We had a very thankful Thanksgiving, with the arrival of our baby!
So, here's my super long birth story. I have to laugh at how long it is, considering that my labor was a whole 2 hours and 40 minutes! I'm longwinded though, and there's nothing I can do about it!
At 7:50 am, I woke up to a considerably strong contraction. I wasn’t sure if it was the beginning of labor, but I was sure that it was different than the cramping I had been feeling in the previous weeks, and it was stronger than a Braxton Hicks contraction. I tried to go back to sleep.
Within ten minutes, I’d had a second contraction. I woke up Josiah to tell him that I thought I might be in labor. We both decided that I should take a shower, to see if I was really in labor. I went into the bathroom, sat down on the toilet, and sent my mom a text message to let her know that I was probably in labor. Then I called our midwife, Katie, to let her know.
Before I even got in the shower, I was sure that my labor was in full swing; my intestines emptied out, and assured me of that! I told Josiah that he needed to get out of bed to start getting things ready. Josiah Jr. woke up then too, but thankfully, he was happy to watch Finding Nemo and let us take care of things.
My contractions continued in the shower, but I was able to relax well through them. The warm water felt great! I didn’t want to get out, but I needed to, so that there would be enough hot water left to fill up the birth tub.
When I got out of the shower, I was able to blow dry my hair between contractions. By the time I was finished blow drying, my contractions were getting really close together, and they were getting quite intense. I headed to the bedroom, but had to stop to lean on Josiah to get through the contraction. I already the urge to push, and did push a tiny bit during that contraction.
I put on my nightgown, lay down in bed, and told Josiah that I needed to get in the tub as soon as possible. I continued to labor there, but my contractions were getting incredibly intense.
Josiah called Katie to see if I could get in the tub, and he let her know that I was already feeling the urge to push. Josiah couldn’t check the water temperature because our thermometer wasn’t working, so Katie didn’t want me to get in until she arrived, which would be soon.
At about 9:45am, Katie arrived. She asked me to wait until she brought all of her equipment in to get in the tub. I was having a really hard time waiting for the water, but I knew that she was worried I’d deliver in the tub before she was ready.
When Katie had brought everything in, she took out her thermometer to check the water; her thermometer wasn’t working either! She came in to tell me that, because she couldn’t check the water temperature, she really didn’t want me to get in the tub, for my safety and for the baby’s (if it was too warm, we ran the risk of me hemorrhaging; if it was too cold, we ran the risk of the baby trying to breathe underwater). Because our heater is out of commission, the room was cold, so she didn’t think that she could accurately test the water temperature with just her finger. She said that I could labor in the tub, but delivery was going to have to happen on dry land. I wasn’t happy about the news, but I decided not to get into the tub, because I knew that I was not going to want to get out, and I was going to need to push very soon.
In the meantime, my contractions continued to get more intense, and I had a couple more small pushes. I knew that we were getting close, and was trying not to stress about not being in the tub.
My mom and sister had arrived shortly after Katie, at about 9:55. At some point, probably around 10:10, it was decided that my mom would run to the grocery store (less than a mile away) to get a thermometer.
At approximately 10:15, I had a very strong contraction, gave a good push, and my water broke. I announced to Katie that it was breaking as it happened, and then that I felt the head coming (I found out later that she found my labor narration rather amusing). I told my sister that it was time to grab the video camera, because the baby was going to be arriving shortly. Someone called my mom to tell her to forget about the thermometer and come back, or she was going to miss the birth. With the next push, the baby’s head was crowning.
I had a good ten minute break before the next contraction. I just rested as much as I could, and prayed for it to be over soon! I was lying on my side, and Josiah was holding my leg up in the air. It was uncomfortable, and I told my midwife, “Katie, it hurts!” Trying to cheer me up, she said, “Well, sweetie, having a baby usually does hurt.”
The next contraction came, and with one push, the baby’s head was out. I reached down to feel his head, and kept saying, “That feels so much better!” As the baby’s head rotated, Josiah looked at him and said, “Hello!” Josiah Jr. called out, “Mananas!” thinking that the baby was surely ready to nurse already.
I didn’t have to push again yet, but Katie asked me to start pushing. I told her that I didn’t want to, but she said that I needed to anyway (I found out later that the baby was making respiratory efforts, and because of that, she wanted him out right away; if he had tried to breathe on the perineum and was unsuccessful, he might just give up, and then need to be resuscitated after delivery).
I gave two good pushes, and the baby was out! My mom announced that the baby was a boy, and I picked him up, amazed at how tiny he was! We later realized that we forgot to check the time of birth, but based on some phone calls that had been made (thank you Lord for modern technology and cell phone call logs!), we decided that he was born at 10:30am.
