the birth of Jet

i know some of you have been waiting anxiously for the story of baby #3's birth.
well, here goes...

it was Friday night. Moomie and Boopie said they'd let the kids have a sleep over and Christian and I could go on our date. we were going to a massage class geared toward couples with techniques to use during labor. well we went to that and had a great time learning what types of touch we like, (FYI i'm a "better call Helga in here, this one says the more pressure the better" kinda gal, and Christian is a "light touch" kinda guy. just in case you're booking a couples massage for us!) we also had fun with the instructor Jill Petenbrink-Dieme, who is a massage therapist, acupressurist, and CPM. she would press a spot on my foot and cause contractions to start. she also could tell from a certain spot in my foot if my body was ready for labor. she said it was and it could happen any day! boy was she right!

after the class Christian and i went home and had a relaxing night together without any interruptions in our newly moved in queen bed. (did i tell you about the bunk-bed trial and error...no, well perhaps another time.)

Saturday Christian had to work at the hardware store, so he left. i spent the morning lounging around, and cleaning up the house. i finally got to vacuum and clean the counter tops without some little hand messing it up afterward. it was very peaceful. in the afternoon i returned to Moomie and Boopie's house to gather my children and go home. all throughout the morning i had been having some irregular contractions, but nothing to make me stop and "deal with them." when i got to the grandparent's house Ivy and Moomie were napping and Boopie and Archer were cutting down trees in the back yard. so i sat down with Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth and started re-reading. i especially liked the sections were she dealt with the mind-body relationship so every time i felt a contraction i would tell my cervix to open up just a little more, and visualize it. i was hoping some early dilation was happening. and every once in a while i could feel my cervix opening, and yes, those contractions were slightly more uncomfortable. they didn't "hurt" per say but it was like stretching your arms after doing 100 reps of curls. it was kinda cool that i could feel that. so Saturday afternoon was spent on a very comfy chair in Moomie's living room with a great book about birth stories and techniques for enjoying labor.

i kept telling my body that "it's okay if the baby comes now. i'm ready." i remember distinctly as i was going up the stairs to bed, after we had all gone home, telling myself "Sunday is a great day to have a baby," and to the baby: "you can come out now." as i tucked Archer and Ivy into bed i told them i might wake them in the middle of the night to go to Nanny's house so not to be scared if that happens. we all fell asleep and slept nicely.

until...

around 2:30 am i woke with contractions. they weren't intense (and this had happened a few weeks before...i woke, timed, showered, then no progression so i went back to bed.) well this time i didn't even wait to time them or shower, i just peed and went back to bed.

at 4:30 am i woke up again. this time i knew i was in labor and i knew i wouldn't be going back to sleep. i didn't bother timing them but i did wake Christian up. around 5 am we went downstairs to start puttering about the house. the contractions were regular and intense but only lasted a short amount of time with about 4 minutes in between each one.

at 5:30 am Christian called my mom and dad to come and get the kids. they live about a 1/4 mile down the hill and were there in a jiffy. mom came blazing in, rearing to go. they gathered the kids and the kids' things that i had laid out the night before, (such foresight, i know i'm good!). my body managed not to have any contractions while the kids were downstairs with me. Archer gave me his moose stuftie and told me Moosie would help me not be afraid. i had Christian put Moosie on the table so i could see him from the couch.

at this point contractions were intense but manageable. it helped to sit on the couch leaning over in between my legs while breathing deeply and doing the wonderful low moans that got me through Ivy's birth.

Christian had called the midwives sometime before my parents arrived. he had asked if i was okay with Jill coming to the birth. (before i had been very anti-anyone but the midwife: Misty, and my preferred assistant/midwife in training/doula: Melaine.) but after having that great class with Jill and having a wonderful connection with her, (it was like i had met her before and known her all my life, i called her my soul mate), i said yes please, let's get Jill here. (after all she's delivered babies in Senegal, Brazil and California...she's probably seen it ALL!)

(I'm getting quite parentheses happy, (I have a lot of asides.))

Christian and i had about 45 minutes together before the midwives showed up. we spent the time on the couch talking, and breathing and walking around with me leaning on things and showering. when the midwives showed up they stood outside the door collecting themselves and entered slowly. they didn't talk to me much for the first 30 minutes. they were setting up their supplies, (getting the hot compresses ready...remember these, they will come in handy in later portions of the story). they talked softly and observed how the labor was going. soon Misty checked my vitals and the baby's heart rate. everything was going extremely well.

the contractions were still about 4 minutes apart but extremely intense during. it was like a giant freight train or a bullet train was speeding through my body for 60 seconds and then it was gone again and everything was peaceful. it didn't seem like there was any gradual rise in the contractions, but that each one started off hard and ended hard, but in between it was a complete calm.

Misty sent Christian and I upstairs to make-out, but i couldn't handle being in the bed, nor could i handle being that far from the 1 bathroom in the house. we were probably up there 15 minutes before Christian helped me back downstairs.someone snapped this while i wasn't looking.

during each contraction it helped me to sway, lean over onto the couch, squat slightly, have someone pressing on my back, (usually Christian). and of course the low moans, always a plus. one thing that felt particularly good was to have pressure on the upper part of my hip bones. i would press on them like a clothes pin, hoping that would open up my lower pelvis and let the baby out, but it did feel great.

i had started out in yoga pants and a thermal top but when i started feeling "pushy" i jumped in the shower and had Christian bring me a nightgown. he happened to bring the hot pink one, so no pictures AT ALL were allowed to be taken after that.

i tried out the birthing stool and gave a few trial pushes. (this was 10 am, i remember because i couldn't stop looking at the clock) the pushes weren't doing much other than getting rid of the giant pasta dinner i had had the night before, (yeah gross i know.)

