Meaning in Motherhood: Easton's Birth Story

Easton will be EIGHT months old in a week and I realized that I never did post his birth story; whoops! Better late than never right? ;)

But first, prego photos!

Our announcement to the world

There was a baby in there!

17 weeks

25 weeks

The day of my baby shower

40 weeks!

5 days before he was born.

Our sweet guy was born on Wednesday May 6, 2015 at 9:23pm after a short 3 hours and 23 minutes of labor. He was "due" April 28th. Only EIGHT days late, haha. I guess that's why they call it an estimated due date.

I totally expected him to come on or near his due date because labor began with his big sister the night of her due date and she was born the next morning. I always thought the more babies you had the more they tend to be on time or even early......and definitely NOT late. Well, that's a joke.

BUT, seeing that precious baby boy for the first time and birthing a healthy, handsome little man was worth it all.

Okay, so the actual story...

My due date rolled around and there was no sign of him making his entrance. I had an appointment with my midwife that day and he and I both checked out perfectly fine. I am all about waiting for baby to come when he/she is ready. So, we did some more waiting.

Two, three, four days went by. I was starting to get anxious. I for sure thought he would come the weekend of May 1st...he had to! I was super uncomfortable. I remember literally not taking Copelynn anywhere that last week being pregnant because I did not think I could physically run after her if she darted off. She was still a runner at that point :) And there was no running going on for me!

5 days past his due date was a Sunday. We did not go to church because I couldn't take one more person asking me when I would have him. At 7 days late I went in to see my midwife and we were both still okay, but we talked about a plan to help him come because I was very, very ready and did not want to go very much longer in fear of not being able to have him at the midwifery past 42 weeks.

My midwife scribbled this on a notepad and I went home excited and anxious to get this to-do list started the next morning:
1. Drink caster oil shake
2. Hot Shower
3. Sex
4. Long walk

Zach stayed home that day so he could do his part, lol, and guess what.....IT WORKED! I drank the caster oil shake around 10:30am and real contractions began around 2:45pm while I was on my long walk.

[Side note on Castor Oil: It is gross. BUT I did what my midwife said and made a milkshake with it and Haggan Dazs chocolate ice cream and it made it less gag-worthy. I had a really quick and intense labor. This could be chalked up to the castor oil, or it could not. My labor with Copelynn was very different (way longer and still painful but more intense, drawn out)....so I tend to think the castor oil effected the labor. But honestly to get the baby out, I'd do it again.]

I did not stop walking in fear that the contractions would stop. After awhile, I waddled myself home to call my midwife and check in. She suggested more walking. So we left Copelynn with Zach's sister and we headed downtown to walk around the lake and some switch backs.

My contractions were steady, but still bearable as we walked and walked and walked. By the end of our walk I couldn't talk or walk through the contractions anymore, I had to stop and breath deep until each passed.

Around 5pm we stopped by the midwifery for her to check me out. I was still only dilated a couple of centimeters, so we went on our way until I progressed a little bit more. We were super hungry, so we drove over to Chipotle to eat and by the time we got there around 6pm things started to get REAL. I stayed in the car because the contractions were really picking up. The car ride home was not my favorite.

We made it home and I labored upstairs on our bedroom floor for maybe 15 minutes until the pain was so unbearable I was in tears punching my pillow.

Trying to avoid what happened last time with Copelynn, we hurried off to the midwifery to deliver this boy! I was crying as we walked out and cried even harder as Copelynn said "Birfday cake, birfday cake?!" It was her birthday and we had promised her cake. And she wasn't getting any. It is funny now, but it was so sad at the moment!

From this point on, it all gets kind of blurry for me. We were at the midwifery for about an hour and a half before he was born. I labored in the tub for a bit and wasn't feeling that anymore so we moved to the same exact spot I had Copelynn and after a little more pushing, Easton entered the world!

He was sunny side up, his chin was not tucked to his chest, and his chord was wrapped around his arms.....so it took a little longer than we all thought to get him out!

I remember thinking the pushing should've been easier and why on earth was it taking so long, but that all explains it!

The moment he finally arrived was such a huge moment of relief! In an instant I went from tremendous pressure and pain to sweet relief and the greatest joy.

He was perfectly healthy and so handsome. He weighed 8 lbs 3 ounces, a few ounces less than his sister. We arrived at home with him that same night around 1am.