Josiah Jr. was very excited about his new brother, and came over to give him kisses. He kept sweetly saying, “Baby, baby.”
I’d had my eyes closed since my water broke, so I didn’t realize until after I was holding the baby that our friend Tiffany had made it just in time to take pictures. Apparently, she had walked in just as the baby was crowning! I was so happy, because I really wanted there to be pictures, especially of those first few intimate moments after delivery.
The baby latched on for the first time with a perfect latch! He nursed for a while, happily, and it was just wonderful.
When the cord had stopped pulsing, Josiah did the honors of cutting. Around 10:50 or so (again, we forgot to check the time), I had a contraction and delivered the placenta. I announced that one too!
Everyone and everything was just perfect, despite the minor change of plans with the birth tub. The baby was 6lbs, 3oz, and 20 inches. He had perfect color and a wonderful cry. He was (and still is!) just beautiful!
I had a minor trickle bleed, but it concerned Katie a bit, so I ended up with two doses of Pitocin. My perineum was perfectly intact, but my deep pocket tear from my first delivery opened up again, and needed to be restitched. Hopefully, it will heal perfectly this time, and not tear again!
I cannot say enough how perfect this birth was. It was a huge blessing to have a midwife that prayed for us and with us many times during our short labor, and after. She even prayed for healing after the sutures were in, which was a huge encouragement. I truly believe that she was ordained by God for our birth, especially because of the situation with the tub. Because our baby tried to breathe on the perineum, I personally feel that he surely would have done so if the water were too cold, which would have been a scary situation. Our Thanksgiving baby has surely given us much to be thankful for!
Our little one is now three days old, and still without a name. We will let everyone know as soon as we know!
I'm still waiting for pictures from Tiffany, so I don't have a lot from Thursday (my sister fell down on the job after video duty was over; she took more pictures of herself for Myspace than of the baby!
), and the rest are from my mom's cell phone, and mine, so they're not the greatest, but they're pictures! 
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...20two/hno6.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...aperchange.jpg
Kisses from big brother
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...hsandhno-1.jpg
I think this was yesterday (two days old)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...20two/HNO3.jpg
Today (three days old)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...20two/hno7.jpg
Can you tell he just pooped?
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...justpooped.jpg
So, here's my super long birth story. I have to laugh at how long it is, considering that my labor was a whole 2 hours and 40 minutes! I'm longwinded though, and there's nothing I can do about it!
At 7:50 am, I woke up to a considerably strong contraction. I wasn’t sure if it was the beginning of labor, but I was sure that it was different than the cramping I had been feeling in the previous weeks, and it was stronger than a Braxton Hicks contraction. I tried to go back to sleep.
Within ten minutes, I’d had a second contraction. I woke up Josiah to tell him that I thought I might be in labor. We both decided that I should take a shower, to see if I was really in labor. I went into the bathroom, sat down on the toilet, and sent my mom a text message to let her know that I was probably in labor. Then I called our midwife, Katie, to let her know.
Before I even got in the shower, I was sure that my labor was in full swing; my intestines emptied out, and assured me of that! I told Josiah that he needed to get out of bed to start getting things ready. Josiah Jr. woke up then too, but thankfully, he was happy to watch Finding Nemo and let us take care of things.
My contractions continued in the shower, but I was able to relax well through them. The warm water felt great! I didn’t want to get out, but I needed to, so that there would be enough hot water left to fill up the birth tub.
When I got out of the shower, I was able to blow dry my hair between contractions. By the time I was finished blow drying, my contractions were getting really close together, and they were getting quite intense. I headed to the bedroom, but had to stop to lean on Josiah to get through the contraction. I already the urge to push, and did push a tiny bit during that contraction.
I put on my nightgown, lay down in bed, and told Josiah that I needed to get in the tub as soon as possible. I continued to labor there, but my contractions were getting incredibly intense.
Josiah called Katie to see if I could get in the tub, and he let her know that I was already feeling the urge to push. Josiah couldn’t check the water temperature because our thermometer wasn’t working, so Katie didn’t want me to get in until she arrived, which would be soon.
At about 9:45am, Katie arrived. She asked me to wait until she brought all of her equipment in to get in the tub. I was having a really hard time waiting for the water, but I knew that she was worried I’d deliver in the tub before she was ready.
