On Thursday, Marie came over in the afternoon and spent time with Naisa and I. Naisa had refused to take a nap, so I was exhausted and grateful for the company. She helped me out together dinner, including a dancing jam complete with peanut jar and toothpick shakers, while I was wearing Naisa on my back, and she was giggling the entire time. We also sang some of the songs that I wrote that were her favorites. I had had a cold, so I was not expecting much out of my vocal chords, but surprisingly, I felt like I could sing very well. Because of this singing, I was completely exhausted later, and went to bed at 9pm.
The next morning (Friday) was 39 weeks for us. As usual, that really didn't mean a thing to me, because I was fairly certain we'd go over the due "date" and perhaps into 41 weeks. We had our midwife appointment on Wednesday, and my blood pressure was great (102/...) and I was measuring 43cm from pubic bone to top of the uterus. I asked Ben what he thought about that on that on the way home, and he said,"baby's coming soon."
I, of course, said that it was possible, but I was still prepared for two more weeks, to be safe, mentally.
Friday morning came and I started having period like cramps intermittently. I decided to time them, since they hurt some, and found that they were varying lengths apart, com 7-10 minutes. So I kept timing them and went on with the day, spending time with Naisa, going outside with her, but not venturing far, because I didn't feel like it. (Sign number one!)
I had some liver in the fridge I had been meaning to eat, so I fried it up and ate it with potatoes and mustard. I ate a lot, and thought to myself, if this Isnt labor, then I am still eating something excellent for postpartum, because of the iron content. And for those of you who don't know, I like liver, but it was especially satisfying this time around.
When Ben can home for lunch, I was irritated he didn't want to eat the hard boiled eggs I had prepared to him, and was pretty snappy. I didn't tell him I was timing contractions, I told him I was feeling cramps.
After lunch, they started to pick up, going to about four to five minutes apart, but contractions themselves were still mild and less than a minute apart. I made some chocolate peanut butter ice cream at this point. I had decided a couple weeks ago thy homemade ice cream would be the best thing to consume after birth, and wanted to make sure it happened! Around this time Naisa wanted to take a bath, and asked me to get in with her. I obliged, and enjoyed pouring water over my belly when it tightened, finding it soothing but necessary to s
Do during a contraction. I started needing to breathe through them around the time I Skyped (second time that day, because of sweet Naisa) with my parents. I let them know that that was going on, I think around 2 or 3pm, and then texted Ben that I was still contracting. He called, we talked, and I told him I would call when I needed him. I called him at four, because I was moaning through contractions. Marie came over around then. She had been at Gift N Thrift, but I told her I was having contractions, and needed her to come hang out with Naisa. She biked really fast. :)
I texted my midwife at the same time as Ben, telling her what was going on, and she said that it sounded like active labor and would meet us at the birth center at 5:45. Ben came home and he packed up all the food stuff and packed his bag. So I continued to labor, vocalizing through each contraction, but reminding myself to feel it, and the energy behind it. Doing that really helped me get through each contraction, especially the ones I had in the car, when I couldn't be on my hands and knees.
Once we got to the birth center we both felt pretty good, and I got hungry, all whilst having contractions, so I had some pizza (but I made Ben take off the onions because they didn't sound very appetizing to me at the time.) and also some homemadelaborade.
The midwife checked my heart rate, temp, blood pressure (130/80) and baby and told me everything looked good, and she started filling he tub. Then I continued vocalizing through each contraction, and my husband took pictures around the birth room.
Maya said they would come to check the baby's heart rate every half an hour, and otherwise would let me be. I asked about checking for dilation, and she said that unless I really needed to know what it was, it wasn't necessary, so I didn't ask for it. I wasn't checked for the entire labor, which I found to be a very peaceful way for the baby to come.
I did contractions on the bed on my hands and knees vocalizing for a little while. Once the birth tub was full, I put on my swim suit and got in. Ben noticed and wondered if things might slow down because I was in the tub. I said they might but I didn't really think they would. They didn't.
I had frozen banana while I was in the tub. The first piece I had was ill timed and I had a contraction start before I finished it. Since I couldn't moan with it in my mouth, I tried to place it back on the plate. I did not succeed and it plopped into the birth pool.
In a few contractions my water broke and contractions got intense. I needed to be much louder with each contraction and opened my mouth as wide as possible. Pretty sure this was transition.
The midwife came back in a that point and I started to feel a little pushy-- I gave the baby a nudge at the end of the contraction and it took away some the pain/intensity. Then I knew it was almost time. I "breathed" through a couple more contractions just to be sure it was time to push, and then I went at it. I was squatting on the edge of the pool and when I got tired of that, I leaned on Ben's legs (he was sitting on the back of the birth tub) and pushed that way. Because I screamed loudly and shrilly when Naisa was being pushed out, I was determined to push this baby out as effectively as possible. Only once did my vocalization go too high, and I chided myself out loud ("Come on, Grace!") for doing that. Soon they could see part of his head while I was pushing and soon after he was crowning. The "ring of fire" made its appearance as the baby moved down the birth canal. Once I pushed his head out, I could feel it moving and asked if anyone was touching it. (My eyes were closed.) they said that was just him. No cord around his neck either. I waited for the next contraction, knowing he'd be out in a minute, and then, there he was, with goopy vernix covering his thick head of hair. And it was a boy! I pushed for eighteen minutes and he was born at 7:31pm. I felt very good after that.
The placenta arrived soon after that, and I felt the contraction and pushed it out smoothly.
I had the midwife quick take a photo of all of us together before I tried to nurse him. ( all the photos of Naisa with us in the birth tub are unsharable because I had already tried to nurse her and had no swim top on anymore.)
We got out of the tub shortly after, and moved to the bed to try and nurse. We thought it was funny that it was still light outside. I had mentally prepared for being there half the night in labor so it was ironic that we were calling our parents to tell them that Yonah was born just three hours after telling them we were going to the birth center. But I don't mind a quick labor.
After that we did vitals for everyone (except Ben) and tried to nurse (once Yonah was interested). He was ready to chill for a little while once he was born. And I got my ice cream. :)
