Malachi's Arrival

As promised, let's back it up some more to document Malachi's birth day.

**Warning: It's a tiny bit graphic, but nothing besides what you would expect when reading about a birth!

August 29th. My due date. I thought for sure I'd have him before then. We were in KC, waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Finally. Contractions started. When? The wee hours of August 29th. :) Maybe he'll be a timely person his whole life!

The first contraction started just before 1am. They were about 10 mins apart, but not painful. I tried not to get excited, but couldn't sleep. I got up and walked around a little, trying not to wake Michael. Around 2am, they started to hurt a bit. So I decided to hop in the shower in case I wouldn't get to take one for a day or two. Afterwards, I told Michael what was happening and encouraged him to fall back asleep since he couldn't do anything. I'd let him know when they got closer together. He happily obliged. :)

In the 3 o'clock hour, they spread out to about 20 minutes apart. This did NOT make me happy. By this point, I was upstairs (we were staying in the basement of a friend's house), switching between pacing a 3-foot strip of floor that didn't creak, and resting on the couch. The contractions were getting much more painful, and I had to stand up during each one. I thought this was promising. But I knew nothing would happen soon with them so far apart. So I decided to try to sleep a little. I got a few naps in since they were still 20-25 minutes apart. I was really hoping it wasn't false labor.

At 6.30, my friend/hostess came downstairs and saw me pacing. She was thrilled it had started! But contractions were still slow. At least 15 minutes apart. I had noticed that when I paced consistently earlier, they got closer. But when I rested, they slowed way down. So I decided to start walking the neighborhood, since it was now daylight. She lovingly joined me, encouraging me the whole way. We walked for almost 2 hours! And it worked! By the end of the walk, contractions were ranging from 4-7 minutes apart. Hallelujah!

We went into the house to find Michael feeding Josiah breakfast and our friend's husband a nervous wreck. :) He didn't know what to think about this whole home birth thing. As long as it wasn't at his home, he was good to go. Haha.

We called our midwife to let her know what was happening. I called her earlier in the night to give her a head's-up since we were delivering at her house. (Side note: Home births are typically done at your own home...sort of the whole point of being comfortable. Since we're nomads during the summer, our kind midwife/Sister offered her basement and birthing tub. Perfect!) So we leisurely got our things together, I ate some yogurt and peanut butter toast for some energy and protein, and we headed off. Our dear friends and hosts watched Josiah while we were gone. So thankful to them! We stopped by the store to load up on more snacks and Gatorade. (MYTH: You can't eat/drink while in labor.)

We got to her house around 9.30. Her 4 kids and hubby were gone, and she had a nurse and our doula from Josiah's birth there waiting for us. We headed downstairs where the pool (think giant kiddie pool with high sides) was filled with warm water and things were set up. It was a very calm environment; quite different from a hospital room with hustle and bustle. She took a few stats, then left us alone. I appreciated that so I wouldn't feel like I was on display. By then, my contractions had sped up a little to 4-5 minutes. I was a little afraid to get in the pool because sometimes it tends to slow down labor. But, after just a few contractions, I decided to try it.

Women who plan to have more babies: get in some warm water during labor! Soooo soothing! It didn't take away the pain, but it eased it and just helped me relax more.

Once I got in the water, my midwife, nurse, and doula came down. It was go time! By now, the pain was really intense and contractions were rapid-fire, it seemed like. My midwife checked me--dilated to a 9. Good news. She listened to baby's heartbeat--all good. After that, she was hands off and just let my body do what it was made to do. The 3 ladies calmly encouraged me from time to time, which was a stark difference from the nurse at Josiah's birth. She tried to encourage, but she was loud and sounded fake. These ladies also kept repeating that my body knew what to do. They didn't tell me to push. They didn't tell me not to push. They just let my body be. This was probably my favorite part of the whole experience. Maybe because during labor with Josiah, the nurse told me to STOP pushing right before he came out b/c the doc wasn't there yet...!?!? Crazy lady, get some gloves on and get ready to catch!

I remember a few thoughts during the last few, hard contractions. Some, I said aloud. "I don't remember the pain being this bad." "Why does it have to hurt so much?" "Turn off the music." (I was getting irritated..haha) I stayed in the same position the whole time. On my knees, with my head resting on my arms, which were on the edge of the pool. Head down, eyes closed, trying to stay focused.

At one point, my midwife asked me to feel for the head. I was too scared and didn't want to move, so she did. He was crowning! After another push or two, his head was out! I was baring down, ready for another little while to push (as was with Josiah), but with the next push, he slid out so fast! 10.12am.

He was actually born completely in the bag of waters. This usually breaks to start labor, but mine never broke. I guess it's unusual that it stays intact through the entire process. My midwife said it was like opening a present when she broke it open.

When he was completely out, she pushed him to me (yes, still under water), between my legs and I brought him up. After a few seconds, he took his first breath, then cried. So cute. It was an amazing feeling of blessing, accomplishment, and being overwhelmed. He was completely covered in vernix. It looked like thick sunscreen all over his body, in his ears, everywhere! Usually babies don't have such a thick layer of it b/c it starts to come off as they age in utero. This made my midwife wonder if he was actually a bit early and my due date was off.

We sat in the pool for a while. (You're probably picturing the water being nasty. Actually, it wasn't at all. It was still clear b/c of how little I bled. Thanks to my midwife's suggestion to take alfalfa supplements during pregnancy.) He immediately wanted to nurse. That always amazes me. Babies have the natural ability to do this right after birth! My placenta came 30-40 mins later, and I had to push it out. Not my favorite thing after just pushing out a baby.

After that, I got out, laid on the couch, nursed some more, and they took Malachi's vitals. 7 pounds 8 ounces and (perhaps a little scrunched) 20 inches long. Then they left us alone. I took about an hour nap while Michael played Angry Birds. Haha. Then I felt good enough to go home. So we cleaned up a bit, got some instructions, and headed out! My midwife's strict orders were to not climb stairs for at least a week. But we were in her basement. So Michael carried me up. :)

We stopped to get lunch at Panda Express (missing China, I guess?!) We got back to our "home" to find Josiah still napping and our hosts shocked that we were back already. (This was around 2.30pm.)

Josiah's first glimpse of him was precious. He wasn't confused at all that baby wasn't in my tummy anymore. Thankfully, I got most of it on video.

And there it is! I'll not bore you with pics, since I'm pretty sure all of you are on Facebook and have seen them all already.