Just About Three Weeks Ago...

We welcomed baby number 7, and boy number 6 to our family!  We're overjoyed to welcome Gideon Thomas!

My labor and delivery with him went well, but was rather long.  My sister had come into town to help out and be with me (as I was incredibly blessed to be with her two months earlier as my niece arrived into the world!), and on Monday (August 13, a week and a day before Gideon's due date) we decided to travel to Tennessee to visit the aquarium, as a fun outing for the kids.  It's a 2+ hour drive, but always fun, so well worth the drive.  That night, around midnight, Rachel woke up with a stomach bug, so I spent the night rocking her, cleaning up, doing several loads of laundry, and, go figure, after being on my feet all day, contractions started - real contractions, not Braxton-Hicks, accompanied by some spotting.  I was NOT excited at that point, to say the least!  I woke Michael up to let him know things were looking like they were starting... he took my place on "sick toddler" duty and let me go back to bed.  I took a quick shower, during which the contractions slowed some, and then went back to bed.  Contractions continued, but much more spaced out than before, so I was able to get some much needed rest.  (Oh, and thankfully, her stomach bug lasted less than 12 hours!)

All day Tuesday, the contractions remained continual, but never very consistent.  Sometimes they'd be 10 minutes apart, sometimes 30 minutes would go by without any.  Finally I gave up trying to track them and went about my day.  The problem with these contractions is that they were really strong!  Usually, I don't experience terribly painful, strong contractions until closer to transition, so I was really confused about what was going on.  I happened to have an appointment with my Midwife that afternoon, so I was eager to see if any progress was being made.  And, my hopes were quickly dashed when she said "no progress, we'll see you next week!"  Over 12 hours of painful contractions, and NOTHING?!  :(  I was so disappointed!  But, having been through false labor with Judah, I knew that even though progress wasn't being made, *something* was happening, anyway.  I just hoped it wouldn't go on for another week with the terrible contractions!

Throughout the night Tuesday and into the morning on Wednesday, the contractions continued.  Strong enough to wake me up every 10-20 minutes (with the occasional break for some longer rest here and there), but never really establishing a pattern.  Wednesday morning my sister and I decided to go for a nice, long walk.  We went to a local park with a 1.75 mile trail, and, slowly at times, made our way around the path.  During our walk, the contractions definitely picked up - 5-8 minutes apart.  But, once I got into the car to come back home, they again slowed down.  I had no idea what to think!  We went about the rest of our day, and made dinner together, and during dinner making, things definitely picked up again... now ranging from 3-5 minutes.  I was still really cautious about calling anyone, as I didn't want to give a false alarm.  Finally, though, Michael insisted, and I notified my homebirth "team" around 6:30 pm.

Everyone arrived by 8 pm - my midwife, her two assistants, and two of my dear friends.  Michael said he would have set up bleachers somewhere had he realized there were going to be 7 people attending the birth!  But having people close to me who I love and bring me joy is so helpful to me during labor.  We can laugh and chatter and enjoy the time together, which helps me to focus less on the pain!  And that's what we did!  I wanted to get into the pool, but still be unsure about how far along I actually was, I didn't want to get in too early.  During Rachel's homebirth, I was never checked for progress, but this time around, I needed some reassurance.  So my midwife checked me, and I was at a 7!  We got that pool filled ASAP and I got in - during those few minutes of waiting, the contractions really picked up in intensity, so things were moving pretty fast.

Once in the pool, it was immediate relief.  So relieving, in fact, that the contractions stopped briefly, which was such a nice break.  However, once they started again...!  They came on strong and LONG... the first one felt like it would never end, and at that point the baby gave a good kick, and my water broke.  The second one, I felt the baby come down, and all of the sudden, his head was out!  I had been kneeling at that point, but then I sat back a little and asked the midwives to help catch him... but my midwife calmly said, "Oh, you've got this!" and so I reached down and brought my little boy out into the world, up out of the water, and into my arms!  It was *incredible* to experience the delivery that way!  Really, I can't even describe how amazing it was.

