Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The birth of Henry James

Our precious baby boy has arrived! Henry made his appearance on June 19th (one day before my official due date). He weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 ½ inches long.
I wanted to share his birth story for those of you that have asked to hear it. Everything went so well and it was one of my easiest labors!  We are so thankful to God for this precious little life that He has blessed us with.
I started having contractions on Sunday that were a little more painful than the usual Braxton Hicks so I started wondering if our baby was on his way. The contractions were still very far apart and only lasting around 30 seconds so I knew I was still far from active labor. I slept horrible Sunday night which made me worried if things started to kick into gear Monday I would be too exhausted! I continued to have contractions Monday but they were still sporadic and only lasting around 30 seconds. I took the kids to the library, to lunch and just tried to just go about my daily activities as usual. I was so wiped out and feeling horrible from my lack of sleep the night before as soon as the kids went down for naps I laid down and took a nice long nap too. I felt so rested when I woke up and so much better!
After the kids woke up I asked Paul if we could walk around the mall for a little bit to see if that would help get things going. My sister agreed to keep the kids for us for a few hours so we headed off to the Polaris Mall. I continued having contractions but they were still about the same. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant which was nice because little did we know it would be our last night out without kids for awhile ;) After, we went back to my sister's I sat in the rocking chair on her porch and rocked through some bigger contractions for awhile which was really nice. We decided to have Ella and Micah stay the night just in case I would be in active labor in the early morning. Rilynn usually sleeps very well and very late so we took her with us because she would likely sleep through the whole thing. We headed home and went to bed and sure enough around 4:00am I was awaken by a painful contraction that was definitely about a minute long. After a few more of these same type of contractions hit me that were10-15 minutes apart I text my midwife to let her know where we were at in my labor. Paul started to fill up the birth tub which I quickly found relaxation in!
My sister came over around 6ish and suggested we go for a walk which didn’t sound fun to me at all but I wanted this labor to go fast and was determined to do whatever it takes to speed things along. We went for a walk around neighborhood around 6:15ish while she timed my contractions. We walked for about 45 minutes and then came home and fell asleep for a little on the couch while Paul tried to get the downstairs TV working which he never did ;) I went upstairs to take a shower since the hot water had come back from filling the tub. I took a long shower and it felt so good! The hot water really helped ease the contraction pain. After the shower I laid down for a little but decided to get up and get ready since I wanted the baby out!
As I was getting ready we watched some of the Today Show and I had a few bigger contractions that I walked up and down the hall during to help them be more effective. They were definitely getting stronger since I was starting to feel nauseous after each one. I finished getting ready and decided to get back in tub because things were certainly progressing. I was in the tub for awhile and in the meantime Kym took Rilynn to her house so it was just Paul and I for a little bit. I got out of the tub to use the bathroom and had one of the biggest contractions yet!! I realized after that getting out of the tub wasn't going to work for me!
By the time Kym came back my contractions were around 3 ½ min apart and I was having more signs of progression! I started feeling more pressure too so I knew he was moving down. I got back in the tub and Kym text Kelley, one of my midwives to give her a status update. She decided it was time for them to come. By the time they came I was at transition. I had a few more big contractions, one of which made me throw up and after that I was feeling the need to push. I started hitting my wall where I announce "I can't do it!" also known as the rock and the hard place where you don't want to go on but you don't want to stay in the position you are in either. I also knew this signaled the end and needed to do my darnedest to push the baby out so I could be out of pain and hold my sweet boy.
It was actually quite in the room (which is unlike me) we had the iPod playing and I heard my favorite song come on and took that as a signal to begin the final stage. Two pushes later (my fastest push time yet) at 11:56am Henry was born in the water! They brought him up to my chest and put a towel around him. He was tiny and absolutely perfect! I was so relieved to be done and holding my baby!! I don't think I could have dreamed of a better labor! Everything was perfect! It was so relaxing and peaceful. I wish I would have done water births with my other babies. I nursed Henry for a while after and then Paul cut the cord. I was able to shower after, while my midwives checked Henry over and when I got out I had fresh clean sheets on my bed and I was able to lay in my bed snuggling and nursing Henry the rest of the day :)
My amazing sister helped clean up and made food for Paul and I to eat. She even came over in the evening and brought us a delicious dinner! I have the greatest sister ever! I also have to give a shout out to my amazing husband who is completely supportive of my "crazy" birth ideas. He has supported and coached me through four natural births! He has been super dad these last few weeks taking care of all the kids and I and has been keeping us afloat during this crazy transition. I also have to thank my awesome brother in law Kurt who watched all of our kids on top of his three kids while I was in labor! Kurt is one of the hardest working people I know and when he's not working 24 hr shifts at the fire department he's either mowing lawns, landscaping or he's farming his 65 acres of land. For him to take a day and watch 6 kids was extremely gracious of him and an enormous help to us!
We are still trying to get adjusted to being a family of six! I'm not leaving the house much these days and thing are pretty crazy at times but we are trying to soak in every second with Henry because we know how fast this stage goes. It's amazing how we can't imagine life without him even though he's only been a part of our family for a short time. We can't wait to watch him grow and thrive and make new memories with him.




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Sitting in the tub relaxing
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We added his name to the side of the birth tub along with all the other babies that were born in it :)
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Meeting their new baby brother
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Auntie Kym
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All clean after his first bath

2 comments:

Whitney @ The Sweetest Things said...

Aw this is so sweet! I'm so glad you had such an amazing experience! And what a cute boy you have! I can't wait to have a newborn in the house again :)

Whitney

Carrie said...

Oh how wonderful, Andrea! Praise God for such a great experience. I'm excited for my first home birth and hope it goes as well as yours have!