The Birth Story

Here it is The Birth Story.

I of course won't let you in on all the details of the birthing process, but if you are that squeamish I don't see why you'd be reading my blog anyway. Here goes....

A few days before my due date I had already 3 cm, but knowing that dilation means next to nothing as to when baby will arrive I tried to ignore the information and only told a few people. I was however excited to have dilated that much without noticing though. Less work later, right?

My due date came and went as mentioned in my last post and in one week I had dilated another cm. Sweet! We started to have a feeling that baby may come late, but would probably come faster than the other two. (We were right) Having gone past my due date before I was thankfully emotionally prepared for it this time only having one bad day. I had a feeling I would go between five and ten days late. (Demand was five days late, Happy was ten.)

Saturday was five days past my due date. I felt nothing the night before and I felt nothing all morning. Shortly before nap time I suggested going for a walk to get my body a little more prepared. I walked while Mr. Sloth and the kids slept. After that we all went to Target to get some groceries. Just as we got back from Target I started feeling 'different'. No contraction, just pressure. This went on for hours. It got to the point where we discussed going in just to see if anything was going on and get a status. Without having any contractions I felt silly going in obviously not in labor so I suggested we get the kids to bed and then see where we were. The kids struggled to fall asleep that night and since I had a feeling that they'd wake up without me there, Mommy-guilt kicked in and I laid with Demand until they fell asleep. Things were off an on all evening. No contractions just some pressure and light, irregular menstrual cramps. At 10:30pm Mr. Sloth asked me, "This baby is going to come at 3am isn't it?" "Yep." I said. I just had a feeling. So we decided to go to bed early (for us) so that we'd at least have some rest. Mr. Sloth, has an understandable yet exaggerated fear of "catching a baby" or worse having the baby in the car. But we both agreed he could get a new car if I gave birth in the old Saturn. So I promised that the first real contraction I had we would go to the hospital. Around midnight I woke up with a contraction but fell back asleep, around 12:15am I had another one, a bit stronger. I quietly got out of bed and started getting ready letting Mr. Sloth sleep as long as possible. Mr. Sloth and his "spidysense" caught on fast and nervously asked me if everything was O.K. I told him we should probably go. We called our friend to come over. I had to leave a message, but she called right back. Apparently in her sleepy state thought what everyone thinks when someone calls at 12:30am.."Who the heck is calling me??" We finished gathering our stuff while she walked over. I went in to say good-bye to the kiddos even though they were sleeping. It surprised and embarrassed me how hard it was to say good-bye to sleeping children. I guess I just knew how hard the next few days would be for them and I felt particularly bad for Happy. He had NO IDEA what was about to happen and as he slept peacefully his reign and 'baby' would be stripped away and his routine would be turned upside down. So with tears in my eyes I decided it was time to go get a new family. Besides contractions seemed a bit closer.

I remember the ride to the hospital being much more pleasant than the last two babies. Our plan was to leave earlier this time so I'd be sure to make it in the water birth room and just in case I went faster than expected. (Apparently leaving at contractions 4 minutes apart in a snowstorm two hours before Happy was born was cutting it close for him) The weather was great outside and traffic was clear. Mr. Sloth called the hospital on the way to let them know we were coming. He told them my contractions were 10 minutes apart, but they seemed to be picking up. As we stood in the lobby waiting for our escort upstairs we also noticed that they seemed a bit closer, but nothing too strong. We got in our room and got settled. The nurse finally checked me 5 cm, only one since Thursday. It looked like I had done it, I was in labor but not too far along. They started getting the water birth room ready and said they'd check me in a half an hour and then I could get in the tub. That was around 1:30am. We worked on some paper work between contractions. Then they decided they'd start moving furniture over to the waterbirth room and I could get in but baby had other plans. Just as everyone left the room my body just started pushing. At first I didn't believe it, but after another push Mr. Sloth called people back and everyone else believed it. Then there was a scurry as they moved all the furniture back into my room and called for the on-call OB. A few minutes later, at 2:17am "Pax" entered the world. 9 lbs 3 oz, 21 inches. Thankfully, my doctor didn't wait like she said she was going to do but came right away making it just in time to catch the baby. Even though I didn't get my waterbirth I'm more than happy with my two hour labor. I went from a few contractions to pushing, skipping that whole seriously painful part. If the rest of my babies could be like that I would be a happy girl.

In case you are wondering about the name "Pax". It of course means peace in Latin (Catholics and their Latin). He's such a peaceful little guy. Easily pleased and easily soothed.

So there you have it people the birth story. My apologies for the delay. I had 80% written when things went downhill around here. Life goes on I guess.