Nate the Late

So we finally got to welcome our little boy into the world. He was born Saturday the 17th at 8:17pm. He weighed 9lbs 2oz and was 21inches long. And he came into the world screaming his head off!

So here's the whole story... we had a home birth with an amazing, awesome midwife. I know, I know, we're crazy. But we're not. I really did a lot of research about this before deciding, and although I didn't announce it to the world, it was our plan all along. I just didn't want people to worry/tell me I'm crazy, so we kept it on the down low. But now it's over so I shall tell you all about it.

Woke up Saturday morning with contractions! Real contractions. Just like I did with Olivia and Abigail, I knew this was it. It was 4:45am so I tried to just sleep through it as much as possible. They were about 20 minutes apart, so I would lay there, drift off to sleep, and a contraction would wake me up. There was really no sleeping through it, but I did sleep a bit between them. At 6:30 I woke up Aaron to let him know we'd be having a baby that day. We got out of bed around 8:00am. Cleaned the house up a bit. Put away some laundry. Ate breakfast. Just tried to ignore the contractions as much as possible. Then I called a few best friends to chat. That was a good distraction. Then around 3:00 my friend Candace came over to give me a massage. Definitely the best part of the labor!! She was amazing. Contractions were picking up, and I had to focus quite a bit to get through them. But the massage... yeah that helped. Contractions were about 5 minutes apart at that point. She stayed for almost 2 hours. Then after she left I got into the shower. Contractions picked up even more. We called the midwife around... 6? I'm guessing, because I lose all track of time at this point. When Jen (the midwife) got there I was about 8cm. She said by looking at me and the way I was acting she would have guessed I was like 4cm. I was really happy, not in too much pain, and loving the fact that I was at home! Then things started to get really intense. I felt him starting to move down, and I just started to get a bit scared. I tried to just focus on one contraction at a time, but yeah... started to get a little scared realizing this baby was really going to come out.

We had a birthing tub set up in the playroom. Full of wonderful hot water. I was honestly afraid to get in because I knew once I did he was coming. I had to let go of the fear and hop in the tub. I have no idea how long I was in the tub before he came. It was really intense. I know I was loud, and crazy, and wondering why the heck I decided to do this. But then with one contraction my water broke. With the next contraction his head came out. With the next contraction the rest of him was born. It really was just so intense and beautiful. I picked my baby boy up out of the water, and laid him against me. He screamed from the moment I lifted him from the water. Aaron cut the cord after it stopped pulsing. We got to sit there in awe and just enjoy this little miracle for as long as we wanted. It was perfect.

Jen commented on how wrinkly his fingers were and said he was definitely a 41 weeker. I needed 3 little stitches. Which I made a big deal about, but wasn't a big deal really. I just hate that part. Anyway it has been wonderful to climb into our own comfy bed, and eat our own yummy food, and just enjoy the comfort of being home. Jen comes back to check on us, and brings all the paper work for birth certificate, etc.  Anyway, if you have any questions about it I'd love to answer! It was a beautiful, wonderful experience... but I'm not far enough removed from the pain yet to say I'd do it that way again! Give me time, and I'm sure I will.