On Friday, July 18th after trying everything from acupuncture to chili peppers to encourage the baby to come out I decided that I would indeed be pregnant for the rest of my life and if nothing else, it would be excellent birth control.
On July 19th, my 24th birthday I woke up at 8AM having contractions. I was absolutely giddy with excitement. I told Clinton that we were going to have the baby today, something I had told him everyday for the past 9 days, needless to say he didn't bother waking up! Around 9 I got out of bed and did some chores. When I got up and moved around the contractions became less intense and spaced out more, this was kinda disappointing as it meant that I was not in real labor yet. While this was going on my mom was in route to Tucson, set to arrive at about 12. I debated whether to have my Aunt pick her up at the airport, and I called my midwife, Lisa, to see what she thought. Lisa basically told me that I should go about my day as normal, and if my contractions started getting in a normal pattern of being longer, stronger and closer together then I should consider it the beginning of labor.
We picked up my mom from the airport and then drove around for about an hour trying to find a restaurant that was open for lunch. (In Tucson all of the local businesses either close or change their hours during the summer.) Finally we made it to Ghini's, an excellent little French cafe. I ate a ridiculous amount of food; soup, salad, garlic bread, and pasta. After we were done eating we went over to the bakery part of the cafe and loaded up on decadent goodies, we got all sorts of cakes, pastries and tarts. While we were in the bakery I had to sit down and breath through a contraction, jokingly the woman behind the counter asked me if I was having labor pains, and I told her that I was! She was very excited by this and proceeded to tell me all bout her daughter's births, it was such a sweet interaction, her advice was to walk around as much as possible while in labor.
The rest of the day we hung out around the house with contractions coming and going, but never getting really intense or constant. In the evening I rested while my mom and Clinton went to the store and stocked up on goodies. Around 8 Clinton and I went on a walk to the Sants Cruz River (don't be mislead, the river doesn't actually have water in it except a few days a year.) My contractions really slowed down as we were walking around. It was a great walk though, we met a neighbor who has an Akita, the same breed as one of our dogs. And then, another neighbor stopped us and asked us if we wanted their crib! It is a beautiful wooden crib, and who knows, we may actually use it someday. My mother didn't know what to make of it when we came back from our walk carrying a crib.
Around 9 I went to bed, it had started to monsoon (thunderstorm) so we opened the bedroom windows . I was able to sleep in between contractions and thunderclaps. At this point the intensity of the contractions picked up, to the point where I was moaning through them, but still falling back asleep in between them. Around midnight I woke up and got in the bathtub. I continued to sleep in between contractions, and in between my head slipping below the water line. At about 1AM I had two contractions that absolutely floored me. While I was having them I thought, "Oh no, I cannot do this, I'm going to need to go to the hospital and get an epidural." I thought that these contractions were the beginning of active labor, but in retrospect I realize that this was actually my 'transition,' the time right before the pushing stage that is the most painful part of labor. I managed to get out of the tub and wake Clinton up to tell him that it was time to call Lisa. With the next contraction I was pushing. I was very confused at this point, I didn't understand why my body was pushing as in my mind, I was just beginning labor. Clinton came in the bathroom and asked if he should start timing contractions or call Lisa right away. I told him that I didn't care what he did, at this point I still couldn't believe I was pushing already. Thankfully, he called Lisa and told her I was pushing. This was at about 1:20. In the meanwhile Clinton was telling me not to push, and I kept telling him I couldn't not push. I had no control over my body at that point, and it was pushing the baby out! Lisa arrived at 1:45, my mom who was sleeping on the couch the whole time woke up to see her running past into our bedroom. My mom said her first thought waking up was, "what's her rush?"
After grabbing the midwife's equipment and throwing the dogs out, Clinton came and sat on the edge of the tub and supported me while I pushed. My mom was in the bathroom too, acting as Lisa's assistant, grabbing things and writing down times as Lisa told her to. Little Rowan came out at 2:08 AM. As he was born I reached down and pulled him onto my chest. The first thing I did was look in between his little legs and announce that he was a boy! Although I must have done it quietly as no one heard me say it. He had the most amazing umbilical cord it was perfectly coiled and looked like it was 5 feet long, although I'm sure that was an exaggeration. After a few minutes Clinton cut the cord, and a few minutes after that we moved onto the bed to deliver the placenta.
I was expecting Rowan to be at least 30 pounds, so you can imagine my surprise when he measured in at 5 pounds 6 ounces. Every single inch of him is perfect and soft and smells like the most delicious pastry imaginable. He is so precious. I cannot even begin to explain how my heart overflows with love every time I look at him, or every time I watch Clinton holding and looking at him.
