Baby #3 has arrived! - UPDATED with birth story #41

Congratulations!

 

Congratulations!!! He is so cute and wow, 9# he looks like he's 3 months old already .

 

You are making my ovary ache! (i only have one). Congrats, he is adorable and I love the name.

 

Congratulations! I have an 11/24 baby, too! It's a great b-day

 

He's stunning! Congratulations!

 

Thank you everyone for all of the congratulations! I can't believe it's been over a week already since Emmett arrived. It's been pretty amazing & so, so, so different having one full term newborn at home rather than two preemie newborns in the NICU. So far, so good. *knock on wood*

So I thought I'd share some more details of my birth story. This is my first kick at the can writing it down so hopefully it makes some kind of sense. I find it's a weird thing about labour - you sort of have snippets that are really clear, but not necessarily in context, and you need to rely on other people to fill in some of the details, and yet no one has your own unique perspective on what happened. I tried to keep it short, but I failed miserably, so my apologies for the length!

I woke up Wednesday morning to my usual round of BH but as the day went on, they didn't stop or slow down, they just kept right on going. By lunch they'd definitely crossed the line into crampy land but nothing I couldn't walk or talk through. As the afternoon progressed nothing seemed to lessen the contractions and they were definitely getting stronger - I had to stop & breathe through a couple here & there. I called Justin at work to confirm he was done at 4:30pm & to make sure he'd come straight home, no detours. He arrived home at 5:00pm and all contractions promptly stopped completely. I was sooo frustrated. I thought for sure I was now in for days on end of prodromal labour & emotionally felt like I wouldn't be able to handle it. I tried not to think about it too much & just be sort of zen & accepting but it was really, really hard. I wanted this baby to come tonight!

We put the girls to bed at 8:00pm & were just hanging out watching tv when the contractions started up again. These ones were strong enough that I had to stand up & sway & breathe through them so I decided to time them. They were coming 5 - 10 minutes apart & lasting for about 45 seconds. I still thought there was a good chance they would peter out like they had before but in the interest of not causing a panicked rush to my house at 1:00am, I called my midwife & doula to give them a heads up about the strong contractions at around 10:00pm. They both suggested I go to bed & try & get some rest so I did. I thought for sure that as soon as I lay down, the contractions would stop again. Instead, they started to pick up. I stayed in bed till about 11:00pm & then could not handle it anymore - I had to get up & move.

I went out to the living room & would lean over the piano bench swaying my hips & breathing through each contraction as it came. I started timing again, called Justin upstairs to start setting up the birth pool & had him call his mom to head over to watch the girls which was a good thing because it was right around this time that they both got out of bed & wouldn't go back! :laughing: I put the tv on for them on mute because I thought the sound would be too distracting for me, but Riley threw a fit about it & that's when both Justin & I decided whatever the girls wanted, the girls were getting that night. ardon: There was too much going on to worry about good parenting in the moment. As the pool inflated, Justin tried to close the blinds in our living room, which haven't been opened, or closed, in probably 5 years. By this point, I knew my contractions were coming every 4 - 5 minutes & lasting over a minute, so I started calling my birth team. Unfortunately, my midwife was at another birth & so she said she would send her partner down to me & come & join me as soon as she could. I was kind of disappointed but working in the birth field, I know that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. When I called my doula, I put her on speaker phone and all she could hear was the tv blaring kids’ cartoons, my husband swearing at the blinds & me giggling at the insanity - all I could gasp out was "Please come now!" Thankfully she understood & was on her way.

I was finding it completely impossible to focus on what I needed to in the living room anymore what with the angry hubby, the tv going & all the lights on, so I moved to the bathroom & sat myself on the toilet. By now I was really having to visualize & vocalize through my contractions. Every time one would start I would imagine myself surfing on top of it & I would make deep, low "ooooooo" sounds - sometimes I would repeat "ooooooopen" too which helped. I called my postpartum doula & our photographer who both headed over as well. The girls popped their heads in to see what was going on & one of them (not sure which) was very concerned that I was going to have the baby in the toilet so Justin had to come & assure them that that wasn't going to happen. :wub: After that, they would pop in & out to watch what was going on. I was so amazed with them - every time a contraction started they would get very quiet & just focus on me until it stopped. Justin kept checking in with me to see if my water had broken yet (I think he was worried baby would come before anyone else got there - after my water broke with the girls, my labour went like a bat outta heck).

