Cari
They say that the second experience of labor and delivery is always different than the first, often shorter, and in my case…anything would have been different than the 63 hours, attempted home birth and eventual hospital delivery with Beau.
Well…this was EXACTLY the labour and delivery that I was hoping and praying for.
Note: I’m writing this post with a selfish angle…mainly so I don’t forget how it all played out, but I will make this as appropriate as I can for all those reading and try not to bore you.
On Saturday, I took Beau into the city for a day with his cousin, while I savoured the tastes of summer with my Mom at the local Farmer’s Market. I waddled my uber pregnant body, munching on green onion cakes, checking out beautiful produce and enjoying the sunshine, while my son was whisked away with his cousin for a bike ride with Grandpa. I took my Dad to WalMart, mainly for his muscles, to buy dog food. We ordered pizza and had a meal with Dad, my brother in law and nephew before heading home to meet up with my hubby, who had spent the day at the lake with his Dad. Generally…a good day.
Little did we know what was going to happen…
After a great snuggle and giggle fest with Beau, I put him to bed and went to join Marc in the garage for some chill time.
At 9:20pm, I felt the strangest thing, as I went to stand up. You know the sound/feeling of when you’d crack your knuckles…something like that. Yup, my water broke. We quickly head upstairs where we decided to give our midwife a call. We also called my girlfriend in Ft. McMurray who was wanting to be at the birth…and told her she might want to get on the road. My midwife told me to relax and try to go to bed…so I did…um, ya…that lasted all of 5 minutes. Back to the bathroom and then into the tub to relax for a bit.
Less than an hour later, contractions started. Marc started his tracking of the start time and duration (he’s so good at that!) and all I could think of was how tired I was and how I hadn’t napped. I kept telling Marc random things, where I put this and that…how I was a little afraid…how he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere…you know, the important stuff!
Contractions picked up quickly…10 mins apart became 4 mins apart. Our midwife arrived and operation: set up the birth pool QUICK began. While I went through rolling contractions, Marc and Gaelyn were trying their best to get as much water into the birth pool as they could. I couldn’t get into that water fast enough.
Marc got his trunks on and came in with me, not only to help with the water level, but he was catching this baby.
The sensation of birthing a baby, in water, in your house, was perhaps the most amazing thing I could ever experience. There was pain. There was no drugs. There was lots of encouragement. I was in a whole ‘nother space in my head. I was loud and Beau, somehow, slept through the whole thing.
I had no idea how dilated I was and had Gaelyn check so that I knew I was close to the end. I was one contraction away from pushing.
Apparently, I pushed for maybe 20 mins. Maybe…and then Marc was placing this little peanut onto my chest. He had the cord wrapped loosely around his neck twice (which no one was too concerned about, because it’s quite common) and was crying out in no time.
What. a. rush. I DID IT!
The after birth part was what I am most thankful for.
I held our baby, cord still attached for about 30 mins in the water. Marc cut the cord. They took Noah from me and I went for a shower, IN MY SHOWER. The midwives tidied the house and cleaned up the birth pool, got a load of laundry into the wash, and I laid IN MY BED with our baby. My girlfriend Amanda showed up at about this time, after her cruise down from McMurray and joined me in our bed (missing the birth by 30 mins!). We made nachos and ate in bed while the midwives weighed and measured Noah.
I was cozy. We were smiling. We had a baby AT HOME. And…I survived the experience with no souvenirs (Ladies, you know what I mean.)
My mom had said to me while we were walking through the market, “Cari, I think you should expect a boy and be surprised by a girl.” And I knew in my heart that either would be fantastic.
When Marc put this little body on my chest, he knew it was a boy. He said he felt his ‘package’…
I was expecting a boy…didn’t get my girlie surprise…but I did give birth to an amazing little boy…
A special thanks to my amazing husband. He’s my best friend and I am thankful beyond words for his encouragement, his strength, his passion and his pure love for our little family.