well here it is! I hope you enjoy it. 
It's really long though...sorry! 
As my due date neared we knew I was physically preparing to have a baby but the big question was…when? With two previous births at 42+ weeks we knew it might not even be for another couple of weeks but we tried to remain positive and our midwife was hopeful. I was about 4 cm dilated and was just waiting for some contractions to get things going. It was becoming frustrating because I would have days when I would have some mild contractions, I’d go to bed at night hopeful that “this will be the night!” but by morning they’d be gone…
At 40 6/7 weeks we went for a biophysical profile ultrasound to check on the health of the pregnancy and try to get an estimated fetal weight. The tech was unable to give us a good estimate on the baby’s size but said the best estimate she could give was 10 lbs 5 oz. Not exactly what we wanted to hear! Natalie, our midwife came home to our house with us to discuss our plans. She checked my cervix and “gently” stripped my membranes, hoping that this would just nudge me into labour. It did not. On Friday we went to see my chiropractor for an adjustment that sometimes helps women go into labour if it’s just a structural thing that is holding up labour. It was a nice morning chatting with Lars (DH), Natalie (our MW) and Kristen (the chiropractor). I had contractions about every 10 min from then on but again it didn’t develop into labour. The great thing about seeing the chiropractor this time was that the baby finally turned to ROA from ROP position. We were happy that at least some “progress” had been made from the morning. When we were done, Lars and I went home and walked and rested and tried to stay positive. All afternoon, I continued to have mild contractions on and off but, again, overnight, they disappeared.
The next morning, I woke to a small gush of fluid…did my water just break??? I was uncertain and it took all day for me to make up my mind. Saturday was a nice relaxed day. I began to feel like labour was just around the corner and I’d soon be holding my little one. The really interesting part of all this was that since early in my pregnancy I had said that he would be born on Sunday the 18th. We bought tickets to the Kodo Drummers show that was playing at Jones Hall. The tickets were a birthday gift to me from Lars. I had joked that it would be a great night to go into labour since it was a New Moon and that the beat of the drums would do their trick. If not, we figured it would be a good distraction at 41 weeks!
By dinnertime I was sure my water had broken but I was still not having strong contractions and had only had minimal leaking over the length of the day. As a result though, we were having a hard time deciding whether or not to drive down to the concert. After consulting our midwife and my mum for some good advice, we decided to go and enjoy it – we could get home in about 45 minutes if need be. We went to the concert and it was fantastic – even better because I had good strong contractions about every 10- 15 min. We were so hopeful that this was it. We came home and went to bed. I was almost certain I’d wake up in the middle of the night in full-blown labour like I had with Anders.
I did wake up but it was just for my usual bathroom trips.
I had a few contractions that woke me up but nothing regular…same as all the nights before. I was SO discouraged. I was fully awake by 5 am running through all the scenarios of more testing, ultrasounds, the pregnancy continuing past 42 weeks meaning possible transfer to OB and hospital birth, anxiety, an even bigger baby to birth, shoulder dystocia, and so on. I was just drifting off to sleep again at 6 am when contractions started again and they felt stronger, more like the ones I’d had at the concert. They were every 10 minutes or so but I was keeping myself from getting excited about it. Just before 8 am, the phone rang. It was Natalie and she said, “I’m coming over and I’m not going home until you have a baby!” I was a little surprised but very excited inside. I told her about my contractions and she said she had wakened at 6 and began praying for me that today would be the day.
