I have a new baby boy! He’s my third child, and trying to find time to write about the third child is ….. uh….. more challenging than writing my other birth stories. My pregnancy was thankfully uneventful and comfortable. Towards the end I was NOT anxious to have the him, I kept thinking “It’s easier to take care of him in here, than out there with the other two.” So, of course when I was a few days late I wasn’t concerned.

At 5 days “overdue” – overdue is a strong word because the average pregnancy length is 38-42 weeks…. and the average first time mom (without induction) will deliver at 41 weeks and 1 day – BUT, anyways at 5 days overdue I woke up with contractions at about 3am. They felt very productive and continued to wake me up. So, I got up and walked around…. they kept going….. but never progressed in intensity. I got tired of that really fast and decided that I wasn’t into having a long drawn out labor like last time. So, I went to bed and ignored them. It worked – I slept until 7am! But, the mild productive contractions continued through out the day. My friend offered to go to Walmart with me to get out of the house (i.e. away from our little kids) and walk around for a while. We spent two hours in Walmart, something I had never done before.

While with Marie all day she was timing my contractions without me knowing. Driving home she started telling me when I was going to have my contraction – ha! Being on the stubborn side I thought “Nobody is going to tell me when I’m having a contraction.” So, the contractions stopped. HAHA!

The next day I went into my midwife’s office for a stress test. The baby looked fabulous, and my cervix was high and posterior, so labor did not seem imminent. The rest of the day there was no activity. Then, around 5pm he felt really really really low. I was using the restroom every 10-15 minutes and I thought “I cannot do this for the next couple of days.” At 7:00pm or so my sister-in-law called to see if I had had the baby yet, I talked to her for about 20 minutes and then said “Oh – I have to go, a contraction is coming.” Labor had begun.

Around 10:30pm we decided it was the real deal and time to head to the birth center. We had decided to ask for help from my friend Rochelle, if, we needed it. I was hoping to have my husband help me all the way, but he’s not very into birthing or laboring women – so he had to decide if he wanted to be my assistant (haha!). He said that “yes” he could do it, so we went to the birth center without her.

When Jared called the office line to tell the midwife to meet us at the birth center, we had to go through 2 or 3 phone people. They kept asking him hilarious questions like “Does your wife seem to be mentally stable?” We both cracked up laughing…. and thought “NO! She’s NOT right now!” Then they asked “Is the baby hanging out of the vagina?” And he about flipped out – he kept saying “No, I just need to speak to the midwife.” But, they had their list of questions they had to ask. So funny and ridiculous!

Having back labor on a 45 minute drive is not fun. I don’t know if you’ve ever had back labor before, but it is almost impossible to be in a sitting or lying position. All I wanted to do was lean over or stand up. I decided on the drive that I did not want anymore children. We arrived about 11:45pm – 5 minutes ahead of the midwife.

At the birth center there is a HUGE tub, so I immediately got in that and labored there for about 2 hours. It was nice because I could sit up and then when I felt a contraction coming I leaned over the edge of the tub. Seemed to take the edge off and support my body. But, at that point I was SOOO tired. I kept thinking about the clean, white sheets in the next room. What misery! I wanted to sleep so bad.

So, I asked for some Stadol to see if I could sleep. In my head, I was going to have another 2 or 3 day labor so I had to get some sleep in. The Stadol worked for me (again) and I was able to labor in the bed and sleep between the contractions. Only waking up during the peak. Oh, I forgot to tell you – these contractions were CLOSE and HARD. I had many many double peaking contractions. It was no more of this every 6-7 minutes and 45 seconds long like last time- it was every 2-3 minutes and I don’t even know how long. Didn’t have the mind to notice.

Anyways, so I took some Stadol about 1:30am and was able to sleep on and off for about 30 minutes. When I came out of it at 2am- it was with a bang! The midwife checked me and I was at 7cm dilated. So, she called the pediatric nurse to come. For the next 45 minutes I crawled up and down the hallways of the birth center. It was the only thing that felt right.

Suddenly my body did that push thing again and I couldn’t help but push. The midwife checked me again and I was at about 9.5cm (I think I remember her saying I had a small lip that I could just push through). My water broke during one of those early pushes. Very soon I screamed “He’s coming!” and they got stuff under me and ready for a delivery. After that he came out in about 3 pushes. I was on all fours, on the floor. Seemed right at the time! He was born at 3:00am sharp.

The pediatric nurse did not make it for the birth, but helped out a lot as soon as she got there. Ethan weighed 8’14 and was 21inches long – and he was perfect! I was exactly one week “late”.

Overall, my birth was healthy and happy and I am blessed with a son. My husband was supportive and my birth atmosphere was quiet and safe. My midwife was skilled and calm and I couldn’t ask for more. Birth centers and midwives are great!

And yes, there is something quite special about baby boys and their Momma’s. I hear it lasts until they get married

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