Birth Story Of Jacobee Mark Norval

Above photo is of Baby Jacobee receiving his first chiropractic adjustment the morning he was born.

“When I found out I was pregnant there were many thoughts; thoughts of doubt and worry. I was concerned about my weight and how “out of shape” I was, I was concerned about being about to handle a newborn and trying to homeschool 3 kids with 2 toddlers already, but my biggest concern was labor and delivery. There were so many doubts. None of my deliveries have been easy or gotten easier (I thought for sure by 4 or 5 they’d slide out, right?!). I was worried about my hemorrhaging. Last time I had a very difficult several weeks postpartum of feeling very weak and light headed, I had lost a lot of blood. I didn’t want to feel like that again especially with it being so close to Christmas. These thoughts were in my head for 9 months! The enemy knew how to get to me.

Then when I contacted my midwife I had used for the last 3 she told me she couldn’t because she was partially retiring and wasn’t traveling anymore (she was from Toledo). I was devastated. Who was going to handle my hemorrhaging like she did. I didn’t want to trust or confide in someone else. She knew how we worked. She was awesome! So what did I do? I procrastinated! I was in denial. I waited until about week 20 to finally find a new midwife. And let me tell you God knew what he was doing. I found the most amazing midwife (Ohio Midwife). It’s like I’ve known her for years. And there most definitely was a peace after finding her. She had even talked to my old midwife to come up with a plan for me.

But as I was 40 weeks or so and having contractions and Braxton Hicks everyday I panicked again. The thoughts of wanting to meet this little bundle but at the same time not wanting to go through delivery were wrecking havoc on me. One night I wasn’t feeling good and thinking that it could be the “real” thing, I went out to the garage to talk to the hubs. Immediately started crying! I can’t do this, I don’t want to do this, kept coming out of my mouth. Of course his response was, “You can, you have, and you will” (sounds so easy right?!).

So I finally decided it was time to reach out. God had been putting someone on my heart to reach out to but I was being stubborn. She had just had her 7th and was a true rockstar! I messaged her that night and the response was perfect. She had the same thoughts as me! Thinking she could have handled labor better and so forth. The next day she dropped off birth affirmations to the office for me to use. I stuck 3 or 4 in my kitchen window and 3 or 4 in my bathroom mirror.

Then the “real” thing started. Just before 5 am the contractions I was having were a little different and they were regular. I laid back down and started tracking them. Went to the bathroom again and had some more signs of it being real. Finally I woke hubs up and called my midwife. My contractions were 1.5 minutes long and 6 minutes apart. She was on her way! I cleaned my kitchen up while trying to work through the contractions while Joshua set the pool up and hosed down our bedroom (that actually happened 🤣). Midwife arrived at 7:50 am. With each contractions I told myself those birth affirmations. I got in the tub FINALLY and immediately started pushing. As I was laying on my side I didn’t feel like I was pushing against anything and started having doubts again (with Rees I had some trouble stalling once I got in the pool). The baby’s heart rate kept dropping with each contractions. The midwife calmly said “we just need to have the baby.” She suggested moving to my knees and once I did, it was only about 4 minutes and he was born. I told them the head was coming and then next thing - I pulled him out of the water and onto my chest! 8:40 am he was here! By far the fastest and easiest delivery I have had. Crazy with a 10 lbs baby right!?

And then.... no hemorrhaging!

God answers prayers! I had been praying every night for my delivery to be like 3 hours, just long enough for the midwife to get here (my next shortest labor was 6) and for it to be easy and no hemorrhaging (I know I was asking a lot). I had asked a few people to help me pray for these specific things. And I have never felt so good after a baby. There was no weakness, no light-headedness, no hemorrhaging! I felt like myself for Christmas (for the most part). I was so thankful!

Moral of the story...

- God answers prayers!

- We all have those thoughts- doubts, worry, being scared, etc this is how the enemy attacks

- Reach out to those that can pray for you and to those that will lift you up

- We are fearfully and wonderfully made by an almighty God- trust your body!

So thank you to everyone who helped me ! I won’t list them all here but you know who you are. Those that prayed for me, those who let me know I wasn’t alone!

A big big big thank you to Emily Schultz!

A huge thank you to my husbsand Dr. Joshua Steinke for always supporting me!

And the biggest thank you to my God!”