A little brother has joined our family! Born Wednesday night, in the tub, caught by daddy!
He was born at 41 weeks, after about 45 minutes of actual labor (I'd been having contrax for about an hour before that, every 12-15 min, but didn't really think much of them...). I get a kick out of the fact that one hour before I had him, I was sitting at the dinner table eating - of all things - BEEF STEW!! Not exactly your light pre-baby meal
ETA: I forgot to put in here that my water had broken early on Tuesday morning, 41 hours before labor kicked in! I'm sure that's partly why my contrax became so intense...I've never before labored with broken water.
When contrax really set in, I got in the tub - they were one on top of another, with no break between. When I tried to get up to use the toilet, I almost had to fall back into the tub for any relief...
DH was putting the girls to bed (it was about 7 p.m.) - then he came out and heard my vocalizations, got in the tub with me, and starting applying pressure to my lower back. Not long after this, he asked if he should call our friend to come take pics, or if I wanted to continue alone. I really wanted pictures of this birth, so I agreed to the call. She arrived with about 10-15 minutes to spare, and did take some incredible pictures (link below).
I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to bear down, and checked to feel head - I was so surprised that it was already time! The feeling of his head moving down, pressing on my perineum, and emerging was so intense...I hadn't ever felt so connected to the actual birth of my other two (I think I had relenquished control to the mws at their births). I helped ease the head, feeling the perineum stretch - I was sure it wouldn't fit, and was going to burst! Once his head was born, I just paused and felt his silky hair in the water, while waiting for another pushing urge. Again, I was so aware of the emerging shoulders and then body - unlike before. My dh caught him, and as I'd been on all fours, I stood and we passed the baby up to me.
Our girls came in and were watching me labor once it was obvious the baby was immenent - the elder (age 5) was drawing me pictures that said "I love you mom" on them
And in between pushes, I could smile back and talk to them...it was the first time that I actually enjoyed pushing during labor, because it was the first time in this labor I was getting a break between contrax!
When the baby was born, the girls stripped and hopped into the tub with us, meeting their new brother. After a few minutes, I moved to our bed to birth the placenta (all of 5-10 minutes later) and rest.
Our friend left shortly after baby latched on for the first time (she also captured this on film), and the five of us hung out for a while until dh put the girls back to bed.
There's the quick version
I hope to write out a more elaborate version soon, but I know how much I love reading everybody else's stories, so better short than never...
Here's the photo story! Let me know if it doesn't work!
He was born at 41 weeks, after about 45 minutes of actual labor (I'd been having contrax for about an hour before that, every 12-15 min, but didn't really think much of them...). I get a kick out of the fact that one hour before I had him, I was sitting at the dinner table eating - of all things - BEEF STEW!! Not exactly your light pre-baby meal
ETA: I forgot to put in here that my water had broken early on Tuesday morning, 41 hours before labor kicked in! I'm sure that's partly why my contrax became so intense...I've never before labored with broken water.
When contrax really set in, I got in the tub - they were one on top of another, with no break between. When I tried to get up to use the toilet, I almost had to fall back into the tub for any relief...
DH was putting the girls to bed (it was about 7 p.m.) - then he came out and heard my vocalizations, got in the tub with me, and starting applying pressure to my lower back. Not long after this, he asked if he should call our friend to come take pics, or if I wanted to continue alone. I really wanted pictures of this birth, so I agreed to the call. She arrived with about 10-15 minutes to spare, and did take some incredible pictures (link below).
I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to bear down, and checked to feel head - I was so surprised that it was already time! The feeling of his head moving down, pressing on my perineum, and emerging was so intense...I hadn't ever felt so connected to the actual birth of my other two (I think I had relenquished control to the mws at their births). I helped ease the head, feeling the perineum stretch - I was sure it wouldn't fit, and was going to burst! Once his head was born, I just paused and felt his silky hair in the water, while waiting for another pushing urge. Again, I was so aware of the emerging shoulders and then body - unlike before. My dh caught him, and as I'd been on all fours, I stood and we passed the baby up to me.
Our girls came in and were watching me labor once it was obvious the baby was immenent - the elder (age 5) was drawing me pictures that said "I love you mom" on them
And in between pushes, I could smile back and talk to them...it was the first time that I actually enjoyed pushing during labor, because it was the first time in this labor I was getting a break between contrax!When the baby was born, the girls stripped and hopped into the tub with us, meeting their new brother. After a few minutes, I moved to our bed to birth the placenta (all of 5-10 minutes later) and rest.
Our friend left shortly after baby latched on for the first time (she also captured this on film), and the five of us hung out for a while until dh put the girls back to bed.
There's the quick version
I hope to write out a more elaborate version soon, but I know how much I love reading everybody else's stories, so better short than never...Here's the photo story! Let me know if it doesn't work!
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: Congrats to you and your family!
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