Birth Story of Winston Wade Teeter



I am so thankful to be home with a very precious third son who I was able to have the privilege of birthing. I love all three of my boys and am so happy that I get to raise them and appreciate all of the ways in which God chose to have them in my life.

Due to Gestational Diabetes, and a Positive GBS test the plan was to have Winston come into this world through an induction, the process beginning with cervical gel on the morning of August 31st, and then a full induction on the morning of September 1st.

I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am on August 31st and had the Cervical "tampon" (as it seemed) placed inside of my cervix at around 9 am. I then had to stay in the hospital for about 2 hours to check that everything was okay prior to me going home. The nurses and Doctor kept telling me that "typically the Cervical Gel alone does not work" and that I would be in tomorrow morning regardless to have the full induction. Not true in my case. I started having notable contractions within an hour (perhaps less). At around 11 am the contractions were regular, but being the stubborn person I am I told them that I felt confident about going home, and that I would be "just fine". Once home (a 5 minute drive mind you) my contractions were about 1.5 minutes apart, and each contraction was lasting about a minute. I wanted to labor at home as long as I could, and since this was my first time I wasn't really aware what was "normal" in regard to contractions.

My mom came to the house and felt that it would be a good idea for me to head back to the hospital, given that my contractions were coming so close together. I was home long enough to sit in the bath for a bit, and bounce on a birthing ball, only to arrive back at the hospital an hour and a half later. When I arrived the contractions were just one after the other, and really not a lot of time inbetween (about 30 seconds). They did a cervical check and found that within that 2 hour span, I had progressed to 5 cm dilated. Woah!

I was brought into the labor room, and proceeded to have back to back contractions (with only 30 seconds to 1 minute in between). They were trying to figure out how to slow down the contractions, without impeding the progress I was having in the labor. Because I was not getting a break between contractions they were worried about the duration I would have to be able to push without having a rest inbetween contractions. They decided to break my water to see how it would affect my contractions. After they broke my water, within 1 hour I went from 5 cm dilated to 8 cm dilated, and was in a lot of pain. My contractions were still shorter and on top of one another, so I was progressing quickly but the duration of contractions were not quality, and I had little rest inbetween them. At that point I was really tired, and was worried about pushing, but I was beyond the point of being able to have an epidural. They decided to give me a spinal tap (which is normally reserved for C-Sections) to see if it would slow down my contractions, and give me rest periods and help make the contractions longer. I was disappointed because the Spinal Tap didn't give me the relief I was hoping for in total, but it did make it so my contractions slowed down, and lessened the back labor pains. The problem is they slowed down too much, and then they had to give me Oxycontin to speed them back up again. I was in the 8-10 cm zone for about 6 hours, including pushing. I do remember having the strong sensation to push at 8cm and the nurses and doctor kept telling me I wasn't allowed to. Having to hold back those instincts to push were probably the hardest part about the whole labor process for me. The pain was so immense, and my body seemed to naturally want to push downwards.

The Spinal Tap wore off after 1 hour, which was a good thing because I was able to push better when it got to that time. 10 cm is where things got comical. I remember yelling at the nurses and Doctors telling them "I refuse to push until you give me either an epidural or a C-Section". Adam kindly let them know I was nuts and not to listen to me. The Doctor reminded me that I no longer could have an epidural and that I just needed to push. I started pushing, and I was amazed at how much better it felt to push the pain away rather than just sitting there having to deal with contractions. The only issue was that the Spinal Tap, even though it had worn off on my back and stomach, managed to keep my legs frozen. It felt very strange to try and push with frozen legs. I pushed for a total 2 hours, and I started feeling like something was wrong. I kept having the sensation of his head sort of coming out, but then going back in again after a push. This sensation went on for about an hour, and I could tell there wasn't a lot of progress happening. I told the Doctor that something wasn't right. She informed me that he wasn't in the right position and that his chin was facing up, not down which was making it hard for me to push him out. At this point I was so tired because of the labor progressing so quickly and my crappy contractions so they called in another Doctor to do a vacuum extraction. This was great because he came out within in three minutes of the vacuum being placed, and 2 pushes on my part.

