The Cusi Eight: Kane's Birth Day

Saturday morning I woke up around 2:30 with a contraction. I tried to go back to sleep b/c I had been having contractions in the middle of the night for over a week and nothing ever came of them. However they started coming ever 5-6 minutes so after a half hour I got out of bed to see if they would stop.

Although they kept coming they werent as strong when I was standing. I decided to walk around the house for a little bit and by 3:30 they started to get stronger, my back started aching and they were closer together (3 minutes apart) but I still wasnt convinced this was it.

At 4am I finally woke Jed up b/c I thought we might want to get things ready to go, just in case. I was expecting the pain to get a lot worse before we would have to head to the birthing center but by 4:30 my contractions were only a minute apart so we decided to call my midwife.

She told us to meet her at the birthing center as soon as possible so I woke my mom up to tell her what was going on and we left. On the drive over I remember telling Jed that I was sure that any second everything would stop and we'd have to go back home. I was watching the clock really closely and if my contractions werent exactly 1 minute apart I would start freaking out until one came.

As we got closer each contraction became more and more painful and I started having to really focus through them, that's when I finally stopped worrying.

We got to the birthing center at 5am and my midwife checked me, I was dilated to 6cm so she suggested that I get in the tub. The tub was great! It really helped me relax in between each contraction. Jed sat on the side holding my hand through each one and trying to keep me distracted in between.

At 6:30 I went into the "transition stage" of labor. This is by far the worst part of labor but fortunately it seems to be the shortest. I couldnt get comfortable during this part so I desperately wanted to move around but I couldnt b/c I was extremely weak and shaky. I ended up laying in bed for the most part. I

told my midwife at about 7am that I felt a lot of pressure so she checked me again and I was dilated to a 9 but my water wasnt broken. After trying a couple different positions and pushing to break my water naturally she ended up having to do it. I immediately felt the urge to push, it gave me great relief during the contractions and after forty minutes Kane was born.

Jed was able to "catch" him and they put him right on my belly. The cord was so short that they had to cut it just so I could pull him up to me.

It took a few minutes for the shakiness to go away but as soon as it did I was able to start breast feeding. Everything after that is a little foggy. We chilled out in bed for a while and at some point Jed went out to get breakfast from McDonalds.

At 10:30am my midwife did Kane's newborn exam and we packed up to head home. I wont lie, I was really sore but I couldnt wait to get home and get in my own bed!

When we got home Evan and Seth were so excited to see Kane. They would get as close as they could to Kane and yell, "Hi, baby Kane!" They love to touch him, give him kisses and Evan constantly begs to hold him. My mom has been doing a great job keeping the boys distracted while I've been recovering and taking care of Kane.

Both Jed and I have noticed a huge difference in spending the first few days recovering at home opposed to a hospital. We actually got to sleep at night rather than have nurses and other people barging into our room. I think its also taken a huge emotional stress off of me b/c I can be with my whole family rather than feeling held hostage in the hospital. So if I had to do it again I would definitely chose the birthing center, just in case you were wondering. :)