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Caden Joel is here!

2K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  josie143 
#1 ·
Caden Joel is here. He was due 10/14, but arrived 9/27. I woke up at 4:25am Friday morning with my water breaking. I expected contractions to begin right away, but they didn't start until 10pm Saturday night. By 1am Sunday, they were still only coming ever 20ish minutes, but were getting too painful to sleep through. By 3am, they were too painful to lay down through. At this time, I called my sister to come to stay with my 16 month old son Levi. By 5am, I didn't try to sleep anymore. But then the contractions stopped. They continued to start and stop all morning. When they would come, the pain was quite intense, but they were spaced far apart and were only lasting 20ish seconds. There were many times that I went over an hour without a contraction. I took a 45 minute walk as I do every morning. I had to stop 5-6 times and breathe through contractions. After the walk, the contractions stopped again. I took a 35 minute walk around 2:30pm, and had 3 contractions, but they were so mild that I didn't even have to slow down. I was very discouraged at this point. My midwife said we might have to transfer if thing were not picking up by Monday morning. I decided to relax and lay down in the shower after my walk. I was in there for about an hour and had 3 really intense contractions, but they were 20mins apart and still only 20-30secs long. I was wondering how I would make it through them when they started coming closer together and lasting longer. After the shower, I went to the bedroom and leaned over the birth ball listening to worship music. Suddenly the contractions started coming more regularly--every 7-8 minutes and lasting 30-50 seconds. They were pretty intense and I started making low moaning sounds through them. I was having pain in my back and it helped when my husband put ice on my back during a contraction. Then I started getting all emotional and sobbing while listening to the worship music. I started shaking all over and feeling nauseous. I thought it was just my imagination, but I felt some pressure during the contractions. I was still able to completely recover between contractions. I texted my midwife saying I didn't dare hope, but was experiencing transition symptoms. I knew it had to be something else because I had so very few contractions up to this point, they were so short and still not close together. She said she was speeding here and that I should try out the birth pool. I didn't even consider that I could get in it yet, thinking I wasn't far enough along. I got in but was thinking "she's going to kick me out of here as soon as she gets here because I'm probably just barely entering active labor!" The pool didn't really lessen the pain, but it really really helped me relax between the contractions. It also allowed me to move weightlessly into different positions during the contractions, making them more bearable. Shortly after I got into the pool, I was no longer "recovering" between contractions. I couldn't focus on anything but the contractions. They were about every 2.5 minutes at this point and lasting 40-50secs. My husband helped me remember to breathe slowly and make low noises. About 30 minutes after I got in the pool, the student midwife arrived. She watched me through one contaction and said "Honey, I'm sorry I can't sit and help you through these, but I need to prepare for birth!" She ran to get her equipment from the car and started unpacking. I was so surprised and I felt a huge rush of adreneline and said "Really?! I'm about to have this baby?!" 10 minutes later the midwife arrived as I pushed for the first time. I heard the student midwife tell her to get in fast because the baby was coming. the midwife sat on the edge of the pool in front of me and said all sorts of encouraging things that I barely heard. The only thing I remember is her saying is "look down, you're about to see your baby." I looked down and said, "I can't see anything. My belly is still too big." And everyone laughed. As he was crowning I did say, "I can't do this, it hurts to much." My husband laughed like it was the most ridiculous thing to say, and he said "You've already done it--the baby is coming now!!" That gave me another adreneline rush and I think I pushed him out with the next contraction. I think I pushed maybe 10x total. He came fast. I could just feel the wrinkly squishy top of his head and then in the next instant his whole body whooshed out in front of me. I grabbed him and pulled him up to my chest. I looked at my husband in shock and said "I just had this baby!" I then announced that it was another boy. He had so much vernix from being 2.5 weeks early. He was completely white and it was the texture of cream cheese. The midwife wiped some off of his back and declared him to be nice and pink underneath. He only let out the slightest cry as I pulled him out of the water. I couldn't believe how tiny he was. My first son was born at 41 weeks and was 8lb8oz. I climbed out of the pool and onto the couch. The midwife was more comfortable delivering the placenta there where she could monitor my bleeding easier. He started nursing right away. He was born at 5:42pm-about an hour and 10 minutes after I texted the midwife that things were picking up and I didn't dare hope that I was in transition. It was amazing. My husband was very traumatized by my 41 hour labor in the hospital with my first son. He said there is absolutely nothing beautiful or miraculous about birth--it is horrible. This time he said it was amazing. :) I bounced back so much faster this time--my face wasn't puffy, my feet didn't swell. I didn't break any blood vessels in my face. I didn't look like I just had a baby. :) Caden was 6lb6oz and 20". He nurses vigorously and sleeps long--so different than my first son.
 
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#6 ·
:smile:Congratulations mama! :smile:
 
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