Number 5

So as with all things lately, I am running behind on updating my blog. :-p My purpose for this blog was to remember the precious things the kids say/do and to update the family who doesn't live close by.  One of those precious memories I want to record is the birth of our kids.  So here goes for number 5:

Miss Alice was due Oct. 14.  My children have a habit of being early or late but never on time.  (Never mind that it is THEIR time, lol.)  She chose the 18th as her day.  I awoke a little before 7a.m. needing to use the toilet and feeling a little funny.  As has happened with each of my other labors, I went into denial and decided this wasn't really labor starting, so I went back to bed.  After a few minutes of trying to ignore things and trying to go back to sleep, I figured I had better wake Ben up and let him know that I "might" be in labor.  He had me call our midwife Paula to give her a head's up.  We started to get the bed ready and he started breakfast for the kids.  By this time, it was obvious even to me that I was really in labor, and we would be welcoming a baby soon.

Paula arrived and the kids were so overjoyed to have her visiting, lol.  Belle, who was working with Paula, came by soon after as well.  Peter loves to tease people by changing their names, and he called Belle the "other Paula" the entire time she was there.  Both midwives were fantastic, letting Ben and me hang out together while they visited with the kids.  The children LOVED it. :-)

I spent most of my time laboring sitting on the toilet as that felt most comfortable to me.  At one point I had crawled into bed but went back to the toilet soon after.  One of the most bizarre experiences was feeling the baby moving all through the labor.  I could feel her kicking and turning, and I had never felt that with any of the others.  I also never got the urge to push.  Ben was (and always has been) very good at talking me through contractions.  I felt the need to get up and lie down one more time.  As I stood up, my water broke and Alice was on her way out!  As I heard later, Paula had been waiting to catch and didn't even have time to get her other glove on it all happened so quick.  This was the first time I have ever birthed while standing!

The kids had asked if they could see their sister be born.  We didn't have a problem with that, but let it be their choice.  Samuel got a little squeamish and didn't wait around too long.  The other three stayed close by, and I could hear their play by play as they watched their new sister make her arrival.  Alice Rosalina made her entrance a little before 11:30.  She was our heaviest baby at 8lb 8oz.  From the very beginning she has had us all wrapped around her tiny, chubby little finger.

First Day

Minutes Old

Peter getting weighed.

Sam was so happy to finally hold his baby brother.

David Loves baby Peter.

Birth Story

Never before have I ever wanted a baby out as badly as I did with Peter. When our due date was given as being in July, I told the midwives I felt it was wrong, and we were probably looking at the beginning of August. Boy, did I wish I was wrong. :-)

At our appointment after our due date had come and gone, we started discussing natural methods of inducing labor. We tried the pressure points (for a full week), with no noticeable effect. A week after the due date, one of my midwives agreed to strip my membranes. She was surprised to find me mostly effaced and a very "stretchy" four. That should have started contractions and labor that day, at the latest by the next morning. When I woke up the next morning, I proceeded onto the castor oil method. It was so stinking gross. And still no baby. My mom was due to leave in a couple of days, and I was really sad that she would not get to meet this little guy she had come such a long way to see. That Friday my mom informed me she was staying for an extra week, and I immediately felt relieved. We decided to drop Ben and the boys off at the theater while we went shopping with Luci. It was a very relaxed, fun evening, and we were all so pleased my mom would be staying extra with us.

I woke up on Saturday morning around 6 needing to use the restroom as usual. I started to feel mildly achy and crampy but decided to ignore it and go back to bed. It got a little worse as I lied there on my bed, so I decided to get in a hot shower to see if it would either a)stop the pain if it wasn't real labor, or b)help labor along if it was real labor. When I couldn't lift my leg to get out of the tub, I figured this was probably finally it. I woke Ben up to let him know, and he told me to call one of the midwives immediately. I did, and told her I thought I was in labor, could I please take some natural remedy to stop making it hurt? This was about 7 and she said she was heading out right away. I went to sit with Ben who completely aggravated me by saying I was almost done. How dare he say such a thing when I still had hours to go? I guess past experience gave him a different perspective and he could tell how close I was. (Sam and Luci both lasted 4 hours and David was 5, so I fully expected to be about that long again.) I told him I was feeling pressure like I maybe needed to push, so he should take a sleeping Luci to my mom. By this point, I was lifting myself off the bed trying to keep from pushing. Ben had just picked Luci up from her crib and was heading towards the door when my water broke. Hearing the commotion, my mom walked in just in time to see Peter's head and then his body slide out. Ben was just coming back into the room at this point, so he immediately jumped into action by placing the baby next to me and wrapping him up in a blanket to keep his warmth. He had called the midwives to let them know my water broke and again to let them know Peter was born. They figured he was born at 7:19am. Once he decided to come into the world, he was in a hurry to get out. :-)

Once we realized (basically I came to terms with how ludicrous it was) that we couldn't drive to AZ to deliver with our wonderful midwife again, I tried to talk Ben into an unassisted labor. The laws here in AL are screwy and we would have had to drive up to TN to deliver if we wanted to have a midwife present. He was of course, completely against the idea. Like I said, Peter had different plans of how his birth was going to work out. I am glad he did things the way he did. :-)

Flying Solo

Well, we finally have our baby. Our due date was for the 22nd of July, but Peter had different plans. He made his entrance on August 2nd. We ended up deciding on a name the day before. I am convinced that he didn't want to enter this world until he had a name. :-) His brothers and sister absolutely love him and love to kiss on him and talk to him. Whenever he hears their voices near him and he sees them close to him, he gives them a great big smile. Is their anything cuter than a baby's big dimpled smile?

I cannot believe that he is already a month old. Time goes by too quickly. We had my mom here for 3 weeks (she added another week when the baby hadn't arrived yet. She was due to leave on the 2nd). She got to see Peter be born, which is the first baby she has seen be born. How special is that? She was such a big help with everything and once Peter arrived, she babied me as well. :-) My sister then came out for a week. She has always wanted to be at one of the births, but it has never worked out. And this time, mom got the privilege. After changing her name to Donny, David has added a song to go with it. Donny Donny Donny du Don Don, sung to the tune of Larry Boy. lol Donna feels oh so loved and ever so special. After our Donny went back to CA, Ben had his vacation time. His scheduler worked it out with the days of so that Ben ended up with an 11 day vacation. He started work on Wed. again, and we miss him tremendously. Not only is the daddy gone most of the day now, but the day he went back to work the 3 older kids woke up with really nasty colds. The next day Peter and I had it. Peter being sick is what kills me the most. He is such a tine little guy and there isn't anything I can do for him other than increase my C intake. So here I am, tending to everyone all on my own. (Yes, being sick makes me VERY whiny.)

We're Having a Baby

We had our ultrasound done today! We are expecting another boy at the end of July. Both boys were overjoyed, until Sam realized there was only one baby in there and not twins like he really wanted. Luci just hid her face in Daddy's shoulder as if to deny that this is her reality: a lifetime with three brothers. :-) Baby is completely healthy, which made us really happy. We have picked the name John Wilhelm after Ben's great-grandfather. He was known as Johnny, so that is what we will be calling this baby until or if he decides to change to John. Now just 5 more months until we meet this little guy.