Shortly after that, everyone started to arrive. All I know is that I was so stinking relieved that my doula was finally there - I was finding it so hard to stay on top of the contractions at that point. Having that external voice remind me what to do with each contraction made it so much easier - it was one less thing for me to think about. She also gave me a new visual that worked much better for me – I had found that as the contractions got stronger, the idea of surfing on top of them was causing me to try & get away from the pain. Instead, she told me to breathe into my belly, into the contraction & I found that when I did that I could find a still, centre place that helped me cope with the overwhelming sensations. I think it was at this point that I threw up a couple of times & then the midwife arrived. After listening to baby's heart (he sounded great!) and watching me for a bit she asked if I would like a cervical check & I said yes. I decided I absolutely had to wash my hands (not really sure why) but there I was, standing at the bathroom counter, trying to wash my hands when my legs started shaking convulsively. My doula says that I said "Hellloooooo transition!" to which she replied that I needed to stop doula-ing myself but that's a little fuzzy.

I moved onto my bed so the midwife could check me & I was 9 cm with a bulging bag of membranes! Phew! I mean, I knew I was pretty far along, but I was still scared she was going to tell me I was only 2 cm. I started to have a contraction while I was on my back & I yelled out "I don't want to do this on my back!" and both my doula & midwife said "You don't have to!" I thought “Oh, right!” and flipped over & handled that next contraction on hands & knees & immediately felt myself push involuntarily at the peak of the contraction. I said "I don't want my water to break" and started scrambling off the bed. My doula clarified for the midwife that I meant I didn't want my water breaking on the bed. We hadn't put any plastic down on the bed because the plan had been to labour & birth in the living room - everything was prepped out there!

I squatted at the end of the bed, bracing myself with huge handfuls of my bedsheets & started pushing with my contractions. It was such an incredibly strange feeling - I don't remember what it felt like to push with the girls & so didn't know what to expect & certainly not what to expect from such a big baby! It felt really powerful. I was letting out these huge primal yells. They went & got Justin & someone got a huge sheet of plastic underneath me. Justin came & sat right in front of me so I could brace myself on him for my contractions – at one point I was worried I might pull his pants off I was holding on so hard. :laughing: I just felt like I was along for this incredible ride & my body knew just what to do – I just had to get out of the way & let it happen, so to speak. By this point, my whole birth team was in my bedroom (my midwife, birth doula, postpartum doula, Justin, photographer, 2 daughters & 1 MIL!) but I never felt like we were crammed in, or overwhelmed. The lights were low & everyone was quiet & respectful of my space – it felt like the room was full of love & support ready to help me & welcome Emmett. It was awesome.

I also realized around this time that my water birth wasn’t going to happen – they’d barely gotten the tub half full & the water was much too cold to birth a baby into. I wasn’t too disappointed because I felt like everything was happening exactly the way it was meant to. My midwife came & spoke with me between contractions & asked me to take all that energy I was using to yell & use it instead to push down into my bum & help my baby out. With my next push I felt so focused & powerful & then I felt a big splash of fluid as my membranes ruptured. Almost immediately, I felt my tissues stretching & the ring of fire. I also found out later that my midwife (the one who had been at the other birth) arrived just then, in the nick of time! I was so glad that she was able to make it. I'm also grateful that my membranes stayed intact for so long - we had decided that if my membranes ruptured late in labour we wouldn't get the antibiotics for GBS as the risk was so low with such a short period of exposure. It was nice not to have to worry about an IV or hep lock through my labour.

I was squatting so deeply with my contractions that they had to ask me to stand up & turn around – they were worried that I’d birth Emmett right into the floor, full stop. :laughing: I just have to say that standing up with a baby’s head sitting at my perineum is absolutely the weirdest thing I have ever experienced in my life. But I was able to get around & squatted back down, dangling over Justin’s knees to brace myself. My hair was in my face so I asked Justin to brush it away & he quipped that I must want to look good for the photos – even at that stage of labour, it made me laugh. I could hear the girls babbling excitedly in the doorway because they could see the baby’s head, which I just absolutely loved. They were so excited about everything.

