Myles' Birth Story - Part 2

WARNING: This post contains a few more graphic photos than what we've ever published before.  I omitted some of the really "colorful" ones (i.e. too much skin, my placenta in a tub for us to examine a few hours after delivery, etc.), but this gives a pretty good picture of the events that occurred from about 9:30 PM until 12:38 AM.

Once my contractions started picking up steam, 

I decided to try laboring in the tub.

Phil and Sarah took turns getting their hands squeezed.

  

Phil found a perfect balance of humor, seriousness, and tenderness.  He knew exactly what I needed, when I needed it, and how long I needed it.
Here is a glimpse of Funny Phil.

While still intense, the contractions were definitely more bearable in the water.

 Here is Serious Phil

 Here is Tender Phil

Unfortunately, my contractions really slowed down once I relaxed in the tub.  I decided to get out for a while in order to move closer to the finish line...knowing that I could get back in the water when the end was in sight.

I had intense contractions for about two hours, and I was able to labor in several different positions: on the bed, standing up, on the floor, etc.

Our little acrobat had been in the wrong position for a few weeks.  That was one of my biggest anxieties going into labor.  I knew that he was Sunny Side Up at one point, and I knew that was "not optimal" for delivery.  The midwife suggested that I try doing lunges in the middle of each contraction, and that is when my labor went from barely tolerable to unbearable.

Phil was my ROCK!  I absolutely could NOT have done it without him.  This picture brings tears to my eyes because there are so many emotions captured in that moment.  All of his little whispers, words of encouragement, and moments of tenderness are perfectly expressed in that picture.  

(Thank you, Photographer Mom.)

Once we were at the "unbearable" stage, it was back in the tub!  I had been hoping for our bundle to arrive before midnight because I thought it would have been fun to have a baby on the 11th (since I'm an 11th birthday and my dad is an 11th birthday), but he wanted to hang on until the 12th.   

 Once I was back in the tub, it was time to start pushing.  Even though I've delivered two other babies naturally, I still felt like a stranger in my own body when it came time to actually push the baby OUT.  There is no way to describe the pain associated with "transition" and pushing, but I've always said that it is MIND OVER MATTER...just like running a marathon!   

 The only way to cross the finish line of a marathon is to take the next step, and then the next one, and then the next one...until you're finally standing at the end with arms in the air and triumphing a well-earned victory! 

The same is true with labor and delivery!

 Here...at 12:38 AM, in the wee hours of the morning on October 12th,

I crossed the finish line!!!

Our SON was born, and Phil got to "catch" him and place him on my chest.

I think this picture beautifully represents the birthing center, Labor of Love.  Look at all of the hands wrapped around our baby.  From the very first moment that we walked in the door at Labor of Love, we knew that we were part of their family.  We knew that they were out for OUR best interest.  We knew that we were in the best care possible.  We knew that our baby would be welcomed into the world in the most perfectly loving way.

Myles Patrick Hillary
"Merciful and Gracious"

Another thing that we LOVE(D) about the birthing center was their baby-centered focus.  They don't cut the umbilical cord until it is done pulsing.  In our case, that was about 40 minutes.  For Myles' first 40 minutes of life, we were still attached.  He received all of his own cord blood, and there are so many healthful benefits of that.  This was when Phil cut the cord.

Our sweet little man exercising his lungs!

 Myles was a 10/10 Apgar baby.

I write that not to boast of our perfect little baby (I'm not partial at all), rather to have it stored somewhere other than my foggy memory.  We remember Clare's Apgar score, but we have NO IDEA if Isaac even had one.  (Oh, I can hear the protests of the middle child syndrome already.)

Before being discharged, I had to do three things: Eat a meal with protein (How does a giant bowl of chili at 2:30 AM sound?), go to the bathroom by myself, and take a shower.  Check, Check, Check!

Even after only a few hours, it was impossible to imagine life without him.

Daddy wore the same green shirt that he wore for the birth of Clare and Isaac.

Daddy with MYLES

Daddy with ISAAC

Daddy with CLARE

 At 5:00 AM (after being awake through the night), we had to go through all of our discharge instructions.  The boys slept.

By 5:45 AM, we were all packed up and ready to head home with our son who was only five hours old.  Absolutely surreal!!!

 We noticed a few specific things on our drive home:

- Gas was $3.11 per gallon.
-  We gently rode over the railroad tracks (rather than trying to catch some air like we do when the big kids are in the car...the  infamous "Wooo"), we gingerly eased into every stop, and we carefully made our way around intersections and turns...
just like when we were first time parents.

- We felt a surge of adrenaline that kept us awake/alive on the 45 minute drive home.

- Labor and delivery amnesia had already started making the pain of the process foggy and forgettable.

- We were absolutely overcome with love.

The birth of every child is unique and special.  This was no exception.  We absolutely LOVED the birthing center.  We loved our midwife and those who assisted in the birth of Myles.  We feel like our family is complete, and we feel incredibly BLESSED!

