The birth of Gavin Luis

It's still so surreal that I am lying in bed nursing my sweet boy. Everything happened so quickly we didn't even have time to process everything. I don't plan on censoring the details of his birth, so if you don't want to read all the gory stuff I suggest you stop reading.

Lets start with Friday May 10th. I got home from my very last shift of work at 8:30am. I had so many plans of things to do in the two weeks we had until my due date. I was going to get my toes done, go to the pool and swim, and take an adventure with Andre while we still had the chance. I got home went to sleep a few hours and awoke excited to start my time off. We planned a beach day with our next door neighbors for noon the next day. Saturday was predicted to be 90 degrees.

When Andre got home from work we went to a pizza place for dinner, did some food shopping and rented a movie from red box. A very typical business as usual night.

Saturday mornings Andre goes to karate. He has his special sparring session at 8 and class after. Our plan was to spend the morning there, then head off to the beach. I woke up around 6am and decided to take a shower and get into my maternity bathing suit. I went back to lay in bed after my shower to wait for Andre to wake up. At 7 he got up and started stretching for karate. I took the dog for a walk and when we came back in I told Andre my bathing suit was too tight, it was giving me cramps. I went upstairs and put on a comfy sundress. We were about to leave for karate and I still had cramps so I realized I guess I needed to use the bathroom. I do that and we head off.

In the car ride I'm still getting cramps and Andre suggests I time them "'just in case". I would not believe my own eyes when my contraction app showed the most consistent two minute apart contractions lasting 30 seconds each!  We get to karate and I can't sit. He starts padding up to spar and I step outside to call Debbie our doula. After a few questions she thought she should come over to check on me. I apologize profusely to Andre and his sparring partner but tell them we need to go back home.

At that point I remember we don't have any prepared food to bring to the birth center so I whip up a quiche and let it bake in the oven. While its baking I call Michelle the on call midwife. She's glad to hear the doula is coming and said it sounds like early labor. What!? I call my mom and tell her I'm in early labor. She asks if I'm sure and at that point I'm very very sure. A few minutes later Serena texts me asking "is this really happening!?" To which I told her "if this is not labor, kill me now."

I ask Andre to get the birthing ball from the garage and find if I go on hands and knees draped over the ball, the contractions were manageable. This is where I was when Debbie finally arrived. I think it was around 10am.  She had us go in the backyard and walk with me leaning on Andre rotating my hips like the hula with every step. The next few hours are a blur from laboring in a squat, on the ball, climbing stairs, draped over the bed or ball and in the shower. I think it was around 12:30 when I asked if I could take a bath. She let me have a few contractions in there but asked me to get out and take a few contractions on the toilet. This was by far my least favorite. It hurt! My contractions have been two minutes apart getting longer and stronger for nearly 5 hours. I'm exhausted. I want a rest. I want a nap. But nope, laboring on the toilet holding onto Andre vocalizing a lot. After 4 or 5 there I tell Debbie "I don't want to be here! I hate it!" Of course she told me that this is exactly where I want to be. My body is working so well and we are going to meet our precious boy.

After the pep talk I stand up only to notice that I've lost my mucus plug and have quite a bit of bloody show. My contractions are now two minutes apart lasting two minutes when I'm lucky. Sometimes they are two or three contractions right on top of each other. I'm moaning and singing Gavin's name to stay focused. I beg them please, please can we call Michelle now!? She listens to one of my contractions and says she's an hour away from the birth center. Lets plan to meet there at 2:30. So it's 1:30 now, Andre starts packing the car and Debbie and I go downstairs. She asks me to take a few contractions standing or leaning over the couch. I took less than half of one like that, dropped down to my hands and knees, screamed out and cried that "I can't do this! I can't, I can't!"

While I said the words it triggered a memory from class. Many women start talking about how they can't do it etc when they are in transition. There is no possible way I'm in transition! It's too soon. This all just started. Then I freak out completely that I'm not in transition and I'm already wanting to give up. What will it be like when I hit transition!!