She arrived just after 1030 and brought a hospital-grade breast pump with her. I got settled on the birth ball and began pumping. Almost immediately, I was having contractions every 5-6 minutes apart and they were stronger than the others I’d been having but still not painful. I used the pump for about 30 min and then got up to use the bathroom. When I stood up… GUSH! There was NO doubt that my water had broken now! This was the time we used for SROM and for my labour officially starting. We walked around the neighbourhood and I continued to have contractions, some I had to slow and breathe through. I was still not convinced that this was the real thing. I knew it would come, one way or another, now that there was no denying that my water had released but I just couldn’t let myself believe this was going to be it…
When we got home we had a nice lunch and then pumped again for about 20 min or so. The contractions felt a little lower and my back was a tad achy but still I was not convinced this was it. We moved to the sitting room and chatted over tea and flipped through our scrapbooks of the other boys’ births and our wedding while I tried doing lunges and stepping up and down off the coffee table! Natalie asked me to let her know when to call the other midwife for the birth. She felt it should be soon. I just couldn’t say because I was still not convinced this was really it. About a half hour later, after an amazing back rub from Natalie and a guitar serenade from Lars, I decided to go take a little nap. I had wanted to do this for a while but was afraid the contractions would go away again if I lay down. It was now about 3:45 pm and I was beginning to see that …yes, this was going to be the day. I went to lie down thinking that sometime before morning our baby would be here. I had two contractions lying on the bed and something had changed. I told Natalie to call the other midwife, asked Lars to fill the tub and call my parents to bring our other boys home. Things had changed significantly and I felt it would all go fast from there.
As soon as the tub was deep enough, I got in. Wow! That felt SO good! It was a little chaotic as all the preparations were going on and our friend Nicole arrived to help and to take pictures. My mum and the boys come home very excited to soon see their baby brother. My mum told us that they had never had such a short trip from her house to ours and she swears she drove the speed limit the whole way! They had prayed that God would help the lights be in their favour and to everyone’s delight and amazement (especially Magnus’) every light but 1 was green!!! God is Good!!
I had made posters for the wall with verses and affirmations to look at in labour and they were so very helpful. “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13”, “YES!”, “My baby will be born easily and in the perfect time”, ‘The power and intensity of my contractions cannot be stronger than me because they are me”, “I am strong”, “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14”. Natalie read some of these to me through contractions which was great. Lars was an amazing support also. My mum came to sit with me for a while too and it was so special to share that time with her. The boys came in and out of the room to check on me and to see if the baby was here yet. They were very sweet.
I was vocalizing very loudly but it felt SO good to release tension that way. The window was open and I recall thinking about what our neighbours must be thinking if they heard me! The “birth” playlist I had created was playing in the background and I especially liked when ‘Down in the River to Pray’ sung by Allison Krauss played. My mum and I sang it together several times. “Good Lord, show me the way…”
Things were moving quickly, a little too quickly for my liking and I remember saying, “No, you can’t come yet! I’m not ready”. How ironic, after all my time willing this baby to come soon!!! J I got out of the tub to use the restroom, threw up and knew he’d be here soon. I was in transition. It was all so overwhelming but Lars and Natalie were so good at keeping me calm. I moved to my bed to lie down for a moment. Once on the bed, I decided to try staying quiet through a contraction, just to try a new approach. With that contraction, I felt the baby move down deeply into my pelvis and onto the perineum. Such burning. I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful sunset over the trees in our backyard. I had to rest and prepare for the next contraction. I was scared but ready at the same time. I was quiet with this next contraction too…whoosh, down he came again, burning, burning, burning. Then I had to make the decision to move back to the tub or not. I didn’t think it was possible for me to move but Natalie assured me I could but we had to go NOW! I got up, ran to the tub and got in just in time for the next contraction…down he came again to almost a full crown. WOW that was intense! He moved back inside again. I could feel everything so clearly and while it was incredibly intense and yes, I’ll say it, painful, it was such a neat feeling to know exactly where he was and what was happening. Next contraction…full crown… burning, stretching… Breathe, Breathe. He just sat there, waiting. For the next contraction, I instinctively moved my leg from kneeling to one knee/one foot (just as I had imagined birthing this babe all those months ago) and with the next contraction, out he came. OH What JOY! What RELIEF! What LOVE!
Karsten Philip
9 lbs 12oz, 21 1/4in
Born at home, into water,
February 18th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Surrounded only by people who love him.