I had felt strongly all through this pregnancy that it would be a boy, so I wasn't surprised in the least when I took a peek and saw my suspicions confirmed!  We were overjoyed!  Gideon Thomas was born at 9:06 pm, almost 48 hours from the first start of contractions.  The "pushing" phase lasted all of 4 minutes, during which I actually did no pushing at all - he just made his way into the world.  It was beautiful!  But, I'll admit, I was very glad for it to be done, lol!  This is my favorite picture from the birth - it was taken with a phone camera, so it's not the highest quality, but it's still my favorite:

And now we're settling in to "life with a newborn and 6 other kids".  It's a wild ride!  Michael has been able to be at home with me for the past two weeks, which has been a huge blessing.  All the kids have adjusted well to having Gideon around, even Rachel, who I was a little nervous about!  Gideon himself is having a bit of a struggle adapting to life in the outside world - he's a little on the "high needs" side of things, and spends most of his time awake being rather unhappy about it.  But, I am thankful that I've gone through this before and have learned a few things - First, that babywearing, breastfeeding, and co-sleeping are lifesavers during this time, and second, that it will get better!  Otherwise, he's doing just fine - nursing well, gaining weight, and being super cute!

Here are a few more pictures:

All wrapped up next to me - his favorite spot!

Snoozing

One of the first I was able to catch him with his eyes open!

Waking up from a nap (1 week old)

What I wake up to every morning!

We thank God for the blessing of another wonderful little boy!

Rachel's (Home) Birth Story

I apologize for taking so long to finally type this up. Go figure, life with 5 boys and a newborn is keeping me busy ;-) So... as for the details of Rachel's birth - here it goes! Just a warning, though - it's a bit long!

My due date with Rachel was January 29. My parents came to stay with us to help with the kids the week before, and were planning on staying about 10 days. Well... January 29 came and went. It was the very first time I'd ever seen my due date and still been pregnant! I was trying to keep a positive outlook, but when you add up all the people who were staring at me all day long (Michael, the boys, my parents...) and asking if I were in labor yet... it wasn't always easy!

Two things my midwife had mentioned had stuck with me - that babies tend to come on new moons, and that low pressure systems (storms) tend to bring babies, too. I checked the calendar and saw that the new moon was Wednesday, February 2. As I watched the weather, it also happened that a low pressure system was coming through that day, as well! So I started telling people that I thought Wednesday would be the day (half jokingly, but totally hopefully!).

Sure enough, Wednesday early morning, a little after midnight, I woke up to use the bathroom and noticed I was having some uncomfortable back pain. I took notice of it and went back to bed. I woke up about an hour later with the same feeling and knew it was the beginnings of labor! Knowing it was still really early, though, I went back to bed to get some more sleep. At about 3:30, I woke up, and couldn't get back to sleep. Instead, I got up and starting walking around and timing contractions. They were coming every 6-8 minutes! After about an hour, I woke Michael up and told him that it was the day! He wanted to me to call Debbie (my midwife) just to "put her on alert", so I did, and she said to call when we thought she should come over. After that, I tried to get more sleep, but discomfort and excitement didn't allow me much.

Another hour went by (it was 5:30 am or so by this time), and contractions were coming every 4-6 minutes, so we decided to start making official notifications. We called Debbie back, who said she was on her way, and I called my friend Jennifer, who I had invited to come to be a part of things, and we woke up my parents. There was lots of excitement! We had already had the pool I wanted to use for labor inflated, so we started filling it with nice hot water. We ran out of hot water when it was about halfway full, so we heated some pots of water on the stove to add to it. And, yes, we joked about having to boil water to have a home birth! ;-)

Debbie, her apprentice Whitney, and Jennifer all arrived, and there was lots of chatter and joking. Even though the contractions were coming more frequently, the intensity of pain hadn't gotten too bad (meaning, I was still smiling and being friendly, lol!). Here's Debbie checking the baby's heartbeat, notice my happy face?


