Well, he came. I was convinced that he was going to come on 11/11/11, because my due date was the 9th, and both Owen and Talmage came a couple of days late. I was sure that this time would be the same. I was so set on 11/11/11, that we put an eleven in each of his names Maxwe11 A11an Fu11mer. Awesome, right?
Well, this little man decided to do things on his own schedule. Last Wednesday, I kept telling Tom that I thought we weren't going to make it to the 11th, because I could tell that certain body parts were opening up. I was not having contraction, but I could feel stretching and pulling. That night, I had this feeling that I should probably pack some clothes for my boys to stay at Grandma's for a couple of days. I figured that I still had a while, but I laid some shirts and pants out for them, and went to bed. I randomly woke up at 6:00 am, I laid there wondering what was gong on. First I thought that I had to go to the bathroom, then I remembered I had just gone. Then I thought, that maybe I just had not fallen back asleep from visiting the toilet. Then, I realized that this could have been a contraction. So I laid in bed debating if I was having contractions, or just imagining a full bladder. I woke Tom up at 6:15, after I had had 4 of these mysterious sensations, and told him that I was going to take a bath. But I did not quite make it to the tub before I had another contractions, and I said, "Never mind, I am going to Salt Lake." The next ten minutes as crazy, with me calling my midwife while running around the house trying to pack bags for the boys, baby, and me, and Tom trying to get everything, and everyone out to the car.
After a pit stop at Burger King, for breakfast, we set out for our 1.5 hour trek to Murray. Surprisingly, it was not bad at all, even though my contractions were coming every 2 minutes. Finally, we made it to the birthing center, where my mom met us to take Tal and Owen to her house.
I would HIGHLY recommend birthing at a birthing center to any one. It was honestly the best birthing experience I have had yet. Don't get me wrong, I had good experiences with my midwives in the hospitals in Portland, but delivering with Rebecca was by far the best. It was just her, Tom, and me. It was quiet, intimate, and calm. For some reason, when laboring at the hospital I have always felt this feeling of an "emergency" just because I am in the hospital. It has always been a bit unsettling. This time, I never had that feeling. Rebecca was great at keeping me calm and relaxed, and Tom entertained (this was the first birth he did not get bored at).
As we got to the birth center, Tom as curious to know were I was at, so Rebecca checked, and I was at a 6, with a bulging bag of water. She said that labor with and intact bag is usually a lot easier, but pushing is a bit harder. So I decided to not break the water until we got closer to pushing. She was right. This was a super mellow labor. It was not until I was ready to push that it got really hard. I remember asked if she could break my water, and she said that we could but I would have to move from the tub to the bed, and at that point, I was not going to go anywhere. So instead, I told them that I was too tired, and I was ready to quit. Obviously, that did not happen.
Pushing was hard, but it went fast. I only pushed for 19 minutes (19 long hard minutes, that felt like 2 hours). I started out pushing on my hands and knees, which was OK, but I felt like in needed to move to a different position, so I rolled over to a squat (another benefit of water birth, it is super easy to move and change position). I felt the baby move down really far, and then I felt like I needed to move again, so a rolled over to my side, then I had one really good push, and felt this huge bulge come out of me. Yep, it was the top half of the bag, and his head. The bag broke as it came out, and since the head was out, I refused to stop pushing. I just kept going till he was out. The coolest part about it was that as his head came out, I turned over, and was able to catch the rest of the baby. AWESOME!!! Yep, yet another benefit of water birth... easy to move, and easy to catch your baby.
So then he was here 1:31 pm (or 13:31) on 11/3/11. Lots of 1's and 3's. So even though he was supposed to be born on 11/11/11, he was born on Eleven-Three instead, so we figured is was still appropriate for him to have three elevens in his name.
He was 8lbs 7 oz, 20.5 inches, in case you were wondering.
Ok, I know this is not the most flattering picture of me, but this is the bed at the birthing center. I think every woman should get to labor is comfy bed like this.
I love water birth; my midwife calls water birth the "Epidural" of natural birth. This is the tub that Maxwell was born in. It is a soft tub, which means the the floor and walls are made out of silicone, and it sits on a bed of sand. It was so comfortable. One day, when I am rich, I am going to have one of this in my house.
Here is a picture of Maxwell and me, just moments after he was born (we are still in the water).
Maxwell and me again, only all dried off this time.
This is Max meeting his brothers for the first time.
Again, not a great picture of me, but this is the first family picture; at least everyone else looks good.
Here is Maxwell with my midwife, Rebecca. She is awesome. If you ever know someone who might want to deliver with her, here is a link to her website:
http://www.greatexpectationsbc.com/
