Everett's Home Birth

It's already been almost 7 weeks since Everett was born! WHAT? That's crazy. What's also crazy is that it has taken me almost 7 weeks to write this story down. I not even sure where I really want to begin, so I'm just going to start from those last miserable days of being past my "due date". I was feeling incredibly miserable, as you could imagine feeling being 40+ weeks pregnant...in July...in Texas. Nevertheless, I insisted on walking as often as I could stand it outside. So there I was on July 13th walking at the park while Hayden and Eli played on the playground. It was like 6 in the evening, and even though I had felt no contractions all day long I was still optimistic that if I walked my rear end off I might go into labor that night.

We then entered into that place where it's like, "Could this be labor?? This isn't labor. But I keep feeling cramps. Maybe this is labor." Having been induced with my first babe and also having had that epidural, I had no clue what going into labor was supposed to feel like. Turns out, for me, it felt like period cramps. When we got home from the park I was feeling said cramps once every ten minutes or so. They were super mild. I had been texting my midwife, Sam, and she told me that things would start to move along when Eli went to sleep. Sure enough as soon as Hayden put Eli to bed my contractions started getting stronger and some were happening closer to 7 minutes apart. Midwives are so wise.

I remember Hayden and I watching a movie like nothing was going on. Just taking it easy still having contractions. I went to bed to get some sleep while I could since it seemed like this was the real deal. I laid down and all of a sudden I was having stronger contractions at 5 minutes apart. My midwife text me and said to sleep as much as I possibly could and to text her in an hour with an update. So I was in and out of sleep with these stronger contractions. They were still very manageable and as long as I wasn't on my back when they hit I was fine. Oh by the way, being on your back during a contraction is ridiculously awful. I was all about being on knees and elbows with my face on a pillow.  Much better.

After the hour passed I text Sam and told her that they were still 5 minutes apart and gradually getting stronger. She said she would load up her things and be on her way. An hour later she was there. She told me to go back to bed while she prepped her stuff. Hayden had already blown the pool up before he went to bed, so that was done. At about 4 in the morning I could not take being on my bed any longer. I had to get up and move around. My mom had shown up and her and Sam were in the living room. I don't remember how far away contractions were. At this point I was focused only on getting into some zone I didn't even know I would get in. I tuned everyone and everything out for the most part. Headphones went on and I rocked and swayed with each contraction.

One of the most awesome things (if you consider any of it awesome) about labor is that you get breaks. The contractions are pretty painful, but you ride it and then it's over. Amazing, right? You get some time before the next one comes. Your body is designed to give you brief intermissions in one of the most physically challenging events you'll ever face. It's incredible and focusing on it really can help you push through one contraction at a time. At some point Hayden and Eli both woke up and the pool was filled. Eli was taken to my parent's house and I was in the pool most of the next four hours. For anyone on the fence about birthing in water, my advice is to at least have it there for labor. It didn't ease any pain (haha nice try), but it made everything more comfortable. Not to mention it helps to spare your unmentionables when it's show time. Worth it? Shoot yeah.

So it was probably sometime around 9:30am when I had a contraction that was so hard that I actually looked up at Hayden and thought I was going to cry. They had been getting pretty bad, but this one actually made me want to throw the towel in everyones face and go no further. Obviously you can't just go no further, and I knew I was just experiencing that questionable feeling you're supposed to get right before it's about to go down (literally haha!). My super amazing midwife did not even have to touch me to know what was going on. She had already set up all of the supplies around me that she would need when Everett made his appearance.

I went into that place right before pushing where your body gives you a break. It was almost like the contractions eased up and I was able to rest. Your body does this because you're about to wear yourself out! I was having a contraction when Sam asked me to try a little push. It was such a flipping relief, so I positioned myself in the pool how Sam suggested and I started pushing. Okay now this is the part that I subconsciously decided to block out immediately following delivery, so I don't think I can describe it perfectly.

The act of pushing a baby out is by far, and will forever be, one of the hardest things I have ever done. I know that some women have the glorious ability to push a baby out without screaming or nearly passing out. Not me. No way. I in no way planned on feeling like one of those actresses in a movie going through active labor while screaming their poor lungs into oblivion. Totally happened. It doesn't sound long, but I think I pushed for like 10 minutes tops. It felt like forever and I did have a brief moment where I felt like I was going to pass out. BUT in all fairness, I nearly had him out several times. That's a lot of ring-of-fire experience. He kept creeping right back on in! WHY?! His cord was wrapped around his neck and was sort of having a bungee-cord effect. My quick acting midwife unwrapped it on a really big push and boom...theres a head. Little more push and boom...there's a baby. 10:10am on July 14, 2015. He didn't cry immediately. Little bit of a scared mama moment as Eli had wailed like a dinosaur from the get-go. But he started crying and his heart rate was perfect. My first thought was "Oh my gosh, he's tiny." I was completely wrong about that though, probably because I was used to my 40 pound three year old. Everett was a whopping 8 pounds and 11 ounces. We didn't find any of that out until later though. After some time of just holding him, I was ready to get out of the pool.

 I think that Sam knew something was looking off about me because she was very cautious when she and Hayden helped me out and onto the couch. I laid there awhile and nursed Everett for the first time, but I felt a little distant and weird. When I got up for the first time it was pretty obvious that I was feeling weaker than I was supposed to. I told Sam that I was feeling lightheaded and she asked me to lay down. She gave me some oxygen and a shot of pitocin because I was hemorrhaging. I remember lying there on the floor with he oxygen mask on thinking, "I'm hemorrhaging, which was one of my biggest fears, but I'm not worried. Strange." Sam was just so quick and confident in everything that she did. I never felt concerned for myself. Once I kind of leveled off Hayden carried me to our bed where I pretty much camped out for the next few hours. I spent time with Everett and Eli, slept, and we took all of Everett's measurements and Sam deemed him a healthy boy. That was when we found out that he was not "so tiny" after all. 8 pounds and 11 ounces and just over 21 inches long. He looked so similar to Eli with the exception of his coloring and the fact that he had hair. He was darker and I thought for sure he was going to have dark hair like me. It has since lightened. No mama look-alikes around here, but that's okay :)

Well there it is. I got all the big details down. The more personal details are the ones I remember more accurately. Like how Hayden was there to grab or lean into for nearly all of the hard contractions, giving words of encouragement and being the rock I knew he would be for me. Or like how I opened my eyes after a particularly rough contraction and my sister was sitting in front of me like she had materialized out of thin air. Her familiar carefree smile was so comforting. And there was definitely nothing like that feeling when Everett finally came. It was so surreal. Obviously it was awesome because I had just had a baby, and there's not much more satisfying than finally getting to meet your newborn face to face. Along with it though is this incredible sense of self triumph. You literally feel like you can do anything. That feeling mixed with the utter euphoria of holding your new baby makes the moment seriously extraordinary.