(I wanted to jump in here really quickly and say that there's something to having some female company during birth. Michael is a great, great labor partner - he keeps me comfortable and keeps me laughing, but having a woman who has been through it before herself is such an added benefit! I really appreciated having Jennifer there, acting as an unofficial doula! She helped me keep my mind off of things, and when labor finally kicked into high gear, was so encouraging! My mom was also great - she helped keep the kids occupied for a bit, and then held my hand (or, was in my death grip) for the actual delivery. She wasn't sure she wanted to actually witness the birth at first, but when the time came, she was brave!)

Eventually, time became a bit of a blur, but at sometime after 8, there was a change. I had to use the bathroom, and when I sat down, a really hard contraction hit me - I had to moan through it and it felt like it lasted forever!! I knew transition was happening, and sure enough, the contractions picked up to about every 2 minutes, and some lasted nearly that long, too! I was having to moan through them, and my "labor support team" took turns rubbing my back as I leaned over my exercise ball. I decided I'd better get into the tub before it was too late, so I told the midwives that's what I'd be doing, and got in. The hot water felt SO good! And it immediately took away my back pain, too. I'm not going to lie, though - the contractions were still painful! See my "not so happy" face?


Once in the pool, I knew I wasn't going to get out. I had been on the fence about having a water birth - I had heard great things about it, but hadn't really decided that was what I wanted until that point. I had a few more contractions, and then suddenly, while I was kneeling and leaning over the side of the pool, I felt the baby drop! It was such an interesting sensation - in all of my hospital births, I've never experienced the "urge to push" - I always pushed whenever the nurses, midwife, OB, whoever, said I could. So allowing my body to be the one to tell me was amazing! There was one more contraction and I felt the baby about to crown... another contraction, and her head was out! My water broke at that point, although I couldn't tell. One more contraction, and I had to work hard to get her shoulders out, and then... she was in my arms! Michael and I looked right away to see who our new baby was...


And were SHOCKED!!! to see that she was... a she! Shocked really doesn't even describe it, actually. Amazed, delighted, awe-struck, stunned, thrilled... so many emotions all at once! I honestly never truly thought it was possible! The room was filled with tears, shouts of joy, excited exclamations... it was beautiful!

One very elated Daddy!

After a few minutes, I decided I wanted to get out of the pool (I'm going to interject here and share something that I've never seen or heard anyone else talk about when it comes to the whole waterbirth thing. There is, what I call, a "mess factor" involved. Birth is messy. It can be gross. Sitting in water in that mess - definitely a little gross for my taste. During labor I didn't care. Once it was all said and done, though, I wanted out! So there you have it, the plain truth from my perspective. Would I do it again? Absolutely! But just so y'all know, there was a definite yuck aspect to it.).

I got dried off and into my nice, warm bed. I tried nursing her, and she latched on right away and has been a great nurser from the very start! Then, Michael and I cuddled up together to get to know our little daughter.

After a little while, I was able to get up and take a shower while everyone passed around the baby and took pictures.

My mom and Rachel

Jennifer and Rachel

At that point, too, the sheets were changed, so my nice clean self was able to climb back into my nice warm bed with nice clean sheets. Heaven!

The kids came in right after that and were over the moon to meet their new sister. Isaac has been wanting a sister since, oh, about 4 babies ago, so he was almost in tears, and literally jumping up and down and shouting about how excited he was! It was so awesome, lol!

Judah, especially, is in love with her. He asks about her whenever she's not in the room, and is so gentle and sweet with her. I can't wait to see how close they'll be as they grow up together.

The midwife did the newborn exam while all the kids were in the room, and I loved being able to watch everything she did, and listen to her explain everything she was doing. The whole time, Rachel was quiet and peaceful. In fact, I don't think she cried at all for the first 3 hours of her life!

Rachel's in there! It's how she was weighed!

