Jerrick's Birth Story

Jerrick is here! About a week ago, maybe even before that, I started to show signs that I would be in labor soon. I would have bouts of contractions every day which never got regular or consistent, but I was certainly becoming more dilated. I just stayed relaxed and well-rested, waiting for labor to officially start. A day or two before the real thing, I was already over 6 cm dialted. The evening of the 24th was pretty normal, but I started to feel really tired around 8:00 after Caius and Leland went to bed. So I took a nap and then woke up around 9:30 or 10:00 and watched a little TV with Neal. Around 12:00 I started to have very familar feeling surges and I was sure it was time. Poor Neal had just fallen asleep! I felt bad that I had to wake him up but I needed his help, and I thought things would happen pretty quickly.

Here I am during the labor.

Neal got up right away and started to fill the pool and get everything ready for the birth. My midwife, Richelle, came over right away and set up all of her equipment. She checked for the baby's position and he was still posterior, so I did a few last minute things to try to get him to turn. It seemed like he wasn't gonna budge so I started to focus on staying relaxed through my surges. Since the baby was posterior his head was pushing up against my spine, so when I would have a surge I felt a lot of pressure in my lower back. During a contraction Neal and Richelle would get on either side of me and push on my knees and my lower back which was really relieving. I layed down and fell asleep between a few surges and after that things started to get really intense. We got in the birth pool which felt SO nice. Neal was in the pool with me pushing on my lower back during surges. I don't think I realized how hard he was pushing, but I remember feeling like he could have pushed even harder. I'm pretty sure I have bruises there now. It's a little sore but it just reminds me of what a great partner Neal was to me. He didn't get any sleep all night because he was right there with me through every surge. He didn't even act tired. To me, he seemed very awake and alert, trying to be in tune with me and predict what I might need from him. He could tell when I was having a hard time getting through a surge and he was so reassuring to me.

Just like with my other births, my surges never did become regular. I think my body just does exactly what I need it to do. I would have a super intense surge which would last a long time, and then I would have a couple of short ones that were a lot easier to handle. I did reach a point where I felt like I wasn't going to make it. I hadn't felt the baby moving down, and I wasn't having any urges to push, so I was afraid it would be a while before we were near the end. I haven't heard the most encouraging posterier baby birth stories. Most say they end up pushing for 4+ hours. I was afraid that I would need to push for that long, but I wasn't even close to the pushing stage! I was becoming so tired, and beginning to doubt myself.  Then, as if my body could hear my inner thoughts, I had another intense surge and after a moment of breathing through it, I realized the baby was coming out. I had been sort of just quietly breathing through each surge with my midwife and her two assistants sitting nearby, and Neal right behind me. They were all surprised when I suddenly sat up a little and said, "Here he comes!" In just seconds, his head and body were born without me pushing at all. Neal and I caught him and brought him up out of the water. He let out a nice healthy cry right away and Neal and I just sat back together admiring him.

Neal and I with Jerrick, just a few minutes after his birth.

It was such a sweet experience to give birth in the privacy of my own home. We were able to take our time holding and meeting Jerrick, and I birthed the placenta on my own time. We didn't do anything until we were ready. I nursed for the first time, which went well. After the cord stopped pulsing, it was clamped and Neal was able to cut it. Then Richelle checked me out and said my bleeding looked normal, and I had no tears and no swelling! We moved to our bedroom where I could lay down comfortably, and Richelle performed all of the newborn tests, making sure he responded normally and had all the regular newborn reflexes. He was weighed and measured and during all of this he passed his first meconium and peed on Richelle! Once everything was cleaned up and it was clear that both Jerrick and I were healthy, Richelle and her assistants left and the three of us took a nap together. Our wonderful neighbors had Caius and Leland over for the day, which was perfect. They both slept in their rooms through the whole labor and we were just finishing up with everything when they woke up that morning. We were so tired after being awake all night long, and our boys love the neighbor kids, so they had a fun filled day while we rested.

A sleepy smirk.

So minus the the days before, my labor lasted about 6 hours from beginning to end. Jerrick Stoan weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and is 20 inches long. He was born here in our home on May 25th, and we are ecstatic to finally have him with us. :)

Jerrick studying his Daddy.

Just after a big kiss!

He has more hair and much darker hair than Caius or Leland had which surprised us. Caius and Leland were so sweet when they met him. I wish I could have taken a video of it, but I will always remember the looks on their faces. Even Leland who has not previously been very interested in babies, smiled at Jerrick and gently patted him. I loved the look on Cai's face when he realized that this was the baby Jerrick we had been talking about who was living in mommy's tummy...and now he was HERE! He's been nothing but gentle and sweet to baby Jerrick. They already love him.

Recovery wise, I am doing really really well. Like I mentioned before, I had no tearing, so now, a day after the birth, I already feel pretty normal except for occasional afterpains and a sore lower back.