First water birth, second home birth, fourth out-of-hospital birth....it's birth story time!
Baby's due date was December 12 based on my last menstrual cycle. I didn't have a dating ultrasound done and have actually been measuring behind this entire pregnancy. On Friday the 1st, I met with my midwife and she said I was measuring 34 weeks! Between all that and my history of going over my due dates, I was mentally settled in to go past December 12th.
Monday the 5th I announced my "baby pool" to my classes - they could all enter to guess baby's birthday, time, weight, and height and I told them the winner would get 50 bucks! I gave them the specs on my other kids so they could use that data to make their guesses. I put my guess down as December 9th because my last baby was born on my dad's birthday so why not have this baby come on my mom's birthday?
Little did I know Tuesday would be my last day teaching. Before work I went to the chiropractor and got all fixed up - what a lovely thing to be all aligned when I went into labor later that night. I had a surprise observation from my boss 6th period which made for an interesting day! I'm not sure what he gleaned from my teaching style BUT I'm hoping to get some brownie points for being 39 weeks pregnant and less than 24 hours away from having a baby. My friend who watches Beckham and Logan while I work offered to bring us dinner that night which I gladly accepted.
Justin and I started a Hallmark Christmas movie and called it quits at 10:30. Contractions woke me up around midnight that were just enough to keep me awake. I've had this with previous pregnancies where I have a sleepless night of contractions followed by going into labor the following night. By 2:00 AM I decided to start timing them - they were 10 minutes apart lasting anywhere from 40-60 seconds, but didn't require any focus or relaxation techniques on my part. They were the kind you just breathe through, but that keep you from sleeping, so I just tried to rest and be as relaxed as I could. Unless things picked up I decided I'd call Tabitha at 7:00 to let her know I was possibly in early labor.
7:00 came, I called, and she answered right away. I told her my plan was to get moving around a bit and see if that made them stop or not. At this point, I was thinking I could still be teaching that afternoon. Between bathroom breaks from midnight up until now, I hadn't noticed any bloody show whatsoever which was another reason I thought it could all by a false alarm. I always have a bloody show usually a day or two before labor. I ate some breakfast and decided to shoot off some emergency sub plans just in case this was the real deal. Justin got the kids off to my friend's house so I could be totally relaxed knowing everyone was taken care of.
Justin dropped kids off at 8:00 and by the time he was home at 8:30 I could tell the contractions were getting stronger. After timing the next 5 contractions I called Tabitha back and told her contractions were definitely getting stronger, but still far apart (8-10 minutes). I did, however, feel these contractions deep in my pelvis and could tell his head was way down because I felt like I needed to poop. She said, "Oh my gosh...don't have this baby without me! I'm on my way."
Contractions didn't get any closer than 8 minutes apart from the time our call ended to her arriving (with a couple random 6-minute ones) but they required my full attention. I felt most comfortable rocking on my hands and knees, swaying my hips around while cradling my stomach with my other hand. I did a few standing up leaning on Justin. At one point he told me, "Take deep breaths" and I snapped at him, "Don't tell me what to do!" bahahaha...I knew it was something we'd laugh about later but my labor-land self did not appreciate it! Tabitha suspected I probably hit transition around that time.
Tabitha arrived right around 11:00 with her student midwife Sierra. Sierra was brand new to her training at Beckham's birth and now she's almost certified so that is cool that with my two recent births she's come full circle. The two of them worked frantically to get the birth pool filled. I remember Tabitha saying, "You might not make it to have your baby in the pool but you're welcome to get in afterwards if not." This comment threw me because even though I was feeling these contractions strongly, they were deep in my pelvis/legs, and I was feeling pushy, I did NOT think I was having a baby any time soon. I was mentally ready to be at it for another couple of hours at least. My contractions were still 8 minutes apart! Didn't they have to get closer before it was REALLY time??
At 11:25 I got into the birth pool. The warm water was such a comfort. I stayed in my hands-and-knees position in the pool. My first contraction in the water I could feel my body take over and start to push. I asked after that one, "What does this mean?" Tabitha hadn't done any cervical checks to this point and I basically wanted her to tell me I really was 10 cm ready to push. But Tabitha wasn't having it! The stinker...she said, "This means you're having a baby soon - I promise you don't need a vaginal exam. Trust your body and find your way." Later we laughed about that because Justin could tell I wanted to just be told, "Yes, this is really it, you can push," type of thing...what can I say? I'm very coachable! When someone gives me the green light, I go! But it was great for her to help me grow and "find my way" ... I don't need anyone else to tell me what my body instinctually knows.
On the next push Tabitha told me I could reach down and feel his bag of waters. With all my births my midwives have said something to the effect of, "You can reach and feel his head if you'd like," type of thing and I've never cared. At that point I'm so ready to be done! But this time with the water it was different. I pushed with my body and backed off when I could feel my tissues stretch. I didn't have the ring of fire this time and I'm certain it's because I was patient with my pushing. I reached down after the next push and was astounded - I could feel a squishy bag and it was BIG. I really was going to have a baby soon! (Upon first getting in the water I was still convinced I had hours of work to do bahahaha).
I cried out, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" over and over as they brought him up to my chest. Up until 15 minutes ago I thought I had hours of labor left and here I was with my baby!!! There is no other feeling in the world. Similar to Beckham, he needed some help coming around. Rather than pull out the oxygen, Tabitha just had me give him a couple of CPR breaths over his mouth/nose. After 2 or 3 of those he cried out his precious cry.
Colby was born December 7th 2022 at 11:46 AM weighing 8 lbs 6 oz at 21 inches long. His gestation was 39 weeks 2 days. After he was born, we hung out in the birth pool patiently waiting for the placenta to detach. Once I pushed that out we left the cord alone for a while allowing all the extra blood to flow to Colby. Justin cut the cord, I passed Colby off to him, and Sierra and Tabitha helped me out of the tub and into the shower to clean off. They walked me to the bed to check me out: Tabitha said I had the most in-tact perineum she had seen in a long time. My patient pushing paid off! She said I didn't even have any skid marks. It has been a remarkable recovery in that regard.
All in all the birth was extremely straightforward and perfectly lovely. I had about 8 hours of early labor, 3 hours of active labor, and 20 minutes of pushing. I am so grateful to have Tabitha in my life as my care provider as I bring my babies into the world. I am so grateful to have my low-risk pregnancies that allow me to birth safely at home. A few times while I was in the pushing phase in the birth pool Tabitha called me a "birthing goddess" ... hahaha I love that and proudly accept the compliment.
The kiddos came home around 4:00 to meet their new brother. Beckham was extremely apprehensive and started crying if we tried to bring him closer to Colby. I called Mom and Dad around 5:00 to see if they wanted to pop by and meet their new grandbaby. Dad answered and when I told him he said, "You rascal!" Ha that made me giggle. He proceeded to tell me he noticed the car in the driveway with the 8B license plate and wondered if something was going on. This he noticed while driving the loader to and from our new house to push the snow out of the way for the construction crew. Bless him.
Now we're in recovery/hibernation mode. We're supposed to get a ton of snow this weekend and I'm just so grateful for Colby's timing: he came on a clear winter day with clear roads and no drama. Now I get to settle in with my newborn by the Christmas tree while it snows and it's such a lovely gift. Welcome to the family Colby! We love you so much already.