The homebirth experience was really everything I had hoped it would be. The best part is, Michael really enjoyed it, as well. He had said from the time he agreed to allow me to have a homebirth that it was a gift to me, because I wanted it so badly. Now, he's fully on board and told Debbie himself that we'd be calling her again for any future babies! I've also overheard him telling others about how great it was and how we'll do it again... awesome!! I truly never, ever thought I'd see the day!

The 8 of us!

I am so thankful to the Lord for our new, healthy, beautiful addition, Miss Rachel Susannah! She is already cherished and adored by all of us! :-)

Birth Stories - Judah

After the middle-of-the-night false labor incident on Tuesday, I was feeling a little out of sorts. I continued to have contractions off and on throughout the day on Wednesday, and then Thursday. Around noon on Thursday, they started feeling a bit different, a little more painful and regular, so I started timing them. They were 10-12 minutes apart, so I figured it was more of the same. As time went on, though, the pain definitely got more intense, and I began to feel slightly nauseus, as well. So I called Michael (who had to work late that day) and he asked me to call our friend Jenny over to keep me company and just incase I thought I needed to go over to the hospital.

I felt a little foolish calling Jenny again, afraid that it would be just another false alarm, but after she arrived, the contractions picked up in a big way - they began coming every 3-5 minutes, very regularly, and were quite painful. Jenny fixed us all dinner and then I called Michael to see where he was on his way home - I wanted to wait for him before we left for the hospital, and sure enough, he was only about 15 minutes away. So we got the kids ready, Michael got home, changed his clothes, and we loaded up the van and headed over to the hospital, Jenny and kids in tow :-) We got to the hospital around 7:20 pm.

They were very quick to get me checked in and get the midwife to check me. I was SO nervous that she was going to say still no progress, but she said "Oh, you're a good 7 cm!" Hooray! I was really in labor, and in fact, almost done! Michael and I were ecstatic! We talked about breaking my water, but I said I'd rather wait until I was fully dilated, so we spent about 2 more hours talking and visiting with the friends and family that showed up (I think all of our extended family members fill the waiting room, lol!). Contractions were rough, and I remember one specific scripture that kept coming to mind during them - Psalm 18:1-2

"I love You, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

and what comfort that verse brought to me! He surely was my strength and my fortress during the pain (and is always!).

Finally the midwife came in for another check and I was almost complete, so she said she'd go ahead and break my water. It was a little after 9 pm, and within a few minutes, she suggested I try pushing. I didn't have a huge urge, but we all figured it was time to get the show on the road and have a baby already ;-) Pushing was hard. I dislike pushing more than contractions, I really do. Michael laughed at me afterwards because at one point during the pushing, I said "Put my legs down, I'm not pushing anymore" and the midwife had to talk me into the fact that yes, I was actually going to have to do some work to get this baby to come! I guess I got a bit stubborn, lol!

However, even though it seemed like an eternity to me, after about 30 minutes of pushing, at 9:55 pm, Judah entered the world. And of course, we've all been waiting eagerly to see whether the baby was a boy or a girl, and when the midwife said boy, I laughed out loud and was filled with absolute joy! I can't believe I am the mother to five young men! I was beyond thrilled, and couldn't BUT praise God!

As soon as he was born, I knew his name was to be Judah. It was a name that we had mentioned in passing, but not given alot of real consideration, but it just seemed to be the perfect fit once I saw him. Michael took some time to pray about it and we discussed other options, but, obviously, in the end, we both agreed Judah would be it! Judah means "praise, thankful" and the story of the name is in Genesis 29:35 - Leah, who is desiring Jacob's love and attention, had borne him three sons already, and named them each names that indicated she hoped Jacob would finally love and appreciate her. When her fourth was born, she realized that her focus was on the wrong thing - instead, she said "This time I will praise the Lord", and named her son Judah.

And so, praising God for our fifth son, he is named Judah.