Michelle calls. She's twenty minutes from the birth center. We should leave the house now. I quick get into the car before another contraction hits. I sit in the front seat, totally ok. The second one comes on, I jump out of the car, drop onto my hands and knees and tell Andre there is no way I can ride like that. No! We switch cars with Debbie. I get in the back of her mini van, straddle a chair backwards hugging it. Andre drives off and I ask Jesus to will the contractions away until we get there. Or at least don't make us have to stop for any traffic lights.

We are half way to the birth center when I realize my body is pushing. I'm not pushing. My body is pushing. Dear Jesus do not let me deliver this baby in a car!! I scream to Andre "I'm pushing, I'm pushing!!"  He's trying to tell me to breathe and taking big deep breaths to help me focus and NOT push him out in the car. We get to the birth center and Andre runs out yelling "she's pushing! She feels like she needs to push" and I said "I'm not pushing! My body is!!"

Michelle is running around like a crazy person setting everything up for the birth. She asks me to lay down so she can check me. Fully dilated, baby's head it right there. ("Oh my gosh that really was transition before! How on earth did I manage to complete my whole labor at home!?")

She calls out "2:35pm, complete. Bulging bag of waters". I beg her to let me get into the tub. I don't care it's still filling. Please. I get in and she yells out "2:37pm water broke, clear with vernix". I didn't even feel my water break. All I felt was my body bearing down. It's incredible how when your body wants to push, it just pushes! Andre hops in the tub behind me, Katie the student midwife shows up and I'm pushing involuntarily. All the while, the tub is still filling with water. Katie starts listening to Gavin's heart beat on the water proof Doppler. His heartbeat is 140s. Which is where is has been from day one. He is handling labor perfectly. Michelle keeps telling me to go with my body, listen to my body and let it push. Katie is supporting my perineum and says that his head is less than a finger tip to crowning. He's going to be here so soon.

I was in the tub on my knees with my top half draped over the edge of the tub. The contractions start to space out a bit and with every one I can feel him moving down while my body is pushing him out. His decent was made very slowly. It felt like he was "almost crowning" forever. They ask Andre if he wants to catch his baby, he says no so Michelle starts coaching me to stay low in the water, push him out and then to sit back and lean on Andre's legs while they hand me my baby. I have one huge strong push and out he came, head, shoulders, body. All of him in one big push. Katie caught him and fMichelle announced that it was 3:04pm. I lean back into Andre and Katie places him on my belly. He had a very short cord so I couldn't pull him to my chest. I hear Andre cry behind me and the two of us just hug our son. We did it! He's here! He is completely covered in vernix, he is perfect and he is screaming his little lungs out. He didn't need suction or anything. Michelle told me to confirm he was a boy and he certainly is!

Katie pulls the plug on the drain and lets the water out of the tub. We are all still skin to skin and they put a hat on Gavin's head to keep him warm, with a warm towel over our bodies. They let his cord stop pulsing before they cut it and we can bring him up to my chest. We all just stay there in the tub together until I delivered the placenta. That's about the time our birth photographer arrived. Everything happened so fast she missed the good part. At that time we got out of the tub, showered off a little and got right into bed to continue skin to skin. Andre took his shirt off and got skin to skin time with his son as well.

After about two hours, he finally decided to nurse for the first time. He was very sleepy after that fast and hard labor (and so was his mama!) We laid in bed, ate and cuddled as a family of three for a while. They weighed him after a while and he was a tiny 6lbs 14oz. Later on when they did his newborn exam, he measured 20.5 inches long.

Michelle wanted to check for tearing but I was so swollen and sore that it hurt so bad even for her to examine me. She numbed me with a few shots of lidocaine just for the exam and decided there were two places I tore. One place was internal and needed a few stitches. The other place was external and was more cosmetic. She asked me if I wanted her to stitch it. I figured, if she was going to be down there she may as well fix it all.

Right at that time Mommy and Jeanette showed up! Jeanette picked mommy up from the airport and they flew over to the birth center in record time. They loved on Gavin while I was getting stitched up. Once I was put back together, we went home! It took forever to figure out how to get this teeny tiny little baby strapped into his car seat. They finally got it and we got home to spend our first night as a family of three.

It has been an incredible blessing to have this little baby home. We can not get enough of him. It's so fun learning all of his signs and different cries. We love all the funny faces he makes, his new baby smell, his big kissable lips.... everything!