The long, long wait was worth it - A birth story

August 2 - I was convinced our newest little one was going to come on Friday, August 2.  All three of the other kids were born on Fridays, and actually, Fridays with an even date, August 2 was the perfect day for a birth.  Unfortunately for me, this baby did not agree.  So here I am at about 40.5 weeks.

 At least I'm still smiling....

 Showing the belly really emphasizes how big I have gotten.

 A week later (at 41.5 weeks) - it looks like my belly should just fall right down to the ground.  Seeing this view of me (totally different from how I saw myself) really helps me understand why my lower back ached so much!

For the past two weeks or so, I had been trying a number of suggestions to try to start/continue/help along the contractions that I had been having - Raspberry leaf tea, pineapple, walking, chiropractor, etc.  I even had a friend come over and do some acupuncture:

 Needles in my legs....

 Needles and electrical current in my back.....

 Something warm and stinky on my belly......none of these made Baby the least bit uncomfortable (which there were supposed to do), but as my friend, Katrina, told me, "These methods will only work if Baby is ready to come out."  Guess Baby's not ready....

Fast forward a couple more days and a couple of more methods to induce labor which I won't mention.  On the morning of the 14th (42 weeks + 1 day), I was having some contractions.  This was not unusual.  I had been waking up many mornings with contractions, but these were a little stronger, but still not consistent or especially frequent.  My mom and I planned an afternoon shopping trip to pick up a few things we needed around the house for projects, food, etc.  The contractions were strong enough while we were shopping that I slowed down walking a little, so I kept track of how many I had - not the length or time between, but just a general idea of number of contractions since we had left home.  On the way home, we figured out that they were averaging about 10-12 minutes apart.  Not bad, but I still wasn't convinced this was the real thing.  I was pretty sure I was going to be eternally pregnant by this point.

Contractions kept going after the kids got up from nap, and so I started timing them - about 8 minutes apart.  I started thinking this might actually lead to a baby this time.  Ed had an appointment to meet someone at church and about the time he left, I noticed that my contractions (still about 6-7 minutes apart) were lasting 2-3 minutes.  I decided it might be time to call my midwife and see what she thought.  She let me know she wasn't going to rush, but that she was on her way.  Yay!

About 6:30, I got the kids upstairs and started getting them ready for bed.  Ed got home just before we started devotions, then we read stories.  Normally we also read a few chapters from our chapter book (currently The Marvelous Land of Oz), but we were trying to get the birth tub filled (oops we forgot the liner and had to stop filling to put it in) and the contractions were strong enough that I couldn't read through them.  We told the kids that unfortunately, we were going to skip our reading for the night.  They were disappointed, but excited that FINALLY they would have a baby in the morning - they had been asking "Is the baby coming today?" for over two weeks.  The kids all got tucked into bed, hugged and kissed, and reminded that there would be a lot of activity, but they needed to stay in their beds.

My midwife, Sharon, showed up and started bringing her stuff in and upstairs.  Just a few minutes later, Nicki, one of her apprentices, showed up as well.  They got done what they needed to - getting supplies ready, talking with me, getting vitals - then they left me to do my thing until I needed them.

 I wanted one last belly picture! (Taken between contractions at 8:00pm)

I found that laboring standing was easiest, but my legs were getting tired, so I laid down on the bed for a bit to rest.  After I laid down, my contractions stopped for a bit (about 15 minutes) and the break was really nice.  Then they started up again and were super-strong and one right after the other - about four in a row.  We decided this was a good time to get in the pool.

 Relaxing in the warm water (at 9:00pm).

The relaxing didn't last long.  Contractions kept coming and finding a comfortable position in the water was difficult.  There was nothing firm to push on or hold on to which became a bit of a problem for me.

**Side note**  My biggest fear in giving birth at home was that my water would not break.  In each of my previous births (three for those who don't know) my water had been artificially broken and although I tried not to think about it, I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to break it on my own.  My midwife does not break waters unless baby is well engaged (even then it is rare) and I carry so much fluid that my babies don't engage until my water is broken.  See my dilemma?  Hence, my fear.

***WARNING:  GRAPHIC-ish PICTURES BELOW***

Anyway, the urge to push began and so I went with it and pushed, but nothing seemed to happen.  I knew these were baby-pushing-out type contractions, but since my water wasn't broken, nothing was happening.  I reminded myself that a friend had told me that her water didn't break until she was pushing and told myself to do a couple more contractions worth of pushing before I started asking/begging my midwife for help.  The next push I BROKE MY WATER!  I was so excited.  I let everyone know what had happened. (Ed later told me that he felt my water break, but had no idea what exactly had happened until I said something.  He thought maybe I pooped, since he couldn't really see what was going on - such a guy!)  The push after my water broke involved a baby's head being pushed out and the push after that brought out the rest of the body.  Ed caught our sweet darling and assisted by our midwife got the first glimpse.

Baby being delivered by my awesome hubby! (9:20pm)

 Here's the first glimpse of our sweet miracle.  (Sorry for the blur, but my mom was talking me through contractions while taking the pictures - she's awesome!)

 My first glimpse of Baby - I love how Ed's watching me and not the baby.

 Wrapping baby up in a towel - pretty sure this is where I asked what kind of baby we had - Ed's response that the kids would all be happy - it's a GIRL!!

 Like my awkward angle here?  The umbilical cord was very short, but we didn't want to cut it until it was all done working, so we had to figure out how to get me shifted around so I could hold my baby girl.

 Much more comfortable now.

Looking her over - love that Ed was holding her hand.

 It felt so good to hold her in my arms after so many long months!

Despite how "late" she was, she was still covered in vernix, but Oh, so Beautiful!

 Our first "family" (minus three kids) photo! (and yes, she's already nursing like a champ!)

After about an hour hanging out in the pool with her, we decided that the water was cooling and it was time to get out.  Since the cord was so short, we cut it before trying to exit.  The pool was very tall and I didn't think there was any way I'd be able to get out while she was still attached.  Ed cut the cord - much easier when it's limp and basically empty than when it's still huge and pulsing like in the hospital.

Wrapped up in a towel, Ed gets his first real chance to hold his new daughter. (I was pretty greedy for the first hour or so.)

 Snuggling with Daddy.

 After I got out, dried, and settled, Nicki began the newborn exam.  (You can see my elbow in the top corner of the picture - I wasn't far away at all!)

 Baby Girl was not a huge fan of the exam, but she passed with flying colors!

 Good lungs!

 Getting weighed - 8 lb 5 oz - By the way, I totally love how they weigh babies at home.  It reminds me of a stork carrying a baby to drop it off at the appropriate house.  :-)

 Daddy getting her first diaper on.

 Meeting Nana

 Ephraim woke up and had to see what was going on, so he got a quick minute to hold his new sister.

 He was a pretty happy camper.

So, there's the birth story of our newest little darling - our mystery baby is a mystery no more.  She's a girl.  Her name, however, at this point in the night, had not yet been determined - it took Ed and I a little bit longer to look over our list of names, look over our new daughter, and find the perfect name to fit her:

Rafaela Nyx Maanum

Rafaela means healed by God (just because we liked it)

Nyx means night or dark (after my mom - the same meaning as her name)

We're still working on nicknames - we've been trying a few different ones out, but haven't settled on which we like best yet - guess that will come later.