Solomon Joss Carter12/4/08
6 lbs. 12 oz., 19" long
Blonde hair, blue eyes
The story:
All day there had been frequent contractions, beginning in the very early morning. I guesstimated they were about 30 seconds long, but coming every 5 minutes or so since early morning. Vickie said the contractions sounded incoordinate (too short to do any thing) and to try some wine or maybe some herbs and *get some rest*. I wonder what the neighbors thought of the pregnant lady on the back porch slugging wine at 6am.
After this, I was able to get some rest - if I held perfectly still I didn't have any contractions for a few hours. After awhile that wasn't working anymore. I was getting to be in a foul mood - after a 30+ hour labor with Chase, here I was again having frequent, short, useless, painful contractions... ugh!
It was a warm day for December, (just like the warm January day Chase was born) so my friend and neighbor suggested we go to the park with her 2 girls. I wasn't having much fun there, the contractions were still coming. Little did I know the baby would come in the next few hours.
2:30pm:
I asked Danielle to take me to Janna's house to get those herbs that were supposed to regulate or eliminate these pesky contractions. On the way there, Danielle did a good job keeping me chatting in between contractions. Once we got to Janna's, I was pretty serious and getting impatient... why oh why must I have these useless contractions! Janna watched me and told me my contractions were actually much longer than I was aware of, probably due to the Hypnobirthing practice - I seemed to only be registering the peak of each contraction. The remedies went down the hatch and Janna sent us home, saying she would be right behind us. I was told the plan was to relax me and let me rest, (hah! i thought) but I think she knew that labor was in full swing after seeing me toss up the remedies in her backyard!
Riding home, I sat on the floor in the back of Danielle's VW bus, between the 3 kids. Odd positions are somehow comfortable in labor. The bumping and swaying actually felt kind of good, like being in a rough sea, and labor really picked up; me and the kids oohed and aahed and hummed together. Danielle was calling my midwife to tell her labor was 'on' and was probably speeding. I felt pretty calm and concentrated and I think the kids were entertained by my weird actions.
4:00pm:
About 20 minutes later, we arrived home and I ran upstairs (between contractions) and started a bath. I was kind of on auto pilot as Janna & Danielle started getting the birth pool and stuff ready. Chase got in with me and she played for a few minutes til Danielle bribed her out with pizza and games.
4:30pm:
Contractions were getting long and wild. Midwife Vickie arrived and I was deemed in 'active labor'. Janna was tending to me with her herbs and remedies and reminders to relax, and Chase was downstairs playing. The birth pool was half full in the other room. Contractions were intense and it took all my concentration to relax my body through them. I said 'I can't do this for 30 more hours!' though really I thought it would only be another couple hours. HOWEVER.... .
In somewhat of shock, I suddenly felt the baby rhythmically coming down, like a broken elevator slamming between floors. In a panic I said to Vickie 'tell me not push, it's too soon, right?!' I didn't believe what I was feeling. Sitting back, relaxed, by the tub she just smiled and said something like 'it's Ok, honey, youre having a baby'. Birth was going fast! The wild nature of birth is awesome and powerful; but my mind had not caught up with my body. I love the way Vickie just let me give birth with no poking, prodding or anything - just sitting back watching and smiling. Her calm reassurance gave me complete confidence in what was happening and I was able to let go and let my body and baby work it out.
4:59
Minutes later, as I did a few gymnasic feats, he was born smoothly and quickly in my tiny bathtub, into Vickie's waiting hands. Later, looking at Vickie's records, it simply said 'mother in active labor; asking about pushing, baby born'. The coolest part was that Chase wandered up to see me just 5 seconds before he was born. She was so curious and excited; I'm glad she was there to welcome him into our world. She has her own real cute version of the birth story.