It's really long though...sorry! As my due date neared we knew I was physically preparing to have a baby but the big question was…when? With two previous births at 42+ weeks we knew it might not even be for another couple of weeks but we tried to remain positive and our midwife was hopeful. I was about 4 cm dilated and was just waiting for some contractions to get things going. It was becoming frustrating because I would have days when I would have some mild contractions, I’d go to bed at night hopeful that “this will be the night!” but by morning they’d be gone…
At 40 6/7 weeks we went for a biophysical profile ultrasound to check on the health of the pregnancy and try to get an estimated fetal weight. The tech was unable to give us a good estimate on the baby’s size but said the best estimate she could give was 10 lbs 5 oz. Not exactly what we wanted to hear! Natalie, our midwife came home to our house with us to discuss our plans. She checked my cervix and “gently” stripped my membranes, hoping that this would just nudge me into labour. It did not. On Friday we went to see my chiropractor for an adjustment that sometimes helps women go into labour if it’s just a structural thing that is holding up labour. It was a nice morning chatting with Lars (DH), Natalie (our MW) and Kristen (the chiropractor). I had contractions about every 10 min from then on but again it didn’t develop into labour. The great thing about seeing the chiropractor this time was that the baby finally turned to ROA from ROP position. We were happy that at least some “progress” had been made from the morning. When we were done, Lars and I went home and walked and rested and tried to stay positive. All afternoon, I continued to have mild contractions on and off but, again, overnight, they disappeared.
The next morning, I woke to a small gush of fluid…did my water just break??? I was uncertain and it took all day for me to make up my mind. Saturday was a nice relaxed day. I began to feel like labour was just around the corner and I’d soon be holding my little one. The really interesting part of all this was that since early in my pregnancy I had said that he would be born on Sunday the 18th. We bought tickets to the Kodo Drummers show that was playing at Jones Hall. The tickets were a birthday gift to me from Lars. I had joked that it would be a great night to go into labour since it was a New Moon and that the beat of the drums would do their trick. If not, we figured it would be a good distraction at 41 weeks!
By dinnertime I was sure my water had broken but I was still not having strong contractions and had only had minimal leaking over the length of the day. As a result though, we were having a hard time deciding whether or not to drive down to the concert. After consulting our midwife and my mum for some good advice, we decided to go and enjoy it – we could get home in about 45 minutes if need be. We went to the concert and it was fantastic – even better because I had good strong contractions about every 10- 15 min. We were so hopeful that this was it. We came home and went to bed. I was almost certain I’d wake up in the middle of the night in full-blown labour like I had with Anders.
I did wake up but it was just for my usual bathroom trips.
I had a few contractions that woke me up but nothing regular…same as all the nights before. I was SO discouraged. I was fully awake by 5 am running through all the scenarios of more testing, ultrasounds, the pregnancy continuing past 42 weeks meaning possible transfer to OB and hospital birth, anxiety, an even bigger baby to birth, shoulder dystocia, and so on. I was just drifting off to sleep again at 6 am when contractions started again and they felt stronger, more like the ones I’d had at the concert. They were every 10 minutes or so but I was keeping myself from getting excited about it. Just before 8 am, the phone rang. It was Natalie and she said, “I’m coming over and I’m not going home until you have a baby!” I was a little surprised but very excited inside. I told her about my contractions and she said she had wakened at 6 and began praying for me that today would be the day.She arrived just after 1030 and brought a hospital-grade breast pump with her. I got settled on the birth ball and began pumping. Almost immediately, I was having contractions every 5-6 minutes apart and they were stronger than the others I’d been having but still not painful. I used the pump for about 30 min and then got up to use the bathroom. When I stood up… GUSH! There was NO doubt that my water had broken now! This was the time we used for SROM and for my labour officially starting. We walked around the neighbourhood and I continued to have contractions, some I had to slow and breathe through. I was still not convinced that this was the real thing. I knew it would come, one way or another, now that there was no denying that my water had released but I just couldn’t let myself believe this was going to be it…
When we got home we had a nice lunch and then pumped again for about 20 min or so. The contractions felt a little lower and my back was a tad achy but still I was not convinced this was it. We moved to the sitting room and chatted over tea and flipped through our scrapbooks of the other boys’ births and our wedding while I tried doing lunges and stepping up and down off the coffee table! Natalie asked me to let her know when to call the other midwife for the birth. She felt it should be soon. I just couldn’t say because I was still not convinced this was really it. About a half hour later, after an amazing back rub from Natalie and a guitar serenade from Lars, I decided to go take a little nap. I had wanted to do this for a while but was afraid the contractions would go away again if I lay down. It was now about 3:45 pm and I was beginning to see that …yes, this was going to be the day. I went to lie down thinking that sometime before morning our baby would be here. I had two contractions lying on the bed and something had changed. I told Natalie to call the other midwife, asked Lars to fill the tub and call my parents to bring our other boys home. Things had changed significantly and I felt it would all go fast from there.
