I am not entirely sure where this birth story starts. This baby was a tease and I contracted on and off all week. I would sleep lightly at night through waves of light contractions, hoping something would happen soon! On Thursday evening I had some pretty regular contractions but they petered out during the night. The next morning I went for a nice long walk with the boys on the bike and Finley in the stroller. I had finally finished everything I needed to get done before baby came, and tried to relax and enjoy the day. Everyone was pretty tired when we got back. After a quick lunch I tucked Finley in for a nap and then snuggled into my big bed with the other two boys. We all had a nice, long 2 1/2 hour nap! I didn't know how needed and inspired the nap was until later that night.
When we woke up we went and met up with some friends at the park. While pushing Joe on the swing, I got a few good contractions. When we got home the kids ate a snack and I started recording the time between contractions. They were 7-10 minutes apart and strong enough to make walking difficult. I smiled to myself as I thought about how our babies always come on weekends! I went ahead and made dinner while the kids played downstairs. When Mike got home I showed him my sheet of paper where I had been recording contractions and he went to work loading the carseat and hospital bag. He really didn't want to have a baby on our long drive into the hospital. We scarfed down our dinner and called a friend to stay with the kids while my sister made her way to our house. Mike gave me a blessing of comfort and strength before we left. As I said good-bye I felt surprisingly calm and ready.
We purposely decided to head to the hospital nice and early since it's a 45 minute drive. We anticipated spending the evening walking around the mall waiting for things to pick up. When we got to the mall my contractions were five minutes apart and we decided to keep driving towards the hospital. We stopped at a store to pick up some snacks and I gave a quick call to my midwife to update her. My contractions were 4-5 minutes apart, lasting one minute. She told me she would call her backup and meet us at the hospital as soon as she could. We slowly made our way over there to be admitted. I was feeling nauseous, cold, and shaky and hoped this meant things would be quick.
My last labor was hard for me mentally. After a stillbirth I was worried about the complications. I knew what to expect and was scared of the pain. This time I was determined to be more mentally zoned in on my body and what was happening.
We arrived at the hospital around 8:30pm and I calmly walked up to the labor unit where we met up with Hayley and Kim (my awesome mother-daughter midwife team). We got a nice, quiet room with dimmed lights. I got changed, walked, swayed, leaned on the bed. Around 9:30 I had to breath pretty good through contractions. I closed my eyes with each one and let it wash over me. My midwife reminded me to relax my shoulders and let the contractions work. I braced myself against the wall for each one while Mike pushed hard on my lower back to ease the back labor I always get. I was reminded of Hyrum's birth and the way Mike and I worked together through the labor. Knowing he was by my side made me feel safe. I zoned out from everything going on around me. Kim placed a hot pack on my back and I concentrated on the relief from the heat. I closed my eyes and practiced my breathing while Mike and my midwife team quietly talked in the background between contractions. When he noticed me contracting he would rush to my side and help where he could. We made a good team!
Things got intense pretty quick and I could feel my body doing what it was supposed to do. My water broke all on it's own, and the adrenaline quickly followed. Hayley and Kim helped me into the bed. It felt familiar. This was where I birthed all of my babies. It was what I knew.
When it came time to push there was no blaring lights, no doctor taking off the bottom of the bed to catch the baby. It was calm and peaceful and just what I wanted.
Mike bet that baby would arrive around 11:30. We've done this a few times and he knows how my body works. I pushed for 15-20 minutes. Every time I started saying I couldn't do it anymore, my midwives would stop me with a quick, "Yes, you can! You're doing great!" Hearing that this baby had some hair peeked my curiosity and sped up my desire to meet him or her soon. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard on what my body needed to do. I prayed for strength and kept breathing to stay calm. Before I knew it Daddy had caught the baby and we were hearing the first cries. Daddy was brave and wonderful and it was so great to have him by my side. Baby was immediately placed on my chest and a warmed blanket cozied around us.
Since no one had declared the gender, I had to ask. "It's a boy!" declared Daddy. I totally thought he was joking. I whole heartedly believed that this babe was going to be a girl. I had to check for myself, because I really didn't believe Mike! After checking, the first words out of my mouth were, "Camilla is going to kill me!" The poor girl was really rooting for a little sister.
He was so beautiful, and of course I fell in love with his squishy little body right away. My favorite part about birthing with a midwife is the time and stillness they give you to enjoy the new babe. He wasn't being whisked away to be weighed and measured. They let us cuddle until the cord stopped pulsing and then Daddy did the honors and cut the cord. The room was quiet and peaceful.
He had his first big poop and a pee while he nursed. Hayley cleaned him up for me, and then passed him over to Daddy for a snuggle. They didn't even weigh and measure him until after I had showered and changed. He was 7lbs 15oz and 21" long.
I knew that we could go home as soon as we wanted, but given how tired I was, and the fact that it was close to 3:00am before we were all settled in under fresh blankets, I opted to stay for a while and sleep. The hospital staff kindly agreed, on the condition that they wouldn't have to come in and check us (which was perfect, because then I could sleep!) I dozed on and off, nursed when Ollie needed it, and admired him in the dimly lit hospital room. I loved the way he slept with his hands curled up around his face. I oogled over the peach fuzz on his cheeks. I admired the way his long wisps of dark, smooth hair tickled his neck, and stared into his bright eyes as he looked at his new world.
Shortly after 6:00am a nurse quietly knocked at the door and informed us that they had a few ladies coming in to the hospital and really needed the room. I woke Mike and we dressed Oliver into some warm clothes for the car ride home.
We drove into the sunrise and watched the pink sky change to orange and then blue. We stopped for a quick breakfast and ate in the van in silence before coming home to excited siblings, eagerly awaiting to find out if they had a new baby brother or sister.
