Quinn's Birth Story

    On Thursday, January 25th, I kept experiencing stronger contractions off and on through the day, but they didn't seem to be leading to anything very quickly.  Thursday evening they spaced out evenly around 3 min. apart, but they weren't as strong as actual labor should be.  We called the mid-wife and she said to walk around for a while and call her in an hour if they got worse.  They stayed the same, so I sent her a text to let her know that they didn't seem to be going anywhere for the moment.  After several hours I went to bed.  I wanted to be sure to be rested if they did turn into the real thing.
    Friday morning when I woke up the contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart, but still not very strong.  My mid-wife called me to see how things were going, as she had some other things she was needing to do that morning, but wanted to make sure she wasn't needed before she started them (it was her scheduled day off from the office).  She said to go into the birthing center to get checked and see if maybe we could get something started.  When I went in I was dilated to a 2 and it seemed like maybe something was going on, but it was still to early to tell.  The mid-wife on call stripped my membranes to see if it would encourage labor and sent me home to walk and pump and see if anything would happen.
     My mid-wife called to see if anything was happening around 10:30 am.  At that point it was still hard to tell, but the contractions were about 10 minutes apart and seemed to be getting stronger.  She said she would come over to our home in about an hour and see how things were going then.  When she came I had dilated to a 3 and she thought we would probably be calling her to come back around 3 in the afternoon and have a baby by evening.  We've had a history of having some quicker labors, so that is what everyone was expecting.
    I continued to pump, walk and rest to help keep things moving along.  By 2 pm the contractions were starting to be about 5-10 minutes apart and definitely working, but not super strong.  Jeff's mom came over to be here for the birth and help with kids if needed.  I didn't feel like it was time to call the mid-wife until around 4:30-5 pm.  When she got there I was dilated to a six, but I felt like I should have been dilated more.  Things seemed to be progressing more slowly than my past few labors.
     Jeff's mom took care of ordering dinner for everyone.  It smelled good and I kind of wanted to eat mine, but it seemed to me like the baby was going to come sooner rather than later, so I thought I would wait and eat after the baby was born.
     I continued laboring, while listening to the conversations around me and playing a mindless game on the computer.  I kept losing the game, so apparently it wasn't as mindless as I thought, but it helped distract my thoughts from the contractions and relax better.  By 8:30? pm, I was only dilated to 7.  We finally sent the kids to bed.  They were a little disappointed that they wouldn't be up when the baby was born.  I continued laboring and it seemed like things were getting close and I was ready to get in the tub and have the baby, but around 9:30 pm I was still a 7.  We decided to go ahead and break my water to help expedite labor.  Then I got in the tub expecting that it wouldn't be much longer.  By this time I was tired and just really ready to have the baby.  My thinking clarity was also decreasing.  After laboring in the tub while the contractions got worse, my midwife thought I should get out and try walking around a little to see if it would help the baby to come.  I wasn't real keen on the idea.  Even though I had been drinking water and pregnancy tea throughout the evening I was really tired and realized that I probably should've eaten dinner.  I was hungry, but wasn't sure that I wanted to eat something at that point.  I did think I should have something so I asked Jeff to get me some sprite, thinking maybe the sugar would help.  I did eventually get out of the tub.  I was dilated to an 8.  My midwife decided that due to me being tired and knowing that the baby was big we shouldn't have a water birth, because the risk for potential complications was increasing.
     The contractions became almost unbearable at this point.  I don't think I've had contractions like that since maybe Kent's birth.  I remember squeezing Jeff's hand, I think so tightly that it probably hurt him, but he just kept on encouraging me.  We tried a warm rice sock on my back, which felt nice for a short time and then I was yelling to get it off me, because it was too hot.  Shortly after that the pressure became intense and it was time to push.  I didn't even realize that it was time to push until it was time.  They had to get my shorts off for me.  Then they wanted me to push harder and I didn't feel like I could, but I think I just needed to breathe and then I could push again.  Jeff said he could see an ear, that was encouraging so I pushed harder and soon the baby was born with a giant gush of water behind it which seemed like water spraying from a fire hydrant.  It was Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 12:17 am and the midwife placed the baby on my tummy.  Someone, I think maybe Jeff said it was a boy.  I was so glad that he was out and there were no complications.  After a while they weighed him in at 9 lbs. 15 oz., but my mid-wife first misread the scale and said 10 # 15 oz. and both Jeff and I were like "what?!?".  Then she read it again, realizing that she had read 10 first because Quinn was so close to 10 pounds.  He was 22 inches long and his head circumference was 14 1/2 cm.  As soon as I was feeling a little better after the birth I was ready to eat my supper sometime after 1:00 am.  The chicken quesadilla was SO good!  We were able to finally get a little sleep starting around 3:15 am.  Around 7:15 am, Katy and Kaomi showed up to see if we had the baby and when they found out it was a boy which they quickly went and shared with Kent.  A little later the older kids went in to see Felicity and Clark and we heard Felicity loudly ask, "Is the baby born?"

Quinn several hours old, being held by Kent his oldest sibling.

Quinn Hezekiah has a lot to live up to; his name means wise one whom God strengthens.

Linked with:

A Mama's Story     My Pregnancy Journal   Raising Homemakers    Day2day Joys   
Weekend Whatever