On July 19th, my 24th birthday I woke up at 8AM having contractions. I was absolutely giddy with excitement. I told Clinton that we were going to have the baby today, something I had told him everyday for the past 9 days, needless to say he didn't bother waking up! Around 9 I got out of bed and did some chores. When I got up and moved around the contractions became less intense and spaced out more, this was kinda disappointing as it meant that I was not in real labor yet. While this was going on my mom was in route to Tucson, set to arrive at about 12. I debated whether to have my Aunt pick her up at the airport, and I called my midwife, Lisa, to see what she thought. Lisa basically told me that I should go about my day as normal, and if my contractions started getting in a normal pattern of being longer, stronger and closer together then I should consider it the beginning of labor.
We picked up my mom from the airport and then drove around for about an hour trying to find a restaurant that was open for lunch. (In Tucson all of the local businesses either close or change their hours during the summer.) Finally we made it to Ghini's, an excellent little French cafe. I ate a ridiculous amount of food; soup, salad, garlic bread, and pasta. After we were done eating we went over to the bakery part of the cafe and loaded up on decadent goodies, we got all sorts of cakes, pastries and tarts. While we were in the bakery I had to sit down and breath through a contraction, jokingly the woman behind the counter asked me if I was having labor pains, and I told her that I was! She was very excited by this and proceeded to tell me all bout her daughter's births, it was such a sweet interaction, her advice was to walk around as much as possible while in labor.
The rest of the day we hung out around the house with contractions coming and going, but never getting really intense or constant. In the evening I rested while my mom and Clinton went to the store and stocked up on goodies. Around 8 Clinton and I went on a walk to the Sants Cruz River (don't be mislead, the river doesn't actually have water in it except a few days a year.) My contractions really slowed down as we were walking around. It was a great walk though, we met a neighbor who has an Akita, the same breed as one of our dogs. And then, another neighbor stopped us and asked us if we wanted their crib! It is a beautiful wooden crib, and who knows, we may actually use it someday. My mother didn't know what to make of it when we came back from our walk carrying a crib.
Around 9 I went to bed, it had started to monsoon (thunderstorm) so we opened the bedroom windows . I was able to sleep in between contractions and thunderclaps. At this point the intensity of the contractions picked up, to the point where I was moaning through them, but still falling back asleep in between them. Around midnight I woke up and got in the bathtub. I continued to sleep in between contractions, and in between my head slipping below the water line. At about 1AM I had two contractions that absolutely floored me. While I was having them I thought, "Oh no, I cannot do this, I'm going to need to go to the hospital and get an epidural." I thought that these contractions were the beginning of active labor, but in retrospect I realize that this was actually my 'transition,' the time right before the pushing stage that is the most painful part of labor. I managed to get out of the tub and wake Clinton up to tell him that it was time to call Lisa. With the next contraction I was pushing. I was very confused at this point, I didn't understand why my body was pushing as in my mind, I was just beginning labor. Clinton came in the bathroom and asked if he should start timing contractions or call Lisa right away. I told him that I didn't care what he did, at this point I still couldn't believe I was pushing already. Thankfully, he called Lisa and told her I was pushing. This was at about 1:20. In the meanwhile Clinton was telling me not to push, and I kept telling him I couldn't not push. I had no control over my body at that point, and it was pushing the baby out! Lisa arrived at 1:45, my mom who was sleeping on the couch the whole time woke up to see her running past into our bedroom. My mom said her first thought waking up was, "what's her rush?"
After grabbing the midwife's equipment and throwing the dogs out, Clinton came and sat on the edge of the tub and supported me while I pushed. My mom was in the bathroom too, acting as Lisa's assistant, grabbing things and writing down times as Lisa told her to. Little Rowan came out at 2:08 AM. As he was born I reached down and pulled him onto my chest. The first thing I did was look in between his little legs and announce that he was a boy! Although I must have done it quietly as no one heard me say it. He had the most amazing umbilical cord it was perfectly coiled and looked like it was 5 feet long, although I'm sure that was an exaggeration. After a few minutes Clinton cut the cord, and a few minutes after that we moved onto the bed to deliver the placenta.
I was expecting Rowan to be at least 30 pounds, so you can imagine my surprise when he measured in at 5 pounds 6 ounces. Every single inch of him is perfect and soft and smells like the most delicious pastry imaginable. He is so precious. I cannot even begin to explain how my heart overflows with love every time I look at him, or every time I watch Clinton holding and looking at him.
