Elijah's Birth Story - The Corbin Clan

The Corbin Clan
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Scott and Nikkie loved the homebirth experience they had with Jeremiah and never gave a thought to having Elijah any other way. After discovering this pregnancy, they immediately made arrangements to deliver at home with the same midwives as before.

Knowing that she is prone to go past her due date, Nikkie took extra care to prepare her body for labor and delivery through exercise, Raspberry Leaf Tea, and Evening Primrose Oil. For those who are unfamiliar with the latter two, these items are many times recommended as a natural way to induce labor but they don’t really induce labor. They just prepare the body for labor. The tea strengthens the uterus, preparing it for contractions and Nikkie began drinking it months before her due date. The oil softens the cervix and Nikkie began using this only in the last month of her pregnancy.

As with all of her pregnancies, Nikkie began experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions weeks before Elijah’s birth, and at times, had trouble deciding if they were labor contractions or not. They even called the midwife out one time only to find out that Elijah was not on his way.

Finally the night came that labor would really begin. The family was on their way out to church (running late, actually), when Nikkie felt a gush of water fill her pants. Needless to say, church was cancelled. Nikkie began having a few contractions but it was a few hours later before the contractions really began to come as they should in labor. So, they called the midwives. Upon arrival, they found that Nikkie was only 3 cm and recommended that she get some rest, and call them back later.

This sounded fine to Nikkie but rest was not anything she would get. After the midwives left, her contractions soon became harder and longer, giving her no room for rest. She finally told Scott to call the midwives back. They came back but much to Nikkie’s disappointment, she had only progressed to 4 cm. But seeing the intensity of the contractions, the midwives stayed. Nikkie continued having contractions but, at this point, they had lightened a lot and did not seem to be doing very much. Hours later, she was checked and found that she was still at 4 cm.

The midwives then recommended that Nikkie try again to get some rest, thinking that the contractions would probably pick back up later that day. They were going to go take care of some of their appointments while Nikkie rested.

Not long after they left again, the contractions picked back up, gaining incredible intensity that had Nikkie telling Scott that she could not do this after all. She told Scott to call the midwives back, even though he thought it was crazy to keep calling them back every little bit. However, Nikkie knew that she could not go through much more and that something was going to have to give right then.

When the midwives returned, Nikkie was already at 8 cm, and very close to pushing. In fact, from the time that these strong contractions started until the time that Elijah was born only took about 1 1/2 hours. Needless to say, the amount of work she did in that amount of time explained why these contractions were so intense. As she completed these final contractions, Nikkie prayed for God’s help, listened to Scott encourage her, and squeezed Scott’s hand with every fiber of strength in her. Upon hearing how well she was doing (despite the intensity of the contractions and Nikkie’s thoughts of giving up), she began crying with happiness at the thought of Elijah’s soon arrival.

And, surprisingly enough, the very tired and frustrated Nikkie, anxious to be through, when able to push, gave one giant push which completely brought Elijah into this world. After that push, Nikkie grabbed her baby, and began crying and praising God. It was the longest night Nikkie had ever gone through in labor and that last 1 1/2 hours were the most intense, but her baby was finally in her arms, beautiful, perfect, and completely bright eyed and alert (common among babies where the mother did not receive medication).

Soon, the other Corbin children joined Scott, Nikkie, and Elijah and were tickled to finally get to meet him.

In later discussions, the midwives, Scott, and Nikkie were discussing how long this labor drew out. Although no one can say for sure, the fact that Nikkie’s contractions were always coming strong until the midwives arrived and then they slowed down, made them believe that Nikkie just wasn’t doing well with others around. One midwife commented that she has often seen women who were very private people (as Nikkie is) who would be having strong contractions that stopped once others were around. Therefore, the midwives leaving and letting Nikkie have her space to herself was probably the best thing to get labor moving along. She just needed a little more privacy.
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