Well folks, I know it has been a while since I have posted, and I appreciate you checking in every now and again. Our daughter finally arrived as an early Christmas present on December 22nd, 2011. Here is the story of her arrival. My next few posts will be about life as a father of two, a 20 month old son and a newborn daughter, followed by, in no particular order, midwifery in Saskatchewan, pregnancy and childbirth in general, the father's role in labour and delivery, and much more. I hope you enjoy hearing about the arrival of our little Baby E!
Trust birth,
B
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Baby E arrived into her daddy's hands at 9:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 with Midwives Jessica and Ros in attendance. She weighed 9lbs 0 oz and was 20 inches long, had beautiful colour and a thick head of dark hair.
On Thursday, J started having mild contractions around mid-afternoon. They were not yet to the point where she had to stop what she was doing, but they were hard enough that she knew they were there. These contractions were also not timeable, and very sporadic. We had a nap with O, and went about our regular afternoon.
Closer to supper, J felt stronger contractions, and they were such that they stopped her talking, or from doing what she was doing. We started timing them, but they were still fairly far apart. After supper, J lay down on the couch because of the contractions, and shortly after, we decided to take the dogs for a walk so she could get her mind off of the contractions...or so we thought! We got O strapped into his stroller and the dogs leashed, and we were off on our walk. A walk that normally would take us about 20 minutes around our neighborhood, took about 45 minutes on December 22nd. During our walk, J had 10 contractions that were about 1 minute long. I didn't have anything with me to keep track of them, so I did a rough estimate in my head when we got back and saw that we were out for 45 minutes, so the contractions must've been about 4 minutes apart – she had 10!
At this point, 7:00 p.m., I could tell J was getting uncomfortable, so I suggested she lay down on the couch while I grabbed a snack for O, and got him ready for bed. During this time, J was having contractions and timing them with my Iphone. On average they lasted about 1 minute, and were still 4 minutes apart. I asked J if she wanted me to call the midwives, and she said “not yet”. Even though she suggested I didn't call them, I made sure she was comfortable, and began to make some phone calls around 7:15 p.m. I had sent a text earlier that day to our doula, who would be looking after O in the house, letting her know what was going on so that when I called her she could get here right away. We all knew it was going to be quick!! Then, I sent a page to Jessica, whom called me back right away, asked how close the contractions were and for how long, how J was, and said she and Ros would be right over. I began to fill the pool at this time.
Very quickly, our birth team began to arrive. Maureen came, chatted with J for a bit then she and O went into the basement to play and watch movies while dad helped mom bring his baby sister into the world. Ros and Jessica arrived shortly after Maureen and greeted J with a smile, asking her if she was doing okay and if she was uncomfortable. J replied “yes” to both questions, and Jessica said that that was what she wanted to hear, it meant things were progressing. The contractions were still strong and of the same frequency, and Jessica did a quick check of Baby E's heart rate and proceeded to set up while I coached J through the contractions. She and Ros ensured the pool was filled and to the right temperature, while J and I moved to our bedroom so she could labour more comfortably, at about 8:00 p.m. We laboured for about an hour in our bedroom, with about 3 checks of the baby and J during that time. The contractions were happening quicker and were very strong in that period of about an hours time, so we moved to the pool.
J said she felt instant relief when she got into the pool around 9:00 p.m. She even looked more relaxed once she got in there, and the contractions, although still strong, seemed more manageable in the water. I helped her through the contractions in the pool for about 40 minutes, when she said she felt like she had to push. With that, baby E was crowning and Jessica guided my hand to her head. What an amazing feeling it was, knowing what was happening, and feeling my baby girls head for the first time. Shortly after, I saw the top half of baby E's face, making eye contact for the first time. It is something that has been etched into my memory forever, like the first time I made eye contact with O-man. It was beautiful, seeing her through the rippling water! In less than five minutes of pushing, J birthed a beautiful baby girl in the water, into my arms. Jessica and I guided the baby under the water, to J's arms, and at 9:45 p.m. baby E took her first breath, and was born in our home. O-man was with us the whole time, and when she was born, he came into the pool with me, and touched his “sisser” on the hand for the first time, establishing what I hope will be an unbreakable bond between brother and sister.
Once again, J was amazing. She truly was made to birth children, and be a mother. We had another beautiful homebirth that we are proud to talk about, and are excited to begin this journey as a family of four with O and Baby E.