Turngren has a special meaning, as well. Becca, Michael's sister who recently passed away, had gotten married just nine months earlier, taking on the name Turngren as her last name. We chose it for Judah's middle name to not only honor Becca, but also so that her husband will always be a part of us, and our family, tied forever through Becca's love. Jeff is a wonderful man, and we love him very much.

Michael did an excellent job of taking pictures during the evening (nothing indiscreet!), so I will try to put together a slide show soon. We are settling into "real" life reasonably well. He's nursing like a champ, and everyone is doting on him (and me!). We're so pleased to have him here with us to hold finally!

Not a Birth Story

You would think after 4 deliveries, I'd be a pro at figuring out when to head to the hospital. Last night proved that this is not the case!

All day yesterday I had a burst of nesting energy, as well as the usual signs that tend to occur pre-labor. By 8 pm last night, contractions had begun, and were a good 8-10 minutes apart. Michael and I sat up for a little while, continuing to time them, and I packed bags to be ready just in case. Since the intensity didn't seem too bad, we both decided to go to bed and get what sleep we could, not knowing what the night might hold.

A little before midnight, I woke up with more painful contractions. I stayed in bed for an hour, unable to sleep, and finally got up to walk around to see if anything might change. While walking, the contractions grew to be 3-6 minutes apart, and painful enough for me to need to stop walking and rock a bit. After an hour of that, I woke Michael up to get ready to go!

We called our wonderful friend Jenny who immediately came right over to stay with the boys, and we headed over to the hospital. Once there, I was hooked up to the monitor, and sure enough, contractions were coming every 6-8 minutes while I was lying down, more frequently while walking. However, I was only dilated to 2 cm! So the midwife said to walk, walk, walk - and we paced the halls, discussing the artwork and interesting floor designs, and Michael snuck me some animal crackers ;-)

After an hour of walking with some pretty good contractions, I needed to rest, so we went back to the room and laid down. The nurse and midwife were kind enough to just let us sleep, so they didn't bother us at all until a little before 7 am, when I woke up and asked to be checked. And the verdict was... still at 2 cm. And contractions had died down significantly. No labor!

So we're back home, a bit weary and dejected, but also a bit relieved because as far as timing goes, the next few days would be a bit stressful for having a baby due to Michael's work schedule. So all's well that ends well - the baby is doing great and moving around, and we have a few more days to prepare. I feel badly that we had to call Jenny over and alert a few others who were waiting excitedly in the middle of the night, though!

Now I'm just wondering - if I had all of my normal labor signs, happening for over 6 hours, and this wasn't labor... how will I know the difference when it is?! Yikes!

Birth Stories - Nathan

Nathan was my first delivery with a midwife. I've always been a proponent of natural birth, and after 3 births with OBs, I decided it was time to go with someone who held more of the same mindset as me regarding birth - more natural, less medical.

Throughout my pregnancy with Nathan, I had what they called an "irritable uterus" - meaning, it was contracting ALL the time. There wasn't much concern for preterm labor, but it was very uncomfortable and made me worry a little about if I'd be able to tell when real labor began. Thankfully, the Lord made it obvious for me!

The night before labor began, I had the same signs that I did during the beginning of Joel's and Isaac's births, so I was encouraged that things were about to start happening.

Around 3:30 am I woke up with a contraction, which wasn't unusual - I had been having contractions for weeks and weeks, but these actually kept me awake, and did not die down - I stayed in bed until 5 am and they were still consistent. I whispered to Michael we were probably having a baby today! So he woke up but stayed in bed a little while longer as I puttered around making sure all the bags and things were ready to go. The whole time, the contractions were consistent, but hard to time - I'd have a big, long on every 8-10 minutes, but then some smaller, less intense, and shorter ones sometimes every 3-6 minutes, so I really didn't know what to think.

