Home Grown, All Natural, and Hand Delivered...

Introducing Jacob Christopher Moss:


Born on September 21st at 2:18 am weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and measuring 19 1/2 in. long.

Wow. As I sit here typing this my baby boy is bundled up like a little burrito lying next to me. I can't stop staring at him. To think that he is finally here is still so unbelievably surreal. He is perfect. And I never knew what it was like to be whole until he came into the world.

I'm not good at beginnings...or middles...or endings for that matter. I am not a writer so I have no idea where to start and how much to include, so bear with me as I try and recap my birth story, or Jake's birth story rather. (Also, as this is a birth story, I will be including details that to some, may be TMI, so if this applies to you, maybe you should skip over this one.)

First, before I start, a little bit of trivia: Did you know that your plug can regrow after you've lost it? It can...and mine did. Monday morning I lost my second plug. I remember totally not being excited because the loss of that first one didn't amount to much. I actually remember thinking, "I wonder how many of these I will lose before this baby actually decides to come." An hour after that, the first contraction hit. I didn't put much stock into these either until 2 pm when I decided I should probably start timing these. I had to start utilizing my hypnobirthing techniques so I figured they were strong enough to time. They were 6 minutes apart and the gap between them just kept on closing. They hit 5 minutes apart and I decided it was time to call Janice, my midwife, and ask her if she thought we should go to the hospital. She said to wait until 7 (it was 5 at the time) and if they were still going strong to come in. I told my parents what was going on and what my midwife said. By this time, my contractions were getting to be about 3.5-4 minutes apart. My mom was thinking I should go into the hospital then instead of waiting and my dad was too. Mom put Dad on the phone and he said, "Jessica Christine, you better get your (insert expletive here) to the hospital now. You don't want to have this baby in the car." (Hahaha...I just love my dad.) I realized he wasn't going to let this one go and I was getting a little anxious myself so I talked to J and we decided to go get some food at a place near the hospital so if anything did happen we would be closer.

We started gathering all of the hospital bags and all the last minute packing things and putting them in the truck. I went to the bathroom and got quite the show..."bloody show" that is. This freaked me out somewhat so we decided to just go to the hospital and skip getting food. We arrived at the hospital at around 6:15 and we got up to triage around 6:30. They checked me out and told me I was dilated to 4 cm and was 100% effaced. They hooked me up to the external fetal monitor and contraction reading thing-a-ma-jig (so professional, huh?) and we waited for about an hour to see if any progress was made. During this time, there was a shift change and I got a new nurse who checked me out and told me after an hour I was dilated to a 4 and 80% effaced. (...? 100% to 80% after having contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart for an hour?? I really don't like how subjective that whole system is.) She said we could either go home (because according to her no progress was made, which I still think is a crock) or we could walk the halls for another hour and see if that gets us anywhere. We opted to walk around and after the hour I was dilated to 5 cm and 90% effaced. We were then admitted (this was around 10 at that point). I dilated to a 6 fairly quickly after that. I think one contraction did it...it was so intense I threw up.

By this time the contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and were fairly intense. The whole time I had been experiencing these contractions mostly in my back, and by the time I was dilated to 7 cm (around 11) I thought I was going to die. My back was in agony. It was the most...ugh...can't describe it. J asked during that time what it was like and there were really no words. By this time, I was thinking, "I can't do this anymore. I really can't. But I have to." My midwife came and said my back labor indicated he was "Sunny-Side Up" and that I should get on my hands and knees and try and get him to flip over.

This next period is kind of a blur. Starting at 8 cm I remember yelling a lot. I remember screaming occasionally. I remember J being the sweetest, most loving, and most supportive human being on the planet. I remember not being able to communicate with words unless I was yelling at the top of my lungs so in between contractions (the whole 30 seconds) I just remember looking at everyone encouraging me and just shaking my head back and forth. I remember ripping the oxygen mask off every time I had a contraction...which I guess was kind of counter-productive (Jake's heart rate would go down every time I had a contraction so they put the mask on me). After a little while, my midwife checked me again and I was dilated to a 9 and 100% effaced. My bag of waters was still in tact and she wanted to break it at that point to try and get me to a 10 and be able to push. She broke my water and almost immediately after I was dilated to a 10 and I started pushing. I don't know if I was really feeling the need to push or not...I don't really remember, but I started anyways. That was a little before 1 am. I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and pushed. I would breathe in and push on my exhale, but while I was exhaling I would make this grunting noise...it helped, but now my throat is a little sore. Not long into pushing, Jake's head started to crown. I reached down and touched my baby's head and just lost it. I just cried and kept saying, "My baby. My baby. My baby." I was totally and utterly exhausted, I would fall asleep between the contractions because I was just gone, but feeling his head and knowing that he was almost here gave me the boost I needed to keep going. (By the way...Jake cooperated and flipped over before I started pushing. Thank you, son. That helped Mama immensely). The hour went by and still all that was showing was the head. I felt like we weren't getting anywhere when my midwife got excited and told me that his head was almost out. I pushed again and I could feel it. I put everything I had into the next couple of pushes and out came my beautiful baby boy's head. One more push and he wriggled out like a fish (that was a weird feeling).

I have asked several people what it felt like when they held their baby in their arms for the first time. No one has ever been able to describe it to me, and now I understand why.

This was at a 6 and due to the scariness which is me for the rest of the labor, this will be the only one that surfaces.

Our first family picture. I just start crying every time I look at this.

7 lbs. 5 oz.--smaller than I expected...and I was totally OK with that ;)

I just fall more in love with this man every time I look at him. All through the labor he was right there beside me, telling me I can do it, helping me to breathe and relax, cuddling me and holding me. After our son was born, my heart melted all over again. Seeing him hold and love and play with Jake makes me the happiest person in the world. I will love him forever.

He makes the funnest noises! He grunts and whines and O my...his cry is the sweetest thing ever. I just love it.

There's that profile we saw in the womb. :)

J was by Jake's side the entire time we were in the hospital. So sweet.

Jake was born on his Aunt Janessa's birthday. When she holds him, he just stares at her. He loves his Aunt Janessa. She brought us dinner last night and she brought a bottle of congratulations bubbly with glasses that said "Aunt," "Uncle," "Mommy," "Daddy," and "Gramama." (She made them when we thought my Mom would be here). How sweet is that? Here's to you, Jake. I love you with all my heart.