With just a few more pushes I felt Emmett slide out of my body & into my arms at 1:09am – I couldn’t believe he was really there! I sat right down on the floor & held him (he was so slippery) but I had to hold him low by my belly because his umbilical cord was short. He was perfect! We waited for the placenta to be born, which happened fairly quickly (yup, I birthed my placenta sitting on my bedroom floor). Then they clamped the umbilical cord & Justin cut it. Those first few moments are pure magic for me – with the girls, they were both whisked away to warmers & the first time I saw them they were completely bundled up. I only saw their scrunched up faces for a few brief seconds before they were run over to the NICU. Then the next time I saw them, Riley was in an incubator & Danika was intubated. But here was Emmett, in my arms & there was absolutely no need or rush to move him from there – It. Was. Awesome. They found a huge pile of pillows for me & had me lie down so they could check for tearing. While they did that, my postpartum doula helped us get comfy for nursing. I had one small 2nd degree tear that they debated even bothering to stitch, but knowing I already had 2 active children at home & that I’d likely have to be up & about more than I really should be, they suggested stitching it & I agreed. My midwife stitched it on her hands & knees, with me right there on the floor while I nursed Emmett.

At one point, the girls came in & asked if they could play in the birth pool & I said “Sure, why not? At least someone will get some use out of it!” So I was able to hear them splashing & goofing around in the living room while I got to know their new little brother. It just all felt so normal & easy. Once Emmett was done nursing & I was all stitched up, I moved up onto the bed while they checked Emmett over & gave him his vitamin K & eye antibiotics. I was brought tons of food to eat & water & juice to drink. Slowly, everything was tidied & cleaned & my team began to leave one by one. My MIL offered to take the girls to her place for the night which we took her up on. Soon it was just me, Justin & Emmett (who was sleeping soundly after his quick arrival into the world). It took me a long time to fall asleep because my mind was going a million miles a minute but eventually the peace of being home, with my amazing husband & beautiful new son did the trick.

I still find myself not really believing he’s actually here, but he is, and I now have an amazing family of five! :wub:

 

Beautiful!! :wub: I am so happy for you that you had such a wonderful birth experience!

Almost makes me want to have another!

 

:cry: :wub: beautiful story, Rachel! Thank you for being so detailed. :wub:

 

Awesome birth story!!! One that I could only dream about!! Next time! Ha! I'm glad you got the birth you wanted.

 

That was beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

That sounds so peaceful and beautiful. I'm so happy for you.

 

Rachel, that sounds like everything you hoped for and more. I am glad you had such a positive experience bringing your son into the world and I hope that you continue to have a peaceful time with him. Can't wait to meet him!

 

"Those first few moments are pure magic for me – with the girls, they were both whisked away to warmers & the first time I saw them they were completely bundled up. I only saw their scrunched up faces for a few brief seconds before they were run over to the NICU. Then the next time I saw them, Riley was in an incubator & Danika was intubated. But here was Emmett, in my arms & there was absolutely no need or rush to move him from there – It. Was. Awesome."


I felt this exact same way with Joshua! My twins weren't taken to the NICU, but they were whisked away to warmers to be checked. I never saw them until they were brought to me all bundled up. With Josh, they just plopped him right on my (now empty) stomach. It was exhilarating. When they did take him to the warmer after a few minutes, my heart ached!

Glad you had the experience you wanted! And congrats again on your handsome little man!

 

Aww Rachel Thanks for sharing! I'm sorry you didn't get your waterbirth but it sounds like it turned out perfect anyway. :wub: Emmett is a lucky boy, such a great family!

 

What a beautiful story! I am so happy for you and your family!

 

That's an amazing birth story! Thanks for sharing all those details. It's sounds just perfect, he sounds just perfect. Enjoy your Babymoon!

 

What an amazing birth story, I am so happy for you and your family!

 

Wow, such an amazing story. You are one brave woman. Both my parents and their siblings were born at home without any medication, and now I realize I have a better idea of how my grandmas gave birth, because of your story. You make it sound so easy . I am glad you got to have the birth you wanted and once again congratulations.

 

Fantastic story. I am amazed the chaos was reigned in and it all aligned for you. Congratulations again!

 

What a lovely birth story, Congratulations.