Welcome Baby Mason!

Well less than 24 hours after my last post we welcomed our son Mason! It couldn't have been a better day. The experience was amazing, which I think is always the case when you bring new life into the world. The delivery itself was a fast, easy birth just like I had been planning since the day I found out I was pregnant.  I literally prepared almost every day, in one way or another for the big event.

The labor itself was short and FAST. I woke up at 2am with contractions that weren't totally regular, but were about 5 minutes apart.  Some were close to a minute, some 15 seconds some 30. So I got up and walked around for a bit and sat on the birthing ball and tried to see if they would go away. They didn't disappear, but they were pretty mild so I went back to sleep for a little bit. I slept on and off listening to my hypnobirthing prompts and meditating with my mala beads and woke up around 5am still with contractions so I got up again to monitor them. They were a little more regular but still not that strong so I decided I would call the midwife around 7:30 because I didn't want to wake her up when I still felt so early on. Around 6:15 they started to get a little bit stronger and I thought it was a good idea to at least give the midwives a heads up and let the know I was most likely coming in today.  I spoke to her while I was having a contraction and told her I still felt I had some time to go and she agreed by my demeanor and sound of my voice. She advised me to get something to eat to give energy to the baby and I.

So I went into the room and my husband was shuffling around in bed and I told him I was in labor and probably going to have the baby sometime today. He was shocked and not at the same time if that makes any sense. So he ran out to grab a Starbucks while I went to get some food in my belly. So I had decided that I was going to make Apple Cranberry Walnut bread and sit in the tub while it baked and then when Mia woke up she could eat some, and I can have some before we head to the center. As I was making the bread (not anything fancy, TJ's boxed mix and adding chopped walnuts and cranberries) I had a couple pretty bad contractions.  To the point where I was literally on my hands and knees on the kitchen floor breathing through a contraction and then would stand up after to hurry and get the bread in the oven so I can soak to the tub that I had started.  I had mixed some essential oils that were supposed to dull labor pains and speed up contractions and had been excited to use them for weeks!

As I was walking to the tub I got this HUGE urge to drop the kids off at the pool, if you catch my drift! Tremendous pressure down under that most women who has gone through childbirth knows what I mean. So I called my husband and told him to get home ASAP and called my mom and told her to come get Mia immediately. At this point it is shortly after 7 am. The midwife told me to check in with the next midwife on call around 8 the last time I spoke with her. I called her up and told her it felt really quick and I was having an extreme urge to push. She told me she was worried that I wouldn't make it to the center. "I think you should get in the tub, and call the paramedics and have that baby there because I don't want you to have him in the car on the way here." OMG! EXCUSE ME LADY? WHAT?! ARE YOU NUTS!?! I almost died. "I definitely don't like that option. How quickly can you get there? We can make it!" She told me she could make it there by 7:45.

My mom and husband walked in the house at almost the same time. Marcus started loading the car with our suitcase that was by the front door and my mom started packing up for Mia and I headed to the car. We had just bought our new car exactly 2 weeks before and I did not want my water breaking in the car so we put a giant old comforter on the chair as some sort of protection.  We hauled butt to the center. The hubby was driving almost 100 on the way there. I was definitely feeling closer to having him but we were so close to the center. We pulled up and the midwife pulled up right behind us. She unlocked the door and I ran to the toilet. I sat there having a contraction and as my husband walked in with the suitcase and the midwife was grabbing my chart there was a loud sound that sounded like someone threw a giant water balloon off a balcony. My water broke. My husband couldn't believe how loud it was. I got on the bed for the midwife to check me and the baby's heartbeat. Mine was good, but the baby's was very faint. I heard her tell a nurse to call the paramedics in case they need to resuscitate the baby when he was born. At first I panicked. Then I realized that I was hardly breathing on the way over so scared that I was going to have him in the car. The poor little guy didn't have much air. I started focusing on my breathing and taking deep breaths and they gave me some oxygen. Within seconds his heartbeat was strong. When the paramedics arrived they midwives sent them away since there was no longer a need. There on the bed I had about 6 pushes and he was out.  We arrived at 7:45 and he joined us on the outside at 8:19am weighing 6 lbs and measuring 19 1/4 inches.

It was the rockstar birth that him and I had been planning for weeks. We talked about it often about how I would dilate quickly, my water wouldn't break till I was at the birthing center either fully dilated or pretty close and that he would be out with a minimum amount of pushing. The only thing that didn't go according to my plan was laboring and delivering in the water. I never even stepped a toe in a tub either at home or at the center. When I had gotten the tub ready with my special oils, I already felt so close that I was scared to get into the water and strengthen the contractions and speed it up anymore! I attribute my wonderful labor to all of the yoga, walking, meditation, and visualization I had done since the beginning of my pregnancy. Obviously, there was some drama involved, but I felt that I was prepared to deal with anything unexpected that came up and everything worked out wonderfully.

It was such an incredible experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life, just as the day Mia arrived.  I am so blessed with two very healthy, beautiful children and will forever cherish the birthing stories that we share. I hope that the information that I have learned from my birth experiences can help other women in their future deliveries and empower them to have a positive experience that they are happy to share with others.

Disclaimer:  Please note: I am not a medical professional. Please use your careful discernment and double check with your naturopath or doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements

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