping. Then after a couple of minutes, Brian cut the cord and my midwife tugged on it and I delivered the placenta painlessly. My midwife helped me lay down in bed. I took off my t-shirt, because there hadn't been time to change clothes until now. And Isaac was placed in my arms wrapped in a yellow blanket. Brian took a couple of photos and then I got ready to start nursing.
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| Our midwife holding baby Isaac |
My midwife and the on-call doctor - who hadn't done anything up until this point, because nothing was needed - examined me for tears. They found I had a small, approximately 1-2cm tear, and the doctor gave me a stitch or two. She used a local anesthetic and the stitching didn't hurt. I was in a blissful state holding Isaac skin-to-skin. Brian asked about his APGAR score and our midwife said he had perfect 10's. This was another sign of God's presence and protection because when the TOR Sisters and my friends prayed over me and the baby a couple of weeks before the birth, one of the women got an image of me diving off of a high-dive and doing so well - and Sr. Joan Paule confirmed that image by saying she saw the judges holding up perfect 10's on their score cards! My labor and delivery had gone so well and now we had the results for Isaac - healthy, a perfect 10 :)
A few moments later, everyone left the room (I think Brian was in the restroom) and I just lay there holding Isaac, looking out the window at the beautiful day that was beginning, staring at the Divine Mercy Image of Jesus. God had heard my prayers and answered them, as Jesus walked with me - and before me - in birth, granting me a supernatural birth! My eyes filled with tears as I felt very close to our Lord and so grateful for His love and this precious gift of new life that Brian and I were able to bring into the world.
Resources:
Online class:
Mama Natural Birth Class
Website:
A Heavenly Welcome
Music download:
Holy Spirit Labor Relaxation Album
Podcasts:
Birth in God's Presence; The Birth Hour; and
Birth, Baby, and Life
Books: Ina May's
Guide to Childbirth; Penny Simkin's
The Birth Partner; Jackie Mize's
Supernatual Childbirth
Positive Birth Stories:
Mama Natural Birth Stories (including
my own)
Instagram: @thebirthhour; @birthwithoutfear; @mamanaturalbirth
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| Ellie, Francis & Isaac |
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| NeNe meets Ike |
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| Isaac a few hours old |
This birth story wasn't long enough for you?! ;) You can
click here to read the birth and miscarriage stories of our other children (I promise they're not as long!)