Party of Five

The blog needs a new title now that we're rockin' a family of FIVE 

(That still seems so strange...we have 3 kids...WHOA!
Anyone know how that happened?)!

For now, this is our Party of Five! 

I say that not to indicate that we will one day be a Party of Six, rather to suggest that we may come up with a more clever title once our brains are functioning on more than a few hours of sleep.

 I love this brood.

Part 2 of The Birth Story is almost done.  Stay tuned.

Myles' Birth Story - Part 1

Friday morning, October 11, started off as a normal day.  We brought Clare to school, and she knew that we were going to be back at 11:30 for the kangaroo presentation.

Phil stood in front of Clare's entire school (probably 75 kids between the ages of 3 and 5) with Jep...the baby kangaroo (see previous post "Twas the Night Before Baby").  The kids loved it, the teachers loved it, Clare loved it.  Good day!

Clare and I left straight from school to drive to the airport to pick up Mema and Papa.  The countdown for their arrival was finally over, and they were due to land in St. Petersburg at 2:00 PM.  YEAH!  Clare and I sat in the parking lot until we got the call that they landed, and then we decided to meet them inside (so that I could use the bathroom before the hour drive back home).  This is where things got interesting!  As we walked from the car to the airport, my water broke.  Picture the dramatic movie scene with gushing fluids and a shocked pregnant woman.  Yep...that was me....TOTALLY SOAKED and SHOCKED.  

Clare looked at me and asked, "Did you just pee your pants, Mommy?" 

"No...my water just broke."

"But your water is in the car.  What is happening?"

"The baby is going to come today."

I called my mom and told her to meet us in the parking lot instead of inside the airport because I was a mess.  As soon as we were all together, we made our way back home so that I could grab my birthing stuff, my husband, AND the kangaroo.  :)

REWIND 5 YEARS: The picture below was taken just hours before CLARE was born...same shirt covering the same enormous belly.

Now, my sweet 5-year-old daughter insisted on doing "Funny Faces" before she hugged us goodbye as we left the house to deliver her new brother/sister.

Phil and I drove up to the birthing center, Labor of Love, a littler earlier than necessary, but it was Friday evening.  We spent the entire pregnancy joking about getting caught in Friday night rush-hour traffic while in the middle of serious labor, and we didn't want that to become a reality.

YES...we had the kangaroo with us.  Our Friday afternoon plans included bringing Jep back to Busch Gardens...not having a baby ten days early.  So, we had to improvise.

Everyone seemed pretty excited about the addition of a kangaroo to our packing list.

From left to right:

Sarah (my dear friend who was present at the birth) Stacy (the zookeeper who met us at the birth center to pick up the kangaroo), Jep (the center of attention), Phil (my handsome husband), Corrie (the woman in labor who was now wearing an actual geriatric diaper because her bag of water was still leaking), Michelle (the midwife who attended our birth), Karla (the midwife student who assisted at our birth).

The birthing center has private birthing suites (bedroom, bathroom, kitchenette, living room), so we made ourselves comfortable.  This was before my labor got too "exciting" and I had time to email my sister (on the other side of the world) to tell her that she was about to have a new niece or nephew.

My generous mom bought dinner for all of us and set up an awesome buffet.  We all ate together (friends, family, and midwives) and prepared to "get the party started" in terms of delivering another baby.

Unlike my other two labors, my contractions didn't start before my water broke.  With Clare and Isaac, my water broke when I was in the midst of serious contractions...about ready to push.  In order to "stimulate the contractions," they offered me an herbal tincture.  This tincture was made of two ingredients: Organic Cotton-root and Vodka.  For those of you who know me well, you can understand why that is so funny.  I don't drink any alcohol, so consuming vodka every 15 minutes (granted, in very small doses) became the joke of the night.

As promised, the tincture worked.  Within minutes, my contractions ramped up and I knew that we were finally moving forward...closer to meeting our baby.

I forgot to mention the one other person who was present at our labor and delivery: Eric Schrotenboer.  He is a friend from college who writes and performs the most beautiful piano music, and his "Fruits of the Spirit" CD has been on repeat through all three of our birthing experiences.  :)

One more sweet, happy, smiling picture before things get exciting.

Twas the Night Before Baby...

Twas the night before baby, and all through the house

not a creature was stirring...

EXCEPT for a KANGAROO!

Phil called me on Thursday (October 10th) afternoon to let me know that was going to bring home a baby kangaroo for the night.  He wanted to take it to Clare's classroom, and he figured there wasn't much more time to do that before our baby arrived.

Everyone was excited to have Jep in the house.

The kids took turns feeding him, petting him, and holding him.

We kept saying that it was good practice for our baby.

Jep bounced around the house, the kids giggled and played, and for all intents and purposes (other than having a kangaroo in the house) it was a totally normal evening.

Normal, right?!

The Allens came over to see Jep, 

and Grace had fun checking out the animal baby as well.

Little did we know that our baby was actually right on the horizon.