When he came out I was so overwhelmed by how the pain just seemed to disappear. I just couldn't believe I pushed this baby out, and that he was now in the world for me to take care of. Very hard to describe, but a feeling I will never forget and will always cherish. It took two hours for them to stitch me up.....let me just tell you that everything that could tear did- so you can imagine what recovery will look like.

So overall the labor took about 10 hours, with the majority of that being in the 8-10 cm zone. I did not expect it to happen as quickly, especially since this was my first birth.






(My loving husband taking a selfie of me at 10 cm dilated.....)

I am so elated to have this little miracle here with me. I just can't believe that God blessed us with him. It is such a privilege to have both adopted and birthed children. Each experience is unique, and the love I have is the same for all of them. 




Blessed with 3 Miracles


Adam and I have exciting news to share. First we were blessed with our son Pierce through Public adoption, then we were blessed with our son Isaac through International adoption, and now I am 19 weeks along with our third blessing via the biological root. This miracle comes after 4 heartbreaking miscarriages, and very little hope that this way of having children would be a possibility for me. But we felt like we should keep trying simply because we had a feeling that there was a child that was meant to come to us through this way. In no way does it feel more exciting than adoption, and I am so blessed to have my children in any way God chose to bring them into my family's life. The due date is September 10, but since I will likely be induced (due to being higher risk) I could have another bundle in my arms as soon as the end of August. 

Our pregnancy happened the good ol' fashion way and I am currently not receiving any special care (and I hope it continues to stay that way). I am considered higher risk just because of my history of pregnancy losses, but I continue to pray and hope that God will keep this baby in our lives here on earth. Prayers, however, would be appreciated because I often get anxious and am constantly checking for a heartbeat with my doppler. But God is bigger than my worries and I do my best to rely on Him.  

We will be doing a gender reveal very soon because we do have an idea of what we are carrying and are excited to share it with you all :) Boy or girl, we are very happy to welcome another kiddo into our Circus ;)



A Call To All Parents: Teach Your Kids About Diversity

Hey, you. Yes you. The parent who is turning your head away from the situation that our kids find themselves in, the one where your kid is telling my kid he has a "funny face", and you are too shocked and nervous to do anything about it. You would rather pretend it didn't happen. And maybe you got into your car, and you said a few things about being nice to other kids, and how some kids look "different" and we need to be nice to them anyways. Or maybe it was easier for you to just pretend that it didn't happen. Or maybe you don't really care at all. 

But it did happen. My kid went home feeling like he had little worth because your kid thought making fun of him was a fun game. Did you notice how he hid from your child after that happened? How he hid in the corner and sat for a long time alone, and needed the encouragement to continue to play around your child. 

Hey, you. Yes you. The mom who watched as your children pretended my child was a "monster" and invented their own game running away from him. It seemed like a lot of fun for them. I know deep down you knew your kids shouldn't be doing this, but I suppose your defense mechanism was to laugh it off and pretend it was "cute" behavior. Maybe you were a bit shocked to see your kiddos doing this because 9 times out of 10 they are sweet as pie? Well kids, like all people, aren't perfect. They need help learning right from wrong. It would have been really nice if you had of intervened and stopped them from playing this game rather than smiling it off. This would have been an excellent time for you to teach your kids about diversity and the value of individuals with special needs. But you wasted that moment. You will find another, and hopefully you step up to the plate. 

That night I had to tell my child in the best way that I could that he was not a monster. That he was a wonderful, loving person who deserved to be surrounded by all sorts of people who saw his worth. 

