a birthday story

In honor of my third son's second birthday, I thought maybe I'd finally get around to posting his birth story, as typed into blogger draft two years ago.  Better late than never, right?

 Exodus 1:19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

Ok, here goes. Did y'all know I always dreamed of a homebirth? Yup.  But, we live at least a half hour from the nearest hospital, so it really was a pipe dream and not much more.  Even with 2 spectacular births that could have gone unassisted under my belt, I am not foolish enough to think that guarantees success every single time.  So I saw my midwife throughout my pregnancy and planned to leave for the hospital once I was sure labor was underway.  I am...how shall I put this...confident in my own birthing knowledge and abilities enough that I was pretty sure I could remain in charge no matter the location, and comfortable knowing that if the need arose, I'd already be in the right place for professional help.

Well.  September 24 I woke up around 1:45 a.m. with a contraction. I went to sit on the toilet awhile (sorry guys) because that's where I seem to be the most comfortable during labor. French braided my hair to keep my hands busy.  Funny the things we remember.  Anyway, by the time I figured out this was the real deal, it was just past 2:30. I called my star babysitters and woke Dan up a little while later.  He came into the bathroom to assess the situation and called the midwife, who said that she'd meet us either on the highway or at the hospital. My mother wanted to meet us at our house, and promised to hurry.  By the time D was ready to go, I suggested that maybe it was a little late for car trips, so he called the midwife again.  While they were talking (3:24ish), Benjamin crowned.  D tried to listen to a few directions from Robin, until I informed him that if he was on the phone while I delivered our son I'd never let him live it down.  He hung up quickly and helped me off the toilet to the floor. Just in time too, because when my mom walked in the door at 3:30 a.m. baby was already out and I was once again on my porcelain throne! The babysitters had apparently arrived in time to hear me tell D to hang up, but were polite enough not to barge into an already full bathroom.

Everyone hung out for a few minutes and marveled at what had just happened.  

 My mom snapped a few pics. 

 Eventually we decided to call the ambulance (vs. driving ourselves to the hospital), because I knew that the insurance company would not cover anything that happened to me or the baby if we had planned a homebirth.  

 One benefit of giving birth in the same area you grew up in and having a volunteer fireman as a husband: Our assistant pastor's wife was EMT in charge.  

 Another benefit: I was able to bully convince the crew let us hang out at home for well over half an hour before finally ordering me onto the bus.  

We got to the hospital with no trouble, and once there Benjamin Cole was officially declared healthy and presumably normal.  

 I, on the other hand, bled a bunch and fainted a few times.  

 I think it was from being in the ambulance and then in bed (and therefore not losing blood at a normal rate, but in big gushes.  again, sorry guys) and my midwife said that was very likely.  Whatever the reason, it was convenient to have my midwife and EMT SIL there to obsess over monitor me and hold B!  

 My mother-in-law lives about five minutes from the hospital, so we ended up going to her house about 4 hours after getting to the hospital, where I immediately went to bed for the rest of the morning. phew!  

 By the way, you can thank Granny Boo for the apropos verse up there.  And when the other two boys came for a visit that afternoon, they liked him too. 

The end.