Beckham finally decided he was ready to come into this world :) He was born September 8 at 6:15 and he is a big boy! He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long.
We have been excited about having our home birth. This was the first time for either of us to experience that. Labor started Wednesday nigh (Sept. 7th) at 6:00. We had gone to Wal-Mart at 5 and while there, I was noticing a dull ache in my lower back, but my back has hurt a lot with this pregnancy so I didn't think anything about it. We rented a movie and came home to watch it. At 6, I noticed that ache would come and go at pretty regular intervals. So, I decided to time them and during the hour that I timed them, it happened 10 times. I finally figured out that they were contractions. I decided to take a shower and see if they stopped. It was hard for me to believe I could actually be going into labor because I have had several false contractions, so I figured that was happening again...even though I was 4 days past my due date :) After my shower, the continued happening, so I decided I should call my midwife just to let her know what was going on. I tested positive for Group B strep test, so if I were really in labor, I wanted to make sure I got to her in plenty of time to get the antibiotics I would need (I actually had PLENTY of time, ha!). We went to her clinic around 10:30 and she checked me. I was dilated to a 4 and definitely in labor, so I got my first round of antibiotics and then came home to try to get some sleep. I was able to sleep until 4:30 and at that point, the contractions got too hard to sleep through, so I got up and just watched t.v.
My midwife got to our house at 8:30 for my next round of antibiotics and stayed the rest of the day, as contractions were pretty regular. That is what I LOVED about having a midwife. She came to my house and stayed all day just to be here for support. If I had been doing this in a hospital, I would have been sent home at that point. Anyway, contractions started getting a little more intense so I got in the birth pool and that really helped me to relax.
Around 4, my contractions got very intense. I moved into different positions during contractions to try to get my water to break on its own. After several contractions, and me having a really rough time getting through these contractions, my water still didn't break. My midwife went ahead and broke my water so that things could progress a little more, as I was at a 7, almost an 8 at this point. After she broke my water, things went really fast. I started feeling a ton of pressure during my contractions. And around this point...I don't have much memory of what happened. All I know is before long, it was time to push. And wow...this was definitely not what I expected! I had an epidural with my first two, so I never really felt anything while pushing. Oh my goodness...it was rough. I've never experienced anything like that in my life. I had many many moments of regretting not being in a hospital with an epidural, ha! And I'm surprised Bryan doesn't have bruises or fingerprint marks on his arms! It's amazing the neighbors didn't hear me having this kid! Once his head was out, the midwife noticed he had a knot in his umbilical cord, so we had to get him out as soon as possible. She had me flip to my hands and knees so she could get him out asap. A few pushes later and he was out and he was perfectly healthy. I'm so thankful for our awesome midwife who knew exactly what to do in a scary situation!
Once he was born, I could see why it hurt so bad trying to get him out. The one time I have a medicine free birth, I have an almost 10 pound baby! At one point, I really felt like I wasn't going to make it! I wanted to give up, but of course, I couldn't. It was rough. But, I am SO happy we did this at home with a midwife and no pain meds. I loved that an hour after having him, I was laying with him on our couch and hanging out with my family in the comfort of our home and I got to sleep in my own bed. It was just so much more comfortable doing everything at our house. Yes, the pain was rough, but was so worth it to have that experience that I feel like I missed out on the first 2 times.
The boys just love him. They love him so much that they can't keep their hands off of him :) Cade has been giving him kisses all day long. I'm so thankful they are happy to have a new baby brother!
I will add some pictures of him soon, once I take some with our good camera!
