I stopped posting to this blog because I was told that I needed to get a new email account and as I already have five accounts, I didn't want to get a new one. But hey, somehow I'm able to post again without a new account. So time to update! We are finally in our Home-to-End-All-Moves homes (God willing): Nativity House, a 4 bedroom 1900 vintage farm house in town. We moved 9 days after The Son was born.
Christian-Samuel was born at 4 am on May 7. Here's his birth story.
Just wanting to (finally) announce the birth of our first son, Christian-Samuel Anthony, who came out on Wednesday, May 7, at 4 am. Like two of his older sisters, he was born at home. Labor started weeks before :) but began to increase on Tuesday night around 10:30. I had one hour of sleep that evening, but woke up to use the facility, I was having contractions (not much different from the prior many weeks, though with back pain during contractions and more menstrual like). I decided to time some, they were about 7-8 minutes apart, and got progressively stronger. About an hour later, they suddenly jumped closer together, and were fairly strong, so I decided that it was really labor!!
I woke Chris, and told him that it was time to start filling our big tub and call the midwives. After a bit of persuading, he did. The waters began trickling out during contractions at around 12:15. The midwives arrived soon after and we all hung out downstairs (where Chris had set up the tub). I decided that I was just going to have a good time with this birth, and honestly it went really well. I was in good spirits, and the contractions were manageable all the way through the first stage, with slow breathing and relaxing and moving around a lot. Like with Kateri's birth, they never really got all that close together, giving me some big breaks in between. I felt the baby poke my cervix with his finger, and mentioned that I thought he had his hand up by his face. Then around 1:30 or so I began to bear down. I thought it was too soon as it had all seemed too easy thus far. Jane (my midwife) told me that it probably wasn't too soon as the contractions had been good and strong.
So around 2 am, I began really pushing in earnest. This is when what I had begun to think of as my easiest labor got tougher. The little guy's head was well the biggest one I've ever encountered thus far. I pushed as hard as I could and nothing was happening. I decided
that maybe if I got out of the tub, I'd have more gravity and maybe that would help. I was pushing and shouting and making quite frankly a tremendous amount of noise. I pushed outside of the tub for awhile, and then Jane asked if she could check me because we were both wondering if I was really complete after all (I was). She checked for his hand too but couldn't feel it. I pushed outside of the tub from 2 am to 3:30 am. At one point, I felt a sudden release of this incredible tension, which felt SOOOO good, and wondered if he had moved his hand at last. I was changing positions very often, asking for the double hip squeeze, and trying every trick I knew. By this time, I was also VERY tired, the most exhausted I've ever been in labor. I just wanted to be able to go to sleep. I even tried (ha). I was whining and complaining. Things frankly weren't that fun anymore. I began to be beset with an astoundingly long period of doubts and tempting thoughts. I was fighting them, but they just kept coming. I just didn't feel his head move at all, not even a tiny bit. I felt that I'd already proved to myself and to the world several times that I could do the no drugs home birth thing, and frankly I was just not all that interested in trying to do it again. I was tired, I was in pain, and I just wanted to get it over as quickly as possible. I told (not asked) my midwife that I wanted her to take me to the hospital so they could just cut the baby out (yes, I really said that). She said we couldn't go (yes, she really said that). I was rather...perturbed...but then she asked if I wanted some honey. I was amazed at how it instantaneously perked me up.
This was around 3:30 am. Jane asked if I wanted to get back into the tub. I reluctantly agreed and immediately after getting back into the tub, the doubts and temptations just ceased. I don't know why, but figured maybe somebody prayed for me. I was basically in a trance-like state between contractions and pushing for all I was worth during contractions. Then I realized that if I wanted him to get out, I was going to have to push even harder and "push through the pain". My next thought was if I pushed any harder, I was going to have hemorrhoids after the birth. Well, I realized that I'd just have to get hemorrhoids (which was in fact what happened!!) I pushed that little bit harder and finally his head began to move. There was this amazing level of pain and then a huge release. His head was born! NOT. He had finally slipped through the outlet, but his head was still inside. I couldn't believe I had to push his head out AGAIN. But at that point, I did it. Then I had to push out his shoulders. Then his hips. Then he was FINALLY FINALLY born. 4 am.
Jane passed the little guy through my legs (I was on hands and knees) and I held him. He was so incredibly exhausted that he didn't even move or try to breathe. He wouldn't even open his eyes. He even had indentations on both sides of his head where he had passed through my bones. Jane told me to put my mouth over his and give him some little breaths. We were all talking with him and stroking him, suctioning him, trying to get the little guy to breathe. I was worried, but not panicked, because Jane kept feeling the cord and saying that it was still pulsating so I knew he was getting some oxygen. Finally he opened his mouth and breathed. We both crashed for the next two hours, and only after that did either one of us wake up enough to begin to bond. Thankfully, the recovery went well for both of us, except for a very sore throat for me from all that "vocalizing". In the end, I was glad Jane said no about not going to the hospital, because I think we both avoided some interventions that way, and got to rest together at home right from the start, but I can understand better now why someone would make that choice...
He was 8 lbs. 12 oz. (minus meconium passed at birth); 21 inches long; 14 1/2 inch head. A big boy!
We're both happy and healthy now.
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