Baby was pink and perfect and...a BOY! We crawled into bed, me and my 2 babies, and basked in the miracles of life for hours. Janna & Vickie stayed until morning and took such good care of us. We are all doing great; I couldn't be more lucky. Thank you for all your prayers, I know God was with us that day. Nothing happened as planned and everything happened perfectly
All day there had been frequent contractions, beginning in the very early morning. I guesstimated they were about 30 seconds long, but coming every 5 minutes or so since early morning. Vickie said the contractions sounded incoordinate (too short to do any thing) and to try some wine or maybe some herbs and *get some rest*. I wonder what the neighbors thought of the pregnant lady on the back porch slugging wine at 6am.
After this, I was able to get some rest - if I held perfectly still I didn't have any contractions for a few hours. After awhile that wasn't working anymore. I was getting to be in a foul mood - after a 30+ hour labor with Chase, here I was again having frequent, short, useless, painful contractions... ugh!
It was a warm day for December, (just like the warm January day Chase was born) so my friend and neighbor suggested we go to the park with her 2 girls. I wasn't having much fun there, the contractions were still coming. Little did I know the baby would come in the next few hours.
2:30pm:
I asked Danielle to take me to Janna's house to get those herbs that were supposed to regulate or eliminate these pesky contractions. On the way there, Danielle did a good job keeping me chatting in between contractions. Once we got to Janna's, I was pretty serious and getting impatient... why oh why must I have these useless contractions! Janna watched me and told me my contractions were actually much longer than I was aware of, probably due to the Hypnobirthing practice - I seemed to only be registering the peak of each contraction. The remedies went down the hatch and Janna sent us home, saying she would be right behind us. I was told the plan was to relax me and let me rest, (hah! i thought) but I think she knew that labor was in full swing after seeing me toss up the remedies in her backyard!
Riding home, I sat on the floor in the back of Danielle's VW bus, between the 3 kids. Odd positions are somehow comfortable in labor. The bumping and swaying actually felt kind of good, like being in a rough sea, and labor really picked up; me and the kids oohed and aahed and hummed together. Danielle was calling my midwife to tell her labor was 'on' and was probably speeding. I felt pretty calm and concentrated and I think the kids were entertained by my weird actions.
4:00pm:
About 20 minutes later, we arrived home and I ran upstairs (between contractions) and started a bath. I was kind of on auto pilot as Janna & Danielle started getting the birth pool and stuff ready. Chase got in with me and she played for a few minutes til Danielle bribed her out with pizza and games.
4:30pm:
Contractions were getting long and wild. Midwife Vickie arrived and I was deemed in 'active labor'. Janna was tending to me with her herbs and remedies and reminders to relax, and Chase was downstairs playing. The birth pool was half full in the other room. Contractions were intense and it took all my concentration to relax my body through them. I said 'I can't do this for 30 more hours!' though really I thought it would only be another couple hours. HOWEVER.... .
In somewhat of shock, I suddenly felt the baby rhythmically coming down, like a broken elevator slamming between floors. In a panic I said to Vickie 'tell me not push, it's too soon, right?!' I didn't believe what I was feeling. Sitting back, relaxed, by the tub she just smiled and said something like 'it's Ok, honey, youre having a baby'. Birth was going fast! The wild nature of birth is awesome and powerful; but my mind had not caught up with my body. I love the way Vickie just let me give birth with no poking, prodding or anything - just sitting back watching and smiling. Her calm reassurance gave me complete confidence in what was happening and I was able to let go and let my body and baby work it out.
4:59
Minutes later, as I did a few gymnasic feats, he was born smoothly and quickly in my tiny bathtub, into Vickie's waiting hands. Later, looking at Vickie's records, it simply said 'mother in active labor; asking about pushing, baby born'. The coolest part was that Chase wandered up to see me just 5 seconds before he was born. She was so curious and excited; I'm glad she was there to welcome him into our world. She has her own real cute version of the birth story.
Baby was pink and perfect and...a BOY! We crawled into bed, me and my 2 babies, and basked in the miracles of life for hours. Janna & Vickie stayed until morning and took such good care of us. We are all doing great; I couldn't be more lucky. Thank you for all your prayers, I know God was with us that day. Nothing happened as planned and everything happened perfectly
.JPG)
.JPG)