Hey, you. Yes you. The parent who has never talked about special needs with your kids because it just has never been something you thought you needed to talk about, or maybe you think it is the job of the teachers, or you have decided you will cross that bridge if it comes (it will, many times). Or maybe you have had one or two casual conversations about special needs, but it has not gone much further than that. Or maybe you have never even thought about doing it because it isn't something you yourself learned early on. I am here to tell you it matters. It matters that your kids know that being cruel, or viewing someone with special needs as anything other than valuable, wonderfully made, and worthy, is one of the most important things they will ever learn in life. And this lesson needs to be repeated more than once, because, well, they are kids after-all and may not understand a lesson fully the first time around. This lesson will take them very far indeed and open them up to so many rich relationships, and new experiences. It will help them learn empathy, and they will become wonderful advocates, maybe even for their own children with special needs one day. There are consequences if you choose not to teach them these values. You are responsible for them having the knowledge they need to comfortably and confidently interact with every person they come across who is typical, or not typical. 

Like I said, there are consequences to you not being in charge of this learning experience for them. 

Hey, you. Yes you. The mom who is pointing at my son and laughing while your own daughter looks embarrassed beside you. You moved so quickly past us that we didn't have a chance to tell you how sorry we feel for you. You missed an amazing opportunity to meet a wonderful little boy, and the chance to teach your daughter a very good lesson about diversity (although it seems she may be learning something from your bad behavior alone). I am sorry your caregiver did not teach you these values. I imagine you have grown up being angry about, or fearful of differences, and your life could have felt so much more richer and fuller had someone just taught you better. 

But I forgive you, and countless others after you. I will teach my son forgiveness, too, and his brother, and they will grow up knowing that some people just weren't taught the same values they were, and that evil exists in this world, and they will rise above it. I will read them all sorts of books, like "Special People, Special Ways", or "My Friend Isabelle", "A Rainbow of Friends", or maybe "Views from Our Shoes". I will take the time to research as many books as I can, and pick the ones that will best speak to my kiddos about diversity. Because it is my responsibility to teach them about acceptance, appreciation of differences, love and empathy. I will encourage them to be friendly to kiddos who have special needs. I will make a point to have play dates with parents who have kids with special needs, and find ways to break down barriers so that our kids can have a blast with one another. If they have questions about people with special needs, I will answer them, or better yet, I will get them to interact with people who have special needs and can answer those questions better than I can. And if there ever comes the sad day when my children discriminate against another individual, for whatever difference they possess, right then and there they will be taught that that behavior is unacceptable. That behavior will never be acceptable in this household, and it shouldn't be acceptable in yours either. 

So be a better parent. Teach your children about special needs, don't wait. Don't assume one conversation will do it. Be an active participant in your kiddos tapping into that side of themselves that will make it so posts like this never have to be written again. Your kids are too important, this lesson is too important, for you to ignore it. Your kids deserve the opportunity to be friends with wonderful people like my son. They need to be taught that making fun of him, or people who are not typical, is wrong. They likely won't know this lesson on their own. Help them be comfortable with the differences that they see around them. Not just comfortable with these differences, but to celebrate them. 

This is Isaac. 
He has achondroplasia. That means he is shorter than most people. He has a bit of a larger head. His arms and legs are shorter, but his torso is average size. He can do everything that a typical sized person can do. Sometimes he needs to use a stool. Sometimes he needs a bit of help when he walks, or goes up stairs. But don't assume he can't do most things on his own. In fact, he likes to be independent, and prefers not to be treated younger because of his short stature. Isaac is learning to speak English, so he does not talk a lot, but he understands almost everything you are saying to him. People like Isaac prefer to be called a "little person" or "a person with dwarfism". They do not want to be called "a midget". Isaac is a very happy, loving person. He loves reading books, and watching Paw Patrol. If you say "hello" to him, he might be a bit shy, or he will say "hello" back. If you get to know him better he will likely view you as very dear to him, and want to be your friend. Get to know someone like Isaac. You will be happy that you did.