Baby is here!! He's here! So crazy cool that we are now parents of 4 boys! We definitely didn't envision this when we said I do almost 9 years ago-- but here we are and it's just right! Our family is complete and we feel so grateful. Oh, he smells so good! But I digress. I wanted to share the labor and delivery experience with you all. It was truly different from his brothers'.
Two days before his official due date I woke up at 5 am and told hubby, "this is it!" I was surprised because all of our other boys decided to come the moment I hit my head on the pillow and this was the first time that I went into labor during the day; however, I was thankful for the good night's rest. Another difference of this labor was that contractions started super bearable as opposed to gut wrenching. They were about 10 minutes apart lasting about 60 seconds. We dropped the other boys off at grandma and grandpa's and called the midwife. She said to meet her at the birthing center at 8:00am and since the contractions were manageable we leisurely grabbed breakfast and went for a walk to help move things along. After the walk hubby asked how I was feeling...I laughed and said that I felt like I could run a marathon! lol..I was still walking and talking through contractions -- thinking all the while that I couldn't wait to hold my little guy in my arms!
We arrived at the birthing center around 8:30 am and I was still jovial and joking with the midwife. The room was so cozy and hubs joked that baby wasn't going to come that day because he's never seen me so calm during labor. Around 10:30 am everything changed. Contractions became stronger and I couldn't joke around anymore...it was going to be time to meet him soon! I stopped talking during contractions and needed hubby's help to apply pressure to my back. It was the only thing that helped! Back labor is a beast! lol! I had to remind myself to take it one at a time and just ride it out. I drank coconut water between contractions to keep my energy level up. I also entered the tub around that time and that really helped...oh yeah...and so did the soothing classical music. At one point the music stopped and I remember muttering that they need to put it back on. I looked out of the window and it was stormy; the trees were swaying and I remembered thinking that that's exactly how I felt on the inside but on the outside I remained calm. I then started to get super hot so I decided to get out of the tub.
Around 12:45 pm I sat on the toilet to relieve some of the pain in my back. I asked the midwife if I delivered him there if she could catch him and she said yes! lol! But he still had some rotating to do and I was about 9 centimeters dilated. She told me to gently push with each contraction. I then decided to move to the bed. Talk about being antsy...I just couldn't remain in one spot for too long! At that time the midwife showed me a mirror and there was baby's bulging amniotic sac that refused to pop. She said that it was super strong and that she hadn't seen it come out like that before. The pressure was intense and although I've heard of baby's being born in their sac I knew I didn't want that to be me! I asked her to break my waters and she said for me to be prepared for him to come right after...I said, "yes, that's what I want, I want him to come!" So she popped it! It felt so good! I then moved back to the tub and as soon as I got back in his head was there! I heard the midwife say to stop pushing because he's rotating...a few seconds felt like an hour and I thought, "can you just pull him out!?" ha-ha! With the next push there he was...in my arms! I wish I could bottle up that moment with each of my children. I was so thankful! It was the first time I saw one of my babies take their first breathe and at first I thought he was struggling to breathe but was assured that he still got oxygen from the umbilical cord. He arrived so calmly. My first thought was that he was so perfect and that I couldn't wait to love him outside of me! In my arms! He arrived at 1:00 pm and nursed right away for about 1 hour.
Although this is our last baby I'd definitely do it again and again for him! I feel blessed to have had all the boys naturally without any pain medication. Of course this is no judgement...a safe and happy baby and mama is always the goal! But I wanted to do it the way my mom did it. Truly women are amazing! I got this strong urge to just hug every new mom after I had him. There are some experiences that women share in common that's can't even be expressed by words. You just feel it.
We went home that that evening. It felt good to rest in my own bed! We have been loving him ever since! He is a sharp, determined little guy that doesn't want to leave my side for a second. He has a co-sleeper but when I put him into it he just looks at me like " I know you can't fit in here with me, who are we kidding, just go ahead and bring me in bed with you or 'm going to just cry really loud until I'm out of here". lol. So, like his brothers he's probably going to be sleeping with us until he's three! lol! So much for the nursery! His brothers love him to bits and they are so happy that he's here! So far they seem to be your favorite people!
Photo Credit : Linenko Photography
She's Amazing!!!!
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