Ezekiel's birth

Starting out our day like
a regular morning

Two weeks ago, June 5th, we hadn't yet seen our Ezekiel. A week before his birth day, I'd started feeling some braxton hicks. The morning of his birth day, when we were at 41 weeks, I was having some more contractions, but i was also doing a lot of housework, so i thought that might be contributing to the increase. When I took a nap, i didn't sleep very well since the contractions were making me uncomfortable, so, at that point, I got hopeful that baby was going to be born sometime that week. Through the day I was getting more uncomfortable with the contractions, but i still wanted to take the kids to the library. On the drive to the library, i thought the baby was probably going to come that day, although i still thought it'd be later at night (since i was so positive that my baby would not come while the sun was up). We made it a very quick pick up our books trip and then back to the car about 3:30 where i called Joshua since i realized the baby might be born during the day time. He was on a work call, so i sent him a text saying that I thought Baby would be coming that day. Thankfully his work call ended up needing to be rescheduled anyway, so then he was able to help prepare for the birth. When Joshua told the kids that baby was going to be born soon, Lazarus just stared at my belly like the baby could pop out at any moment, and Evalana got a very excited smile on her face. Joshua and i cried at the overwhelming thought of holding our third baby soon.

I had made a list of the things that needed to be done (like filling up the pool), so Joshua worked on that while I called our moms, midwife, and photographer and sent a few texts to update family and friends. it was wonderful to know that friends were praying for us during the labor and birth. Mom came over and helped with the kids and got stuff ready. Greg came to help with the kids. Sheila arrived to take pictures. That morning Meema had gone to Arkansas to pick up Shelby (our 11-month-old niece) while Kristen and Brent were on their honeymoon. Shelby had an ear infection, so they went to the doctor, got her antibiotics, and made it to Joplin, but then they were waiting for Gigi to get to Joplin so they could ride together and one of them could sit by Shelby to help her on the drive to Kansas City. Poor Shelby did not feel good. I had really really wanted them to be able to make it here for the birth, but, when those contractions picked up, I was ready to get the baby out and realized they weren't going to make it in time. I think Debbie, Shannon, and Gail arrived around 5pm, or maybe it was a little after that. Debbie is our midwife, Shannon is her student who can also help in an emergency situation, in case one of them needed to take care of me while the other tended to the baby. And Gail is Debbie's new student. I had ideas of the clothes i could wear to look decent for the photos through the labor, but i was too focused on dealing with contractions to work on changing clothes. I was concerned we'd run out of hot water before Joshua got the pool filled up, but he got it all filled up and the right temperature all in time. 

Evalana was still in the bedroom, trying to be my little doula, and she was actually doing a great job. She was giving me drinks of my coconut water and trying to help press on my back or hips like Joshua had done. Then she decided to leave when things picked up a little more.

My mom was praying for me while i leaned
on her through the contraction

I went to the bathroom, and my water broke. I got a little concerned when I saw that it wasn't clear (the baby had pooped in the fluid), but Shannon said, "that's okay." Every time they checked the baby's heart rate, it was reassuring to hear that Baby was doing well. After my water broke, I took off my clothes except my bra, decided there was no way I could put on the sports bra top at that point, and they helped me back to the bedroom. I said I needed to throw up. Joshua quickly grabbed the bucket. I told him to get the stinky bucket away, and then told him I needed it back, and threw up some more. Poor husband. Then Shannon said to get in the pool quickly before another contraction came. I wasn't sure if i could do it, but i made it in.
 I instantly felt so much better when I got in the water. I was kneeling, and Joshua was on the outside, and I threw up on him. He's such a good husband. I pushed a little in that position, then Debbie suggested I lift up one knee (so that I was on a knee and a foot). We did that for a bit, then she said to switch, so I did, with some help. Then she suggested squatting. I got onto both my feet, in a squat, and that felt good. After some more pushing, I finally, finally was making some progress, and Baby's head started coming down a little. It was hard work pushing that baby out. Debbie said I was in a squat for 11 minutes. The squat was comfortable since I was in the water and holding onto Joshua, and he was helping to hold me, but the pushing took more work than Lazarus, and I was ready to get the baby out. At one point, I said "get this baby out of me" or "i want this baby out" or something like that, and Debbie said, "That's your job. We can't do it for you." Thanks. This was so much better than my labor with Lazarus. I actually felt somewhat in control of the pushing. Everyone was encouraging and praying and calm.

Also, watching the video my mom took, I saw that they were doing all sorts of things to accommodate what was most comfortable to me--they were reaching at strange angles to get baby's heart rate. They had a mirror on the bottom of the pool to see baby's head. They used a flashlight to get light where they needed to see. It was still daylight, and we actually had one of the windows open until i realized i didn't want all of the neighbors hearing me.