I showered, and we got the boys up at 7 or so, and told them the baby was coming today! Ezra said to Michael "How do YOU know?! Only GOD knows when the baby is going to come!" So we told him God had a way of making sure mamas know when their baby is coming! ;-)

We got them dressed and loaded up and headed over to my sister-in-law's, where our family was waiting and excited, prayed for us and wished us well, and we were on our way to the hospital! I got checked in around 9 am and the put me in a triage room to see how far along I was, and I was at 7 cm! They asked if I wanted to walk down the hall to my room or if I would like to be pushed on the bed. I wasn’t feeling any sort of transition-type contractions yet, so I said I’d walk. I had one contraction on the way down the hall. We got to the room and settled in and I told my nurse I was feeling a teeny bit of pressure – no urge to push, but pressure. She called my midwife who came and checked me, and I was at 10 cm!

So she broke my water and said I could push if I felt like it, or not, just to listen to my body. I could feel a lot of pressure, but it wasn’t that “I have to PUSH!” feeling, so I wanted to wait for the baby to drop a bit more. She let me go to the bathroom, and walk around, and she rubbed my back during a few contractions as I stood up and leaned over the bed. I still didn’t have a huge urge to push, but the pressure was really bothering me, so I told her I’d like to give pushing a try.

She suggested I get on my hands and knees on the bed and try pushing that way. As I pushed, Michael put counterpressure on my lower back, which was SO nice. Pushing was hard, I hate pushing!! But the all-fours position really helped me feel the sensations of pushing a lot better than the times I’ve done it on my back, it was amazing how much easier it was to do it that way. All I heard from the midwife was lots of encouragement. I pushed for 10 minutes, and Nathan was born! Since I was on my hands and knees, I couldn’t see him right away, but Michael put his face next to mine and had tears in his eyes and said “It’s a boy!” and I cried from joy and exhaustion, lol!

When he was born, he had the cord wrapped around his neck, which scared Michael, but he said the midwife handled it perfectly. Then we discovered that his cord also had a complete, true knot in it, which the midwife said is really rare. I wish we had gotten a picture of it, it was amazing to see. She said the only reason it didn’t cause any complications was because his cord happened to be longer than normal, too, so it never cinched the knot tight enough to cause problems. I knew the Lord was protecting Nathan.

I was amazed at what a difference having a midwife made, she was really everything I had hoped for. It was actually a little weird at first to not have someone instructing me the whole time! At first I didn't really know HOW to listen to my body, and was a little self conscious, but it was so freeing to know there weren't any expectations at all. It was a wonderful birth.

I can't wait to post my next birth story soon!!

Birth Stories - Joel

Joel's birth is also the one I refer to as "At which point I determine never to use an OB again" ;-) My pregnancy with Joel went great. I don't remember his due date, but he arrived a few days beforehand. The day before labor began, I was hit with some serious nesting. It was a warm January day, and I decided that the Suburban needed washing. Not just the typical hose down, but a good, solid scrubbing, including the roof - which entailed me, 9 months pregnant, climbing onto a ladder with a hose, washing mitt and lots of suds - and yes, when Michael saw what I was attempting, he immediately thwarted my desires! Not to be too discouraged, I then took up raking the yard, and did that for about an hour. That evening, I had some tell-tale "signs" as I mentioned I also had before Isaac's birth, so I knew things were on a roll!

I woke up that next morning with slight cramping, but nothing too major. Again, Michael went off to work, and I ran some errands and got the boys' hair cut. At the hair cutting place, the contractions started to get more serious. We went back home and ate lunch and the boys took a nap. During nap time I called Michael and my mother-in-law - she came and stayed with the boys while Michael and I headed off to the hospital. We had to head in earlier than I would have liked because I had tested positive for Group B Strep and their policy was to administer 2 doses of antibiotic before birth. So when I got to the hospital, I was only at 4 cm, but that gave them the time they wanted to start up the first dose. After the first dose, I was free to wander the halls and have visitors, so we did.

However, before they could start the second dose (I forget how far apart the doses are supposed to be), things started to pick up a notch. I asked if I could get in the shower, and so they checked me, and I was 7 cm. The OB decided to break my water (to which I definitely agreed!) and said I could take a shower after she did, and that she would be back. I never got that shower. She broke my water and left the room, and things started happening FAST - really fast.

