Birth Story of Baby #4

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 24^th, 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.