Theo was born at 6:07 AM Sunday March 20th, 2011...and here's how it all began.
On Saturday March 19th we had what's called a Super Perigee Full Moon, being the closest to the Earth since 1993. I had been craving to get my feet in the sand for awhile now, and the moons magnetic pull was all the more reason to get down to the beach. So Saturday evening I watched the moon rise over the ocean, setting positive intentions and gave gratitude towards Mother Earth, by throwing a healing crystal into the ocean.
Our family made our way home and after Owen was in bed, Kevin and I shared a beer. Blue Moon actually, something I had been craving for some time. Mmmm, so good! We stayed up late watching a movie, maybe not the smartest idea, but who knew! After a nice evening together :) we went to bed. Owen woke up and came into our bed before we were asleep about 1 AM. Kevin fell asleep fairly fast, but at 130 I felt a stronger than Braxton Hicks contraction. It wasn't painful, but it was lower than normal. I tried to fall asleep, but could only think that either the beer, the moon or the sex may have gotten something going. I didn't pay attention to the clock, but the contractions started coming regularly, probably 8-10 minutes apart. No pain though. I woke Kevin and told him what was going on and that I was going to take a bath to see if they would calm down so I could sleep. They did relax a little bit, but were still very regular. Just before 3 AM I decided I would just call our midwife Cilia, to let her know what was going on. It was perfect timing. She had just finished up another birth from the only other client due around my same time! That was a relief, I was hoping we wouldn't be in labor at the same time and have to use the back up midwife who I had not met. I told her I wasn't sure if it was really labor because there was no pain, no bloody show, and no diarrhea, but she was up already and said she'd be by in an hour. We called my parents as well to come be here for Owen. They all arrived around 4 AM, but in the mean time the contractions had not gotten any stronger, just a littler closer together, about 5 minutes, sometimes 2 minutes apart. All the time I could talk through them and still felt no pain! This was so different than with Owen, so I kept doubting myself that it was really labor, maybe "pre-labor". Cilia and her apprentice midwife Elizabeth got everything set up and we all stood around and chatted for awhile. Myself, my mother and the midwives sat around just talking for awhile in our dimly lit bedroom with relaxing music on. I was sitting on a ball, rolling my hips, trying to make things "happen". Though the contractions were regular, there was still NO PAIN! At around 5:10 Cilia and Elizabeth laid down to rest while I just rolled around on the ball. I told myself I'd give until 5:30 to see if anything increased or changed and then send them home. Still not believing I was really in labor. I got up to pee before I said anything and finally had some bloody show! Yay, I was really in labor. I walked downstairs to let Kevin know who had been napping on the couch. While downstairs I had a stronger contraction that I actually had to breathe through! I moved back upstairs on to the ball and had one more contraction. That one I needed some pressure on my lower back from Kevin. When that was done I had a very strong urge to use the bathroom. Cilia asked if it was diarrhea or maybe the baby's head, I thought for sure it was just diarrhea.(It was 5:45 at this point) So I made it into the bathroom, had diarrhea, and suddenly felt the baby's head!! I had a very strong urge to push along with a contraction and my primal sound! That one woke up Owen, and though I heard him question what was going on, he was very happy to go downstairs and see my parents. At 5:51 my midwives helped me into my bedroom where I sat right on the birth stool. (It's an open stool-very basic- but gives you the feeling of sitting on the toilet) I pushed once or twice with contractions, at 5:56 my water broke and was able to feel our baby's head. Kevin was behind me putting much needed pressure on my lower back. At 6:06 the baby was crowning and I was concerned I was going to tear. Instinctively I tried to cradle the head coming out to come slowly, Cilia had to ask me to move my hands to check for a cord around the neck, there wasn't one. I could hear a little concern in Cilia's voice telling me to push really hard on the next one, as the baby's shoulder was a little stuck. She actually had to manually try to turn the baby with her hand. OUCH! But I gave it EVERYTHING I had and at 6:07 we welcomed Theo into our world!! It was amazing and quite shocking at how fast everything moved. Total labor was 4 1/2 hours, but I really only felt pain and that I was in labor for a little more than 20 minutes!! And no tearing!! Owen was up meeting his little brother as soon has he heard him crying, and seemed to be more interested in the blood at first. Not concerned, just lots of questions. You will notice blood all over my arm and maybe some on my face. It was quite a bloody birth, but thankfully it stopped quickly! My placenta was out in 1 minute- very fast! And we all moved to the bed to be checked and meet our new family member!! I am so grateful for the fast and mostly very easy labor and delivery. It was so nice and relaxing to be in our own home with highly qualified midwives who felt like family to us. Thank you Cilia and Elizabeth!!
Happy BIRTH Day!!
Theodore James
March 20th, 2011 6:07 AM
8 lbs 2 oz.
21 Inches
Thank you Super Moon, Blue Moon and my loving family!!
Below is the birth notes from the midwives, I thought it may be fun for you to see!
