My due date was November 3rd, 2013 but I was just hoping that we wouldn't have a Halloween baby. I've never thought it would be much fun to have a birthday on a holiday and we didn't have any November birthdays in our family yet. I had been having prodromal labor for over a week and knew the time was coming soon, but I was able to be patient since I have a friend who had prodromal labor for 9 days before actually going into labor, so I was aware that it was a possibility. Prodromal labor can also be known as false labor and starting on October 24th I had contractions every 5-6 min for 2 to 4 hours each day but nothing would really progress, though some of those contractions started to get pretty strong. We took Ryan trick or treating twice and both times I was walking around contracting and wondering if the baby was going to come those nights, but it decided to stay and hang out a little longer.
On the evening of Friday November 1st, Matt was planning to
go hang out with a friend and we were joking back and forth since he had also gone
out with friends the night before I went into labor with Ryan. I told him,
partially joking but mostly serious, that he couldn't stay out late because I
had a feeling I might be having a baby that night. Besides my contractions
getting stronger for the past few days, my body was starting to give me some of
the same signs that I had before going into labor with Ryan, but I'll spare the
details : ) Matt left and told me he'd be home around 11 and that I should go
to bed as soon as I put Ryan to bed if I really thought I might go into labor.
I had a 23 hour labor with Ryan on only about 2 hours of sleep and he didn't
want to see me that exhausted again.
Ryan and I played a little and I snuggled him while we had "chill
out time". I knew it was one of the last nights I'd put him to bed as an
only child and it was a bittersweet feeling.
After Ryan was in bed, I admittedly did not follow Matt's suggestion
to go straight to sleep. Besides being a night owl, I thought my baby might be
coming and I had work to do if midwives and family members were going to be
filling my house soon! I got some last minute things ready, cleaned up the
house, and decided to make my favorite snack at the time, granola energy balls,
which I thought would be great to eat during labor! Through all of that my
Braxton Hicks were getting stronger and I was getting tired. I headed to bed
around 11 so that Matt wouldn't get mad at me for staying up late when he got
home, pretty sure that our baby would be here within the next 24 hours. I
re-read the sweet notes and verses that my friends had sent to me as
encouragement for labor and then as usual, I fell asleep almost immediately.
I felt a few contractions wake me up while I was
sleeping but I'm always a really heavy
sleeper so they didn't faze me too much. Then, at about 2am I woke up with a
contraction and wondered where Matt was. I heard the TV on in the living room
and figured he had fallen asleep so I went to go wake him up. Apparently he didn't
take his own advice either and was still awake. I told him to go to bed and get
some rest b/c I was pretty sure I was in labor. We both went to bed but I
decided to time my contractions for a little bit to see if it was really labor.
I had tested positive for Group B Strep so I had been taking probiotics and
using essential oils but was also supposed to do a hibiclense rinse as soon as
labor started and again a little while later to help reduce the risk to the
baby. After timing contractions for about 25 minutes I realized that this was
the real thing and that I should go get started on the cleanse and let our
midwife know that I was in labor. As I stood up to go to the bathroom I felt
and heard two big pops on my left side. It was a little painful but more than
anything it felt really strange! I later discovered that it was probably my
water breaking.
I went to the bathroom and then told Matt to call Dawn, our
midwife. So, at 3am he called her but
didn't know quite what to say since I had just gotten him out of bed and didn't
really give him any details so he just told her that I was doing the rinse and
he would try to figure out where I was and call her back. I stood at the
kitchen counter and tried to get the rinse mixed up and had to stop several
times for contractions that were getting quite intense. All I had to do was
measure out some of the rinse and add some water to it but it seemed like a
very difficult task, as did my shower afterwards which also included several
breaks to lean against the wall and moan through contractions. Matt called Dawn
again at 3:30 while I was in the shower, and later I found out that he told her
that I was at about the same stage as I was when I headed to the hospital with
Ryan, 10 hours before he was born. She told him that she would get her things
together, make a cup of tea, and head over. I was much, much closer to having a
baby than I was when I went to the hospital with Ryan but I don't know if I even
realized it at the time- I was just taking one contraction at a time.
By the time I got out of the shower the only comfortable
position during a contraction was on my elbows and knees, a position I had
spend a lot of time in for the past couple of weeks in efforts to get our baby
to turn from a posterior position. Getting dressed seemed to take forever since
contractions were coming very close together. I put my bikini top on, had to
stop for a contraction. Put my underwear on, had to stop. Put my tank top on,
had to stop. Put my skirt on, had to stop. Combed my hair, had to stop.
I had planned to put my hair up and put make up on, as I had
when I was in the early stages of labor with Ryan (mostly just to pass the
time). I had also planned to use a bunch of essential oils and light candles
during labor, labor in the pool (which Matt was slowly but surely filling in
the living room), and have our midwives take a bunch of pictures of us during
labor but there was no time for any of that!