  Mom did go check on the kids at one point and I think just told them that that's the sound moms make sometimes when they're having a baby. Evalana said, "I know." And Lazarus didn't seem concerned about it at all. Grandpa Greg must have been doing a great job. I had been worried about how Lazarus would handle my being uncomfortable or not being able to take care of him, but he was totally fine. I think then they went out on the porch and ate M&Ms. Finally I could feel Baby's head coming down and out. Because he took so long to descend, Debbie realized he was a big baby (and we already knew he wasn't small), so she helped his shoulders come out at the easiest angle--kind of pushing the head back (which is easier to do in the water) as it turns (head comes out facing my back then baby rotates shoulders through and body delivers face up), so the shoulders come through the widest part of the pelvis rather than shoulders getting caught on my pubic bone and causing a more dangerous situation. Instead of the whole baby just flying out, I actually had a little pause between his head coming out and the rest of his body.

Then, at 5:50pm, Joshua reached into the water and pulled him up while I sat back, and he handed him to me, and I couldn't believe a baby just came out of me. What a miracle. Having not had any ultrasound, there was a lot we didn't know about this baby. Everything seemed to be just as it was supposed to, but i wasn't even thinking about that at the time. i was just so amazed that i was holding this little baby. Shannon was checking his heart rate and stuff, and his APGAR was 10 (which is good), but i didn't even notice any of that. i was just holding my sweet new little baby. After over a minute, Shannon suggested we see if the baby's a boy or girl. I was so surprised to see that he was a boy.
 
Then mom brought the kids in, and i loved their faces. Evalana just looked thrilled at seeing her new baby, and Lazarus looked both a little confused at the baby being out of my belly and very happy. We told them they had a brother. They were so excited.
 
Some of our first looks at this sweet new face:

    

i delivered the placenta. joshua cut the cord.

   

I love these pictures of Joshua holding Ezekiel because he looks so much calmer than he did holding Lazarus while the doctor was worried about my bleeding, the nurses were pounding on my stomach, and they wouldn't give me a drink of water. 

Then joshua held his new little son while Shannon helped me from the tub to the bed. Then we tried nursing, although i wasn't getting him to stay latched on. 

    

smile for facebook

We had a little "family of five" time together. We all prayed to thank God for our baby boy, and Lazarus said a great prayer for everyone in the room. 

Tompa and Grandma Nancy came by to see their new little grandson, but they didn't stay too long. Joshua, Ezekiel, and i had a little cuddle time and ate some grapes, cheese, apples, and peanut butter while Mo and Grandpa Greg took the big kids to Chipotle for dinner. 

Then Shannon did the newborn exam. He weighed 10lbs, 8oz, and was 23" long. And his cute Vaughn head was 15.5" around. He's a healthy boy. They said he had hip clicks and a tight jaw and suggested that we see a chiropractor the next week. I kept having trouble getting him to really nurse. He'd start to latch on and then fall back asleep. Shannon said that sometimes babies who come so quickly are just more tired. Around 10:30pm that night, he did end up nursing great and has been going strong since then. They got everything from the birth cleaned up so quickly (tub drained and put away, towels in the wash...). I got a couple of stitches from the tear that great little head made coming out. Debbie said I was only the third person this year who had torn, so I got to help demonstrate a rare lesson in stitches for Shannon and Gail (yea :-/). Then they packed up and left. Joshua and my mom got Evalana and Lazarus ready for bed, although the kids were so excited they ended up staying awake for awhile longer. My mom went home. Meema, Gigi, and Shelby got here about 11pm. I was sorry they missed the birth, but it was great to have them here that night, even though Gigi had to leave early that next morning. 

Most of that night Ezekiel slept, and I stared at him and thanked God for him. And it was so so so great to be at home. I loved everything about this home birth. Unless there's a medical need for it, I can't imagine doing another birth in a hospital. Ezekiel and i pretty much stayed in bed for that whole next day, too. So much better than someone coming in at midnight to weigh him and 5am to take my blood and everything else they did in the hospital while i just wanted to sleep and take care of my baby. And, of course, no one even suggested we poke him three times to test his blood sugar since Debbie could see that his blood sugar was fine, and they still have to ask if i want to vaccinate him against an STD right away, but they expect me to say no. In every way that homebirth is different from hospital birth, i loved it. I can only imagine how our birth story might be different if we had been in a hospital with this big boy who was taking "too long" to descend, rather than in the water, squatting, doing just what my body needed in order to get him out in the most healthy way. I am so thankful that through research and prayer, God led us to have this baby at home with a wonderful midwife. 

I'm working on the video so i can share part of that soon.