The Collins Crew: 2011

Our first family photo <3

Jessica and Macey at about 6 weeks, her last check up with the midwifes.

Diana checking Macey out

Me and 38 weeks, 3 days before Macey was born!!

Macey's Birth Story-

I woke up that morning Tuesday, November 9th 2010 feeling strange. I even posted on facebook i wasn’t feeling right, just weird. When the boy i was watching took his nap i decided to take one with him to see if that helped me feel better. When i woke up i was dizzy and feeling even more strange. I started feeling contractions at 2:00pm. I didn’t think they were real but they felt different that the braxton hicks so i started praying! I prayed off and on while playing and taking care of the little boy i was watching until he left at 3 then i started walking on my treadmill. The more i walked the more i realized i needed to make these the real thing, i did NOT want to be feeling these annoying little “contractions” for the next 3 days like some people so i kept on walking, and walking and walking. I walked until 5! Jake got home and i told him i was feeling light contractions and his face lit up, i couldn’t help but feel his excitement too! The wid wife told us if i was feeling light contractions to go walking around the store and when i felt like i couldnt be in public anymore i should go home and get my things ready. We needed to go grocery shopping anyways so i got ready and we went to fred meyer. I told Jake every time i was having them and the whole way there the contractions were only 1-2 min apart but they werent painful at all, i could just feel my stomach tightening. Towards the end of our shopping trip we were almost done getting everything and i told Jake it was hard for me to keep a straight face or smile now, i wanted to curl up when i felt a contraction so we shouldn’t be in public anymore so we bought the groceries we had and left. When we got home we sat on the couch and wrote down exactly when the contractions were happening and for how long. They were now lasting a minute and coming every 3 to 5 min, we played some cribbage then. We called the mid wife after our game and they said i should come in and get checked out since i never had before then, i was scheduled to get my first check the next day! We grabbed our “to go” bag and got to the midwifery at 9pm Tuesday night. I got checked and i was only at 3 cm so they said it was up to me, i could wait around here or wait around at home and there was no telling how long it would be! So after talking to Jake and talking to the mid wife’s assistant I decided to go home and see if i could get some sleep. Jessica our mid wife went home and Diana the assistant said she was going to be there all night! When we got home i layed on the couch for a bit but started feeling really nauseous so Jake got a bowl and brought me to bed. I threw up 2 or 3 times so we called the mid wife and she said since i was throwing up it was real labor and i should come back in as soon as i can. In the car ride back the contractions were actually hurting now and when we got to the mid wifery it was 11:00pm and i wasn’t smiling anymore, i actually had to bend over and curl into myself during contractions. I got into the night gown i had brought and Diana checked me again and i was only 4 maybe 41/2 cm dilated she said. That was disappointing, i had only gone one more cm in 2 hours! Jake and i were preparing for a long night, especially since we had both gotten up at 5:30 that morning! I lay in the bed and Diana brought me some hot tea and left us together for a while. I remember telling Jake over and over i’m so sorry i’m keeping you up so late, i’m so sorry i know you’re tired. We brought games and fun things to do while we waited at the mid wifery but i didn’t feel like doing any of them...We prayed a lot together but everything happened VERY quickly after we were together. Diana ran the bath water for me and i stripped down to my bra and go in. She had to open the windows and bring me ice water though because i was so hot. It was very uncomfortable in the bath. I felt like i had to hold on or i would fall in. And i wanted to hold onto Jake but that was hard in the bath and on top of all that i was throwing up about every 5-10 min! I had to drink recharge to stay hydrated. Diana also had be try some ginger which was absolutely disgusting i spit it out immediately! I went potty and tried sitting on the birthing ball. It was hard to balance on it though with the contractions so i stood up and leaned over the bed while Diana pushed on my back. That felt good for a while but i soon got tired of standing so i layed back on the bed. Jake and i cuddled for a while but moving from the bath to the bed made the contractions hurt a LOT worse, they were on top of each other coming fast and hard. I remember asking Diana WHY are they hurting so much now!? And she calmly replied they would hurt more when i moved around. Right as she was saying this i felt like pushing, when the contractions came i just wanted to push but she kept telling me don’t push try not to push but i couldn’t help it so Diana checked me and i was at 8cm! We were supposed to call my mom at 6cm but it had