Once upon a New Year's Day, I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to pretty strong contractions. They weren't overwhelming, I just knew they were doing some work and it was possible that they could get closer together and stronger. I started to get excited at the thought of having the baby on New years day.
'Twas not to be. The contractions got further apart and by breakfast time they had pretty much stopped altogether.
We went about the day, rang in the New Year (because we had gone to bed early), watched movies, played games. The kids had slept at Grammy & Oompa's house so Aunt Julie and Aunt Kimberly brought Ben, Sarah and Josh home that afternoon.
I felt like my belly was ten pounds heavier. It may have been. It was so heavy.
That afternoon, contractions started coming more regularly. Not anything I could time, just every now and again.
Well, we got Redd and Josh into bed about 7:00 and then Sarah at 8:00. I was thinking maybe the contractions were closer together but didn't say anything to anyone. Nevertheless, I got my birthing ball out and used that as my chair at the table for a game of Ticket to Ride with Zach and Ben.
In hindsight I probably should have said something out loud. The contractions were coming closer together and harder and I lost my mucus plug... I still hadn't told Zach. Well after the game was over he decided that he would head downtown. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal, but during the time he would've been gone Reddick woke up and was pretty upset. By that time I was contracting pretty regularly and they were really strong. There is no way I would've been able to take care of Reddick.
So, good thing that he followed the spirit, came back after he'd made it halfway down the road. Turns out I needed him. :)
I texted my family about 10:30. This was a bit premature but I wanted to give them a heads up before it got too late. If indeed I did have a baby that night, I wanted them to pray for me. :)
I tidied up the house and then decided to get some sleep. That decision turned out to be kind of a joke. No sleep would come until 8 o'clock the next morning.
Although it was restful to be in my bed having these contractions, they were a lot more difficult. I was pretty sure at this point that we were going to have a baby tonight.
Well Zach took care of Reddick, gave him a snack, another bottle and got him back to bed about one... all the while I was in our room having contractions. I was really grateful that I had practiced relaxation on my own. Zach called his mom and she came up for just in case Reddick woke up again. She ended up sleeping downstairs until the kids woke up in the morning. Having her there gave us Zach & I, peace of mind.
After Zach got Reddick to bed, he started blowing up, then filling up the birthing pool.
Because my birth coach was otherwise engaged, I timed the contractions with the stopwatch on my phone. This very simple task becomes more difficult when you are in labor, I came to find out. :)
We called our midwife Heather about midnight.The contractions were consistent but they were still about 9-10 minutes apart. So Heather said to keep her posted. At 1:30 they were 5 to 6 minutes apart. I texted Heather about 2 o'clock, just after I had the urge to push because I was freaking out, and I asked her if she was on her way. At this point my water was still intact and I didn't want it to break before she got there, because my history is that the baby soon follows.
Heather got there at 2:45 and I got in the pool. I knew I would like the pool, I didn't realize I would love it so much! Maybe I loved it too much because I just relaxed in there for another couple hours. Yes I still contracted consistently, it was just so much easier to relax through them in the pool...honestly, I felt like it was too easy. Then 4 o'clock rolled around, the birth assistant, Melanie arrived and I started to get worried. I have four other children that live in our home and I was afraid we wouldn't have the baby before they woke up. In between contractions I kept working. I tried to breath the baby down. Who knows if that helped, it felt good to be doing something. Well, since my water was still intact I decided to get up and walk to the bathroom in hopes that it would break. Well, it didn't.
I got back to the pool and draped myself over the side and relaxed with my arms hanging outside the pool and kneeling on my knees. I asked them to add hot water to the pool. I love that feeling of hot water. It seemed to help me relax and bring contractions. Up until this point, Zach was awesome at keeping a wet cloth on my forehead and giving me ice chips. He was a wonderful support!
At this point I was still contracting -felt like they were good contractions they just weren't painful and the urge to push was never strong enough that I really felt like I HAD to push. By this time I was long since frustrated so I started to pray that Heavenly Father would send harder contractions. He answers prayers!
The next contraction was so hard that it broke my water, brought the baby down and his head out.
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. It was the kind of shocked where you realize, "oh crap, I'm stuck, I have to go through this and this hurts...BAD!" I started groping for Zach. It was crazy how much I needed him and his support. He held my hands and forearms strong and that helped me gain control of my breathing and calm down.
When Zach and I talked about the labor later, we realized we were both praying for harder contractions at the same time. I told him he wasn't allowed to pray for stuff like that unless HE is in labor! :)
Well, in that contraction I didn't push the head all the way out and it went back in. Which hurts, FYI. :)
I felt like I was loosing feeling in my thighs so I turned around and sat down. Plus, that position for pushing was not awesome for me. The next contraction I was able to push his head out and I was much more controlled. It was liberating to feel in control. I was able to reach down and touch his head which I had never done before. I loved that. He had hair!
I should note here that my midwife is awesome. I love her. She was very attentive and calm. The way she understands and supports natural birth is so cool!
She vocalized to me all the things she was doing to make sure baby was alright after his head came out. (this is something I talked her quite a bit about before because, um, his head is underwater! :) ) Anyway, she put her pinky in his mouth and he sucked on it, she shone a flashlight in at his head and pushed with her finger on his head to see the color and of course was checking heart beats and such. I really appreciated her telling me what she was doing and how he was handling everything.
The following contraction came and I pushed him all the way out. Heather handed him up to me, I felt his little balls and told Zach we had another boy! Relief, joy, wonder, amazement, love, excitement, relief and probably other emotions flooded my mind! Birth is amazing.
Melanie put a warm towel over Jacob and wiped off some of the vernix. He was covered in it. So therefore, I was too. I thought I'd never have to use lotion again, that stuff makes your skin smooth!
I just sat there and enjoyed holding Jacob. Such sweetness. We kept his towel wet with warm water until I passed the placenta. I gave Jacob to Zach, then I got out of the water. Warm towels and blankets had been in the dryer so they wrapped us up and got me clean and dry and dressed and into bed. What a wonderful feeling! Love my bed!
I was then given Jacob again and nursed him for quite a while. They used this time to clean everything up.
After he was done eating, they weighed and measured him and I practically fell asleep. I was exhausted!
Jacob weighed 9 pounds, 4 ounces and was 22 inches long. Our biggest baby. He didn't look as chubby as Reddick because he was 2 inches longer. Boy, he was perfect.
Joshua was the first one to wake up and meet the baby again. He was so excited!
My midwife needed to stitch me up so Zach took Jacob downstairs to meet Grammy and Ben and Sarah.
Then they all came back upstairs just as Reddick was waking up. This was about 7 o'clock.
When they all came into the room, Benjamin came right over to me, gave me a hug and said, "thanks for our baby mom!" Melted my heart and brought tears to my eyes. What a sweetheart.
Reddick was surprisingly super sweet with Jacob. It was amazing to watch them meet each other. Gosh, there are not words adequate for some moments.
After all the excitement, Jacob and I got to have some blissful and much needed sleep. What a night!
I feel so grateful for how this delivery went. I prayed that I would feel more in control, that I would be able to relax and be at peace knowing that all would work out. It was a wonderful and liberating experience. I know that my Heavenly Father heard my prayers before and during this delivery. I am grateful to have been a participant in bringing this sweet, sweet spirit to earth.
Jacob Maxwell Nielson, I am so glad to be YOUR Mom!
