The tub.
First my apologies to all you non-birth curious, non-baby people that might read this blog. Bear with me for the next post or two--I swear there's some regular craftin' comin soon, very soon.
And then I must say a huge thank you to everyone who commented and emailed this week with blessings and well wishes. I was blown away by the kindness and sincerity expressed by so many people I've never "met"....I can't tell you what that did for my sense of "kumbaya..the world is good, people are kind"--a good sense to have when welcoming a new little one into the sometimes scary world, surely.
So, I think I mentioned before that the last month of this pregnancy had been like one long contraction. I can't tell you HOW many times I thought I was in labor. Seriously. Daily. Um, slightly frustrating (and very tiring), especially as I passed both the dates at which my boys were born and this became my longest pregnancy by weeks. And then my birthday came, and I think I might have wished a little too hard for a birth, because that night (Thursday), my water broke in the middle of the night. Fabulous, right? But no...the moment that happened, those contractions I'd been having EVERY hour for a whole month? Yeah...those stopped. Completely. And slowly, the clock started ticking until it had been 12, 24, 48, 60 HOURS..and still....nothin'. (I'll stop here and mention for anyone who isn't a birth junkie, that traditional "standard of care" western medicine would be just about having our neck at this point for "negligence" for not going into the hospital for induction that long after water breaking, but I was NOT interested in the chain of events that would trigger, so we waited it out at home with our patient, knowledgeable midwife, and very responsibly and cautiously monitored both me and the babe for signs of infection. Okay, 'nuff said aboug that). I wasn't just sitting around waiting for labor, my friends. Oh no- we tried EVERYTHING: acupuncture, reflexology, walks, bumpy roads, nipple stimulation, herbs, homeopathy and all of that all over again..until I reached the ultimate end--the (looming music, please) Dreaded Castor Oil. I had been so fearful of this--hearing how terrible it tasted, and then what it does to your body. BUT....blessedly....the castor oil was the magic ticket. Drank it with some ice cream and oj (didn't even taste the oil!), completely avoided the whole, um, intestinal effect of the oil, and suddenly a contraction appeared. And then another, and another...and instantly, at 2 pm on Sunday, they were two minutes apart. We called in our birth team (yay--Jessie made it!), I labored a bit on the floor before getting in the tub around 4pm, when the contractions picked up a bit in intensity, but I was still able to be pretty mellow between them, and wasn't even convinced that I was "in" labor. The boys were popping in and out--playing outside, snacking in the kitchen, coming to say "hi" by the tub. It felt so perfect to have them there and doing their thing, everything staying mellow and "normal". I had a few contractions at this point that let me know the baby was coming, and on the next one, my body took over and started pushing. I *think* it was with two of those that the baby's head appeared (at the same time the second midwife arrived!), and into the water, and up on my chest appeared our baby at 4:47pm! The boys were watching with awe, and we all waited a bit as it slowly, slowly pinked up. And then Calvin and I took a peek to see....a GIRL!!!! It was an amazing birth...and so fast (3 hours from first contraction to birth!). We were once again thrilled with our decision to have a homebirth, and in love again with our gentle, loving midwife (who also attended Ezra's birth). After a meal (prepared by my sweet friend Rachael who sadly missed the birth by just minutes!), and clean up, and goodbyes to the birth team, we all snuggled into bed together for the night--changed into a family of five. Amazing. Peaceful.
And so here we are five days later, and everyone is adjusting. Mama's feeling good (yay--only a little tearing this time!), and overwhelmed by many powerful emotions I couldn't yet begin to put into words. Papa's learning to cook (I caught him READING a cookbook), and falling in love with his little girl. Calvin's adoring his new little sister (though he did say he was going to "lock the doors" on all the visitors we've been having this week!). Ezra's managing the best he can to adjust to not being "the baby" anymore. And sweet, sweet Adelaide is doing just perfect--nursing brilliantly (of course she's already brilliant!), sleeping well, and being as beautiful as I could have possibly imagined. Papa returns to work next week, so we've got just a few more joyful days of Babymooning together this weekend...
I'll end this painfully long post (thanks for bearing with this hormonally charged Mama) with a little more sweetness from Miss Adelaiade...