at this point i'm going to take a giant aside and mention that throughout the entire labor up to this point i had been asking the midwives if this was really labor. i wasn't for sure that the labor would continue and not just stop and everyone would have to go home. i also wasn't sure the baby would ever be born, or even if there was a baby. with the two previous labors i had ultrasounds to confirm that, in fact, there was a baby in there. and their labors were much more text book contractions with the beginning, peak, and end. this time i just wasn't sure what the heck was going on.

alright back to the story: after a while i decided to give up on the pushing because it didn't seem to be helping and i didn't want to be pushing on an un-dilated cervix. so i asked Misty to check me to see how far away from really pushing i was. she told me i had a few more centimeters to go. i resumed my normal contraction management regime, with the sitting on Christian and everything. after a while i just had to ask Misty how many a few centimeters were, (like 2 a few, or 4 a few?) she said closer to 2.

after a while on the birth stool i told the ladies that it would be much easier for me to believe i was in labor if my water would just break. then guess what, yeah, that whole mind-body thing, my water broke. right there as i was sitting very unladylike on the birth stool. pop. pop. gush. i guess i really was in labor.

the birth stool then got very uncomfortable, and chucks pads were thrown everywhere so i moved back to the couch to labor more.

i looked over at Misty sitting against the wall next to Moosie in between contractions once and she was just smiling away over there. i think i channeled my grandma Tootsie as i yelled at her to stop smiling at me.yeah just like that only smiling a big toothy grin.

in fact i channeled Tootsie a lot during this last part of the labor, (i'm beginning to think that was transition) as i got quite mouthy with the ladies and quite loopy as well. i hope someone remembers what i said, 'cause i sure don't.

the contractions were still very freight train-esque, but in between i could completely rest. i was extremely mad that no one knew my neck hurt and that i didn't know what to do with my head. i wished the birth stool had a back with a head rest. i wished Christian, or someone, would hold my head up. i didn't say anything about it so of course nothing happened to help me with that.

(i also kept waiting for someone to tell me how beautiful i looked, but that didn't happen either.)

eventually i got back in the shower, (#3 for the day, if you're counting). i ended up on my hands and knees in the tub with the water pouring down on my back, pushing against the walls of the tub with my knees and toes. i kept thinking the baby was going to be born in the filthy tub, and oh my gosh, we totally need to recaulk the surround!

i hollered for the midwives to come. i was helped out of the tub and wrapped in a towel and i sat down on birth stool for a while, then asked for a t-shirt so i wouldn't be flopping all around naked (i don't like being naked, ask my husband, probably has something to do with my childhood). i managed to put the shirt on and then decided i wanted to sit down on the floor in front of the couch.

i have no idea how long i pushed there, but at one point Misty told me i'd have to lift my bum off the floor if i wanted the baby to come out. so i sat between Christian's legs and pulled myself up with my arms as i braced my feet on Misty and Jill's thighs.

i don't think i was pushing very well, i was quite scared of what was going to come out, and quite scared that i couldn't do it, that i wasn't doing it, that it hurt, and that everything was moving too fast. i kept asking to just rest, (at this point the mind-body thing wasn't working, it was all body now). Melaine was trying to get me to drink some gatorade and i couldn't stand the taste of anything in my mouth, but i managed to take a few swallows. my body kept pushing for me and i felt immense pressure in my pelvis as the baby moved down. i asked, (probably not very politely) Misty and Jill to push on my hips during each contraction. i think i only pushed for 4 really good pushes, because the other ones i tried to help out my body with were just dinky, scaredy pushes. and then the baby started to crown.

so time for another aside: during the entire pregnancy i would get stabbing pains on my cervix. i just knew it was the baby punching straight down onto it. i told Misty about it and joked that the baby was coming out fist first.

well, the baby was crowning with not just the crown, but a little fist as well. at this point Misty mutters: "oh, shit" and Christian starts worrying. there was a flurry of activity around the business end of things, and i was present enough to ask if i needed to flip over to hands and knees to loosen the baby up. but i didn't need too.
but at 12:06 pm the head (and the left hand) was born! Misty did some sort of maneuver where she took the fist and helped it out while guiding the shoulders. needless to say, very, very painful.
after a few more good pushes from me at 12:10 pm the entire baby was born!

(do you remember those compresses, well they were being used on my perineum the entire pushing phase and no tears! NONE! not even with that fist up by his face! gotta love the warm compresses!)
this is my "holy cow" moment.

when the baby was out i had a moment of total disbelief. i remember shouting over and over "it's a baby! it's really a baby! i just had a baby!" you'd think i was one of those moms on the TLC show about being pregnant and not knowing it.

the midwives and Christian helped me to lie down on the couch and laid the baby on me. i tried nursing him right away but he wasn't interested, but he did have a great latch! yay!

oh yeah, i said "he"

i'm not sure who was the first to notice but he came out a boy!see blue blanket, that means boy.

anyways, that the gist of the story of the labor and delivery...and by gist, i mean pretty much every detail that i can remember.

about 3o min later it was placenta birthing time, then an hour later, postpartum examining and baby inspection (i made them tell me over and over again that his skin was normal) and throughout, a general amazed attitude from me and Christian.

we named him Jet Davis.

Jet because Archer had been calling the baby in my belly Jet for weeks and it kinda grew on us. and Davis after various family members, there were a lot of Davises in our families.
Jill and Misty weighing Jet.

he weighed 8 lbs 7 oz (the largest of the 3 i've birthed 7,1. 7,6. & then wham, 8,7.)
he was 20.5 inches long
and he has a beautiful head of dark (although lightening every day) hair.

he is a great baby and i love him more than words can express.