I haven’t thought or talked much about Baby #4's birth since
it happened. Part of me is still trying
to come to terms with the fact that this is my last birth story. But I am thankful that I have amazing birth
stories to tell and that I will forever have the memories to cherish.
This birth story starts out like
the others, with mild contractions 10 minutes apart for a week. Luckily they were not painful and I was able to
sleep through them just fine.
On the night of the 24th, I woke up
to stronger contractions that were about 7 minutes apart. I thought this was the beginning of something,
so I woke up to time them and to walk a bit.
After about an hour and a half, they unfortunately got neither stronger,
nor closer together. I headed back to
bed.
When I got up the next morning, I
had a major melt down. I wasn’t upset
that I hadn’t had the baby yet; I was just irritated that my body wouldn’t stop
whatever it was doing. I felt like my
body was playing tricks on my mind!
After my melt down, Daddy decided to stay home from work (I think he may
have sensed something that I didn’t). He
watched the kids while I napped and went for a long walk, the whole time I was
still having contractions.
In the afternoon, the contractions
started to pick up a little and get stronger.
I was by no means in early labor, but after my last birth that lasted
all of about 20 minutes, I felt the need to call my midwife to warn her. She decided to come out, thinking that once
she got here things would pick up even more.
I also called my birth photographer, who decided to come out right away.
At this point, Daddy decided to get
the back yard set up for the birth.
After a week of 100 degree weather, the baby decided to make its
entrance on THE windiest and coolest day in June! So after the bamboo was put up for privacy,
Daddy had to put up tarps and ply wood to keep the wind and cold out of our “shelter”. I got busy cleaning up and pulling the birth
kit out. I was still having contractions
5 minutes apart but not painful, just mildly strong.
My midwife showed up around 5,
checked the baby and checked me. I was
5cm dilated and baby was doing great.
Awesome, let’s get this show on the road!! We finished setting everything up, decided
that we would still labor/birth outside, and headed out to walk more.
We walked, talked, hung out, and caught
up. Things didn’t seem to be picking up
very fast. I was baffled, all my labors
have gone really fast and I figured this would be the same. So we had dinner, baked cupcakes, got the
kids in bed and walked more. I was still
contraction every 5 minutes, again not painful just mildly strong.
Around 8 I got to the point where I
wasn’t sure these contractions were really doing anything. I had my midwife check me again and I was only
at a 7. I was thinking this was pure
craziness! She told me that my bag was
bulging and if I wanted her to break my water, she thought I would have a baby
in my arms within minutes. The thought
of that was appealing, but after talking it over with Daddy we decided it was
best to let nature take its course.
It was getting late and the sun was
starting to go down. The wind was
picking up and it was cold. I really
wanted to deliver outside but everyone was concerned about the weather. My midwife was so accommodating; I thought
for sure she was going to tell me we needed to take it inside. Instead we decided to put all the blankets on
a warmer and bring out a space heater. She said as long as the baby and I were warm,
nothing else mattered.
For the next hour I walked circles
around the mattress we had brought outside, hoping desperately for things to
start progressing. Everyone else stayed
inside and came to check on me periodically.
By 9:30, I was exhausted. Not
from the labor, but because it was past my bedtime and I had been walking for
the last 9 hours. My contractions were
still the same, 5 minutes apart and mildly strong but not yet painful or
powerful enough. Daddy and I went inside
to talk and sit for a bit. He tried to
lift my spirits, but he seemed tired also.
We started talking about having my water broken and while trying to decide
what to do, I had one big contraction that took me by surprise. Half way through it there was a pop and there
went my water. Yay, progress! For a brief moment, I panicked. I know what happens when my water breaks, my
babies come fast and I wasn’t ready for it.
I reminded myself that this is the fourth time I have done this, I can
do this.
We headed back outside. Everyone prepared for things to pick up and
for the baby to arrive quickly. 5
minutes passed, only one mild contraction.
Realizing this may be a while, I was covered in warm blankets. Everyone else was shivering. 5 more minutes passed and another mild
contraction. Another 5 minutes passed
and one more mild contraction. Finally
after another minutes, I had my first urge to push. Then nothing for another 5 minutes! I looked up at my midwife at this point and
said “What the hell is going on? Why is this taking forever?” Everyone laughed, but I know they were all
thinking the same thing. After that I
had another mild contraction and then things picked up. Daddy got ready to catch the baby as soon as
he heard me cuss during my first real push.
Apparently he told everyone that when I cuss, that is a sure sign that
the baby is almost here. I didn’t hear
him say it, but I was thinking the same thing.
After two big pushes, babies head
was out. And we finally realized why
everything took so long… the babies hand was next to its face, making a larger circumference
and an odd shape to fit through the cervix.
I pushed his body out with ease, right into Daddy’s hands. Daddy gave
the baby a quick look over and then placed the baby in front of me. Immediately I looked to see boy or girl? I already had a good feeling of what baby was
going to be, so when I saw he was a boy I said to myself “Yeah, you’re a boy.” I picked him up and just held him, while
Daddy held me. It was beyond perfect.
We stayed like that for a good 15
minutes. Then Daddy picked us both up
and took us off to bed, where I pigged out on leftovers and the baby was
checked.
June 25th 2012 @ 10:28pm.
Our new baby boy is perfect as can
be. 7lbs 3oz and 21½ inches long.
It took us over a week, but we finally decided on a name. Maddox Edward Lake.