only been like an hour and a half since we go there so Jake hurried and called my mom and told her to come RIGHT NOW. Diana called Jessica and it took her about 7 min to get there, she brought me some more recharge and told me i was being so brave and held my hand and said i am here for you Kristina i’m not going anywhere you are going to have a baby to hold soon! As soon as Jessica got there they told me i could start pushing. It was really hard for my brain to go from DO NOT PUSH to OK PUSH in such a short time. It took a little bit for me to be ok with it so i started pushing. I pushed for 20 min and i was tired, i had been up since 5:30am so inbetween contractions i would lay back down and say i’m tired i don’t want to do this anymore, i’m tired of this, i want to be done. Diana was putting hot oil down there and Jessica was holding my hand and Jake was holding my other hand and kissing my face. Once i was pushing the contractions stopped hurting. It was a really werid feeling, i didn’t even know when i was supposed to push because i could barley feel the contraction. Pushing wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be at all. The contractions right before i was allowed to push were a lot worse. When the head was just starting to show my mom came and rushed to my side. She held the hand Jessica was holding and kissed me. Jessica tried to get the mirror out twice for me to look but i kept saying please no that’s gross i don’t want to watch! When Macey Elizabeth came it was 2:05 am, I had pushed about 40 min. She came out screaming and neon pink! Jessica said daddy tell everyone boy or girl! Jake looked and said GIRL! It’s a girl! Even though she was nestled by my face on me i kept asking Jake are you sure, are you sure it’s a girl Jake really is it a girl?! Macey was precious and perfect and i couldn’t believe she was OURS! I also couldn’t believe how big she was for just coming out of my tummy! We were so happy! My mom kissed me and left with Diana and Jessica and Jake and I got to cuddle with our baby GIRL! It was such a precious moment. A little bit later Diana came in and I had to push the placenta out becuase it wasn’t coming on it’s own. They told me to try to get Macey to nurse but she wouldn’t. So they game me some herbs under my tongue that made my mouth numb. They gave it to me like 10 times! I didn’t have any contractions to know when to push and there didn’t feel like anything was there to push out! So Diana was holding part of it and i was trying to push the other part out and i wasn’t really paying any attention because my BABY was just born who cares about the placenta! But then Diana said we need to get this out, we only have 5 more min then we will have to go to the hospital and you don’t want that Kristina, you had a wonderful natural birth and you don’t want to go to the hospital you need to concentrate. I laughed and Jake said Kristina we are NOT going to the hospital so like 2 min before the “cut off’ of when you have to go to the hospital it finally came out uhg. We cut the cord, i mean Jake cut the cord :) and while Jake was giving Macey a bath since she had pooped ALL over herself about 7 times already Diana sewed me up, i needed two tiny stitches. Jessica was right there telling me how good i did and how proud she was. My mom came in and Ant came. I nursed Macey and then Autumn came and my dad came. Then Sawyer and Sheila came. They showed us and explained to us the placenta and that was really interesting! I got up to go potty and when i came back Jessica told me i only lost about 1/8 cup of blood and that was really good i guess, seems like a lot to me haha! They ordered IHop for Jake and I and i really didn’t feel like eating much of it. We got ready to leave and were out the door at 9:00am. We would have been out of there even sooner but Macey’s “inspection” didn’t happen till a lot later than normal since there was someone having a baby right after me and there were only Jessica and Diana. We could have left 4 hours after she was born! But we ended up not leaving until 7 hours after she was born. I was very weak, but i could still walk out to the car and a little at home. My mom stayed with Macey out in the living room while Jake and i slept for a while. Jake didn’t sleep very long, he said he was too excited. I slept pretty much ALL day. I remember coming out and getting something to eat and both of our families were there and i said Hi and got something to eat and went back to bed! Jake would bring Macey in for me to nurse but that’s it. The whole experience was amazing. I can not believe that can even happen! I don’t know how you can doubt God and experience that, because it was ALL God! So much has changed in the past year, Macey has grown up SO much and Jake and I can’t imagine a life before her! She has made us fall in love all over again and I can’t wait to have another blessing of a child in our lives! I go to the chiropractor once a month in the same building as the midwifery and the smell of the building just mmmm i love it, it makes me feel so happy! Thank you for reading and remembering the birth of Macey Elizabeth Collins with me. Happy One Year Macey Girl!