By the time I got back out to the living room, I couldn't
even make it to the kitchen to get a drink of water between contractions. I
tried to sit on the exercise ball for one contraction and it was SO uncomfortable and I
had to get off and onto my elbows and knees in the middle of the contraction. I
was vocalizing loudly by now and things were getting very intense, but I also
felt so peaceful, in control, and confident that I could handle whatever came.
Matt was still standing there holding the hose and filling the pool, I guess
not realizing that he could just leave the hose in there to fill on its own...
maybe he was in shock or maybe he thought I was doing a fine job on my own, I'm
not sure, but it is pretty funny looking back on it!
My midwife arrived at our house at 4:10am and found me in
the middle of a contraction on my elbows and knees next to the couch. After the
contraction was over I sat up to talk to her for a minute. She asked if I would
be ok with her checking the baby's heart rate before another contraction came
and I said that was fine. Before she could walk over to me another contraction
came so she waited until that one was over and got the baby's heart rate in the
140's and told me that I was handling the contractions perfectly. I told her
that last contraction was much stronger than all of the others and asked if I
could get into the pool. She said she didn't think it was full enough yet and I
decided that I didn't think I could move at that point anyway. Another
contraction came at 4:20 so I got back to my elbows and knees and my body
started pushing! I had heard of it happening to other people but I guess I
still didn't know what it would be like and never thought it would happen to me
and it took me by complete surprise. I was still fully clothed so when I told
Dawn, "I'm pushing accidentally!" she rushed over and tried to get my
skirt and underwear off. She called Kim, the other midwife and just said,
"She's pushing! Come now!" and told Matt to grab some chux pads. She
was frantically spreading them all over the carpet around me since I told her I
couldn't move and she needed to be ready for the next contraction. I guess the
involuntary pushing made Matt realize this was the real deal so he came over
and rubbed my shoulder and arm, I guess not knowing what else to do. Dawn told
me that I needed to try to push slowly with the next contraction and ease the
baby out so I did my best to fight against my body's pushing and the baby was
out with the next contraction, at 4:27am! I reached down and picked up the
warmest, softest, most beautiful baby boy I'd ever seen! The feeling was
indescribable and I will never forget it! I cried happy, excited tears combined
with some laughter, in amazement that he was here so quickly and peacefully and
that I had essentially done it all on my own, without even much coaching or
encouragement from anyone else. He was perfect and so sweet!
Dawn suggested that we move to our bedroom so that we would
be more comfortable and so I could deliver the placenta. Kim arrived after we
got to the bedroom and started helping Dawn with whatever she needed. Matt and
I admired our new son while he nursed for the first time and Dawn joked that it
was a good thing she didn't stay home for a second cup of tea! She was only at
our house for 17 minutes before he was born! Our midwives took wonderful care
of us, got a snack and orange juice for me, and made sure that nursing was
going smoothly. Then, I realized that Ryan was still asleep which was a true
miracle since he had only slept in his room the whole night once or twice
before in his life, at almost 3 years old, and hasn't done it again since!
Considering the amount of noise I was making not too far from his room and some
other things about how perfectly everything worked out, there is no denying
that God was there with us every step of the way! Everything was even more
amazing and perfect than I had prayed and hoped for!
Dawn and Kim left us alone for a little while and Matt and I
discussed what his name would be. We had already chosen the first name and Matt had been wanting his middle name to be Matthew but after he was born Matt offered the idea of naming
him after one of our dads. My dad's name is Michael, so we decided on Evan Michael Baugh!
Ryan woke up at about 5:45 and Matt went to go get him and
asked him if he knew what had happened while he was sleeping. Ryan said,
"No" so Matt said, "let's go see, it's in Mommy's room". At
first he was a little shy and confused and wanted to hide on the other side of
Matt but quickly realized that Evan was pretty cool and wanted to see him. I
was able to go take a shower while Dawn did the newborn exam and everything
checked out wonderfully! Ryan enjoyed watching that part and asked lots of
questions. Evan was 7 lbs 15 oz and 20
1/2 inches long, the same length as Ryan and weighed only 1 oz less. One of the
notes that Dawn made on his newborn exam said that he was a "beautiful,
calm, term baby boy" and I couldn't agree more!
We called our family members to let them know the good news
and then Ryan and Matt went to hang out in the living room while Evan and I
took a little nap together. Then Ryan got a chance to hold Evan for the first time! Ryan was amazed by Evan's tiny ears, his yawns, and how Evan grasped his finger.
My mom came later that morning from Illinois to
meet Evan and to help us for a week. My two good friends since
Kindergarten, Kat and Julia, were also planning to come to Columbia that day to
hang out with me so they came to snuggle Evan instead.
We had such an amazing,
relaxing, peaceful day just admiring our sweet boy, taking pictures of our two
boys together, eating pizza for dinner, and talking. I have no doubt in my mind
that this is the birth God created and chose for Evan, long before even I was
born, and that he worked out every little detail perfectly! We are still
praising Him every day for our two Blessings that came only from Him!
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