As soon as the tub was deep enough, I got in. Wow! That felt SO good! It was a little chaotic as all the preparations were going on and our friend Nicole arrived to help and to take pictures. My mum and the boys come home very excited to soon see their baby brother. My mum told us that they had never had such a short trip from her house to ours and she swears she drove the speed limit the whole way! They had prayed that God would help the lights be in their favour and to everyone’s delight and amazement (especially Magnus’) every light but 1 was green!!! God is Good!!
I had made posters for the wall with verses and affirmations to look at in labour and they were so very helpful. “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13”, “YES!”, “My baby will be born easily and in the perfect time”, ‘The power and intensity of my contractions cannot be stronger than me because they are me”, “I am strong”, “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14”. Natalie read some of these to me through contractions which was great. Lars was an amazing support also. My mum came to sit with me for a while too and it was so special to share that time with her. The boys came in and out of the room to check on me and to see if the baby was here yet. They were very sweet.
I was vocalizing very loudly but it felt SO good to release tension that way. The window was open and I recall thinking about what our neighbours must be thinking if they heard me! The “birth” playlist I had created was playing in the background and I especially liked when ‘Down in the River to Pray’ sung by Allison Krauss played. My mum and I sang it together several times. “Good Lord, show me the way…”
Things were moving quickly, a little too quickly for my liking and I remember saying, “No, you can’t come yet! I’m not ready”. How ironic, after all my time willing this baby to come soon!!! J I got out of the tub to use the restroom, threw up and knew he’d be here soon. I was in transition. It was all so overwhelming but Lars and Natalie were so good at keeping me calm. I moved to my bed to lie down for a moment. Once on the bed, I decided to try staying quiet through a contraction, just to try a new approach. With that contraction, I felt the baby move down deeply into my pelvis and onto the perineum. Such burning. I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful sunset over the trees in our backyard. I had to rest and prepare for the next contraction. I was scared but ready at the same time. I was quiet with this next contraction too…whoosh, down he came again, burning, burning, burning. Then I had to make the decision to move back to the tub or not. I didn’t think it was possible for me to move but Natalie assured me I could but we had to go NOW! I got up, ran to the tub and got in just in time for the next contraction…down he came again to almost a full crown. WOW that was intense! He moved back inside again. I could feel everything so clearly and while it was incredibly intense and yes, I’ll say it, painful, it was such a neat feeling to know exactly where he was and what was happening. Next contraction…full crown… burning, stretching… Breathe, Breathe. He just sat there, waiting. For the next contraction, I instinctively moved my leg from kneeling to one knee/one foot (just as I had imagined birthing this babe all those months ago) and with the next contraction, out he came. OH What JOY! What RELIEF! What LOVE!
Karsten Philip
9 lbs 12oz, 21 1/4in
Born at home, into water,
February 18th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Surrounded only by people who love him.