I was lying on my side and after about 2 contractions, knew the baby was coming. The nurse called the OB back in, and the OB asked me to roll onto my back. I asked if I could stay on my side, knowing full well that babies can certainly be delivered that way, and the OB got very forceful. She began yelling at me to roll over, which really startled Michael - to hear the OB yelling, and to hear me yelling because of the worst labor pains I had ever felt. So in his fear, he began speaking very sternly to me, telling me to ROLL OVER! I knew if I rolled over the pain would only be much, much worse, so I continued to refuse. Finally, Michael and the nurse rolled me over themselves, and in one push, Joel was born. And it was excrutiating!

I went from 7 cm dilated to having Joel in my arms in 19 minutes flat! It was SO painful, and I hemmoraged a little afterwards, which was even more painful as the OB dealt with that. I was so sore and exhausted, and felt a little beat up emotionally! Joel was also my biggest baby yet, 8 pounds, 3 ounces, although I don't know how much that had to do with it!

All in all, I was thankful to have a healthy, beautiful baby... but I have always wished his birth had been a bit more peaceful. It was nothing traumatic, to be sure, but it sure was stressful with all the yelling that went on!

Joel didn't seem to be too badly affected by it, though, as he was a very peaceful and happy baby. Michael chose his name, and it means "Jehova is Lord". Michael chose it so that anytime anyone uses it, they are in actuality praising the Lord! I've always loved that.

Birth Stories - Ezra

I will be the first to say that everything about Ezra's start in life surprised us! Just finding out we were expecting him was a HUGE surprise - Isaac was only 10.5 months old, and we not yet at that point convicted about allowing the Lord to take His rightful place in our marriage regarding fertility, so in other words, we were actually trying to avoid becoming pregnant! But the Lord's timing is perfect, and so Ezra entered the world (and boy, are we ever thankful!).

Ezra's due date was August 17, 2002. It had been a fun pregnancy, as my sister-in-law was also pregnant with her second and due the same month (our first borns are 6 months apart). We've very much enjoyed the times we've been pregnant together. On August 4, our family had a joint baby shower for us, and I remember standing in the kitchen with my brother-in-law, saying "I bet this one will be late, I don't feel like I'll ever give birth!" I had no warning signs or notions that birth was much sooner than I expected...

Around 1 am the next morning, I was tossing and turning with lower back pain. I would find a position that would seem comfortable, but after a few minutes, the discomfort would return. So I'd find a new position, get comfortable... and after a few minutes, be in pain again. This went on for an hour before the thought occurred to me that the pattern of pain didn't seem so much connected to what position I was trying to sleep in - it seemed alot more... regular, almost like contractions! So I got out of bed and puttered around the house for a bit and the on and off again pain didn't change, and my suspicions began to grow. Looking back, I can see why I was a little slow on the idea - first, because it was 12 days early, but also because I expected it to be very predictable, like Isaac's had been. I've since learned that each labor and is totally different!

I went back to bed, and just like with Isaac's birth, when Michael got up to go to work, I told him I thought I was in labor. We decided that he would just go into work and I would give him a call as the day progressed. He had barely gotten into the office before I called him to come home! We left the house sometime between 9 and 9:30, and while getting into the car, I threw up (which, for me, is a sign of moving into the transition phase of labor, so I knew things were really happening!). We drove to the hospital and checked in and I was between 7 and 8 cm. My OB was stuck in traffic, so again, the nurses did not want to break my water, even though I was had gotten to 9 cm. (A word about my water - it has never broken on its own. My mother's was the same way! It has always been very strong, which I am actually thankful for, considering the alternative) Thankfully I did not have to wait long this time - the OB showed up, broke my water, and Ezra was born 20 minutes later, a little before 11 am.