When Katie had brought everything in, she took out her thermometer to check the water; her thermometer wasn’t working either! She came in to tell me that, because she couldn’t check the water temperature, she really didn’t want me to get in the tub, for my safety and for the baby’s (if it was too warm, we ran the risk of me hemorrhaging; if it was too cold, we ran the risk of the baby trying to breathe underwater). Because our heater is out of commission, the room was cold, so she didn’t think that she could accurately test the water temperature with just her finger. She said that I could labor in the tub, but delivery was going to have to happen on dry land. I wasn’t happy about the news, but I decided not to get into the tub, because I knew that I was not going to want to get out, and I was going to need to push very soon.
In the meantime, my contractions continued to get more intense, and I had a couple more small pushes. I knew that we were getting close, and was trying not to stress about not being in the tub.
My mom and sister had arrived shortly after Katie, at about 9:55. At some point, probably around 10:10, it was decided that my mom would run to the grocery store (less than a mile away) to get a thermometer.
At approximately 10:15, I had a very strong contraction, gave a good push, and my water broke. I announced to Katie that it was breaking as it happened, and then that I felt the head coming (I found out later that she found my labor narration rather amusing). I told my sister that it was time to grab the video camera, because the baby was going to be arriving shortly. Someone called my mom to tell her to forget about the thermometer and come back, or she was going to miss the birth. With the next push, the baby’s head was crowning.
I had a good ten minute break before the next contraction. I just rested as much as I could, and prayed for it to be over soon! I was lying on my side, and Josiah was holding my leg up in the air. It was uncomfortable, and I told my midwife, “Katie, it hurts!” Trying to cheer me up, she said, “Well, sweetie, having a baby usually does hurt.”
The next contraction came, and with one push, the baby’s head was out. I reached down to feel his head, and kept saying, “That feels so much better!” As the baby’s head rotated, Josiah looked at him and said, “Hello!” Josiah Jr. called out, “Mananas!” thinking that the baby was surely ready to nurse already.
I didn’t have to push again yet, but Katie asked me to start pushing. I told her that I didn’t want to, but she said that I needed to anyway (I found out later that the baby was making respiratory efforts, and because of that, she wanted him out right away; if he had tried to breathe on the perineum and was unsuccessful, he might just give up, and then need to be resuscitated after delivery).
I gave two good pushes, and the baby was out! My mom announced that the baby was a boy, and I picked him up, amazed at how tiny he was! We later realized that we forgot to check the time of birth, but based on some phone calls that had been made (thank you Lord for modern technology and cell phone call logs!), we decided that he was born at 10:30am.
Josiah Jr. was very excited about his new brother, and came over to give him kisses. He kept sweetly saying, “Baby, baby.”
I’d had my eyes closed since my water broke, so I didn’t realize until after I was holding the baby that our friend Tiffany had made it just in time to take pictures. Apparently, she had walked in just as the baby was crowning! I was so happy, because I really wanted there to be pictures, especially of those first few intimate moments after delivery.
The baby latched on for the first time with a perfect latch! He nursed for a while, happily, and it was just wonderful.
When the cord had stopped pulsing, Josiah did the honors of cutting. Around 10:50 or so (again, we forgot to check the time), I had a contraction and delivered the placenta. I announced that one too!
Everyone and everything was just perfect, despite the minor change of plans with the birth tub. The baby was 6lbs, 3oz, and 20 inches. He had perfect color and a wonderful cry. He was (and still is!) just beautiful!
I had a minor trickle bleed, but it concerned Katie a bit, so I ended up with two doses of Pitocin. My perineum was perfectly intact, but my deep pocket tear from my first delivery opened up again, and needed to be restitched. Hopefully, it will heal perfectly this time, and not tear again!
I cannot say enough how perfect this birth was. It was a huge blessing to have a midwife that prayed for us and with us many times during our short labor, and after. She even prayed for healing after the sutures were in, which was a huge encouragement. I truly believe that she was ordained by God for our birth, especially because of the situation with the tub. Because our baby tried to breathe on the perineum, I personally feel that he surely would have done so if the water were too cold, which would have been a scary situation. Our Thanksgiving baby has surely given us much to be thankful for!
Our little one is now three days old, and still without a name. We will let everyone know as soon as we know!
I'm still waiting for pictures from Tiffany, so I don't have a lot from Thursday (my sister fell down on the job after video duty was over; she took more pictures of herself for Myspace than of the baby!
), and the rest are from my mom's cell phone, and mine, so they're not the greatest, but they're pictures! http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...20two/hno6.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...aperchange.jpg
Kisses from big brother
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...hsandhno-1.jpg
I think this was yesterday (two days old)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...20two/HNO3.jpg
Today (three days old)
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...20two/hno7.jpg
Can you tell he just pooped?
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q...justpooped.jpg
: For the record, we do not have three "J" names on purpose, it just ended up that way! The next one 
I think there's definitely a reason it was hidden from view!
