Friday, July 31, 2009

Max is finally here... So here's our birth story.

Our son finally vacated the womb on July 27th at 5:39pm after overstaying his eviction notice by 8 days! And we couldn't be more over the moon in love.

On the 27th, I woke up at about 1am with contractions that were lasting about 45 seconds and coming every 7-8 minutes. After an hour or so of making sure they were actually real contractions, we made a few phone calls to our moms and drifted in and out of sleep for a few more hours, knowing we'd probably need the rest! At about 5:30, we got up and started tinkering around the house... making coffee, eating breakfast, picking up around the house. James' mom got to town about 6:30 and my mom came over at about 8ish and we just hung out, enjoying each other's company. Nothing was progressing. My contractions were the same.

We were starting to wonder if maybe it was false labor. James' mom even contemplated going back to Wenatchee! Good thing she didn't.... ;) So, our mom's took off to run errands. My contractions started to get even further apart and shorter. I was getting discouraged. James drug me out of the house at about 10am for a walk... in the 85 degree heat! Still, no progress. So, when we got home, he made me a smoothie and I took a nap.

At about 1:30pm, I woke up with really strong and intense contractions. They were lasting about a minute and a half about every four minutes! I knew this was it. We called our moms to come back over and called our doula, Mary. An hour later we were still waiting for Mary and James' mom to get back and the contractions were so intense that I was already having the urge to push. James made an executive decision to pack up the cars and leave. As he was getting things ready to go, Mary showed up. She hung with me through one contraction and we got in the cars and took off.

The birthing center is about 10-15 minutes away from the house. During the drive, the contractions got even closer together... about every 2 minutes. We got into our birthing room at about 3:30 and I worked through a few contractions with James, my mom, Mary, James' mom and his Aunt Kim. Then my midwife, Heike came in to see where we were. I was dilated to 6 centimeters and during my exam, I had a contraction... and that took me to 8. I had a short break before another contraction started and my water broke with that one. One more check and guess what?! I was fully dilated to 10 centimeters. I went from 6-10 in about ten minutes, which is pretty uncommon... general rule of thumb is one hour per centimeter. Yeah, it was crazy intense.

After that, we started the pushing! James was right by my side, as was Mary. My mom was right in front of me and I honestly don't know if I could have done it without her there. She was my focal point after contractions... and it was hard to come back and focus after pushing. An hour and 40 minutes of pushing and Maxwell Dean Barnett was born at 5:39pm! He weighed 8 pounds and half an ounce and was 20 inches long. He has ten fingers and ten toes. Two ears and a bellybutton. He has his daddy's big head (yeah, that was fun for me... lol,) feet and nose. He has a ton of brown hair like his mommy, my eye shape, ears and maybe the Montemayor chin. We still don't know what color his eyes will be, but they're blue right now. He is absolutely perfect in every way.

They immediately put him up on my chest for me to hold and I can't even describe the feeling. To have him inside me for ten months and then to suddenly, in one instant, be here with us was the most euphoric and surreal feeling I've ever known. Everything else in the world faded away and it was just the three of us all crying together. He came out screaming... he was probably pleading with us to not ground him for being so late! ;)

Things didn't go exactly how I'd planned. I was planning a water birth, but because things were progressing so fast with labor, every time I had a contraction, Max's heartrate would slow down. It would immediately pick back up afterwards, but Heike wanted to be able to constantly monitor during each contraction. No tub for me. But, that's okay. I remember it being full when I got there, but I had no intentions of getting in... My mind was in another world.

I had to use oxygen because of, again, the intensity of it all... I didn't have much time in between contractions and the oxygen helped Max's heartrate stay up. After the birth, I was also bleeding a little more than they were comfortable with. They never once used the word "hemmorage" but I did have two shots of pitocin in my thighs to get my uterus to contract to control the bleeding. After everything, I was the happiest girl in the world. Even if it didn't go exactly as planned, I couldn't be any luckier or pleased with the experience. It was beautiful.

We went home after about three hours and we're all doing great. Max is such a blessing and a joy. He is my favorite person after James. I just can't imagine being any more in love with my boys. I didn't think I could love James any more than I already did, but seeing him with our son and I fall even deeper in love with him... Almost like we're falling in love all over again.

I feel like a different person. I guess I am now. Like a better version of who I was before. I just can't believe that I created this little person. That he's healthy and strong and beautiful. He gives my life new purpose and new meaning. I can't wait to teach him things and to watch him grow up. I never thought anyone would ever have steal my heart again after James, but I was wrong. I feel like I could burst with happiness. Life is good. Thank you God for this incredible gift you've given us. We are blessed!

1 comment:

  1. What a beautiful birth story. I am so glad everything went so well. Good job mama!!

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