My first memory of him was that he was so small (6 pounds, 10 ounces - not too small, but smaller than Isaac's 7 pounds, 6 ounces) and so RED! And he cried soooooo much, he was extremely colicky (we had days of 16+ hours of crying sometimes). My mom jokes that he spent the first month of his life angry that he came out into the cold, bright world so soon. But he has certainly grown into a joyful, fun-loving boy! The thing that most amazes me is how different he and Isaac are to this day, even starting with their deliveries. I'm always amazed at the handiwork of God, making each child unique!

Birth Stories - Isaac

Since I've got birth on the mind, I've been reminiscing over the other boy's births. I love hearing other women's birth stories, so I thought I'd share mine! Here's Isaac's:

My due date with Isaac was Dec 25, 2000. On December 17 (a Sunday), Michael and I enjoyed a movie date together, and throughout the day, I was feeling very crampy. Later that evening, I noticed some "signs" (that, for those who have given birth, may clue into, but I don't want to be too detailed for the sake of any men or squeamish ladies who read!) that told me things might be happening.

I woke up around 1 am Monday morning with a definite contraction pattern, but after timing them for about an hour, they were still 12-18 minutes apart, so I went back to bed. A little after 5 am, Michael got up to get ready for work, and I told him that I thought I was in labor. The poor man panicked! lol! He spent the next hour straying no farther than 2 feet from me (even waiting outside the bathroom door!) and asking if we should call the Dr, if I needed anything, so on and so on. Looking back, its adorably sweet, but at the time I found it a tad bit frustrating! Contractions were still very irregular, and not too painful, so I really had doubts that it was urgent. So after a while, we agreed that he should just head into work and I would call if or when things progressed.

I spent the next few hours doing laundry, tidying up, and then lying on the couch as contractions grew in intensity. Even though they were becoming more painful, they were still irregular, some coming every 5 minutes, some every 15, so I wasn't sure what to do. Around 12:30 in the afternoon, Michael called to say he was going out to lunch with some coworkers, but because we didn't have cell phones back then, he wanted to double check on me before he left. I told him my status and we thought it would be fine for him to go. Within minutes of hanging up the phone with him, however, I threw up! I knew that meant something (although I didn't know exactly what - I do now! ;-) ) so I called him back and asked him to come home.

When he arrived home, I hopped in the shower while he called the OB. When he told them how often the contractions were, they agreed that it was probably a bit early to come in, but since I had been having them for over 12 hours, I could at least come in for a check. So off we went! I told him that if I was only at 3 cm I might actually break down and ask for pain relief (up until then, I had been determined to go naturally) - I was in a lot of pain. We got to the Dr, and he again voiced the suspicion that, since I was a first time laborer, and the contractions, while feeling painful, were most likely too irregular to be doing much and I could probably plan on going home for a little while longer. Imagine ALL of our surprise when he checked me and said "Well... I don't think you'll be going home - you're at 9 cm!" :-o LOL! So they plopped me in a wheel chair and took me straight to Labor and Delivery.

I was admitted a little after 3 pm. Then a slight dilemma began - my water had not yet broken, and I wasn't dilating any further without my water breaking... and the OB said not to break my water until he was done with office calls! Argh! So I stayed, contracting, at 9 cm for 2 more hours - ouch! By that point, though, I was learning how to deal with the pain pretty well, so I didn't ask for any pain relief. A little after 5, the OB arrived, broke my water, and I immediately made it to 10 cm. The pushing began, and a little less than an hour later... Isaac entered the world!

What an amazing moment that was. We all cried, lots of pictures were taken, and he was taken to the warmer for all of the checks and baths and whatnot they do. While he was being attended to, they brought me a sandwich, and I clearly remember sitting there, eating my sandwich, and thinking "WHAT did we do?! We actually had a BABY?! What were we thinking?!" lol! I was a little overwhelmed to say the least ;-)

But God is faithful, and with his blessings come His guidance, strength, and wisdom! And He certainly has provided all of those and more through our child raising adventures :-)